Melrose Place Spinoff: Discussion Thread

[bellcurve]

That's why, as Sylph previously mentioned, I don't buy that Slavkin/Swimmer were really tried and true fans of this show. I think they watched the first season of the show(the show, initially, had some very season one-esque elements that I enjoyed) and then read synopses online. The problem with doing that is that it takes more than just reading a salacious synopses to capture the essence of classic Melrose.

They also made a huge mistake by killing off Sydney in the pilot. While she's definitely no Heather Locklear, Laura Leighton is cheap enough and simply not as overexposed to make the role of "Head Bitch In Charge" Sydney work. The real Sydney, who was a fail at life and as woman, not as this Amanda clone they so badly wanted to pimp in these flashbacks. That Sydney could have worked really well with this group of youngsters. This show definitely didn't need Heather's name, nor Amanda's. Especially considering how they badly butchered her character and how badly she butchered her face.

I still love Katie Cassidy and I think she's probably the most talented of all the newbies. Drama is definitely not her stronger suit, but I found her vulnerability alot more believable when it came to Ella fighting for her job instead of being insecure about Jonah. The Ella they initially introduced to us was a maneater who didn't feel anything. And I feel like once they brought Heather back, there was this need to Allison-ize her, which was completely unnecessary.

IF they bring Melrose back for Season II, they need to fire the losers in charge of this show and get some people in that can really do good, soapy drama. And for God's sake, forget about these losers like Biker Dyke Jo, Lame Jane, and Evil Michael.

[JackPeyton]

I too love Katie Cassidy and she is by far the best thing this show has to offer. But anything remotely likable about Ella is due only her katie, because the writing is very one note and as someone else said, cartoonish. Sometimes Katie does go over the top and camp it up, but i cant say i blame her.

This show is a disaster almost all around. Riley and Lauren are the only two remotely interesting, layered, realistic characters IMHO. The show has no men of substance to offer, no matter how hard they try. Nick Zano is the best among men, but thats not saying much.

I also agree that the older characters need to go.

[Mr. Vixen]

I love this show, and I never realized there was a thread for it on here!

I like all of the characters...I waasn't a huge fan of Auggie, but I loved Violet. It kind of confused me for them to have the first half of the season revolve around Violet and discovering that Sydney was her mother...And then abruptly slamming te plot closed, without any after affects or anything, and having Violet leave town? I think this needed a few more episodes.

I like Amanda being on the show, simply for her interactions with Ella. Outside of that, I don't see her real purpose. Jane was very interesting as land lord in that one episode, and I wish they would have played that out more instead.

Wat's this new guys name? The new doctor? I cant remember..Whoops. But he is MUCH better with Riley than Jonah. I couldnt tolerate Jonah and Riley, but I like both of them apart from each other.

Lauren's struggle is really very intriguing, and the fact that it is now coming up and interfeering with her medical life makes it extremely interesting and fun to watch, and might be my favorite aspect of the show right now.

Dr. Mancini I think is expendable after this season (If the show comes back, that is), because this Lauren storyline will fizzle, and his arguing with David will only take him so far. If there is another season, I assume it will be widely revealed that this Noah kid is David's son, and he will move in with David, and Michael will be fased out.

[Cheap21]

um spoiler warnings!

[Huntress]

Last night I was thinking how a crossover between 90210 and Melrose Place could have made things much more interesting.

If they had made Ryan Eggold a regular on Melrose (he is being wasted on 90210 and given zero airtime lately anyway), they could have used Jessica Lucas as her 90210 character Kimberly McIntyre. She could have investigated Sydney's murder case instead of that recurring detective played by Nicholas Rodriguez who just vanished after the murder case was closed. In that case they could have still used that whole teacher scenario with Ryan (btw, they had so much possibilities making Riley more interesting if they had done some storyline involving her work as a teacher - after all, everyone else's storylines revolved around their careers, why not Riley's?) and Jessica Lucas could have played a more multifaceted character.

Furthermore, what made the original Melrose so interesting was that the apartment complex itself seemed like a character. The viewers knew every place around the set within the first few episodes. On the new show, I still don't know who is living in which apartment and how many apartments there are. The renovated building may look modern, but it surely doesn't look appealing (to me).

[catsmeouch]

You've gotta be kidding, right? Michael Mancini is basically the best part about this show! If there is a Season Two, they need to at least bring back Grant Show and maybe Courtney Thorne-Smith.

[Mr. Vixen]

I read online that Ryan Eggold didn't appear on Melrose PLace (as originally planned) BECAUSE Jessica Lucas had been on 90210.

I cant remember where I read this but I heard the plan was to have Ryan appear as HIS character on the show, but the producers thought it would be confusing to have him as his 90210 character but not have Jessica as hers.

I wouldn't mind seeing Kelly on Melrose...That's how they did the original.

I wouldn't mind seeing Rob Estes be on the show as his original MP character, too, since he is leaving 90210...I dont think him and Jessica Lucas ever had scenes together on 90210 did they? So it might not be too confusing if they did that.

[Cheap21]

I dont see whats confusing about establishing her s a twin sister or look alike cousin

[Mr. Vixen]

I agree. I don't understand it either. that's just what i read online. I bet it was probably more in not wanting to establish a cross-over connection with the show, when it looks like it is going to be cancelled.

the CW really needs to step it up with their promotion and what not, so they can have numbers a little higher.

[bellcurve]

Michael Mancini = and Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[tina m]

Has anyone heard anything about MP being canned? I do watch the show, I am a fan - so I'd love to see it come back. What is the CW waiting for, really?

[Mr. Vixen]

Well they keep advertising tomorrow's episode as a SEASON finale...so it hasnt been cancelled yet.

[catsmeouch]

Wow, are you even watching the same show as me? Michael Mancini livens up every scene he's in. I'd rather have more Michael and less Amanda. He's a much more dynamic character than she is.

It makes no sense. The original Melrose is a spin off of the original 90210, meaning the new Melrose and 90210 take place in the same fictional world...however, 90210 recently had Greg Vaughan appear as a different character from the one he played on the original 90210. AND Rob Estes plays a different character on 90210 than the one he played on Melrose even though they are set in the same world. So I don't buy their Jessica Lucas argument. And I don't even remember her from 90210. She must've been in one of the episodes without Brenda (she was the only reason to watch the new series).

[JackPeyton]

I believe its coming down to a Melrose Place vs One Tree Hill vs Life Unexpected pickup deal. It seems like so far the network is behind all their new pilots so if they pick them all up only one of the three shows will return.

[sheilaforever]

I can't help but really like this show.

They don't do the original's history enough justice but they also don't ignore it completely. And I still like those new characters, mostly due to the actors. Damn!