Review: 'BH90210'

A few years ago, David Hasselhoff starred in a feux reality documentary called "Hoff The Record," in which he played this weird, stylized yet kinda fictional version of himself. To give you an idea of the weirdness of the premise, the pilot episode had Hasselhoff moving to the U.K. because he couldn't find work in the U.S. Only to end up in an audition in which he is hoping to be cast as himself in a movie.

And that show is not remotely as odd and unsettling as the premiere episode of "BH90210."

Shannen Doherty, Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, Brian Austin Green, Ian Ziering, and Gabrielle Carteris are all back, playing exaggerated/somewhat fictionalized versions of themselves. Even stranger, La La Anthony and Vanessa Lachey are on the show playing fictional spouses of Brian Austin Green and Jason Priestly. And they are all there playing the sort-of-real actors who decide to get together to do a reboot of "Beverly Hills: 90210" after attending a 30th anniversary fan event in Las Vegas.

If you think the overview of the pilot seems batshit crazy, the actual show is even more unsettling. Even though the actors are all playing not-quite-accurate versions of the real-life selves, there are also a lot of comments and stories relating to actual moments in the real actor's actual lives. It all comes off like the kind of dream you'd have after consuming a bottle of Jagermeister and a box of Twinkies and then falling asleep to "Beverly Hills: 90210" repeats.

I can't say that I can exactly recommend "BH90210." I've only seen one episode and I'll be the first to admit that I am not the target audience for this revival-that-isn't-quite-a-reboot. But if you have fond memories of the original series, it's probably worth watching the premiere. If for no other reason that to be be able to be part of the conversation at work tomorrow when someone comes in and says "I just saw the craziest television show last night!"

"BH90210" premieres Wednesday, August 7th, 2019 on Fox.