''Grosse Pointe'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

television series which aired on

The WB The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...

from September 22, 2000, to February 18, 2001, during the 2000–2001 television season. Created by

Darren Star Darren Star (born July 25, 1961) is an American writer, director and producer of film and television. He is best known for creating the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1990–2000), ''Melrose Place'' (1992–1999), ''Sex and the City' ...

, it was a

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

depicting the behind-the-scenes drama on the set of a television show, and was inspired in large part by Star's experiences as the creator and producer of the nighttime

soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran fo ...

''.

Series overview

The series takes place in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, on the set of a fictitious WB nighttime soap, also called ''Grosse Pointe'', and several characters were based on real-life actors. The fictitious ''Grosse Pointe'' ("a misguided ''90210'' rip-off", as Star describes it) is set in the wealthy Michigan suburb, and was very much a parody of teenage nighttime soaps. Reportedly, ''Beverly Hills 90210'' producer

Aaron Spelling Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923 June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the TV series ''Family'' (1976–1980), '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), ''The Love Boat'' (1977–1986 ...

called WB executive

Jamie Kellner Jamie Kellner is an American former television executive. He was chairman and chief executive officer of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a division of Time Warner which includes TBS, TNT, and Cartoon Network. Kellner took over the post in 2001 ...

to complain about Lindsay Sloane's character Marcy Sternfeld, who in the original pilot was a thinly veiled parody of Spelling's daughter, actress

Tori Spelling Victoria Davey Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress and author. Her first major role was Donna Martin on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', beginning in 1990. She has appeared in made for television films, including ''A Friend to Die For' ...

asked several actors from Spelling-produced shows to appear on the series.

Jason Priestley Jason Bradford Priestley (born August 28, 1969) is a Canadian actor and television director. He is best known as the virtuous Brandon Walsh on the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1990–1998, 2000), as Richard "Fitz" Fitzpatrick in t ...

and

Joe E. Tata Joseph Evan Tata (September 13, 1936 – August 24, 2022) was an American television actor. He was known for his regular role (1990–2000) as Nat Bussichio, the owner and operator of the Peach Pit diner, in the television series ''Beverly Hills, ...

from ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' appeared in separate episodes, with Priestley directing the episode in which he appeared.

Kristin Davis Kristin Landen Davis (also listed as Kristin Lee Davis; born February 23, 1965) is an American actress and producer. She is known for playing Charlotte York Goldenblatt in the HBO romantic comedy series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004). She ...

from ''

Melrose Place ''Melrose Place'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex on Melrose Place, in ...

'' and ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City (newspaper column), newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the ...

'' also appeared in an episode.

Katie Wagner Katharine Wagner (born May 11, 1964) is an American television personality and Hollywood reporter. She is best known for her 2002–2004 stint as the hostess for TV Guide Channel. Early life Wagner was born in Los Angeles, California. Her pare ...

, who hosted a ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' special in 1993, also appeared on the show as herself for one episode. Former ''

Saved by the Bell ''Saved by the Bell'' is an American television sitcom created by Sam Bobrick for NBC. The series premiered, in primetime, on August 20, 1989, a Sunday night. Targeted at kids and teens, ''Saved by the Bell'' was broadcast in the United States ...

'' teen star

Elizabeth Berkley Elizabeth Berkley (born July 28, 1974) is an American actress. She played Jessie Spano in the television series ''Saved by the Bell'' and Nomi Malone/Polly Ann Costello in the 1995 Paul Verhoeven film ''Showgirls''. She voiced the title role o ...

appeared in the series finale. In addition, several actors from other WB series appeared as themselves on ''Grosse Pointe'', such as

Leslie Bibb Leslie Louise Bibb (born November 17, 1974) is an American actress and model. Bibb first appeared on television in 1996 with minor roles in a few series, and on film in 1997 with a small role in '' Private Parts''. Her first recurring TV role wa ...

and

Carly Pope Carly Pope (born August 28, 1980) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles on The WB's drama series ''Popular'' (1999–2001), supernatural drama series ''The Collector'' (2004–2005), USA Network's legal drama series '' Suits'' ( ...

of ''

Popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

'' and

Sarah Michelle Gellar Sarah Michelle Prinze ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actress. After being spotted at the age of four in New York City, she made her screen acting debut in the television film ''An Invasion of Privacy'' (1983). A leading role on the te ...

of ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...

''.

Broadcast

''Grosse Pointe'' was on the WB's Friday line-up in between ''

Sabrina the Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional character, fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo ...

'' and ''Popular''. The show lost much of the lead-in audience, and was moved to Sundays (a joke in the episode "The Opposite of Sex" references this, as the fictional show garners its highest ratings ever but fails to "beat ''Sabrina''"). ''Grosse Pointe'' was canceled in February 2001 after 17 episodes.

Cast

Irene Molloy Irene Molloy is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for her roles on television series ''Andy Richter Controls the Universe'' and ''Grosse Pointe''. She has also appeared in Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals, televisi ...

: Hunter Fallow / Becky Johnson (a parody of

Shannen Doherty Shannen Doherty (, born April 12, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Jenny Wilder in ''Little House on the Prairie'' (1982–1983); Maggie Malene in ''Girls Just Want to Have Fun'' (1985); Kris Witherspoon in '' Our Hous ...

and her ''90210'' character Brenda Walsh) *

William Ragsdale William Ragsdale (born January 19, 1961) is an American actor known for playing teenaged vampire slayer Charley Brewster in the horror vampire film ''Fright Night'' (1985) and Herman Brooks in the television series ''Herman's Head'' (1991–94) ...

: Rob Fields (a parody of

) * Al Santos: Johnny Bishop / Brad Johnson (a parody of

and ''90210s

Brandon Walsh Brandon Walsh is a fictional character played by Jason Priestley on Fox television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210''. He was the first character introduced in the ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' franchise and served as the lead male character in the tel ...

) *

Lindsay Sloane Lindsay Sloane Leikin-Rollins (born August 8, 1977) is an American actress. She is known for playing Valerie Birkhead on ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' (1997–99) and Emily in ''The Odd Couple'' (2015–17). She has also starred in films such a ...

: Marcy Sternfeld / Kim Peterson / Lynn (originally a parody of

) *

Bonnie Somerville Bonnie Somerville (born February 24, 1974) is an American actress and singer. She has had roles in a number of movies and television series, most notably as Mona in ''Friends'', ''NYPD Blue'', ''Grosse Pointe'', '' The O.C.'', ''Cashmere Mafia ...

: Courtney Scott / Laura Johnson (Courtney is a parody of

Jennie Garth Jennifer Eve Garth (born April 3, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for starring as Kelly Taylor throughout the ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' franchise and Val Tyler on the sitcom '' What I Like About You'' (2002–06). In 2012, she starred ...

; her character Laura is a parody of

Tiffani-Amber Thiessen Tiffani Amber Thiessen (born January 23, 1974) is an American actress who starred as Kelly Kapowski on NBC's ''Saved by the Bell'' (1989–1993), as Valerie Malone on Fox's ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1994–98), and as Lori on Netflix's ''Alexa & ...

's ''90210'' character

Valerie Malone The following is a list of characters from ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', an American drama series which aired from October 4, 1990, to May 17, 2000, on the Fox television network, before entering syndication. It is the first show of the ''Beverly ...

, a ''replacement'' character) *

Kohl Sudduth Walter Kohl Sudduth (born August 8, 1974) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Luther "Suitcase" Simpson in nine Jesse Stone television films.

: Quentin Barbary King / Stone Anders (a parody of

Luke Perry Coy Luther "Luke" Perry III (October 11, 1966 – March 4, 2019) was an American actor. He became a teen idol for playing Dylan McKay on the Fox television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' from 1990 to 1995, and again from 1998 to 2000. He ...

and ''90210s

Dylan McKay Dylan Michael McKay, played by Luke Perry, is a fictional character from the television series, ''Beverly Hills, 90210''. ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' Early years The son of morally ambiguous business tycoon, Jack McKay and his hippie ex-wife, Iris ...

) *

Kyle Howard Kyle Alan Howard (born April 13, 1978) is an American actor. Early life Howard grew up in Loveland, Colorado. He has worked in both film and television. His film career includes '' House Arrest'' alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, ''Skeletons'' with ...

: Dave May ("Dave the Stand-in") (a parody of

Brian Austin Green Brian Austin Green (born Brian Green; July 15, 1973) is an American actor, rapper, television personality and podcaster, best known for his portrayal of David Silver on the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1990–2000). Green was al ...

and 90210's David Silver)

Episodes

Critical and public reaction

Critics were largely positive towards ''Grosse Pointe''. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' wrote that it was "nicely cast and smartly paced, it's a sassy, catty riot." The ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

'' wrote that it was "the funniest, smartest comedy" that the WB has ever had. It was the only WB comedy to receive an "A" grade from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

''. Despite this, the series struggled with low ratings. In its Friday night timeslot, it typically lost an average of one million viewers from its lead-in, ''

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeared ...

''. Though the network tried to find an audience for it by moving it around the schedule, ''Grosse Pointe'' ultimately failed to attract enough viewers to sustain it past one season.

Home media

On the DVD

audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

for the ''Grosse Pointe'' pilot episode, Star explained that the behind-the-scenes antics on the set of ''90210'' were often more interesting than the show itself, and that the idea of creating a comedy based on this had been kicking around in his head for years. In January 2006,

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...

announced that ''Grosse Pointe'' would be released on DVD on March 14, 2006. The DVD was later quietly taken off the schedule, and several months later, it was announced that it would be released as an

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

exclusive on November 7, 2006. However, it was delayed yet again, but the DVD finally shipped in late November. On December 4, 2006, Sony announced that the DVD would be widely released on February 13, 2007. The opening titles and theme song only appear once on each disc of the DVD set, in the pilot episode for disc 1 and in "Puppet Master" for disc 2, because the use of "Sex Bomb" by Tom Jones was deemed too expensive to use in every episode. All other episodes had to be reedited to remove the opening titles. The cast credits, along with episode names, are shown over each episode's opening scene instead. The version of the titles that is used on DVDs is the standard version seen throughout the series not the original pilot version which featured

Joely Fisher Joely Fisher ( /ˈdʒoʊˌli/ born October 29, 1967) is an American actress and singer, the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Connie Stevens, and half-sister of actress Carrie Fisher. Her breakthrough came in 1994, starring as Paige Cla ...

or the final version which included Nat Faxon. DVD extras include an interview with Darren Star and commentary tracks on the following episodes: * "Pilot" (with Darren Star) * "Devil in a Blue Dress" (with Darren Star and co-executive producer Robin Schiff) * "Satisfaction" (with Darren Star and Robin Schiff) * "Secrets and Lies" (with Darren Star and Robin Schiff) The DVD release jacket of disc 2 has a misprint with two of the episode descriptions. ''Star Wars'' description says that Marcy gets a restraining order to stop Quentin's harassment; it is actually Hunter who gets the restraining order. ''End of the Affair'' description says that Dave looks for the courage to break up with Marcy; again, it is actually Hunter that he is trying to break up with.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grosse Pointe (Tv Series) 2000 American television series debuts 2001 American television series endings 2000s American single-camera sitcoms 2000s American teen sitcoms English-language television shows Television series about television Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in Los Angeles The WB original programming Television series created by Darren Star Television series about show business