9021-Oh Boy: What's With All The Unattractive Guys?

Posted at 2:00 PM Sep 03, 2008

By Kevin Johnston

Like every other teenage girl in the world last night, I was brimming over with excitement for 90210, the long-awaited sequel series to the original Beverly Hills. The CW may have rushed the show into production, but with such a culturally heralded pedigree, it was sure to strike a sweet spot. Billed as the “event of the year,” things got off to a great start with luxurious mansions, fancy cars and that perfectly witty CW dialogue. But then it happened…

As each new male character was introduced, the show got less and less attractive. This is 90210 people! These guys should be the most handsome men on the planet, yet they more closely resemble castoffs from Freaks And Geeks. How is the viewer supposed to tell who is cool and who is popular when everyone looks, well, eh?

Dustin Milligan, Tristan Wilds and Michael Steger may have amazing names, but they don’t have those sharp, drop-dead looks that make you hate yourself and question your sexuality. In fact, this might be the first CW offering where the parents are more attractive than the kids.

Granted, Gossip Girl raised the beautiful bar tenfold, not only giving the world a handful of handsome men, but also providing a wide array of lookers. This, of course, is why that show is so successful. Every girl has a guy she wants to get with and every guy has a male cast member he wants to be. But watching 90210, not only is there a lack of attraction or admiration, but you actually come away feeling like you’re superior looking. And that's just not right.