I am trying to understand why 90210 was not as successful as other teen

dramas!

It was a successful CW show, which is the reason for it's consistent ratings throughout BUT it was not nearly as popular as Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars. Those two only had one million views over 90210 but they were still far more successful in other ways as well. They have tons of media articles dedicated to their characters, romantic relationships, fashion, story lines, etc. They also have hundreds and thousands of comments under each wikia page dedicated to the characters and the television show in general. They also have far more reviews and votes on this website(imdb). They are talked about far more heavily in social media, society, and by teenage girls in general.

Here are all of my theories and I feel every single of them to be correct:
#1 Both the other shows were based on book series, so they had more of a following from the beginning.
#2 They both have unique premises that separated them from other teen dramas(anonymous gossip blog and stalker who refers to themselves as A in constant text messages to the girls)

90210 was basically just any other teen drama. It was a premise that is very dated and did not bring anything unique to the table.

#3 They were set in unique locations not done in other teen dramas before them (One Tree Hill/Dawson's Creek/ Friday Night Lights: The South, Beverly Hills 90210, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Veronica Mars, The OC: California) mostly in the East Coast with Gossip Girl in New York and Pretty Little Liars in Pennsylvania(reflecting it both in their fashion and different types of locations: one was in "the city" and the other in a small town)

90210 is set in Southern California, in the city of Beverly Hills where almost every show and movie in the world is set in, so this location is basically overdone and not giving us any new territory or perspective AT ALL!

#4 Both had their unique cinematography where the locations were characters within themselves and it was filmed in a distinct way that made it stand out.

^^^^ THIS IS MY BIGGEST THEORY OF ALL because everything keeps thinking that the fact that it was a remake was the reason for it's less popularity but most kids from this generation have never heard of the original and most likely did not give it being a remake a second thought, considering how highly viewed the pilot was in season 1. So, it has got to be how it started off with an incredibly dated production, with very old-school: hair, clothes, and cinematography. It was filmed like an after school special with the family being a little too perfect and clean cut. The story lines in the beginning were cheesy and unsophisticated. The lead, Shenae Grimes, was very uncharismatic. The sets felt very late 90s, early 2000s in the first season (even The OC that came way before it had a far more modern and glossy production). They changed the direction of the show in Season 2 when people were already getting over the new show on the CW that was literally promoted EVERYWHERE! Even when they made the changes however, the show did not really stick out. It had a glossy production in Season 2 but it was still filmed in a very bland and normal way.

Gossip Girl had the voiceover, the light airy music in the background, and had a comedic feel throughout since it was going for a satire approach. Pretty Little Liars was filmed in a dark way where everything was moody, everyone looked suspicious, there were constant zoom ins when the girls got text messages, and it had the musical background for when something ludicrous or dangerous was happening.

90210 was just filming the characters; nothing unique to it's cinematography at all.

Kids in this generation need something that is very modern and something that connects to them, which is why Teen Wolf and The Vampire Diaries is so popular because of the Twilight phase or Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl with it's highlighting over the obsession over technology and the fun of a murder mystery surrounding usual high school drama with also being girl power focused.

So, anyone agree?