In delving into the annals of television theme songs, I always tried to pick one specific version of the theme to feature for the countdown – at least as far as choosing my favorite for the list. When it comes to number two, however, I cannot narrow my choices down to just one choice as different seasons of the show featured variations both on the theme and the intro. At number two, the “Theme from Beverly Hills, 90210.”
So for the first featured version of this amazing theme, I decided to pick the intro from my favorite season – Season Five. Why was this my favorite season? Three words (two of which are hyphenated): Tiffani-Amber Thiessen.
The fifth season intro and theme of 90210 features the cleanest version of the iconic theme song – allowing the lead guitar to do the majority of the talking. We’re also treated to what I like to call the battle of the smug looks between Ian Zeiring, James Eckhouse, and credits dark horse Mark Damon Espinoza. Though this wasn’t the season that introduced the shy look to the camera for the intro, it was the season that mastered it. And again, the introduction of T-AT as Valerie Malone only reinforced my decision to feature this version first. The only disappointment is the lack of Joe E Tata – it would still be a little while before Nat got any love in the intro.
Of course, the fourth season intro was a hard one to exclude but it came in second of my inter-90210 rankings. Featuring an additional verse of the main theme before kicking into the saxophone solo, this intro has the classic turns to the camera but also features scenes from the show sprinkled in. What else does it have that drew me to it?
1. Jason Priestley’s fake punching of Luke Perry that perfectly syncs up to the clicks in the music. I was always disappointed that they got rid of that gag in the subsequent versions of the intro.
2. With the filter of the film and the outfits of the cast, it’s clear this was a show shot in the 1990s.
3. Got to love any type of group high five/celebration thing going on with a big valley in the background.
4. In the first twenty seconds we get the cheesy Brandon/Dylan high five followed by a Dylan eyebrow raise and Brandon sunglasses pull down followed by the classic Three Stooges shot. No show seemed to toe the fine line of teen drama and self parody quite like Beverly Hills 90210.
5. The shot of Steve Sanders playing volleyball always makes me crack up laughing, and after we get that we get Ian Zeiring giving us smug into a smile – showing us he’s just fooling.
6. Gabrielle Carteris – playing a freshman in college – looking every bit of her 33 years of age.
7. Tori Spelling at her undesirable best.
8. The closing shot. How can you not love that?
Before delving into more variations, here’s two twin brothers playing the theme song on one guitar.
Back to the feature:
Season eight makes use of the shorter theme from season five, but also embraces a different change in the intro. Instead of featuring all of the cast in the large group shots, the producers instead decided to feature only the main characters here, Brandon, Kelly, Steve, David, Donna, and Valerie. They then filmed additional “regular” cast members doing their individual intros. I like how little effort they seemed to take in producing this version of the introduction. Also, Nat’s here! And who’s that after him? Hilary Swank? Score!
For our last featured version of the theme, I wanted to present the intro they used for seasons two and three. Though the same music as what we’d come to hear in Seasons four and beyond, I never cared much for the type of guitar that was used in this rendition. Additionally, there appears to be some type of tubular bell harmony in parts that just never did it for me. I do have to give this particular iteration credit, however, for replacing the crummy theme that the show started with originally. Also points for the dancing of Brian Austin Green and the odd film look of the scenes used. Points off for the reverse color wash in the introduction as well as the quickness of the staring at the camera scenes.
I know it may not be cool, but I love this theme song. I proudly place it at number two.
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