TVSquad

Schools in! For 11 seasons, Beverly Hills 90210, was a ratings hit and trend-setting youth soap opera for Fox. Now, a mere eight years later, the CW will spin-off Beverly Hills 90210, coming up with a contemporary version of the well-loved, if corny, teen drama.

The original, executive produced by the late Aaron Spelling, and created by Darren Star (Cashmere Mafia). The new CW version is not connected to Star. Rob Thomas, who created Veronica Mars, has been approached to take on the project.

How good are you at spotting someone's true age? There's been a few times I've caught myself wondering how old that actor really is on TV, when they're playing someone my age and look ten years older. Do I really look that good? Then again, I've seen the opposite and thought, "damn, I am an old decrepit fart." In any case, I'll pull up IMDb and usually find myself in shock of how young/old the actor on-screen really is.

The whole actor-to-character age ratio thing got me curious, so I did a little research (with the help of some of the TV Squad team) and made a list of some of the more extreme and well-known (or, maybe to some, not-so-well-known) examples. By the way, we didn't include actors who played flashback scenes of their characters for short periods of time, as there are more of those than we have room for.

You might want to make a note of this because it's gonna be a long time before you see it. Lifetime wants us to know there's been some major casting done on their holiday-themed movie A Very Merry Daughter of the Bride. Luke Perry, JoAnna Garcia, Helen Shaver and Kenneth Welsh have all jumped on board the film, which is cleverly scheduled to air in December 2008. I wish they'd give me a date because I really need to schedule a hair appointment that night.

It looks like it's the story of a daughter (Garcia) who disapproves of her mother's (Shaver) upcoming nuptials and so enlists the groom's (Welsh) son (Perry) to try and persuade the pair to not wed. But the groom's son is Luke Perry, and this movie's on Lifetime so I think we all know what happens. And then Judith Light makes a cameo appearance as an empowered woman who survived an abusive past to become a stronger person (Okay, not really but you believed me for a minute there). I'm ashamed to admit it, but I'm weeping a bit right now just thinking about how touching it all is. I mean trying to break up your parents' wedding; what spells H-O-L-I-D-A-Y-S better than that!

As Rich reported this morning, there's already a petition online to save HBO's John From Cincinnati from the canceled show graveyard. I doubt this is going to work, because of the reaction from viewers and the fact that David Milch probably wants to go on and do something else. But the gang at Best Week Ever has a great idea if it were to come back: change it to John From WKRP In Cincinnati!

OK, the joke doesn't go beyond changing the opening of the show, adding Loni Anderson, "Al Bundy" and (in a funny moment) Brian Austin Greene (?), but it's still a clever idea. I would have loved to have seen what this John guy could have done to those turkeys in the WKRP Thanksgiving episode.

"As God is my witness I thought turkeys could fly." That sounds like one of John's weird quotes.

Julia will have her review of the new HBO series John From Cincinnati when it premieres after the Sopranos finale on June 10, but San Francisco Chronicle critic Tim Goodman has seen the first three episodes, and he's not impressed. In fact, he's depressed.

Goodman says that the heads of fans of David Milch's other show, Deadwood, will "explode" when they see this, that they would get rid of Deadwood just to air this show. He won't have his full review 'til Sunday, but on his blog, Goodman says that HBO made "a total blunder" and that the show is just "a total mess." Wow, I guess we'll have to wait for his full review to find out what he really thinks.

As I said yesterday, I'm going to give it a shot. I mean, the previews are just so bizarre that you have to check it out.

Put this in your gross-out humor file. Black Pitch Press has put up a spoof site called Celebrity Skin, which sells the skin cells, bacteria, urine and fecal matter of the stars. The site was founded by an "anonymous collective of former Hollywood personal assistants," which is really kinda beautiful when you think about it. Why hasn't this been done in real life already? Come on, personal assistants. You've got rage, and you know where to put it - on the internet.

Among the sites more humorous elements - the odd collection of stars they've assembled and their pricing structure. Luke Perry's fecal matter is out-of-stock, but you can snag some Matt Groening skin cells for under $10. Perfect gift for the The Simpsons fan on your holiday shopping list.

Former 90210 heartthrob Luke Perry has joined the cast of Deadwood scribe David Milch's latest outing for HBO, John from Cincinnati. Production on the series began this month with Perry in a guest starring role that has turned full-time.

If you've been following news about Deadwood, you know that John from Cincinnati is the project responsible for truncating our beloved Black Hills-set episodic. HBO chief Chris Albrecht told reporters back in July that he was the guy who suggested ending Deadwood early to get started on John, a project for which he apparently has more enthusiasm. I personally have yet to forgive him for this.

Maybe no one realized this yet. Or, maybe no one really cared. During the 2005-06 television season, seven alumni of FOX's Beverly Hills, 90210 have appeared or will appear in a regular series.

Do you doubt me? Do you think it isn't true? Do you think I have way too much time on my hands? Well, the last may be true, but that's not the point.

Click on, dear reader, for the proof that you seek.