Time Travel Tuesday: Melrose Place

In our current age of remakes, nothing has been safe from a revamp. Movies are remade, books are turned into films and TV shows, and even entire TV shows are being re-imagined. Melrose Place is one such show. The recent version was crap, to say the least. But the source material, the original Melrose Place, was much juicier.

Melrose Place was the starting point for some of today's hottest cougars. Desperate Housewife Marcia Cross became a household name in her role as Dr. Kimberly Shaw, and Kristen Davis was stirring up trouble in Melrose Place before she hit the streets of New York for Sex in the City. Daphne Zuniga warmed her prime-time soap chops on Melrose before becoming a regular on One Tree Hill, as did Josie Bissett before gracing the small screen in The Secret Life of the American Teenager. It was also the last stand for a few popular actors, including 90's hotties Andrew Shue and Thomas Calabro.

No matter what point the actors were in career-wise, each week was packed with drama. I remember watching each week with my mom, not really understanding what was going on (I was about 6 when the show first hit the airways) but still being engrossed in the drama. I shipped Billy and Alison SO MUCH! I was so shocked when Kimberly wasn't actually dead, and what was up with the ghosty Brooke reappearances?!

Prime time soap operas just aren't this good anymore. One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl and the like simply pale in comparison to the epic awesomeness that the original Melrose Place had. The show really dropped off in the last couple of seasons, after most of the original cast left, but the first five seasons were just dripping with greatness. My only question that is unresolved to this day is: Why was Heather Locklear always billed as a special guest star? She was in EVERY FREAKING EPISODE!

If you haven't seen the original Melrose Place, it is SO worth checking out. The DVD's are available on Amazon for purchase, and on Netflix DVD to rent. Until you get them, here's the theme, in all it's 90's guitar-riffing glory.