Donna Martin’s role grew from more minor appearances as the show continued, and the producers made some changes to her as the show progressed. While she’s known as Donna Martin, a season one episode has the character audition to be the school’s DJ, using the name Donna Morgan.
In addition, Donna’s mother’s name was Nancy – played by Jordana Capra – while in season two and beyond the name was Felice, played by Katherine Cannon. Perhaps there’s a story that was hidden between the lines the entire time…what happened to the first mother, and why did Donna change her name?
The Inspiration
Darren Star, the creator of "Beverly Hills, 90210", was only twenty-seven years old when Fox told him they wanted to create a series about teenagers in Beverly Hills. Surely enough, like any talented filmmaker, he took inspiration from other shows and films that came before.
Star wanted the show to focus on real issues teenagers faced and used a few famous pieces of media to build his framework. The first was "Thirtysomething," which featured issues involving teens and their lives. The other was John Hughes movies such as "The Breakfast Club," which had teens' points of view as they worked out their own problems.
That's How You Know You Hit it Big
As the show rose in popularity, it attracted more attention, even from the kinds of people you do not want to look your way. Actress Jennie Garth recalled that, at one point, they even had a bomb threat. The show got so big that the cast and crew sometimes had security problems on set.
During a season finale, in which the characters graduated from high school, someone hid an explosive device under the bleachers. While this shook the actors and crew, Jennie Garth said she knew they had made it if someone had the nerve to do that. For weeks afterward, security was heightened with young police officers hired as extras.
Just the One
While the show is remembered fondly by almost everyone now, it did not exactly light up the awards circuit at the time. It did receive four Golden Globe nominations, though – two for Jason Priestly and two for “Best Television Series – Drama.” So it did get some awards love.
The single Emmy nomination it got wasn't even one of the main cast: Milton Berle was nominated for “Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series''. He came on as Saul Howard, an ex-entertainer in the senior home where Steve performs community service. Berle lost the award to Paul Winfield, acting on an episode of "Picket Fences."
Putting Off College
Apparently, Tori Spelling put off going to college to act on the show. She kept telling herself to put it off another year, never expecting the show to go as long as it did. USC waited year after year for the show to end and for Spelling to start attending classes, but the show just kept on going.
“I'll go when I'm done,” Spelling told Entertainment Weekly in 2000. Of course, then the show ended up going on for ten years. By the time she was ready to get to work, Spelling was twenty-six...and she never actually went to college.