brenda walsh is officially back to the zip!!

[ibon]

IT'S OFFICIAL - BRENDA'S BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-shanne....,0,147650.story

Shannen Doherty Moves Back to '90210'
Brenda Walsh, The Peach Pitt and Nat return

Brenda Walsh is back.

"Shannen Doherty will be returning to "90210," executive producer Gabe Sachs announced at the top of the "90210" panel Saturday morning at the TCA press tour sessions for The CW.

"There will be a musical within our show," explains Sachs. "She will be the guest director [for the musical]."

For those unfamiliar with the original "Beverly Hills, 90210" or forgot Brenda Walsh's fate, she had headed to London to study acting.

"We definitely wanted her a part of the show," says executive producer Jeff Judah. "Gabe actually had dinner with her for a couple hours. They got along great. She was phenomenal. We had a lot of ideas and we brought them to her, and she warmed to them. She picked one. We had an idea and knew what she would like because with this show, there's no shortage of people who are obsessed with it."

Apparently, during her time away from the old zip code, Brenda has become a successful theater actress, splitting her time between London and New York, and then transitioning to directing. As a favor to her alma mater, she's returning to West Beverly Hills High School to be a guest director for a musical production.

But don't expect a tame revival of "Guys and Dolls" or "The Fantasticks." Nope, the hip producers of "90210" decided to go with a little sexuality and controversy by choosing the rock musical "Spring Awakening" with music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater. It's based on Frank Wedekind's controversial 1891 German play of the same name that revolves around teenagers discovering the physical and emotional tumult of sexuality.

"We're doing 'Spring Awakening," reveals Judah. "It's a great play, a great musical. We thought it would be a really cool thing to do a contemporary musical instead of doing 'Annie Get Your Gun' or something that a lot of high schools do. So if we could do a contemporary musical and put that in the show, it's sort of also talking about how the show has changed in the last 20 years."

So will we get to see Brenda sing and dance?

"She'll be the theater teacher, but who knows?" says Judah.

Although they have not filmed her episode yet, Sachs has few worries about the legendary stories about animosity on the set being revived.

"Honestly, I don't even know if any of [the stories] are true," says Sachs. "Everyone's grown up now. I can't imagine any of these kids not getting along. So you're like, 'Was it really that bad?'

So for those of you keeping track, that means the feminine trinity of Kelly, Donna and Brenda have returned since Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling have previously agreed to play older versions of their characters. But will they be joined by any of their male counterparts?

"Those are the [only] three," confirms Judah. "We haven't spoken to [the others] yet."

Well, there's also Joe E. Tata. He'll reprise his role as Nat the proprietor of The Peach Pit, which retains the original hangout's name, but will be more like an upscale coffee house.

"The Peach Pit was very important to us," says Sachs. "Every interview we had was, 'Is there a Peach Pit? Is there a Peach Pit?' We realized that all the world was asking, 'Is there a Peach Pit?' So Jeff and I were saying that The Peach Pit today would be like an Urth Cafe."

"It's a cool coffee house where a lot of the kids hang out," adds Judah, "but it's not going to be like the old show like, 'Hey, it's Color Me Badd!'"

And even if Brian Austin Green's character David Silver isn't coming back, there are hints that his legacy lives on somehow through new castmember Jessica Stroup's character, who is know by her last name, not so coincidentally, Silver.

"You'll find out," says Judah. "If you watch the first night, you'll find some information out."

Stroup reveals a few details about the curiously named Silver.

"She goes by Silver. She does have a first name. You're going to find out eventually," says Stroup. "She's a girl who comes from a really troubled past. She has a lot of issues at home. It kind of makes her a strong person. She's a person who knows who she is. She will speak her mind and kind of lives in her own world, as Beverly Hills is so materialistic and money-oriented, she's the type of person that doesn't care about that.

"And if someone pisses her off, she will let you know or she will vent about it on her blog. She has this website and she'll create videos and it's got a big fan base, it's the world. She's got a huge viewership."

The new "90210" will premiere on The CW on Tuesday, Sept. 2.

-----------------------------------------------

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/07/tca-brenda-is-b.html

TCA: How the CW got Shannen Doherty back on '90210'

The deed is done: Not only will Shannen Doherty officially have a role on the new version of "90210,” she will be in the two-hour premiere on Sept. 2.

After weeks of speculation, rumors and, presumably, haggling, Executive Producer Gabe Sachs said Saturday morning at the Beverly Hilton that Doherty's Brenda will join the previously announced returns of Kelly (Jennie Garth), Donna (Tori Spelling) and Nat (Joe E. Tata). Garth and Tata also will be in the pilot episode. Spelling will appear later.

Doherty did not appear at the CW TCA Press Tour session, which featured the series' regular cast -- in other words, none of the throwback ones. (But Tata -- already in character -- did help serve the buffet breakfast before the panel began until he was overrun by journalists.)

Doherty left the original "Beverly Hills, 90210" under unpleasant circumstances after the fourth season. But the character of Brenda -- and Doherty herself -- have loomed large in the popular imagination. After the press conference, Sachs said that it was CW President of Entertainment Dawn Ostroff who wanted Doherty from the start.

“Dawn was very, very, very excited about the prospect of having Shannen on the show,” Sachs said. “And I think that generated conversations. Someone from Shannen’s camp introduced herself on an e-mail and asked, “Would you have dinner?” And I was like, ‘yeah.’ Then, of course, everyone from Paramount and CW are concentrating on this dinner."

The 3-1/2-hour dinner at STK went well, Sachs said. But the subject of appearing in his highly anticipated show didn’t come up until 20 minutes before it was over, he said.

“It was three hours of us getting to know each other,” he said. “We didn’t discuss this show at all until the last 20 minutes. “And I said: ‘You know, you’re coming into an environment that’s completely different. It’s not going to be that environment where there was any tension. That’s not what our world is. It’s not the way Jeff [Judah] and I produce shows. It’s a very warm environment. No one yells. It’s just a different beast.’ ”

After the dinner, Sachs and Doherty e-mailed each other a few times and then decided to get down to business on the telephone.

“We brainstormed and she was so excited,” he said. “She was like, 'This is so different.' We’re including her and I think her experience was producers and actors are very separate. We are very collaborative with actors.”

Sachs and fellow executive producer Jeff Judah said that Brenda -- who was always theatrically minded -- would return to West Beverly High as the director of the school musical. She will appear in "multiple episodes," Sachs said.

“Her concern was that she wanted to come in a way that would be real,” Sachs said.

During the press conference, one critic asked for a clarification about the specifics of the part, and when Sachs provided those details, said, “I was afraid you had hired her to be a director.”

Garth was the first former cast member to sign on. Kelly is now a high school guidance counselor who grew up living next door to Harry Wilson, played by Rob Estes.

Asked how she responded to the news that Doherty would also be back — the actresses famously do not like each other — Sachs replied:

“Jennie’s a big girl,” he said. “I love Jennie. I’ve known Jennie a long time. She’s a big girl. She’s smart and that will all be great.”

-- Maria Elena Fernandez and Kate Aurthur

[msyana]

The link doesn't work hehe.

/hugs and love

Yana

edit:

http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-shannendoherty90210returnconfirmed,0,147650.story[url][/url]

Am still waiting for conformation from Dianna though

[thefifthsister]

We're all waiting for confirmation

Let's keep our fingers crossed. I can really get on board with this storyline, especially if Shannen has had a say in it.

But I think this news should be contained in one thread, I think in the past hour four threads have started with this news in

Guess we're all excited about seeing Brenda once again who deserves to have her story told!!!

*hugs*

xoxoxo

[triquetra]

I'll keep my fingers crossed, but I have good hopes for this now.

[mihacv]

yey Shannen is back and i dont need any confirmation now because i trust 100 sites and all of them said that its official and they announced on TCA press tour session on which they wouldnt lie!!

great that she is back!!!!

[msyana]

When i get the information confirmed (sorry guys but i really want to wait with Dianna's answer if it's a yes or no) i will make a new option on the forums for the show's reunion.

/hugs and love

Yana

[dearprudence]

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am screaming, aloud!

[thefifthsister]

I'm with you on that one. I'm excited but I want to hear from a source from Shannen's camp that confirms it, just to make sure it isn't people using Shannen to promote something that she's not apart of. However, this seems to be becoming more of a reality for us all.

I hope to see a few episodes with Brenda, the only reason I'll watch it is for Shannen. I'm a fan of the original and don't want to see it ruined. But I do wanna see Shannen and Brenda again.... Jason and Brandon too but he's not been asked to return

*hugs*

xoxoxo

[dearprudence]

I'm so happy that I could cry. I'm such a sap.

[jewels313]

my fingers are crossed...and it sounds pretty real..but you never kno! lol i feel like a bottle of shooken pop ready to explode with excitement!!!!