TV

For anyone who lived through the original 90s craze that was Beverly Hills 90210, the specter of a new "cooler, sexier, more provocative" spin-off series may induce a groan and a shudder. But there are reasons to hope the new series may not only not be hateful but actually be fun.

1. It's being written and produced by Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah, who worked on Freaks & Geeks and created Life As We Know It, two shows that blew up and turned inside-out all the conventions and tedium of teen "dra-medy."

"We grew up in Apatow country (a reference to filmmaker and Freaks & Geeks creator Judd Apatow)," Mr. Judah said. "We're grounded in reality, telling truthful, emotional stories that are also really funny."

2. It's got an interesting cast that includes Jessica Walters, from Arrested Development, and Tristan Wilds, from The Wire.

Asked to compare her matronly character in 90210 to her hilarious stint at the matriarch of Arrested Development's dysfunctional Bluth family, Ms. Walters said "They're very different. First of all, Lucille (Bluth) drank vodka and Tabitha drinks scotch."

Mr. Wilds' tenure on The Wire provided the panel's funniest moment when Mr. Judah talked about his excitement at working with a Wire alum. "I love that show so much. The first time I was with Tristan, I was like Chris Farley, a reference to recurring SNL sketch in which Mr. Farley would play a starstruck celebrity interviewer.." 'You remember that time you were sitting on the stoop? That was awesome' "

The Cw, once staked its brand on being a source of "urban" entertainment shows -- a show biz euphimism for shows centered on African-American stories and characters. But at this point, the only such shows remaining on the network's schedule are Everybody Hates Chris and The Game.

Meanwhile, the CW's new target audience are women 18-34 and the shows the network is using to attract them are series centered on the young, beautiful and (perhaps especially) rich. Perhaps the signature show of this new brand identity has been Gossip Girls, a show about the days and nights, loves and addictions of a band of merry (and not so much) rich kids in New York City. With its new season, the network looks to expand that niche with entries like the updated spin-off, 90210 ("If you wanna live in the zip, you gotta live by the code"), and Privileged, a show about the fabulously wealthy, and did I mention young and beautiful, residents of Palm Springs.

Clips of both these shows shown to the press gathered in the Beverly Hilton ballroom on Saturday offered a dizzying, designer-decked montage of high fashion, fabulous mansions, exotic cars, exclusive clubs and, of course, the lucky inhabitants of all this gilded luxury. All this glamorizing imagery and voyeuristic fascination with the wealthy, their playthings and playgrounds, comes just as news reports and front pages are filled with daily accounts of America's slumping economy, described, coincidentally, in Saturday's Los Angeles Times, as "the worst economy since the Great Depression."

As gas prices climb, stocks slump and the housing market implodes, is anyone at the CW concerned that viewers' appetite for or perceptions of all the wealth-worshipping entertainment may suddenly shift? No. Being a network executive means the glass if never half-empty, it's always half-full.

"I think when times are tough, escapist entertainment is even more important. Viewers are looking to escape into television and see worlds they wouldn't see every day," Ms. Ostroff says. "You look back at shows like Dallas and Dynasty, they were fantasy shows that were very popular at a time (the 80s) when we had similar economic problems."

For some of the broadcast networks trumpeting their new (or not so much) seasons at the TCA press tour, spring has become the new fall as they announce post-strike plans to shift the premiere of new shows from the traditional launching-pad of the Fall season of September/October to Spring and January/February (and maybe March). But on Saturday, the CW unveiled another calendar re-calibration -- summer as the new fall.

Instead of springing forward, the CBS-owned network is falling back and premiering its new Fall lineup in the last couple of weeks of summer. Returning shows One Tree Hill and the cult-pop phenom, Gossip Girls, will debut on Monday, Sept. 1 while the Tyra Banks-hosted reality hit, America's Top Model, starts Wednesday Sept 3. In between, the spin-off of that inescapable 90s smash, Beverly Hills 90210 -- this time dubbed simply 90210 -- will kick off on Tuesday, Sept 2 with a two-hour premiere.

A week later, another new soapy drama focusing on the young and the rich, Privileged, will debut on Tuesday, Sept. 9, and the following week Smallville and Supernatural return on Thursday, Sept. 18. There are a couple of exceptions to the earlier roll-out -- Everybody Hates Chris and The Game return on Friday, Oct. 3; the new fashion-reality show, Stylista debuts on Wednesday, Oct. 28 -- but CW's falling back into summer will last beyond this post-strike season and even extend further next year.

"This won't be a one-time maneuver," said Dawn Ostroff, the CW's president of entertainment. "We plan on starting earlier in the summer from now on, maybe early August or even late July.

"It allows us to premiere outside the clutter of the Fall season."

The move can also be seen as the latest reaction from broadcast networks to the ongoing and broadeneing success of cable networks with original programming, many of which use summer -- a season historically neglected by the broadcast networks, a dumping grounds for re-runs and cheap-tp-produced reality shows -- as an uncontested fly zone for fledgling series.

"Sure, we looked at cable," Ms.Ostroff said. "They launch a lot of show in the summer and it works for them. And we looked at what broadcast puts on in the summer.I think it's a real open opportunity for us."

For now, anyway. With basic cable networks joining in on premium cable networks' show-launching (Emmy-garnering) fun,and broadcast networks trying to find ways of holding on to their core viewers and reach out to new ones, summer may soon look like an overbooked hotel during a holiday rush -- no vacancies.