90210 Television Program

It seemed like a surefire recipe: Take the No. 1 teen drama in TV history, update it, stoke the publicity fires with news of returning favorite characters from the original, and the CW would land a huge hit. But "90210" is suffering a serious case of adolescent angst. Instead of becoming prime time's cocky homecoming king, the series developed more like the shy, insecure kid with no date to the dance. Then, to make matters worse, there has been that mean girl "American Idol" to contend with.

After all the e-mailing and brain-storming between "90210" producers and Tori Spelling, it looks like viewers won't get to see Donna Martin's fashion line after all. Spelling will not join Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty as they reprise their roles in the CW's spinoff of the 1990s Fox hit, which premieres Sept. 2. According to Deadline Hollywood Daily, Spelling decided not to be on the show when she learned that her costars would earn $35,000 to $50,000 per episode but the CW wanted to pay her only $10,000 to $20,000.

Here's a news flash -- young actresses these days are very, very thin. Reporting live from in front of their television sets, the editors of Entertainment Weekly and Us Weekly are shocked, shocked to discover that several female members of the cast of "90210" appear to have last eaten some time during the fifth grade. Since then, Jessica Stroup (who plays Silver) and Shenae Grimes (Annie) have apparently subsisted on iced coffee and breath strips. There is no denying that Stroup and Grimes look more than a little frightening -- you have to wonder if the show's producers tried to save money by casting by the pound.

On the heels of Tuesday's renewal news, "90210's" studio, CBS Paramount, has signed show runner Rebecca Rand Kirshner Sinclair to a new two-year contract, keeping the "Gilmore Girls" alumna at the helm of one of the CW's signature dramas. Sinclair is the third shepherd of the updated version of the iconic teen series -- she took over in September -- and has been credited with helping the new "90210" find its narrative voice. (Executive producers Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah will not continue with the series.