Return to Melrose Place

After bringing back Beverly Hills 90210 last season (as just plain ole 90210) wasn't it just a matter of time before the CW took the next logical step and ressurrected Melrose Place? The original Melrose was a spin-off that ultimately became one of the most popular shows on television and even reached the level of “water cooler” show, right alongside its contemporaries Friends and Seinfeld.

So far, it looks like the new Melrose is getting mixed reviews. I watched it Tuesday and I have to say, it held my attention… but barely. Maybe we're being too crtical, too soon, but most of the characters, including Violet (Ashley Simpson), Riley (Jessica Lucas) and Auggie (Colin Egglesfield) aren’t terribly interesting and so far the show’s writers haven’t hinted at very many compelling storylines (with the exception of “who killed Sydney and why” -- but I’ll get to that in a minute.)

All in all, the premiere episode was very reminiscent of the original Melrose’s entire first season. If you recall, that season the plots and almost all the characters (particularly Courtney Thorne Smith as Allison and Andrew Shue as Billy) were downright boring. The show only took off after the characters of Sandy (Amy Locane) and Rhonda (Vanessa Williams) were jettisoned, Heather Locklear was brought in to play ad exec Amanda Woodward, and Thomas Calabro’s character (Michael) turned evil.

You’d think the new Melrose Place producers would’ve learned a lesson from this but it seems like they missed a golden opportunity to perhaps launch the new series with Locklear in a multi-episode arc (maybe as the owner of the apartment complex?) Perhaps Heather wasn’t available, or maybe she wanted too much money because instead, what we got was Laura Leighton returning as Sydney, who is now the apartment manager.

Seems like the producers had the right idea. Last season, bringing back cast members Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty from the original show attracted extra viewers to 90210 and helped expand its audience demographic. Similarly, the Melrose producers had Leighton and Calabro reprise their roles from the original Melrose... But then they blew it by killing off Sydney and barely giving Michael any screen time at all. 

But in fairness, it’s not all bad. We do like Stephanie Jacobsen as Lauren, med student by day, prostitute by night, and also Katie Cassidy as upwardly mobile Ella. But what this show really needs is a jump-start—something to pull in viewers of the original series, because let’s face it, there’s a ton of competing programming for the audience it's targeting. 

What made the original Melrose so entertaining was when the storylines came off the rails (remember the cliffhanger where crazy-ass Kimberly blew up the courtyard?) and Michael, Sydney, and Amanda were wreaking havoc on a weekly basis. But it seems like this new incarnation of Melrose has too many "Allisons" and "Billys" and not enough "Kimberlys" and "Michaels" (although I can see Ella becoming a scheming Amanda-esque type character.)

Original Melroser Josie Bissett will be back for at least one episode as Michael's ex-wife, and Daphne Zuniga returns as Jo at the end of the season. That's fine, but did anyone ever really care about them the first time around?

Come on -- get with it you guys! Inject some life into the show! Pick up the phone, make a deal with Heather Locklear and bring back Amanda as a regular. Then punch up Michael's role and commence with the over the top, crazy plot twists! Let's go! We wanna see stolen babies, catfights in the pool, dead bodies rising from the grave, and brides run over by speeding cars on their wedding day!

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