'90210,' 'Melrose' Released On DVD

Once, 90210 was just a Beverly Hills zip code and Melrose Place was simply a Southern California street. But that was before the early 1990s when "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Melrose Place," a pair of prime time soap operas, debuted.

The Aaron Spelling productions are now available for the first time on DVD and have inspired some of the actors who starred in the shows to look back on their rapid rise to fame.

"Beverly Hills 90210" told the story of the Walsh family, who moved to California from the Midwest and struggled to hold on to their values. "902010" star Jason Priestly told The Early Show entertainment contributor and People Magazine assistant managing editor Jess Cagle that the young actors faced a similar challenge.

"We all ended up in this caldron of success and money and fame and the trappings to go along with it," said Priestly, who played Brandon Walsh. "And for some reason we were all able to just sort of keep our egos in check, and keep each other in check, and 16 years later, we're all still friends."

The cast reunited for the first time in years to kick off today's DVD release of the show's first season.

"When everybody walked in and we were taking a picture together … I started to cry," said Gabrielle Carteris, who played Andrea.

It seems every cast member sees something different, looking back on that first year of "90210." Ian Ziering, who played Steve Sanders, cringes when he thinks about the way he buttoned his shirt up to the very top and sported a puffy, curly hairdo.

"Didn't I have a friend?" he said. "Didn't I have a mirror? How come nobody told me, 'Don't button that. Look in a mirror, dude! That hair!' "

Tori Spelling, the daughter of Aaron Spelling, did almost nothing in the show's pilot. In the beginning, she was barely a blip on the screen, but she soon became a prominent series regular.

"When I first came on the show, I had so many trepidations," she said. "Just thinking, they're all gonna wonder why I'm here, she's just the producer's daughter, and I have so much to prove. And I hope I'm part of the group. And after a few episodes, that all went away. And then it was kind of like, OK, now I have to prove to the producers and the writers that I can do more. That I warrant more than just a couple of lines here and there. So the only thing I knew to do was to do comedy."

"Melrose Place" was a "90210" spin-off and was designed to deal with the real lives and problems of the twenty-something set.

"It didn't become the over-the-top soap until sort of the end of that first season," Darren Star, the creator of "Melrose Place" said. "And the reason that happened was because it was truly an act of desperation on my part to try to do anything to get the viewers to watch."

"I wasn't particularly happy about it," said Grant Show, who played Jake Hanson on "Melrose Place."

"But I think it worked," said Doug Savant, who played Matt Fielding. "And it just took off. And, so, what works, works."

Jennie Garth, who just gave birth to her third child last month, played Kelly on "90210." She said she hopes that fans don't hold it against her that her now that it is available on DVD.

"No, just kidding," she said. "I hope that they love it. It's a great show."