Description

It’s true that most people don’t really recollect much of teen drama before Aaron Spelling’s Beverly Hills 90210. We can safely call it an institution of its genre. People lapped up the TV series with its portrayal of teenage issues like rape, drugs, AIDS, apartheid, generation gap, teen relationships, etc. The story revolved around the Walsh twins Brandon and Brenda, and their close set of friends. Jason Priestly and Luke Perry quite literally became pinup boys with a huge female following. The show started in 1990, and is still running with its spinoff being aired.

This decade has seen more. Smallville, Gilmore girls, One Tree Hill and The O.C are few names of teenage dramas that achieved success on TV. Smallville also draws viewers with its sci-fi theme. Smallville is a fictitious little town where Clark Kent spent his life before he became superman. It focuses on his life as a teenager and his relationships. The program had the highest ratings on debut for any WB show. Likewise, Gilmore Girls got a great reception with the audience as well. It ran successfully for seven long years, bagging a place in TIME magazine’s ‘Top 100 television of all time’.

The teen-drama formula was a proven one. So much so, it made Mark Schwahn, the creator of One Tree Hill change his plans of making a movie out of the script to a television series. He’ll be backing his instincts more after the show’s success. Ardent fans of Beverly Hills 90210 will however prefer watching the likes of The O.C. The show’s got a similar backdrop of a plush Californian town and upper class teenagers. It became one of the most popular programs the year it debuted.

The creators of all these shows however have Aaron Spelling to thank, for Beverly Hills 90210 is where the success story for teen dramas started. Fans of the show can video search for its episodes online and relive some enthralling moments.