After months of speculation from fans and lots of wooing from the network, Heather Locklear has agreed to visit the new Melrose Place. The actress helped to save the original Melrose from an early grave in 1993. Will she be able to do the same for the new version or is it already too late?
Locklear joined the original Melrose Place late in its first season as a recurring guest star. Her character, scheming Amanda Woodward, became so popular that she became a series regular and stayed with the show for the remaining six seasons. The series wrapped with Amanda and Peter (Jack Wagner) faking their deaths — with the help of Michael (Thomas Calabro) — and getting married on a remote island.
No sooner had plans for the new Melrose been announced than there was speculation that Locklear would reprise her role. While it seemed a natural to viewers, Locklear turned down CW’s offer. If all had gone according to plan, Amanda would have been the one that was found floating in the pool at the end of the pilot. The producers rewrote the part and Sydney (Laura Leighton) became the murder victim, essentially ignoring the fact that the character had met a grisly on-screen demise in the original series.
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Now that the series has debuted, Locklear has agreed to appear in the new show. It’s unknown how many episodes she’ll be in but Amanda will be up to her old tricks. She’s set to appear in the November 17th episode and will reportedly be the boss of Katie Cassidy’s nasty Ella Simms character.
Executive producers Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer said, “We’re ecstatic to have the chance to bring Amanda Woodward back to Melrose Place. Heather’s involvement in the show is something we’ve been working on for some time as we couldn’t imagine creating and producing this show without the iconic character’s inclusion.”
While Locklear’s appearance is sure to attract a few curious viewers, you have to wonder if it will be enough to make them want to stick around. The new Melrose’s ratings haven’t been very good from the start with just 2.31 million viewers and a 1.3/3 in the 18-49 demo. The ratings for the second episode fell significantly and last night’s outing dropped again, to a new low of 1.45 million and a 0.8/2.
Viewing habits have changed significantly since Locklear helped save the original show more than 15 years ago. Audiences tend to be a lot more frugal with their time and, once they pass on a continuing drama, they’re very unlikely to change their minds later.
What do you think? Will Locklear’s return make you curious enough to tune in or is the new Melrose Place as good as cancelled already?
OK, I am huge fan of this show both old and new! I don’t understand why more people aren’t watching it. The chemistry of these characters is fantastic. I have to admit I was skeptical at first. I went back and watched the first few episodes of the original series–they were horrible. Heather certainly saved it then, and I am betting she will do wonders this time too. I just wish there was a theme song.
You know, I was a super fan of the original and watched it faithfully. I hoped when they started the new version, they would do the old version justice. The first couple of episodes have been slow, but it takes time to build the story and the characters. As far as people saying the new cast are horrible actors, I disagree. They especially like to rag on Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, but they are building the characters and back story. I think the Violet and Ella characters have true potential to become the next Kimberly and Amanda, respectively. There’s been a glimmer… Read more »
I live in argentina and I download the episodes 24 hurs later. I relly like the show. there must be millions like me all over the world who aren’t included in the ratings
I was a big fan of the first Melrose and really enjoy this new one!!! I don’t understand why they don’t give shows more time, after the first show they were saying it was in trouble already? I didn’t even realize it had started and had to watch the first show on a replay that first week on Friday. Now I have my DVR set to record it each week. Are they counting all the people that DVR it and watch it later in those ratings??
when are networks gonna start counting how many people watch their shows on their pc? prison break & others would still be on if they would have. get it 2gether people, its the techno age 4 crying out loud!
as an avid fan of the original melrose AFTER heather joined, i did watch the re-vamped melrose.m didnt like it. just doesnt have the same spark. howevera. will turn in on 11/17 to see ms. locklear’s debut as am a big fan. altho i dont have much hope for this melrosea. i’m hoping cw gets their masrbles in 2pl
ace & offers up a primetime show starring heather. now THAT i would tune in for every week.
I actually love the new Melrose Place. I keep reading about people complaing about how young the current cast members are and have too much teenage drama. Most of the cast members are mid twenties to mid thirties exactly like the original. I like the diversity of the backgrounds and their mixed personalities. There is already great character development and chemistry between the cast members, much better than the first season of the new 90210. This show has a lot of potential and every episode gets better and better. The CW isn’t a huge network and they never score the… Read more »
Hope Heather Locker’s return can save the show….this season has been great so far, and last night’s episode was the best yet. I couldn’t believe it when I read on Perez Hilton that the ratings are taking a big dive which is so stupid because this show is just getting better and they’re lining up great stars like Taryn Manning…so come on people stop being so LAME! I was so glad they had Taryn Manning guest star last night – love her! She even pulled a gun on Jonah as they played the Boomkat song “Run Boy” – it was… Read more »