TVSquad

Word on the street yesterday was that the 90210 spin-off executive producers were thinking of actor Rob Estes to portray Harry Mills, a father who relocates his family in Beverly Hills to take care of his alcoholic mother. The show had yet to find an actor to play the pivotal role and they were now getting ready to just hand it on a silver platter to a "name" actor.

The stars quickly aligned (read here that Rob Estes became available since ABC canceled Women's Murder Club) and the actor will join the already beautiful 90210 cast.

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.

Recently, TV Squad reported that NBC has added all kinds of classic TV shows to their online outlets. Now comes the announcement that CBS is also bringing a variety of well-loved TV dramas to the web. CBS Interactive is raiding the CBS Library, which is "one of the largest television programming libraries in the entertainment business," to present TV series online across the CBS Audience Network.

Like the NBC fodder, the CBS offering is gangbusters: full-length episodes of classic Star Trek, Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, MacGyver, Hawaii Five-O and Melrose Place. CBS plans to add more programs and clips in the coming months, including sports and other kinds of entertainment.

CBS is on a good run, being the most watched network for the last five years, but they have taken a bit of heat for the formulaic way they have gone about doing it. Not arguing with success, the whole family of CSIs, and their crime based cousins, will be back, but the network is trying to branch out with some edgier programming. Most notably, Swingtown, Viva Laughlin, and Moonlight.

Returning: The Amazing Race, Cold Case, 60 Minutes, How I Met Your Mother, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Two and a Half Men, Rules of Engagement, CSI: Miami, NCIS, The Unit, Criminal Minds, CSI: NY, Survivor, CSI, Shark, Without A Trace, Ghost Whisperer, Numb3rs, 48 Hours Mystery.

New: Viva Laughlin, Swingtown, Moonlight, Cane, Big Bang Theory, Power of 10, Kid Nation

Out: King of Queens, Jericho, The Class, Close To Home

Moving: Without A Trace moves back to Thursday at 10. Shark heads to Sunday at 10.

Welcome to TV Squad Lists, a feature where each blogger has a chance to list his or her own rundown of things in television that stand out from the rest, both good and bad.

A few summers ago, I discovered reruns of Melrose Place on the Style Channel. The show had always been a sort of kryptonite for me, since I never watched it during its original run. Basically, if anyone wanted to "Stump the King" all they had to do was ask me a Melrose question. Since it was summer and I had little to watch, I decided to give it a look. Well, I fell in love with it. When I told people that I had been watching the show and loving it, they were shocked. I was hard pressed to come up with concrete reasons why I was so taken with the show but here is what I came up with.

1. I'm watching my friends.
Even though the stories are ridiculous (Michael trying to kill Sydney, Kimberly blowing up the building, etc.), I can't wait to see what happens to these characters, because I have so much invested. Andrew Shue can play soccer and pretend he's a philanthropist till he's dead for all I care, but Billy Campbell has became a dear friend and if I go too long without seeing him, I miss him (yes, in a gay way).

(S01E18) "Extended Families" was a good name for this episode. More than most episodes, this one was balanced out pretty evenly between the whole Friday Night Lights family. Saracen got a little short changed in the deal, but considering all the other good stuff, that's ok.

Let's start with Tim Riggins. Normally I would refer to him simply as Riggins. Or occasionally Tim, if Billy is involved in the conversation. Today, because Bo's repeated use of his full name made me laugh, I'll use the whole thing. That whole story just came out of nowhere, and I'm a little iffy on it actually. On the one hand, it seems a little late in the game to be setting up yet another love interest for Tim Riggins, and that sure looks like what they are doing. Although, if they want to carry it right on over into season two, I'm good with that. On the other hand, I do really like the casting of Brooke Langton (Melrose Place, The Net, pictured).

Legendary TV producer and actor Aaron Spelling died today in Los Angeles.

Spelling, father of Tori Spelling, suffered a stroke on June 18, and died from complications from the stroke.

Spelling was the producer of several classic TV shows over the past three or so decades, including Dynasty, Charlie's Angels, Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Starsky & Hutch, Hart to Hart, T.J. Hooker, and 7th Heaven. And somewhat more recently, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place and Charmed.

A lot of people don't know that Spelling actually started as an actor. That's him in the classic I Love Lucy episode "Tennessee Bound," playing the gas station attendant the gang encounters.

Television producer Aaron Spelling, who has worked in some capacity on nearly 200 productions, suffered a stroke over this past weekend.  According to spokesman Kevin Sasaki, the 83-year-old Spelling, who has produced such hits as Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, Charmed and 7th Heaven, was briefly hospitalized. Sasaki did not know the extent of damage the stroke caused; however, he said that the fact he was released from the hospital was a good sign.

If you have watched a television show anytime during your life you have probably seen a show that Aaron Spelling had a hand in. He has produced a number of nighttime soaps including Dynasty, Family, The Colbys, Summerland and Twin Peaks (he co-produced the series). He also produced a number of crime dramas such as Starsky & Hutch, T.J. Hooker, The Mod Squad, and Burke's Law. During the 1970's, his mark could be found on ABC with the hits Charlie's Angels, The Love Boat, Vega$, and Fantasy Island. Needless to say, an extremely impressive resume.

Spelling is the father of actor Tori Spelling, who appeared in Beverly Hills 90210, and Randy Spelling

 

You might see a few familiar faces if you tune in to ABC Family's Beautiful People (Mondays, 9 PM ET), a relatively new show about a family that moves to New York from New Mexico to make a fresh start. Starring as Lynn Kerr, we have Daphne Zuniga, who you may remember from her days on Melrose Place and, a little more recently, as Shelly Pierce on American Dreams. Playing her daughters on Beautiful People we have the 21-year-olds Sarah Foret as Sophie and Torrey DeVitto as Karen.

I was lucky enough to catch all three ladies for a new feature that I call "A Quint of Quick Questions." The questions aren't altered from person to person, so their answers can be pretty interesting. I'm still working out the final list of questions (got ideas? Let me know!), but Daphne, Sarah and Torrey were nice enough to answer them like champs.

A nurse once employed by Aaron Spelling is suing the multi-millionaire for sexual harrasment, claiming he made advances toward her during her time at his home. She's also claiming he was performing some other, er, "inappropriate behavior." Inappropriate behavior? Oh dear God, please don't tell me he's thinking of doing something like bringing back 90210!

And as far as the image to the right goes . . . is it just me?