te.

Probably - I remember back in the 90s people kept spelling it Alison / Allison which made me take notice on her name plates on D&D etc and it was always spelled Alison from what I can remember.

@Brolden I'm pretty sure the show was consistent with spelling it "Alison", but I might be wrong.

I agree that Richard was likely dumped because Muldoon was very wooden, then again - Andrew Shue, anyone? With that said, I assume that if he had worked out better he would've been moved up to contract in season 5, just like how Laura and Marcia started out as regular recurring guest stars. He was, after all, in almost every episode in season 4. Honestly, if Darren hadn't left I feel he would've put the show in a better position to handle the upcoming departures, add in that Zuniga probably would've stayed since she got the part because they used to be roommates to begin with. He did always say that he expected Melrose to have a Knots Landing-style of run rather than "only" running for seven seasons since people could always move in and out of the complex.

Alison and Jake is one of those couple that looks like a great idea on paper and they even teased it in season one, but yeah, for whatever reason they screwed it up really badly. It didn't help that they ended up islanding them once Jane left and Billy lost interest in Alison, but I guess at that point they knew Courtney and Grant were itching to leave so maybe they just didn't feel like trying to integrate them into the cast. It was exciting, but really short-sighted - it felt like before Darren left, he set up several potential "next generation characters" that could move in (Peter / Alycia / Bobby / Richard / Brooke) and potentially fill some gaps, but once Frank South properly took over he screwed almost all of them up. Brooke especially, who just turned into a screeching harpy - I feel like she was sort of originally supposed to be modelled on Melissa from Falcon Crest rather than... whatever they ended up doing with her.

I kind of always assumed that they were originally going to bring Jasmine Guy back along with Jack Wagner, but maybe that didn't work out for whatever reason and brought in Alycia Barnett / Ann-Marie Johnson instead. It would've made sense too since Caitlin promised to get revenge on Amanda. In general, with season three there were really stuff there they could mine for future storylines with both Caitlin and Traci Lords & the cult. Either way, killing off Alycia was clearly a short-sighted move considering the cast exodus that was about to come. Even if they had kept her as recurring she would've added some cast consistency to the show, plus it was sort of shocking that they didn't have a resident lawyer anyway.

In all honesty, the first half of season 4 is still kind of "Peak Melrose" for me - it's only around half-way in when Darren Star's proposed arc ends (he apparently helped put up a plan for the first half of the season - I'm guessing Oy! To The World is the last episode he helped plan), the show suddenly starts treading water for a few episodes and then of course goes completely OTT to compensate (Brooke slips, dies and becomes a ghost! Kimberly gets a gazillion personalities!) . 😛 As much as I liked Central Park West (well, at least before Camille Marchetta took over) I really wish Darren would've stayed or Aaron would've at least let him stay as a consultant as he wanted instead of bitterly shunning him. Maybe Darren would've returned to the show after he got the rug pulled out from under him at CBS.

I agree and it was pretty clear that when they only ordered six episodes instead of the 13 proposed. I guess if the ratings had remained high during the six episode run they might've done another season, but it's obvious Fox never saw this running for several seasons especially considering how quick other reboots have burnt out ratingswise. In all honesty, a six episode revisit with the old 90210 characters would've worked better. Just a quick dip into their lives 20 years after it ended. Clearly the metaversion was meant to run for multiple seasons, so it just seems like a lot of different wills at work.

I think it's interesting that you compare it to the early days of television, because it kind of is in the way that they're still trying to figure things out. Where I live I noticed that there's a live streaming show that starts around 4pm and goes on until 7pm that's being targeted towards commuters who are watching stuff on their phones, so the format is adjusted to that. I imagine that if there are future daily streaming soaps they'll be targeted to such a crowd - people who'll end up watching something on their phone on their way to work, on their lunch break etc.

I heard Christina Crawford (Joan, The Secret Storm) had a famous mom...

Most of the original cast had chip on their shoulders when they left during the big cast exodus of season 5. I think Josie Bissett and Courtney Thorne-Smith were the only ones who really never "turned" on the show at that time - I mean, it took Marcia Cross until she got a second wind on Desperate Housewives to seemingly get behind the show again. I assume it also has to do that most were in their late 20s/30s and that was their "last" chance to make it big beyond Melrose Place that was a stress factor too for a lot of them.

Who knows? Maybe he was bitter / disappointed it didn't lead to anything else - or he just agrees to do things if he gets paid? Too bad Grant Show couldn't, err, show, but I guess he's based in Atlanta these days when filming Dynasty.

From what we could read from Corday's lawsuit it seems like they're ambitious about developing the app and utilising the shows backcatalog but Sony, for whatever reason, is blocking them. With the 1976 clip appearing I have some hope that Sony might be loosening up a bit.

Interesting that they were able to post that considering Corday has expressed interest in using the large library Days has - it was even a part of the lawsuit. Maybe something is moving on that front?

It followed pretty much the pattern of other reboots that landed on networks, the only difference that Fox didn't own this one and had no secondary source of income from it unlike let's say Will & Grace on NBC with Hulu. It was more like the Murphy Brown reboot in that sense that there was little incentive for Fox to keep it on as they wouldn't be a part of the other profit it generates. I really think a real reboot would've gone the same way when put on Fox. I think CBS All Access would've been a decent option for it as it rated well in the 35-50 age bracket which would probably be "young" and appealing to them, lol.

*shrug* It would've done the same regardless - high debut, then fizzling out through the run. It should've always been on streaming, proper continuation, reboot or otherwise.

I assume that Nicolette wasn't ever going to return to the role of Alexis, so why not send her off in such a spectacular way as shoving her face in a fire place? In all honestly, it's one of the best things nuDynasty has done that actually is "gasp" worthy! As bad/cheesy as Fallexis was, Gillies actually pulled it somewhat off, thanks in part to her voice acting experience I guess. She did mimick Nicolette well. NuNuAlexis is actually well cast with that in mind - Hendrix sort of looks like a cross between Gillies and Sheridan, so while obviously there's no plastic surgery that can make you look like that, I guess in this fantasy world it makes sense.

Or Alexis's years of exile in Europe, banging pool boys, being an artist model, harassing Jackie Onassis etc. Though it might end up being similar to The Bitch and The Stud.

I'm pretty sure that Blake's upcoming trial for murder will serve as the re-introduction of Alexis, especially since she's indirectly involved with Mac's death being that she was the one who shot Mark and all, thus triggering Blake killing Mac. There are some rumours that Elaine Hendrix, who starred with Elizabeth Gillies in Sex & Drugs & Rock'n'Roll, has been recast as Alexis, but who knows.

On the other hand, in the season seven premiere she was unconscious in the lobby of a burning La Mirage (I suppose we were to believe she and Sammy Jo had gotten out of the pool and was knocked out by someone) and saved by a mysteriously re-appearing Michael. In all honesty, they could've just used Karen as a body double for Catherine, shown her stumbling over from behind and being left to burn in the hotel while panicked guests were fleeing to the outside. Or just paid Oxenburg that extra $2k a week she asked for. The Colby's wasn't cancelled until the season after and Fallon only returned in season 8 (bar the brief visit in season 7). Leslie was the official Amanda replacement - suddenly appearing as Ben's daughter/Blake's niece after Amanda mysteriously went to London never to be ever mentioned again on the show.

Why is he allowed to make so many mediocre shows and why are people watching them?

Oh wow, that seems like a mismatch. I could potentially see it as a part of CBS's Friday night line up, but I can't imagine how on earth they'd promote this on The CW besides having that guy from Supernatural on it.

IIRC, I think it was Camille Marchetta that claimed that the other writers objected to the Lucy / Ray affair in season 1 because they wanted to make Ray a Ewing even back then when Jacobs was running the show. So the idea was there from the beginning, but snuffed out as long as David Jacobs was with the show.

Honestly, the ratings aren't bad for a summer show (yet at least) - it adjusted up to a 1.0 in the demographic and actually grew from Masterchef. It's still in renewal territory, but of course can't fall much from here on. I get the feeling that the lack of Shannen is down to her only agreeing to do it at the last minute, so likely they had a couple of scripts ready and then added her in. Hence the randomness of Brian Austin Green calling her, despite there never being indication that they're close.

I know I'll sound like a horrible person for saying this out loud - but remember the episode where Donna was almost raped and she cries out "bUt I'M a VIRGeeEEEn" - was I the only one who laughed? I think I'm going to hell.

Remember the day Donna Martin ended racism?