Melrose Place

[j swift]

How do we discuss so much and neglect the most iconic image of 90s tv?

 

 

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[Chris 2]

Kimberly returning from the dead, staring at Michael and Sydney from outside the beach house, is such an iconic moment. It was kind of shocking, because until then, we didn’t realize that MP was that kind of show. And after that, it was no holds barred.

[carolineg]

To be fair,  in the 90's the Golden Globes nominated some random people in the lead actress category.  Jane Seymour won for Dr. Quinn one year Heather was nominated.  I really can't think of anything she did to merit any sort of award either, but I am sure she had some scenes.   I am surprised as well though because I didn't think anyone took Melrose seriously lol. 

 

I always thought Daphne Zuniga was a pretty good actress as well as those you mentioned.

 

Once that dynamic was removed Alison suffered a lot as a character.  Amanda was bitchy to others, but Alison was her best rival by far.

[Soaplovers]

Nah, Amanda and Jo had interesting verbal communications.  It seemed more evenly matched.  

[FrenchBug82]

Inversely characters like Taylor and Lexi were *more* interesting when they were not used as

Amanda's foil because by that point writers were writing Amanda as the center of the show and not only would she inevitably get the upper hand but the characters going up against her had to be as unlikeable as possible on the way to it.

One reason the Allison/Amanda dynamic worked is that while Allison was weaker, she was a character we were supposed to root for (even though, frankly, she didn't always deserve it) so while Amanda would win the professional bouts, things usually balanced themselves out for her in some way.

 

 

[carolineg]

Very true.  I agree with @Soaplovers that Jo was more evenly matched to Amanda but I enjoyed Amanda/Alison much more.  It was more central and a true rivalry, but at the same time a sort of love/hate thing.  You know they actually really did care about one another even when they were at odds.  Amanda delivered bitchy one liners the entire show, but it was always more significant with Alison. Maybe because it was the first Amanda rivalry, but I still think it was the best.

But again, I like Alison.  She was my fave, so I might be seeing things differently than others.  Taylor and Lexi vs. Amanda was fine, but Amanda was always going to win that.   

[titan1978]

I will never forget this, or the episode where it was revealed she was alive before it.  That thrill of unspoiled, soapy and dramatic television, when nobody saw those twists coming.

[FrenchBug82]

If I was a soap producer in charge of reviving a daytime soap, one of my first steps is to can all next-episode previews, cut day-by-day spoilers and strictly limit what is leaked as spoiler to magazines.

The audience knows nothing before it happens and I make sure things happen they do not see coming (a daytime soap would have dropped a gazillion hints Kimberly was alive before the reveal, thereby spoiling the shock value) and that they want to talk about once the episode is over.

 

[te.]

I think the biggest issue with daytime soaps is that we are so used to "coming back from the dead" stories that we'd have known the minute Kimberly died off screen that she wasn't really dead. See Ciara on DAYS. The reason we were shocked was because no one really expected Melrose to pull such a twist at that point.

[te.]

I mean, the season 6 "production" finale is just bizarre in the sense that you have all these departures and no one suffers a grisly Melrose Place death. It's a bit too nice, but I guess they didn't want to splash the budget once they knew that the season 7 premiere was going to air the week after either way.

 

There's also a two and a half months gap in the master date between As Bad As It Gets (6x32) and Buena Sera Mr Campbell (6x33-6x34). I always heard that the show got pulled from production but never found concrete evidence until I saw the discrepancy between the master dates. I wonder what the original plan for the finale was before they fired most of the cast lol.

Edited February 7, 2021 by te.

[Gray Bunny]

Wow, I didn't realize this Melrose thread has been so active in recent weeks! 

 

So, for the past 3 years straight, I've gotten into this habit of watching MP at work around January to February. It's become a tradition! Two years ago, I did seasons 1-2, last year 3-4 and started getting into 5 but stopped.  Last month, I randomly watched the first season's Christmas episode which got me into watching the majority of season one all over again.  I am loving the recent discussion because I echo so much of what's been discussed... 

 

- The reintroduction of Peter sucked the life out of Amanda. Indeed, she became a different character when he was around, and the majority of the time, Amanda Woodward seemed miserable with mopey Peter. 

 

- I 100% agree Alison was the heart of the show. Even as an ensemble in Seasons 2-3, there was a feeling until Season 4 that the focus of the series still revolved around her and her life struggles. Season 1 is basically all about her and Billy. The focus started shifting more towards Amanda as the lead in season 3 (see: cancer story) and continued that way in season 4 through the end. 

 

- I love season one. I love the innocence of it. Granted, if the show stayed the exact same way as it was in the first half of S1, I highly doubt it would've made it beyond a second season. The first season is why we rooted for the OG's so hard, versus the rush of new characters in Season 5 and 6.  That first season established them very distinctively. Yes, many characters' personalities did a 180 eventually, which is why we cared so hard when they weren't written in character (i.e. Alison serving drinks at Shooters by the end of Season 4 and throughout 5, when she was so clearly established as someone who wanted to work her way up the ladder to become the very best she could possibly be). 

 

- Yes, these characters were friends, not just neighbors. But it's funny how there is a clear shift in how the show is presented as soon as Heather Locklear joins. Yes, the friendships are still tight (Alison/Jo, Jane/Alison, Jake/Billy, etc.) but they ditched the endless group party scenes or moments where the entire complex congregates to celebrate/mourn whatever is happening to one person (usually Alison, sometimes Jane).  Once Locklear joins, it's immediately heavy on the Alison/Billy/Amanda story, then Jo/Jake and their ups and downs, and towards the very end of the season, then comes Jane/Michael/Kimberly. Rhonda and Terrence's story is backburnered, save for the 1-2 episodes where Rhonda's uptight former roommate (the girl that appeared in one episode between Sandy leaving and Jo joining) reappears as their interior decorator for the house they're about to move into. 

 

- But getting back to the topic of whether these people actually liked one another, I think Melrose suffered the same fate as many daytime shows or other primetime soaps, where eventually it just doesn't seem organic for these characters to be in one another's orbit anymore. You get that problem like daytime soaps have where you "have to" have these characters interact and/or hook up, because there's only so many people on the canvas. I can buy pretty much anything from the first 3 seasons, but starting in Season 4 and certainly into Season 5, you really have to wonder WHY so many of them don't move? Or why they don't cut so-and-so out of their life for good?  (And really, WHY did Kimberly last beyond Season 3? That in itself was a HUGE stretch). 

 

@juppiter To answer your January 31st question, I'd push through Season 5 and see how you're feeling it...  I find myself loving Seasons 1 through two-thirds of Season 4 as the golden years, and beyond that, it's watching out of devotion for the show (like a soap that's seen better days but you hope for a resurgence).

 

P.S. It's ridiculous how they constantly rewrote Amanda's backstory and family upbringing. Did her Models Inc. mommy ditch her at the age of 6 or 16? 

[FrenchBug82]

 

It is funny because I have been trying to get my mom (who only started watching soaps after she retired a decade ago) to give Melrose a chance with always the caveat that S1 is a bit hard to get through before you get to the "fun" parts. She always asks me if she can skip it and just get the lowdown from me but I have realized over time that having watched S1 did impact my approach to the show later in one concrete way - besides the overall fuzzy feelings of familiarity with the OGs.
While I think Allison/Billy were still clearly written as the end game all the way to Season 4 and you'd still get that you are supposed to root for them if you skipped S1, one relationship that I think would be incomprehensible to anyone who hasn't seen S1 is Jane and Michael.

If all you have seen of them is everything from the Kimberly affair forward, there is no way you could wrap your head around either character or their choices regarding each other (and later reunion). But having seen them interact as the young married couple - and they had chemistry then - did make BOTH characters feel more sympathetic and make the weird way they continued to be in each other's orbit - sometimes willingly, sometimes not - more interesting IMO.
 

Yes. That was my problem with the Parezi story, which I hated. Not Sabato Jr. But the fact it made NO sense based on the backstory we had gotten so far.
And that's without even mentioning the later Eve retcon as well. 

[Soaplovers]

I could buy the Eve retcon...because Amanda would convince someone to cover for her..plus, she was wealthy so naturally she'd go free.

 

I would have reunited Billy and Allison..having them ride off into the sunset at the end of season 5.

 

I wouldn't have killed off Brooke...she had at least another season or 2 in her.  She could have veered into Jake's orbit.  She was broken while he seemed someone opposite of who she'd go for.  Plus, Brooke and Sydney could have teamed up.

[titan1978]

I also feel the first season is essential viewing.  Michael’s arc is important to understand how he relates to Jane and everybody else, and the same with Alison and Billy.

 

I strongly feel that because I watched it as it was airing, I fell in love with most of the original characters, which made the insanity they went through matter more.

 

I feel the same way about Knots Landing.  I love the early seasons, but the show doesn’t become fire until Gary and Val’s marriage blows up, and Abby takes center stage in her quest for money and power.  But I don’t know that you care so much, especially about Abby’s machinations if you haven’t seen those early stories.

[Taoboi]

Thank you. I completely agree. 

 

I didn't realize how much talking was going on and saw the bold. 

 

Like @Gray Bunny I also felt Alison was the heart of the show. And like @Soaplovers said, I would have not have her leave the show without Billy since they had them set up to be together and go through so much mess from Day 1. 

 

And as a regular viewer back then part of the appeal that kept people going was that the first season did soooo much to leave the groundwork for everything that followed. Right down to the introduction of Amanda.