Melroser

I think Lucas should have been Felicia's endgame, especially with Lorna around but they killed him off too soon! Trying to bring his look-a-like Nikolas on was lame. They should have just kept Lucas. I thought Dano and Aprea had very good chemistry and maybe the show realized their mistake and that's why we had Nikolas but it was too late. I could not stand Stacey and Michael. I was never a big fan of Michael's to begin with but when he and Stacey got together I hated him even more. I thought Stacey (with Hilary Edson) was a complete waste on AW. Her pairings with Derek and then Michael were boring and seemed pointless. The only time I enjoyed Stacey was around Jamie's orbit when she had rivalry scenes with Vicky.

I wonder why the show never really revisited Amanda/Billy after Alison left. I know Billy and Alison were no longer together long before she left but as I believe Alison to be Billy's true love, I could see him not wanting to be around Amanda in front of Alison. I guess by then it was all Amanda/Peter with Kyle/Taylor mixed in.

i agree about Mac and Rachel. Those two were superb. It's too bad that shows don't stick with couples long-term anymore. It's like characters are married for a year or two, divorce, marry someone else and then never remember the others they were married too. It was great watching Mac and Rachel go through their problems and even other relationships but still find their ways back to each other. Mac and Rachel were always the end game and that's why it worked with the audience. It's too bad that they never found the proper pairing for Linda Dano that they could have had an end game with! Felicia always had decent relationships: Zane, Mitch, Lucas, but there was never anyone that was long-term enough to make him "it" for Felicia. Her long-term "relationship" was Cass.

I thought Jeff Phillips seemed out of place as Matthew. I was a fan of his on GL but he just didn't seem to fit for me on AW. Brian Krause was okay. I think the recasts for Amanda and Matthew hurt the show. Was never a big fan of Russell Todd as Jamie either but maybe because I thought the show kind of made Jamie seem like a wimp at that time involved with Marley. I initially liked the Amanda/Sam/Olivia triangle. It could have worked better though. I was always liked Sam and Amanda in the beginning but thought that Amanda's pregnancy came way too quickly. I thought saddling them with a baby hurt them as a couple. They could have played out the tension of Mitch's brother with Rachel's daughter for a longer time without a child.

Anna Stuart did play Donna on ATWT. Donna was always one of my fave characters, mainly because of Anna Stuart's portrayal. I wish Donna could have kept the snotty edge she had in the beginning where she acted better than everyone else because of her status. I think they made her too weak once Reginald came on. I always hated how Donna was so frightened of her father when she was a grown woman! They could have shown her intimidated by Reginald without making her seem like such a weak little girl and then her breakdown. It's too bad that she would have left if AW had stayed on the air. I thought the show was starting to come around (except for the stupid Lumina story with Jordan Stark). I really liked Amanda/Cameron, Lila/Cass and then Alice Barrett coming back. It would have been a blow for Donna to leave even though she hadn't been used that well.

Yeah I'm pretty sure Robyn Griggs was dating John Bobbit or spending a lot of time with him. Didn't AW think it was too much bad press or something so they didn't want her on the show. I remember being annoyed that they let her go for that because AW needed all of the press they could have gotten at the time. Not that I liked Robyn's Maggie...but ....

Cecile is probably a top three fave character of mine but I could never stand Maggie. I hated the story of trying to make Cass think that she was his daughter. The character was poorly written all around. Tho Robyn Griggs probably looked the most like Cecile and Sandy (NF and CR) I found Lisa Brenner (sp?) to be best in the role. I wish they could have used her better to tie in Cecile. She should have been the snotty Cecile type that was always trying to out-do Rachel and Donna's kids. Tying Maggie in with Sharlene/Tomas never made sense to me. I could never picture a daughter of Cecile's in with that crowd. I was never a fan of the whole Nick/Sofia/Tomas/Maggie quad either. I guess the show was trying to go for the "younger crowd" with this quad but I found them all boring.

Was it Jensen? Sorry. I guess I was thinking he was on earlier but yeah, that makes sense. Nick was with Sofia and that was much later. Getting old I guess...memory is going. Kevin was actually better.....but not much...

I remember Justin Chambers on AW and he had little acting ability at the time. Don't watch Grey's so I can't say if he's improved or not...but throwing him into AW he didn't work well. (Opposite Anne Heche as his sister at the time) I love Bellamy Young. Hard to believe she was on AW.

Glad to see Melrose back on the POP Channel today. Fave show ever. Missed it so much I started my own soapy novel series #MillikenMills http://www.amazon.com/Milliken-Mills-Nolans-Bruce-Fleming-ebook/dp/B00CO6GDBS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422471995&sr=8-2&keywords=milliken+Mills

Was it Don Scardino's choice to leave the show as Chris Chapin? I remember really enjoying Chris and Nancy. He was even nominated for an Emmy wasn't he? I found it odd that he seemed to leave so soon. I thought Chris had a lot of potential since he was tied to Nancy and his father's tie to Carl Hutchins. I think Chris/Nancy could have been a decent long-term couple if they had been allowed. I'm surprised the show never tried Nancy again after Jane Cameron initially left. With shows recasting all the time in those days, one would think Rachel's half-sister would be too important to ignore. I suppose in a way Paulina came on and took over as one in that age group with Vicky/Marley.

I really liked Brette/Rikki as a couple, as well as Mark/Ruby. They were my fave four of that show with Ruby my fave character from the moment she arrived. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6z99hv1P-8

That Brette/Rikki story is THE story I remember most about Texas! (I was only 9 then) That story alone will always make me love that show. So great to see an article about it. Thanks!

Thanks for the story background! I had always wished that AW had used Peter and Nicole more to play off of Donna/Anna Stuart. I'd rather have seen those dynamics more than Donna/Michael which became tedious the last few years. The Loves were so dysfunctional but I suppose with Reginald as a father...

Yeah I don't remember him much but I remember I didn't care for him after John Hutton. They didn't look anything alike! One character I could never really get into was Jamie and that was because of all of the recasts and changes in his "careers". The only time I cared about the character was when Larry Lau played the part and the Lisa/Jamie/Vicky Jamie/Vicky/Jake triangles. Couldn't stand Russell Todd.

Thank you! I mostly only remember Marcus Smythe as Peter and never really liked him. HATED him and Brittany probably because I was a Sharon Gabet fan. At one time didn't they start to make it look like Peter was the Sin Stalker killer? I think I remember them showing him standing next to someone that had just died or something like it was him that did it and man I wanted it to be him so badly! (Granted they wanted everyone to think Chad had killed Quinn at one point) I've watched the old clips of the Peter/Cecile wedding with John Hutton. I've always loved Cecile...prob my fave character of all-time on AW!.

Thanks for that ep! I was 10 when it aired. I only remember a little about that time as I would have been in school and didn't have a vcr yet (don't start!) Can someone explain to me why Peter Love had that crappy apartment and wasn't at the Love mansion. I don't remember him ever living anywhere other than with Donna. I remember this Nicole and had really liked her. Didn't they try to get her back when bringing Nicole back to town but KMG took The Colbys instead? I don't remember much about this cocaine story except that she was an addict. Can someone fill in the story a bit more. What did Perry have to do with it? I only remember Nicole/Jamie. Thanks!

I know there are always the what-ifs? But I wish this show could have had an 8th season. I wouldn't have ended 7 with the fake deaths of Peter and Amanda and instead have ended a cliffhanger of Eve totally attacking Amanda and Lexi trying to dig dirt up on Peter only to find out that he has a half-brother he didn't know about.... then season 8... Eve would die from her altercation with Amanda and charges would be dropped as self-defense and the charges against her from high school because Eve couldn't testify against Amanda. I'd try to pull someone from daytime on as Peter's brother to start S8...Michael Roderick (from then cancelled AW) or try for Sean Kanan (soon to be cancelled SB) and he and Lexi would become an item. I would have tried HARD for Lisa Rinna to return as Taylor with Michael's baby because she was tied to everyone on the show! The what-ifs....

I still don't think I understand the Red Swan story It was mainly to introduce Paulina as Mac's daughter, correct? They could have done it so much easier by having the Cory family gathered for a reading of Mac's will and then this mysterious blonde comes in just in time for the surprise that Mac announced in his will he had a daughter no one knew about. Leave her part of Cory Publishing and *poof* instant rivalry with Iris and Amanda. Cali Timmins could have rocked that Alexis Carrington style.

I never thought John and Felicia were a viable couple and the show was just trying to find story for Linda Dano. I did like the Felicia/Sharlene rivalry but I wish it hadn't been from Felicia going after John. Of course, I never liked the Carl/Rachel pairing either. I thought that this made no sense whatsoever on Rachel's part after all of Carl's doings in the past. I know it provided a lot of story for her kids to not approve of the relationship...but for it to go on as long as it did just makes me shake my head. This isn't to say that Vicky and Charles didn't have great chemistry because they did but I'd rather have seen them have a flirtatious rivalry than full-on relationship. It seemed the show never really tried a third in a triangle for Rachel which is a shame because I'm sure there were plenty of "known" actors who could have come on and worked well with them.

Though I was too young when Lemay was with the show the first time I do wish his stint in '88 could have lasted longer. Who knows? If he were given a legitimate chance of helping the show maybe it would have moved up in the ratings. I wonder what he would have done with Anne Heche and what he thought of her as an actress on the show. Had she begun her story being the third in the Jamie/Lisa triangle? I always enjoyed that triangle though I remember it going on for too long. I wonder if he would have favored the Frames and Matthews families more than the Loves or McKinnons... Was Denise Alexander already leaving at that point? Wonder if he could have kept her on and used her better...Except for her initial arrival on the show as the back-from-the-dead Mary storyline I never felt that the show capitalized on her talent.

I always wished that Sydney's time on Melrose hadn't been wasted with the Carter story. I never thought that made any sense. I know it helped to show her vulnerable side when she fell for the guy but I wish she had been more involved with those at 4616 Melrose at the time. It's too bad Syd left after season 5 because i really enjoyed her and Craig together. I thought they were too perfectly flawed people together.

As much as I enjoyed the Kathleen/Cass/Frankie story when Julie Osborn returned in 1991, I always wondered if the show could have kept her and moved her away from Cass. I always enjoyed Kathleen and thought it could have been interesting to see her with someone else. But who? Would there really have been anyone viable for Kathleen at that time? Grant comes to mind but I wonder if that could have went anywhere since he was in the middle of the Vicky/Paulina stuff at the time. Michael? John? Jamie? I think i'd rather have seen Kathleen with Jamie instead of that dreadful Kelsey! Thoughts....

I enjoyed Ellen Wheeler and Henry Simmons together as well. Not sure how it would have played out if the show went on but the two did have great chemistry together. It was also a story that was taking Marley back in a lighter direction after her going "crazy" for a bit. I think the show was headed in a great direction too and then had been cancelled. I really thought that the triangle of Lila/Cass/Anne(Frankie) was a good rival to the old Kathleen/Cass/Frankie triangle that was done really well (if not a bit too long :-) ). I found it really hard to root for Kathleen or Frankie over the other and it would have been the same if it were Lila vs Frankie. Cameron was my favorite pairing for Amanda since the early Sam/Amanda days when Sandi Ferguson first arrived. The two were great together. Although the "Jordan Stark" storyline was a little out there for AW I did enjoy it because it was something different. It could have been interesting to have seen what became of David and Cindy. I thought Chris and Toni were a great couple as well and didn't necessarily get the attention they deserved.

2.0 was definitely a wasted opportunity. As said above with so many vets willing to make appearances this could have been as successful as Dallas 2.0 if the characters were written like themselves and with proper interaction. As Sydney was my fave character from the original I was immediately against the show when I heard that they were bringing her back from the dead just to be dead again. I cringed every time an original member came on and was written so out-of-character...especially Jane. I thought she was written as an incredibly bitter and angry person on 2.0. (As was Jo in her first appearance), I still watched...as MP is my fave nighttime show of all-time (and for my love of Laura Leighton) but it was sooo hard to watch. The fact that Violet was supposed to be Sydney's daughter made no sense to me whatsoever and I still don't feel like that was ever properly explained. The same for David being Michael's son. It was as if the writer's felt it was enough just to say that these characters were related. Lazy. THE ONLY highlight was Katie Cassidy's Ella. Loved her cattiness with Sydney/Amanda. I liked her and Jonah but I found Riley to be so zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz that it didn't seem like much of a triangle for me.