"Beverly Hills, 90210" invents the genre of primetime teenage soap opera and paves the way for a generation of imitators. In 1990 Beverly Hills 90210 was the most exciting teen drama that had ever hit the airwaves-it was also the most controversial. In this revealing behind-the-scenes look at one of the most iconic television series from the '90s relive the friendships the scandals and the gutsy storylines that brought 90210 cast members unbridled fame. Learn how the stars of the show were originally cast and why the program was initially panned by critics. Discover how the show created a new genre-the prime-time teenage soap opera-and how it paved the way for a generation of angst-ridden dramas from Party of Five to Felicity to Dawson's Creek. Finally find out what happened to the cast after they stepped off the set for the final time in 2000. Featuring no-holds-barred interviews with cast members and critics as well as archival footage from some of the show's most notable moments BIO-® presents the real story behind BEVERLY HILLS 90210.
Twenty seasons in, "Secrets d'histoire" can still surprise its audience. The Season 20 finale aired on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at 9:10 p.m. on France 3, and Stéphane Bern closed the season with one of the most notorious women of antiquity: Messalina, the third wife of Emperor Claudius. If you watched it, you already know it was more than a parade of Roman scandal. It was a careful re-examination of a woman whose name has been shorthand for depravity for almost two thousand years. If you haven't caught up yet, this debrief shows why the episode, and the whole season, deserves a place in your watchlist.
A finale that puts history's verdict on trial
The question at the centre of the finale was simple: does Messalina deserve the brutal nickname history gave her? Roman writers handed down a woman driven by insatiable desire and a hunger for power. Bern's team took that portrait apart piece by piece. They asked who wrote the story, why they wrote it, and what they gained from it. This is the series at its best. It doesn't simply retell a legend. It looks into how the legend was made. Messalina's world gave the episode plenty of drama: Caligula, Nero, Agrippina and the freedman Narcissus all appear, each with their own agenda in the deadly politics of the Julio-Claudian court. Without spoiling anything for latecomers, the finale's real emotional pull comes from the gap between the caricature and the young woman caught up in a machine much bigger than she was.