Melrose Place: A Favorite 90's Guilty Pleasure Re-Made for a New Generation
A decade after the original series went off the air, a new generation of TV viewers will get the chance to experience the indulgence that is Melrose Place as the remake kicks-off its inaugural season tonight. A few familiar faces will be returning to the show, which will give it some continuity, but the series does face a major challenge: can it live up to the 90's original?
The series will undoubtedly capture a large portion of the younger audience that the CW targets, but if it can also draw in older Melrose Place fans, it'll be a surefire winner and the network will be ordering up another season before the first one ends.
A lot of the first episode, which airs tonight at 9pm ET/8pm CT, introduces the new cast and sets up the series' first mystery. Just like the original, the show also features contemporary music and pop culture references that are relevant to today. Add that in with the modern day fashions, and one day, just the first Melrose Place, it will look dated when watched years later. Another feature of the show that is copied again in the remake is characters that are interesting without being too deep. Afte rall, we watch them for what they do - their conniving behavior, sleeping with eachother, the backstabbing, and so on.
Ella Simms, played by Katie Cassidy, assumes the role of a younger Heather Locklear-like character. Sydney Andrews (Laura Leighton) returns from the original. Now older, the red-head plays the role of a cougar. Age hasn't made her change her ways, however, she's just as bad as ever. And on a similar note, Dr. Michael Mancini (Thomas Calabro), who's just as bad as Sydney, is also returning to the show. He's still up to his old tricks, doing bad things to maintain his good life.
To contrast, the series also has some more innocent characters. Ashlee Simpson is a naive LA transplant, which is somewhat reminiscent of Jane Mancini from the series first season. I can see where this is headed: she starts out innocent, but eventually she'll become just as evil as the rest of the bunch. Jonah Miller (Michael Rady) shoots a wedding and accidentally gets some footage that turns out to be extremely valuable.
With the mix of old and new characters, the new Melrose Place is bound to have just as much drama, if not more, than the first. Without Heather Locklear back on board though, that is debatable. Hopefully it's a nod to the past and Locklear will end up joining the show in its second season. Afterall, she didn't join Melrose Place until season 2 in the original series. I'll be tuning in tonight to see if it lives up to the hype - will you?
