AVERAGE
The show that started out as a lame copy of producer Darren Star’s Beverly Hills 90210 became the hottest primetime soap on U.S. television in the 1990s. Who would have thought? Certainly not those who watched the first episodes where nothing happened, except the introduction of a seemingly dull cast. Grant Show was the token sex symbol, Andrew Shue the token nice guy and Doug Savant the token gay neighbor. Thomas Calabro and Josie Bissett played a married couple.
Thank God Heather Locklear came back from Dynasty hell to show everyone how it’s supposed to be done.
Affluent, sexy people
Melrose Place was set in a West Hollywood apartment building populated only by young, affluent, sexy people – they were certainly not superrich as in the soaps of the 1980s but they were doctors and ad executives. The writers may initially not have known what to do with these people, but the storylines became hotter and so did the sex. On Melrose Place, everyone seemed to be having a lot of it, with everybody – at one point, it dawned on Show and Locklear’s characters that they had slept with basically all the other tenants, including each other… The only one who rarely got laid was Savant; the network clearly wasn’t ready to show a realistic gay character.
When Locklear joined the cast, playing the ruthless businesswoman Amanda Woodward, she brought a whole bag of intrigues. Amanda would stop at nothing to get what she wanted, and it was as if Calabro’s character, Michael Mancini, took a cue from her as he went through a complete transformation at the same time. The friendly doctor and good husband became a lying bastard who cheated on his wife and then got angry and vengeful when she threw him out of the house. He was a wonderfully wicked character and the writers saved their best and nastiest lines for him and Amanda.
Boosting ratings with violence
Over the years, characters moved in and out of the apartments. Jack Wagner was fun as another doctor who became Michael’s arch-enemy and Amanda’s lover (when he wasn’t trying to kill her). The show turned to violence as a way of boosting ratings with the arrival of Kimberley (Marcia Cross), a deranged woman who wouldn’t allow Michael to end his affair with her. One of her most twisted schemes included planting a bomb in Melrose Place that almost wiped out the apartments. This was Darren Star’s creation at its most outrageous, on a par with the 1980s Nazis-looking-for-gold subplot on Falcon Crest.
The new gang wasn’t much fun.
The last seasons saw most of the original cast members leave. The new gang wasn’t much fun and the stories became significantly less interesting. As the ‘90s drew to a close, so did a show that had been bold enough not to consider primetime soaps a thing of the past. In 2009, Melrose Place was resurrected for a new generation, with some of the old faces returning. Ultimately, a bunch of newcomers failed to attract enough of an audience, in spite of the showrunners’ intent to put Los Angeles on display in a more ambitious way.
Melrose Place 1992-1999, 2009-2010:U.S. 245 episodes. Color. Created by Darren Star. Theme: Tim Truman. Cast: Heather Locklear (Amanda Woodward, 93-99, 09-10), Thomas Calabro (Michael Mancini), Josie Bissett (Jane Mancini, 92-97, 98-99, 09-10), Andrew Shue (92-98), Grant Show (92-97), Courtney Thorne-Smith (92-97), Doug Savant (92-97), Jack Wagner (94-99), Daphne Zuniga (92-96, 09-10), Laura Leighton (93-97, 09), Marcia Cross (92-97), Rob Estes (96-99), Lisa Rinna (96-98), Kelly Rutherford (96-99), Kristin Davis (95-96), Brooke Langton (96-98), Jamie Luner (97-99), Alyssa Milano (97-98), Linden Ashby (97-98), Katie Cassidy (09-10), Stephanie Jacobsen (09-10), Jessica Lucas (09-10), Michael Rady (09-10), Shaun Sipos (09-10), Colin Egglesfield (09), Ashlee Simpson-Wentz (09).
Trivia: Followed by a spin-off series, Models, Inc. (1994-1995).
Quote: “Count your friends, Michael… Oops, done already?” (Locklear to Calabro)