'90210' spinoff not Thomas' priority

[Brian Damage]

Rob Thomas is taking a back seat on the CW's "Beverly Hills, 90210" spinoff to focus on his other two pilots at ABC.

Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah ("What About Brian") are in talks to come aboard "90210" and do a rewrite on Thomas' pilot script.

The CW and producing studio CBS Paramount Network TV fast-tracked "90210" late in the development process and tapped Thomas to pen the pilot script on a very tight timetable. Thomas was able to churn out a first draft in a week, but while he was writing, ABC picked up his two scripts there, "Cupid" and "Good Behavior," to pilots. That moved "90210" to third position for Thomas' show services.

Thomas, who has made tweaks to the "90210" script and has been attending casting sessions for the pilot, will continue to serve as an executive producer on the pilot and the potential series.


But given his limited availability as his ABC pilots are also gearing up for production, CBS Par had been looking to bring another writer to do a rewrite of the "90210" pilot script. Thomas had been involved in the process and had suggested potential scribes.

Sachs and Judah would pen a new version of the script and executive produce the pilot for "90210," a contemporary spinoff from the hit Fox series that revolved around a three-generational Beverly Hills family.

The search is still under way for a showrunner for the potential series as UTA-repped Sachs and Judah are entertaining overtures from other studios for a development deal.


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