Melrose Place is an American television drama series broadcast on The CW from September 8, 2009 to April 13, 2010. The series is a sequel/continuation of the 1992 FOX TV series of the same name and part of the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living at the fictitious Melrose Place apartment complex in West Hollywood, California Smallville producers Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer were show runners of the series.
The series was met with mixed reviews from critics and, due to low ratings, was cancelled after one season.
Development
After successfully relaunching the franchise with 90210 in 2008, there was considerable speculation as to whether The CW planned to create a new version of Melrose Place in a similar vein. An article in E! Online reported the possibility of a new version of Melrose in September 2008, though The CW declined to confirm any such project at that time. Some weeks later, The CW and CBS Paramount Network Television (successor-in-interest of Spelling Television and therefore the legal rights holders to Melrose Place) said they were "exploring the possibility" of creating a new version of the series, to potentially debut in the 2009–2010 TV season and targeting their "prized demographic: young women." Original series creator Darren Star also confirmed that discussions had taken place, but nothing was official. On October 31, 2008, Entertainment Weekly writer Michael Ausiello reported that One Tree Hill creator Mark Schwahn had been approached about running what was being called "Melrose Place 2.0".The Hollywood Reporter confirmed on December 14, 2008 that Schwahn was in negotiations to write the initial script for the potential series.
Melrose Place is an American primetime soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992 to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex called Melrose Place, in Los Angeles, California. The show was created by Darren Star for Fox and executive produced by Aaron Spelling for his company, Spelling Television. It is the second series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise. Season one and season two were broadcast on Wednesday at 9pm, after Beverly Hills, 90210. In 1994, for its third season premiere, the show moved to Monday at 8pm.
The show had many cast changes during the run. Thomas Calabro was the only original cast member to remain on the series throughout its entire run.
The show earned several Golden Globe nominations and placed #51 on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list.
Filming
Filming for the series took place at a studio in Santa Clarita, California.
Setting and original premise
The show is set in a small apartment courtyard complex located at 4616 Melrose Place in the city of West Hollywood, California. Several young individuals reside in the apartments, each with their own dreams and drives. The original format for the show was to have self-contained stories that conclude in every episode, but when that formula proved unpopular, the producers and writers started developing long-term storylines to evolve during the season. By the second season, the show had adopted a full-on soap opera format.
Melrose Avenue is a shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Los Angeles that starts from Santa Monica Boulevard at the border between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood and ends at Lucille Avenue in Silver Lake. Melrose runs north of Beverly Boulevard and south of Santa Monica Boulevard.
Its most famous section, known as the Melrose District, is the West End through West Hollywood and Hollywood.
At the corner of Fairfax and Melrose is Fairfax High School, which marks the start of the Fairfax District.
One of the most famous landmarks located on Melrose Avenue is Paramount Pictures.
Metro Local line 10 operates on Melrose Avenue.
Melrose District
The eastern end of the district, which runs from Fairfax to Highland Avenue, became a popular underground and new wave shopping area in the early 1980s. Pioneered by adventurous independent retailers and restaurateurs, Melrose Avenue captured the global imagination as the birthplace of Southern California's New Wave and Punk cultures. Rapid notoriety quickly lured movie stars, moguls, and style seekers, leading the press to dub Melrose Avenue "the new Rodeo Drive." Ready for its close-up, the avenue enjoyed its share of TV and movie cameos, and appeared regularly on Jay Leno's "Jaywalking" segments of The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, in addition to pop culture gems like Entourage and LA Ink.
The first season of Melrose Place, an American television series, premiered on FOX on July 8, 1992. After thirty-two episodes, the season one finale aired on May 26, 1993. Each episode ran approximately 45 minutes in length, with the season premiere and finale being extended to approximately 90 minutes in length.
The DVD version of this season was released under the name "Melrose Place: The Complete First Season".
Cast
Starring
Recurring
Melrose Place, a primetime soap opera created by Darren Star, premiered on July 8, 1992 on Fox network in the United States and ended on May 24, 1999. The show spans seven seasons of 226 episodes, and one special aired in 1995. Each episode was approximately 45 minutes long (without commercials) though there were several double or two-part episodes that were shown as feature length 85 to 90 minute episodes
The complete series of Melrose Place has been released on DVD in the United States (Region 1) from 2006 to 2012, with the final season having been released on July 31, 2012.
Series overview
Episodes
Season 1: 1992–93
The first appearances of Jane Mancini, Michael Mancini, Sandy Harling, Matt Fielding, Jake Hanson, Billy Campbell, Alison Parker and Rhonda Blair (in 1x01). Jo Reynolds is introduced (in 1x15). The season marks the departures of Sandy Harling (in 1x13) and Rhonda Blair (in 1x32). Eventual series regulars make their first appearances as guest stars, Kimberly Shaw (introduced in 1x11), Sydney Andrews (1x19) and Amanda Woodward (1x21). Executive producers are Aaron Spelling, E. Duke Vincent and Darren Star.