MYSTERY GIRLS

*1/2 (out of ****)

Jennie Garth is an American treasure. Hmmm…let’s start over.

Jennie Garth is underrated. I’m not saying she’s Television Hall of Fame material. I would say, however, that she’s a poor man’s Christina Applegate, while her current public status seems to be homeless man’s Christina Applegate or dead homeless man’s Christina Applegate. She’s been a dependable ditzy-ish blonde for twenty-five years ago. She’s been the best actor on two moderate hits, Beverly Hills, 90210, a show I grew up on, and What I Like About You, a show I’ve never seen before. The latter show did have Amanda Bynes, who turned out to be a little kooky, so let’s assume Garth is the reason for its success. There was never any rumors about what a horrible actress she was to work with, or how much coke she did that one time in a Mexican prison. The only reason I doubt my feelings on Jennie is how old I was when I first saw her in 90210. Many things were going through my head at the time, least of which was acting criticism.

Either based on the roles she’s accepted, or just a general lack of gravitas, Garth never seemed like she could be the sole lead on a show, or make the jump to film (to be fair, Christina Applegate was never able to, and she’s like a rich man’s Jennie Garth). But how close was she to a career where she wasn’t accepting roles on horrible sitcoms on ABC Family? The first decade of her career was dominated by 90210. She was the one of the last original cast members when the show ended its run, along with Steve, David, and fellow Mystery Girls cast member Donna. She could have bailed earlier like everyone else, but the highlights of the work done by the actor who bailed include a couple seasons of Charmed and a guest role on Oz, so it’s not like that was guaranteed success. Plus, she never had the makings of a break-out star. Like I said earlier, Kelly Taylor, and in turn, Jennie Garth, just seemed solid.

It wasn’t until the 2002 season until she got What I Like About You, so she spent the season in-between that at 90210 as a semi-regular on The $treet, a show about things no one cares about or remembers. WILAY turned out to be an important moment in her career. Another success could prove that she will be a TV star for the rest of her life. But WILAY was an Amanda Bynes vehicle. The show was built around her rising star, and any number of actresses at the time could have been cast as the older sister. If Garth could spend WILAY’s run showing that she could be more than a comedic version of Kelly Taylor, she could compete/build a report with her castmate, and get her own vehicle. Or the show ends its run and she ends up being thrown into the Lifetime casting pool. Guess what happened.

WILAY got canceled in 2006, and in the last 8 years, Garth has bounced from Lifetime Original to Lifetime Original, taking a break only to again appear as Kelly Taylor in order to help the 90210 reboot get off the ground. She might have been the only cast member to agree to come back for any significant amount of time, but I like to think that she was the show’s first, last, and only choice. It couldn’t have been that hard to lock down any other cast member, and yet they chose Jennie. Although it was never that apparent during the show’s peak, Kelly Taylor is 90210, and vice versa, which means she’s an entire generation’s Victoria Principal or Eva Longoria.
Oh, Jennie Garth is currently appearing in a horrible ABC Family TV show called Mystery Girls. Tune in if you miss her being around, and want to watch her deal with what it must be like to have known Tori Spelling for this long, or enjoy watching gay actors portray gay characters as if they lit on fire and pushed off a building.

– Ryan Haley