Lori Loughlin confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that her three-year run on The CW’s “90210” will end this season.
Loughlin, who plays Debbie Wilson, is the last of the original “parent” characters to remain a series regular. But come this May, she will vacate the show, joining her storyline husband Rob Estes (whose character was written-out at the end of last season).
Currently in a romantic storyline with Ryan Eggold’s Mr. Matthews, Loughlin’s character will wrap that arc this season and then depart in May.
“Ryan and I will finish the season and then we’re done. There’s just not much for me to do,” Loughlin confirmed to EW. “It is a very big cast and it is hard to service all of us. The focus of the show is the kids. The parents were essentially there to service the story lines of the kids, and occasionally we got a few separate story lines, but it just wasn’t really working in a way that all of us had enough to do. The CW has a demographic that they appeal to, and they do it very well.”
Like its Monday counterpart “Gossip Girl,” “90210” has effectively become a ratings non-issue at The CW, but it remains a source of mild buzz and likely still has a future on the network. After being torn to shreds by critics for its first season, the show has made significant creative improvements and is now viewed as one of the best in the genre.