Jason Priestley says his No. 1 position on the original Beverly Hills, 90210 call sheet came down to the work he had already done before becoming Brandon Walsh.
During the Oct. 1 episode of Fly on the Wall, Dana Carvey and David Spade asked how a young ensemble cast decided who received top billing. Priestley said he and Shannen Doherty entered the show with the “highest quotes” because both already had substantial professional experience.
Doherty, who played Brandon’s twin sister Brenda Walsh, was No. 2. Priestley had recently worked on an NBC series, while Doherty had already accumulated years of television and film credits before joining the Fox drama.
The top position also meant Priestley was needed constantly once 90210 became a hit. He said the workload left little opportunity to get distracted by the extraordinary level of fame surrounding the cast.
Priestley and Doherty Entered ‘90210’ With the Highest ‘Quotes’
“I’d done stuff,” Priestley said when Spade asked why his name was first on the call sheet.
He had just finished Sister Kate on NBC and already had credits that included MacGyver, 21 Jump Street, The Boy Who Could Fly and Watchers.
Doherty had started acting as a child and arrived with credits including Little House on the Prairie, Our House and Heathers. Priestley said that prior experience meant the pair had the highest established salary quotes when the series began.
Entertainment Weekly noted that the call-sheet order reflected their professional standing at the beginning of production rather than a later assessment of which characters would become the show’s biggest stars.
Being No. 1 Meant Priestley Was Working Almost Constantly
The position carried a demanding schedule as 90210 expanded into unusually long television seasons.
Priestley said the show reached 32 episodes in a single year. With individual episodes taking several days to film, he estimated that production could consume roughly 240 shooting days.
“After a while I just felt like a hamster on a wheel,” he recalled. “I had to keep running as fast as I could.”
That schedule also shaped his experience of becoming famous. Priestley remembered being mobbed in public as the series exploded in popularity, but said remaining level-headed was easier because he was at work so much of the time.
Luke Perry Was No. 7 on the Call Sheet
The original billing produced another detail that looks very different with decades of hindsight. Priestley said Luke Perry was No. 7 on the call sheet.
Perry’s Dylan McKay nevertheless became one of the series’ defining characters and one of the most recognizable teen idols of the 1990s. Priestley remembered Perry as “incredibly kind” and funny, while Carvey called him one of the most centered people he had met.
Priestley, Doherty and Perry all eventually hosted Saturday Night Live during the height of 90210‘s popularity. Priestley’s 1992 episode included a figure-skating cold open and a monologue that quickly turned into jokes about Perry’s status as the show’s resident heartthrob.
The Television Academy traces the series’ rapid rise after a slow first season, with the cast becoming fixtures in magazines, television appearances and merchandising as the show developed an international audience.
Priestley Eventually Started Directing the Series
The workload did not stop Priestley from pushing for another job behind the camera.
He told Carvey and Spade that he began asking producer Aaron Spelling for the chance to direct near the end of the first season. Priestley kept raising the subject until Spelling eventually agreed during Season 3.
The move gave Priestley a second career path that continued long after Brandon Walsh. He has since directed episodes across numerous television productions in addition to continuing his acting work.
By the end of his time behind the camera on Beverly Hills, 90210, Priestley had directed 15 hours of the series.