Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 17, 1993 TAG: 9305150146
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LYNN ELBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
The "90210" brat pack, after all, wore designer duds by Donna Karan and Issey Miyake to their prom - likely instigating fearsome, nationwide battles between deserving teens and their skinflint parents.
No, what these lap-of-luxury high school graduates want, and what they're getting (gift wrap unavailable), are TV contract renewals. Their shows are coming back in the fall.
AND they get to continue growing up. NBC's "Fresh Prince" graduated its star, Will Smith, May 10, while Fox TV's "90210" special two-hour season finale airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday (on WJPR-Channel 21/27).
Even NBC's Saturday morning high school sitcom, "Saved by the Bell," gets a prime-time ceremony at 8 p.m. Saturday (on WSLS-Channel 10).
No snide remarks, please, about the, ummm, more mature-looking members of "90210," although Aaron Spelling acknowledges that the youngest stars of the series produced by his company are 19.
"They're older than normal high school kids," he notes. "But we did start them as sophomores, and we played one sophomore year, one junior year, one senior."
The soft-voiced megaproducer also politely, but firmly, points out an obvious pattern of discrimination.
"No one complains when a 32-year-old - we don't have anybody that old - when a 32-year-old male star plays a high school student in movies," Spelling says. "It constantly amazes me."
But for twins Brandon and Brenda (Jason Priestly and Shannen Doherty), Dylan (heartthrob Luke Perry) and Donna (Tori Spelling, you-know-who's daughter), there's no more high school haven.
"I'm sure the network would have liked us to stay in high school for another four years," Spelling said. "But we didn't do that, and I think the cast really appreciated the fact we've shown the growth."
So, just like the great poet Robert Frost, our stalwart graduates soon will find themselves confronted by alluring multiple-choice roads.
Well, maybe not the SAME roads, not roads in some musty old wood. But hey, we all try for the path less traveled, even if it turns out to be Rodeo Drive after rush hour.
Spelling plays it coy about what the "90210" graduates will do: where they'll live, who's going to what college, who may head into the work world.
And, he adds: "What is Luke Perry going to do in the summer - and with whom? Oh, I wish I hadn't said that."
The special two-hour commencement episode will focus on "the joy of graduation" and flashbacks, not the future, Spelling says.
Whatever sexy frolics await next season, will viewers come along for the off-campus ride?
"We don't know. . . . I think people watch our show because of the bonding of the characters," Spelling says. "Ninety percent of the fan mail is `I wish I had friends like that.' I think the young audience that was with us for three years will be with us."
His series isn't alone in milking, errr, celebrating graduations during the May ratings sweeps.
While "90210" sent out mortarboards emblazoned with the show's logo, NBC's "Fresh Prince" distributed diplomas from the fictional Bel-Air Academy for Smith and character Carlton Banks (Alfonso Ribeiro).
The certificates are signed by network entertainment chief Warren Littlefield and "headmaster" G.U. D'Servit (get it?).
"Fresh Prince," a top 20 performer this season and one of NBC's bright spots, is moving Smith into college, a "UCLA-like" school. The show, like "90210," is treading carefully around change.
"There's always a danger you're going to offend your audience, because television is continuity and consistency," says "Fresh Prince" supervising producer David Simon.
"I don't think we'll suddenly move everybody out of the house. . . . If it's just a college show, we'd just be doing `A Different World,' " Simon said.
by CNB