I find the idea of Shannon Doherty utterly terrifying. I mean just looking at her face makes me feel a little ill. Considerably more so when she smiles. The woman was never much of a looker, and being a legendary bitch didn’t exactly help her cause much. Doherty was fired from the first version of 90210 after her diva behavior became intolerable – she was consistently late to work, hung over, etc. Basically she was the Lindsay Lohan of her day.

She and Jennie Garth supposedly butted heads more than any other cast mates, which once resulted in a fistfight. So the idea of the two pairing up again had Garth understandably nervous. And while she didn’t exactly sing Shannon’s praises, she did say that it wasn’t as terrible as it could have been. It wasn’t as bad as war, death, or terminal illness. So when compared to those things, it was alright.

Jennie Garth admits she was initially uneasy about working with Shannen Doherty again… But when she reunited with Doherty to shoot CW’s 90210 spin-off, she tells TV Guide, “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

“I’m not much of a small talker, and I don’t think she is either. I was a little nervous because I hadn’t seen or talked to her in 14 years,” she goes on. “Everyone was making it out to be such a big deal that I think we both fell prey to having that affect us.” With their squabbles behind them, Garth says, “I think it will be OK. We’re both grown women, both professionals. Once we were working, it felt like a good fit.”

Co-star Ryan Eggold, who plays Kelly’s new beau on the series, admits “everybody was on pins and needles and sort of waiting to see how they’d react. They started off kind of tentative, but by the time we were five takes in, they were giggling and seemed to be reconnecting,” he says.

Garth says she wishes she could reconnect with Tori Spelling, who recently quit the show over salary disputes. Fighting back tears, Garth tells TV Guide, “I know Shannen probably doesn’t share the feelings that I have for Tori, but I love Tori like my sister.” She says she is encouraging fans to launch a “Bring Back Donna Martin” campaign.

[From Us Weekly]

Tears? Really? Okay to be fair it’s not all that cheesy – I often find myself tearing up at the mention of Tori Spelling. Although that’s mostly because I’ve seen some recent pictures of Tori over-sharing her boobs and I have nightmares about what years of silicone implants combined with pregnancy can do to an otherwise lovely body part.

In other 90210 news, rumors are that the new show sucks. This is based wholly on the news that the CW network won’t be sending out any screeners of the show, thus leading everyone to believe it must be because it absolutely blows. Though there’s an equal likelihood it’s just because they don’t want the show all over the internet before it even airs. Because it’ll probably suck.

Here’s Jennie Garth at the 2008 CW Network Upfronts on May 13th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

I am probably the one person on the planet who is dreading the return of that awful teen soap “Beverly Hills 90210.” That show was a flaming pile of garbage the first time around. Don’t believe me? Watch one of the re-runs on Soapnet - I dare you to sit through an entire episode without feeling like you’ve permanently lost I.Q. points. It looks like the remake, or spin-off, has hit a snag. Tori Spelling, daughter of the original show’s producer, was supposed to reprise her dry-heave-inducing role as the troll-faced virgin, Donna Martin, alongside Shannen Doherty (quite possibly the worst actress in the world) as Brenda and Jennie Garth as Kelly. But when Tori found out her co-stars would be getting more money, she backed out, citing “timing reasons” as her excuse.

Insiders tell me that Tori was hired to reprise her role as fashion boutique owner Donna Martin for just “$10,000-$20,000″ per episode.

But then Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty were signed for “$35,000-$50,000″ a show. When Tori found out her former co-stars were getting paid way more than she was, she got pissed and demanded equal pay. But the network suits have refused. So now my sources tell me that Tori has pulled out of the series, which premieres with a 2-hour special on September 2nd. “She thought she deserved parity, and she’s got a point,” an insider explained to me.

That’s because, for some bizarre reason, Tori is a reality show ratings hit by Oxygen’s low standards. (Last Tuesday’s Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood was the most watched telecast in the history of that execrable women’s cable channel as 1.4 million viewers saw the episode where Tori gave birth to her 2nd child — which actually took place 5 months ago.) And Spelling wrote a bestselling book besides. Showing once again that it doesn’t pay to underestimate the terrible taste of the American public…

As for Tori, she has told the media only that the timing didn’t work out for her to appear in the 90210 pilot because she was giving birth. “So we’ll see what happens later in the season,” she said last week on CBS’ The Early Show. One insider tells me it wouldn’t be surprising if Tori and the show eventually agree to bring her onto 90210 as a November sweeps stunt. Hmm.

[From Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood]

What kind of world are we living in where having Tori Spelling appear on any show would be considered a sweeps stunt? I truly hope that nobody watches this show. But I am sure I’ll be proven wrong and nostalgic Gen-Xers hoping to recapture their 90s glory days of big sideburns, flannel shirts and bodysuits will flock to this crapfest. Not me- I’ll be watching “Mad Men.”

Picture note by Celebitchy: The new cast of 90210 is shown below at the “CBS TCA Summer 08 Party” on 7/18/08.
Credit: Nikki Nelson/ WENN. Tori Spelling is shown in the header when she was hosting at “Christian Audigier The Nightclub” at Treasure Island Hotel in Vegas on 8/1/08. She just had a baby so go easy on her. Credit: PRN/ PR Photos

I understand that as a celebrity you probably get pretty used to people knowing who you are. Everywhere you go – whether you’re pumping your gas or buying tampons at the drugstore – some stranger is chatting you up, asking for your autograph. After a couple months, you probably start to assume that people just KNOW who you are. And if you’re an A or B-list celeb, that’s probably not an unreasonable assumption.

But what happens when you’re located below the C-list? Well, apparently you can embarrass the crap out of yourself, if Shannen Doherty is any example. Apparently Doherty thought the paparazzi were chasing her. And to be fair the photographers over at TMZ don’t seem to have much else to do, so it might be true. When Shannen went into a police station to complain, the cops were kinda perplexed – they had no idea why photographers would follow her. Because they had no idea who she even was.

That new “90210″ show can’t come along fast enough for Shannen Doherty.

We know Shannen went to the Sheriff’s Department in Lost Hills (Malibu) to complain about paparazzi following her. The cops who talked to her were baffled … because they had no idea who she was.

The deputy at the front desk confessed he had no idea who she was. Shannen retorted that she was on TV. The deputy, in a scene reminiscent of “Take the Money and Run,” began asking others around him if they knew who she was, but none did.

We’re told Shannen then left in a huff.

[From TMZ]

Ouch. But frankly I don’t find it all that surprising. Even when she was on 90210, Shannen wasn’t that interesting looking. I think she only got so much attention for being a legendary terror to work with. Something tells me that even once the new 90210 starts up, not a lot of people are going to know who the hell is. What’s funny is that she hasn’t figured that out yet.

Here’s Shannen Doherty taking her family to dinner in Malibu on May 26th. Images thanks to Fame.

It must be very stressful to be an out of work celebrity who has to resort to hosting second rate reality shows on little-known cable networks. I saw these photos of Shannen Doherty promoting her new show on Oxygen in which she helps couples split up or something, and thought, “OMG, how old is she?” Doherty is 35, but looks 45. She’s just aged terribly. Of course she looks good in the airbrushed promo photos for the series.

Doherty held a press conference to announce her new show, and got all upset when asked about her reputation:

That’s too bad that Doherty hasn’t dated in so long and maybe this show will help her hook up with a new guy. She doesn’t look “refreshingly her age,” though. She looks 7-10 years older. Am I right or am I just accustomed to the Botoxed plastic look?

Pictures [via]

Shannon Doherty will appear as a guest co-host on the asanine roundtable women’s talk show, “The View.” The otherwise forgettable show made headlines with the high-profile exit of cohost and former fatty Star Jones last week. Jones royally pissed off Barbara Walters by blabbing that she was leaving two days before the announcement was planned. She also told People Magazine that she felt like she was fired, since her contract wasn’t renewed. Now that Doherty is going to step in temporarily, we can all commence forgetting about Star:

Doherty seems like a good choice to fill in for Star on a trial basis, since she’s also generally considered a bitch with no career prospects. I think the last thing I saw her in was “Scare Tactics” on the SciFi channel. (I really enjoyed that show actually. It was one of the more inventive and entertaining reality shows.) She is also starting a new reality show on the Oxygen network in which she gives advice to people who are breaking up with their romantic partners.

Singer Brandy is slated to guest host on The View tomorrow and People wonders if she could replace Star. For now all the guest hosts are auditioning and it seems like it will be a while before a replacement is announced.

Meanwhile Star Jones has a new job. She has a mere one-week hosting job on the rather boring “Househunters” on HGTV. I’ve seen that show about four times and it always turns out the same. I’d like to see a couple not find the perfect bungalow for once and just decide to stay in their current house.

Here is Shannon Doherty at various events looking smug as usual. [via] She is shown with her former “Charmed” co-star, Holly Marie Combs.