Melrose Place

[te.]

Well, they just uploaded an interview with Doug Savant aside from their usual recapping, so I assume they want to start moving faster ahead (if they keep it weekly now, "Melrose Place Christmas" will air on December 23rd).

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-still-the-place-191057736/episode/doug-savant-240207366/

Either way, I loved this episode. I loved that he gave a shout out to Jason Beghe aka Jeffrey or Matt's only decent boyfriend, lol. Courtney's story about a Desperate Housewives star getting drunk at an ABC upfront due to getting killed off but having to keep up appearances was funny (I guess Steven Culp since his death would've aired post-upfronts (May 22nd, 2005)). 

Hearing the background on the extent Doug kept mum about being heterosexual was nice. Glad to hear it helped protect Mitchell Anderson (Ross, Party of Five) and Bill Brochtrup (John Irvin, NYPD Blue) from coming out before they were ready was good to hear.

[Vee]

It's true! I've heard all sorts of things about Jason Beghe over the years but he was so sexy on MP.

I didn't know that about Bill Brochtrup at all.

[Soaplovers]

I think part of the skipped recap weeks was because the first several episodes were 'eh'.  

But the last recap episode (episode 13)...you heard Daphne saying she couldn't wait to see next weeks episode because of the cliffhanger (plus, her debut episode is the week after).  

So I have a feeling now that the show is becoming soapy, they'll be moving a bit faster with the recaps.

So far, I notice that all 3 have specific roles and distinct takes in each pod cast.

Laura does the scene recaps...Daphne has a more feminist take, Courtney is more about looking at all sides of a scene, while Laura falls somewhere in the middle.

They have such a good rapport with one another...and they're acting like how fans acted back in the day watching the show.

[te.]

I've said it before, but I think episode 11 is pretty much the "wrap" of the old Melrose with episode 12 the start of the new Melrose. The Keith affair really doesn't get enough credit as the point where the show turned a corner. Those episodes also had an uptick (from 6.6 for 1x11 to 8.3 -> 7.4 -> 8.8 (last episode of the Keith affair) -> 8.3 (Jo's first episode) -> 6.6). 

Clearly they saw viewers were responding partly to the serialization, but also the conflict a third party brought to the Alison and Billy relationship. Keith was clearly a pre-cursor to Amanda (who was also only meant to last for about four or so episodes). 

[detroitpiston]

Agreed, I despised Keith but I enjoyed all the dramatics his relationship with Allison caused. That initial affair arc is when the show first kicks it up a gear.

[te.]

I think the issue is that there really wasn't much else going on in the show to get the viewers that started doing the watercooler talk to stay on at that point - Jo is introduced, but her and Jake's storyline isn't really high stakes and Alison and Billy kind of goes back to the same rut. In fact, when Amanda's first introduced, it initially only gave the show a bump for the first episode she appears and then fell back down for her third, only to explode with her fourth when Billy decides to move in with Amanda (6.9 -> 8.0 (Amanda's first episode, 1x21) -> 7.2 -> 6.6 -> 9.8 (Billy moves out)). I also think at that point, other storylines like Michael's affair with Kimberly started gathering heat and got people who were tuning in to see the Alison / Billy / Amanda triangle to stay.

[Soaplovers]

At the same time as the Keith story, Matt's lawsuit story was going on and gave the show press.

I just watched episode 14 to 16, and the changes continue.

Episode 14 focused on Matt's lawsuit and meeting his parents, Allison's guilt over being the other woman, Jane's anger at Allison for being the other woman/discounting the wife, and we had a funny side story with Rhonda's short lived new roommate.  To me, the new roommate story was islanded...and seeing Carrie try to hang at Shooters with the crew would have been a gold scene.

Episode 15 has Jo's arrival and she brings a fresh energy that Sandy never did...and her chemistry with Jake is apparent.  And we get the start of the Jo/Allison friendship (that lasts till season 3).  And we see small cracks still forming between Michael/Jane even when they help the wife of Michael's co worker.

Episode 16 sheds more light on Jo, firmly establishes Billy's attraction for Allison with his dream, and also focuses nicely on Jane/Michael's marital issues bubbling under the surfsce.  Lastly..Matt's story is resolved and he only shares with his fellow island mate Rhonda.

Apparently..episode 17 begins Rhonda's final arc...and it's a nice soap opera arc where she gets a love interest.

[Chris B]

I 100% agree with you. I was happy they noticed on the podcast that the change came before Heather Locklear which is what they remembered. I love Heather and I love what she brought to the show, but I hate that she gets all the credit when the show had improved before she joined. Switching to serialized storytelling and bringing on Jo were the first things that really saved the show for me.

 

With that said, I hate Jo never lived up to how interesting she was in season one. After that they tended to lean into putting her into victim situations and took away a lot of her layers.

[te.]

The reason why I think so many shows in the 90s failed when they tried to bring on their own "Amanda" is that they never really looked at what actually happened to Melrose Place. Yes, Heather's first episode got a bump, but it fell after that only to explode in her fourth episode. The truth is, that the conflict that she brought to the Billy / Alison relationship is what made it pop but also the fact that they started to heat up other storylines to keep viewers on (most notably Jane / Michael / Kimberly). 

I mean, there was already a pre-cursor to this with Keith; viewers responded to that conflict, but the other storylines at the time just weren't quite that high in stakes to keep viewers on the show at the time. But most tv execs just saw that a big guest star character joined and thought that was the magic trick to get viewers.

[Soaplovers]

I wonder if the Keith story was meant to only be 3 episodes, but seeing the bump in ratings made the show realize that maybe serialized story telling was the way to go.

  Hence why in the 2nd half of season 1, you had Michael/Jane/Kimberly, Jake/Jo, Billy/Amanda/Allison/Keith, and for something less angst...Rhonda/Terrence.

I always viewed the first part of Melrose to be like the 1st season of KL, and the middle and end of season 1to be like season 2 and 3 of KL (hybrid format)

Season 2 of Melrose is just like season 4 of KL (soapy, but still grounded).

[te.]

Rewatching season one along with the podcast definitively has made me notice how hard they went for the will-they-or-won't-they angle of Billy and Alison post-Keith with the Alison fibrosis storyline. But that teasing clearly didn't lead to the ratings that the conflict of Keith brought, so I assume they noticed that and brought in Heather (who was also similarly going to be a four episode guest star initially). 

Still The Place is also reaching the good episodes. They've also talked about bringing on Chip Hayes (who's also married to Deborah Adair) and Darren Star on soon. 

[Khan]

Chances are they won't talk about the sexual harassment allegations against Chip Hayes, lol.

[Chris B]

What?! Who was he accused of harassing? I somehow missed this nugget.

[Khan]

This isn't insider information, but I know I read somewhere years ago that someone had filed a lawsuit against Chip Hayes while he still was producing MP or afterward.  That's why I've always kind of side-eyed his working years later in daytime as a writer.

[te.]

This?

https://www.geocities.ws/Hollywood/4616/lat0418.html

I guess it's pretty "mild" in comparison to what we've heard lately (*cough* Lively / Baldoni situation *cough*) but I guess his departure wasn't amicable. I suppose it'll be glossed over.

With that said, it doesn't appear he harassed anyone specifically but failed to enforce sexual harassment protocols when someone was caught on set with internet porn (in the late 90s no less!). I could see this being an excuse to get rid of Hayes though as the show cleared the deck for the last season with Frank South also leaving.

Edited December 28, 2024 by te.