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Melrose Place: 9 Twists Revisited
ENTER AMANDA
The show’s first big twist came in the form of Heather Locklear’s casting midway through Season 1, following a series of “not-so-riveting” episodes that nearly got the show canceled.
“Amanda Woodward was not conceived as a villain,” Star admits. “She was just going to be Alison’s boss for a few episodes, but then Heather came in and said ‘Hello,’ and it just seemed devious. She was also really enjoying herself. Once she came on the show, I thought, ‘OK, this is going to be fun.'”
DR. MANCINI AND MR. HYDE
Star acknowledges that Michael’s evolution into a full-blown womanizer — triggered by his affair with Kimberly — was “another inflection point for us in terms of making the show juicier. Plus, it was fun to finally let some of these actors off their leashes and let them run with it.” That said, Star insists the (bad) seeds had already been planted: “I kind of feel like he was never that nice, even in the pilot.”
A SCAR IS BORN
For the record, Star had no idea that the reveal of Kimberly’s scar in Season 2 would quickly become an iconic moment in television history. “It was making us laugh,” he says. “As a writer, you have to please yourself. We loved it, but we had no clue how it was going to be received.”
As for Marcia Cross’ performance, Star recalls the actress asking, “I don’t understand. How am I supposed to play her?” (Fair question!)
WHOA, BABY!
Speaking of iconic Kimberly moments, Star says it’s still “chilling” to revisit the scene in which Cross’ character breastfeeds the baby she stole from Jo (played by Daphne Zuniga). “The actors always went to the place we wanted them to go,” he says.
THE BIG C
For the record, Star and his team always knew that Amanda’s cancer storyline was a risky venture. “We had a lot of discussions about that,” he recalls. “I felt like it was a sitcom staple, the way a lot of sitcoms dealt with ‘issues.’ But in this case, it was about seeing a vulnerable side of Amanda, as well as bringing her and Michael closer together. Our thought process all along was: How can we make it deepen the character?”
BLIND AMBITION
Was blinding Alison, then having her fake her blindness after recovering, a tad over the top? Sure! But does it matter? “We had to risk going there,” Star says. “Sometimes we want too far, and sometimes things didn’t work, but it was always about entertaining the audience — and ourselves.”
MATT’S BIG KISS (OFF)
One of the show’s most iconic moments… is also one that never actually happened. A kiss between openly gay Matt (Doug Savant) and a friend of Billy’s was famously cut out of a Season 2 episode’s final broadcast. Star still wishes it could have been kept in, lamenting that “network TV has always been incredibly puritanical. And that was a different era.”
KRISTIN DAVIS MAKES A SPLASH
Drowning in the apartment complex’s iconic pool was the worst thing to happen to Brooke Armstrong — but the best thing to happen to actress Kristin Davis. “They were totally unconnected,” Star says of killing off Brooke, then hiring Davis for Sex and the City, “but it was good timing. I thought Kristin was great on Melrose Place, and I knew she’d be perfect for Charlotte.”
REBOOT REGRETS
Melrose Place‘s final twist came 10 years after it ended, when The CW premiered a short-lived reboot. “I didn’t really know what to think,” Star, who was not actively involved with the reboot, says. “I honestly think it would have been better served not bringing back any of the old characters. The building should have been the star. Trying to connect it to the old series didn’t serve it.”
(And don’t even get us started on the mysterious return of Laura Leighton, whose character died in her wedding dress on the original series.)
Image: Courtesy of CBS Television Distribution
Image: Courtesy of CBS Television Distribution
Image: Courtesy of CBS Television Distribution
Image: Courtesy of CBS Television Distribution
Image: Courtesy of CBS Television Distribution
Image: Courtesy of CBS Television Distribution
Image: Courtesy of CBS Television Distribution
Image: Courtesy of CBS Television Distribution
Image: Courtesy of CBS Television Distribution
