The show's original title, used during the shooting of the pilot in March and April 1990, was 'Doing Time in Beverly Hills'; it was later tentatively renamed 'Class of Beverly Hills' before becoming Beverly Hills, 90210.
In the first season the teenage characters were said to be in the eleventh grade, but due to the show's success their ages were retconned to be one year younger starting in the second season, making them tenth graders in season one.
Jennie Garth had to audition five times for the role of Kelly Taylor and was the first actor cast on the show.
Gabrielle Carteris first auditioned for Brenda Walsh, thinking her real-life status as a twin would help her chances, but producers instead cast her as Andrea Zuckerman since she felt too old to play a typical high schooler.
Alicia Silverstone was offered an unspecified role on the show but turned it down to focus on a film career.
Tori Spelling, daughter of producer Aaron Spelling, auditioned under the name Tori Mitchell for the role of Kelly Taylor, but once recognized she was cast instead as Donna Martin.
Tori Spelling brought Shannen Doherty to her father Aaron Spelling's attention after being impressed by Doherty's performance in the film Heathers.
Lyman Ward was originally cast as Jim Walsh in the pilot but was replaced by James Eckhouse, with Ward's scenes re-shot using Eckhouse.
Luke Perry originally auditioned for the role of Steve Sanders, which went to Ian Ziering instead, before Perry was cast as Dylan McKay; his character was initially meant to appear in just one or two episodes but was expanded into a regular role after Aaron Spelling pushed for it against Fox's initial reluctance.
The production company used the name 'Torand Productions', derived from the first letters of Aaron Spelling's children's names, Tori and Randy.
The series was filmed in a warehouse complex in Van Nuys, California, where the interiors and the Peach Pit parking lot exteriors were located off the 15000 block of Calvert Street.
The Walsh family house used in the pilot, located in a gated Brentwood community, was replaced after the pilot by a house in Altadena, California, in the same neighborhood used for Dylan McKay's home.
Three different real-life locations were used for the exterior of the Peach Pit diner over the show's ten-year run, settling on the Rose City Diner in Pasadena from season two onward after the diner was fictionally remodeled.
West Beverly Hills High School exteriors were filmed at Torrance High School, a location also used later in other shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Shannen Doherty's departure at the end of season 4 followed reported habitual lateness and friction with co-stars and producers; the situation worsened when she caused continuity problems by cutting her hair mid-filming of an episode, prompting the cast and producers to request her firing.
Actress Gabrielle Carteris's real-life pregnancy was written into the show as a storyline for her character Andrea in season 5, though producers were reportedly unhappy with the more adult direction it took, and Carteris was written off at the end of that season.
Actor Jamie Walters, who played Donna's abusive boyfriend Ray and had signed a $1 million contract, was fired after Aaron Spelling reacted to a flood of negative fan mail complaining about the domestic abuse storyline.
The first-season episode 'Spring Dance', in which Brenda loses her virginity without apparent consequence or remorse, caused parental outrage, leading Fox to add a pregnancy scare storyline the following season as a form of narrative 'punishment'.
In February 1992, at the height of the show's popularity, stars Jason Priestley, Shannen Doherty and Luke Perry appeared together on the cover of Rolling Stone.
The rap duo Insane Clown Posse released an EP titled 'Beverly Kills 50187' featuring a song imagining member Violent J killing off the show's characters for being rich and prejudiced.
When Jason Priestley guest-hosted Saturday Night Live in 1992, a sketch parodied the show by having Beverly Hills' zip code changed to 90218 due to census redistricting.
In 1999, Christina Aguilera made a cameo appearance on the show performing at the PPAD club for David Silver's birthday party, and music from future 'N Sync members Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez was used in several opening title sequences during the show's mid-to-late seasons.
