90210 (season 5)
On January 13, 2013, the President of The CW Mark Pedowitz stated that although "90210" doesn't have a season 6 renewal in place, the show would most likely be back next year (possibly for the final season if it were to be canceled) due to him being a "big believer in giving fans a very satisfactory conclusion" for long-running shows. In spite of this, in late February it was announced that the fifth season would indeed be the final season of the show, with the series finale airing May 13, 2013.On June 30, 2012, The CW released the first promotional ad for the fifth season. However, no new scenes featured in the 30 second ad, but rather recapped the final episode of season four. On August 23 at the 90210 launch party for season five, a new 30 second ad was released, showing brand new scenes of the upcoming season, including Justin Deeley's scenes. The CW then released another brand new promo for the fifth season on 11 of September, featuring more new scenes form the upcoming premiere, and brand new graphics for the shows promotional campaigns. On September 27, 2012, the cast and crew celebrated their 100th episode in Manhattan Beach, California.
90210 (TV series)
Most reviews of the pilot were average. Metacritic gave the episode a Metascore—a weighted average based on the impressions of a select 12 critical reviews—of 46, signifying mixed or average reviews. Matthew Gilbert of "The Boston Globe" felt that like the original, "90210" was "pretty good". Gilbert said that the episode "seemed to take forever to set up some remarkably bland plotlines", which he found had been executed with more finesse by other teen soaps. The reviewer criticized the writers for "unimaginative material", and commented on the risqué oral sex scene. Gilbert claimed that the characters lacked depth and distinction throughout the pilot, especially Naomi, whom he compared negatively to "Gossip Girl"s Blair Waldorf. By contrast, Tom Gliatto of "People" magazine gave Naomi Clark a favorable review, but stated that he felt the cast as a whole had yet to gel. When compared to the original series, Rob Owen of the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" felt that the spin-off covered the same themes—family, friends, teen melodrama, relationships—but with more humor. Owen praised the compelling characters and the acting, and found the dialogue to be more painful than clever.