“Beverly Hills 90210: Season Seven” DVD Review

• Release Date: April 7, 2009
• Publisher: Paramount
• Price: $39.99 on Amazon.com (Buy It)
• Rating: Not Rated
• Run Time: 1,413 minutes
• Special Features: None
• Starring: Jennie Garth, Brian Austin Green, Jason Priestley, Ian Ziering, Tori Spelling, Tiffani Thiessen, Kathleen Robertson, Joe E. Tata
• Genre: Drama

Even though I stopped watching the awful “90210″ remake after one episode, I have been enjoying the DVD releases of the original series. Even in its seventh season it was still a great show. Many shows taper off before their seventh seasons but this isn’t one of them. In terms of teen dramas I do prefer “Dawson’s Creek” a little bit (it aired closer to when I was a teen and thus I can relate more) but “Beverly Hills 90210″ is definitely a must-watch.

If I had to describe “Beverly Hills 90210″ I would say it is pretty much your typical teen soap. It is pretty much impossible to talk about the seventh season without spoiling those of you who haven’t watched any of the seasons so I’ll just leave it at that. One thing I do have to tell you is that you must watch the first six seasons before you pick this set up. “Beverly Hills 90210″ is very serialized and if you dive into it in the middle seasons you will definitely be lost. You will also miss so much character development that it will probably hurt your enjoyment of the series. The first six seasons are great anyway so watch those first.

Pretty much everything about “Beverly Hills 90210″ works from the great cast to the terrific stories. There’s really nothing I can complain about content-wise. In addition, this show was so popular that it often got season orders of 30 or more episodes. This particular set has 31 episodes so you get even more bang for your buck.

The earlier season sets didn’t look superb visually but things have improved as each new season is released. The episodes in season seven still don’t look perfect but they are significantly better than the ones in the first few sets. The transfers are reasonably clean and colorful for their age (this season aired in 1996-97) and the overall picture quality is acceptable. Audio is better but like a lot of Paramount releases there is a note on the back that says that “music has been changed for this home entertainment version.” I didn’t watch the show live so I have no idea what has changed but I have heard that the past releases had significant changes. I personally don’t mind music being changed (especially if that is the only way a show will get released on DVD) so this isn’t a big deal to me. However, I know there are those who won’t buy a set if any music is changed. If you are one of those people, you might want to find out what has changed before purchasing.

Seven seasons in, “Beverly Hills 90210″ is still a great show that I would definitely recommend for anyone that likes teen soaps.