Melrose Place

[Mathewson]

Also never liked Linden Ashby or Courtney Thorne Smith. I liked Alyssa Milano a lot but I still have too many Charmed flashbacks when I see her in anything. Never liked Charmed.

I don't think Wagner was as bad as Shue but I still can't get past Wagner's lack of chemistry with the women he was paired with. Especially the horrific Taylor/Peter story with Lisa Rinna. For me, it's the lack of charisma and chemistry with co stars that bother me more than bad acting in Wagner's case.

[Khan]

IMO, Wagner is too in love with himself to be generous with his partners, both on-screen and off.

[DRW50]

[Huntress]

Like on most Spelling shows, the male cast on Melrose Place lacked acting chops.

I only found Thomas Calabro to be convincing in his role. Grant Show was ok, too, but he was too shouty in many scenes.

As for the women, I never thought that Heather Locklear was that talented. She never delivered any emotions, although that was probably in character during the first three seasons. But once Amanda became the victim, her limited acting range showed.

Laura Leighton and Marcia Cross would top my list with Courtney Thorne-Smith as my #3.

Kristin Davis portrayed Brooke like a cartoon character. Her facial expressions were exaggerated most of the time.

All in all, I basically liked all female characters on Melrose. They were given way better material than the male characters.

[Khan]

I remember the Dr. Gilda article. I thought it was silly to have any pop psychologist "analyze" MP's characters. First of all, they're not real people. Second, this is MP we're talking about. Anyone who isn't one-dimensional need look elsewhere.

I remember, too, when Heather Locklear was receiving praise up the wah-zoo for her work in the TV movies "Shattered Mind" and "Texas Justice." Even then, I was asking what kind of drugs critics in Hollywood were ingesting to come up with such rubbish.

Theoretically, a cancer storyline is "good." Again, though, this was MP. The pacing and style of the series, along with the vapidity of the characters, just couldn't support such a deep and emotional story, IMO.

[soapfave06]

Thanks for sharing those articles, DRW. It's nice seeing the story previews and why they made some story decisions. I am in the middle of rewatching season three and am almost to the finale so it was perfect timing.

I can't believe they didn't do more with Michael and Amanda. Those two really could have been a power couple. I would have loved to see Peter and Kimberly team up to turn Michael and Amanda against each other out of jealousy. While I love the epic season three finale, i think it made it hard for Kimberly to fit in and then that disastrous D.I.D. storyline she had. Anything would have been better.

[cuzIsaySo]

The best were probably MArcia cross and laura leighton but i feel like throwing anne-marie johnson in there cuz i felt she could have held her own for a while had she not been killed off.

Thomas calabro was a cut above most of his male co-stars but is that really a statement on his skills lol

I think Kelly Rutherford had skills but she was playing a non character so there was nothing for her to show it.

The worst was Andrew shue. I dont think he could handle being more than some pool boy with no line. He quit acting altogether didnt he? Smartest move ever.

I ve seen cutboard with more screen presence than he did.

Brooke Langton isnt trailing too far behind him as far as worst performer.

[Gray Bunny]

I agree Marcia Cross and Laura Leighton were the top 2, with Heather Locklear and Courtney Thorne-Smith close behind.

I think Thorne-Smith did a great job with the crap stories she got in seasons 2 and 3. Alison was the main focus of the first season, and it was a well-rounded, fully-developed character. Then came the affair with Steve McMillan and her dependency on Billy (and alcohol) and then her crazy tyrant turn as president of D&D... by the time the explosion happened, people were more than happy to see her ass blown across the room like a rag doll.

As silly as it sounds, one aspect that affected my like/dislike of Alison was Courtney's hair styles. Season 2's haircut was so off-putting! Didn't like it at all. But by season 4, when it was long, straight, and beautiful (just think of the shot of her turning in the season 4 opening credits) I LOVED her all over again, haha.

BAD:

GOOD!

Brooke Langton as Sam was the worst. The absolute worst.

(With an honorable mention to Katie Wright, who played the short-term role of Chelsea, Matt's niece in season 5. I never cared for that actress in anything she did. She's right up there with Tracy Middendorf for me)

Speaking of bad hair, I CRINGED when Josie Bissett chopped off all her beautiful hair half-way through Season 4. That short, wet, slicked down look was AWFUL. I can't even find any shots of it on the internet, it was so hideous.

Edited April 6, 2014 by Gray Bunny

[Cheap21]

I liked Sam at first but they ruined her for me whens he became a smug adulteress bitch out of nowhere. That's one thing I hated about MP in its final seasons. Characters would have these random personality changes. Almost as if they wanted to write different characters but didnt want to create new ones, so they just took existing ones who were only the same in name only

[Vee]

IIRC, they were planning to sign Katie Wright (Chelsea) as a regular. Then something went down, maybe the Alyssa Milano addition took off, and she and Matt were abruptly exited in Season 6.

[Soaplovers]

I think the closest Jo came to being herself doing the 4th season was when she had the short story arc involving Sydney's friend and her son. However, her tearful declaration of love for that dr was so not in character for her. The Jo of old wouldn't have done that, she would have decided to get on her motorcycle looking back at Melrose Place before riding off into the sunset. In fact, several episodes before had Jo talking to jake while the two admitted that there was no going back and she rode off on her motorcycle. If she hadn't come back, that would have been a great ending.

I think Kristin Davis did well with what she was given. The Brooke of season 3 looked to be a character that could have stayed around long term, but once season 4 came and her character was gutted.. then I could see why she exited stage left at the end of season 4. I do wonder how she would have interacted with Taylor/Kyle.

I've watched about 17 episodes of season 5 of Melrose Place, and color me surprised that Lisa Rinna is playing a character and isn't a cartoon. Shame they morphed Taylor into an idiot when I think she worked well as an East Coast bitch. I always wondered if Hunter Tylo had played Taylor if they would have morphed her into an idiot/cartoon character in season 6?

[Cheap21]

Probably as the writing didn't make sense in season 6 with most of the characters getting personality transplants to fit the plots.

[cuzIsaySo]

Rob Estes to me is one of the most boring actor the show had. Not too far behind Andrew shue. Actually when i think of it MP had some of the least charismatic actors on TV.

[te.]

Doug Savant was signed on to stay until mid-season 6, but Heather Locklear got pregnant and they had to start taping earlier, hence his odd exit in the season 6 premiere due to other projects he was working on.

[cuzIsaySo]

What i heard was that the show-runner wanted Doug savant to re-sign and to SWAY HIM they brought in a niece for Matt, ensuring him more airtime (without having to rely on finding him a love interest). It turned out to still be too little too late and Doug savant announced he wasnt re-newing.

But i may be wrong.