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Jason Priestley wanted “Beverly Hills, 90210” to end long before the hit teen drama concluded its 10-season run in May 2000.
The actor, who played Brandon Walsh on the beloved Fox series, revealed that he begged late producer Aaron Spelling to pull the plug on the show after becoming frustrated with its increasingly outrageous storylines.
“There was lots of crazy stuff that happened in that eighth season,” Priestley, 57, recalled during Friday’s episode of his former co-star Jennie Garth’s “9021OMG” podcast.
The actor explained that the series, which originally starred Priestley, Garth, Shannen Doherty, Luke Perry, Ian Ziering, Tori Spelling, Brian Austin Green and Gabrielle Carteris, took a dramatic turn under new showrunner John Eisendrath, with plots involving comas and surprise appearances by characters’ siblings.
“It started to feel very daytime-y in a way,” he said, comparing the show to a soap opera.
Priestley admitted that he eventually grew tired of the direction the series was heading and approached Aaron about ending it while it was still successful.
“The problem was I just, I couldn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel,” he explained.
The actor recalled telling the legendary TV producer, “Aaron, man, let’s end this. Let’s go out on top.”
However, Aaron wasn’t interested in wrapping up the show.
“They’re going to pull me off this set in a body bag,” Aaron allegedly told Priestley.
According to the actor, Aaron insisted he was “never ending the show,” leaving Priestley with a difficult decision.
“I was like, well, I need to leave then. I want to go do other things with my career and in my life,” he explained.
Priestley ultimately walked away from the series early in its ninth season in 1998, with his character leaving Beverly Hills to pursue a journalism career in Washington, D.C.
However, the actor admitted he might have made a different decision had he known the show was nearing its end.
“If I’d have known the show was only going to go for another year and a half after I left, I would have stayed,” he confessed.
His departure also derailed plans for Brandon to marry Garth’s character, Kelly Taylor.
“I think that was the overall plan,” Priestley said of their characters eventually tying the knot.
Garth, 54, admitted that losing Priestley changed the dynamic of the series, particularly after Doherty, who played Brandon’s twin sister, Brenda Walsh, had already departed in Season 4.
“You were so missed with your presence, because, you know, we didn’t have Brenda or Brandon anymore,” she told him.
The original “Beverly Hills, 90210,” which premiered in 1990, aired its final episode on May 17, 2000.
Aaron died in June 2006 at age 83.