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For 'Melrose Place,'
one last big hope

'90s star Heather Locklear appears in a guest stint

By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Nov 17, 2009

Will history repeat itself for "Melrose Place?" During its first run on Fox in the 1990s, the show saw its numbers soar when Heather Locklear joined the cast as bitchy PR woman/mankiller Amanda.

The CW's new reboot, which launched in September, is hoping that Locklear will have the same effect on a show whose ratings have been pretty dreary.

Locklear's guest stint on "Place" begins tonight at 9 p.m., when she becomes the second original character to return to the trendy Los Angeles apartment complex after faking her own death. (The first, Sydney, died for real in the series opener, setting up a murder mystery than producers have promised to wrap up soon.)

Locklear's Amanda had been living on an island with husband Peter (Jack Wagner, now Locklear's real-life boyfriend and a potential future guest star). She evidently returned sometime in the past 10 years and is now a top executive at the public relations firm where Ella (Kate Cassidy), the new blonde vixen on "Melrose," works.

At the least, Locklear's return should generate a ratings uptick tonight, after months of media coverage. On People.com yesterday, a video preview of Locklear's appearance had drawn 54 comments, with many who don't usually watch "Melrose" saying that they planned to tune in. The others were debating whether Locklear has had plastic surgery.

If "Melrose" does not see ratings rise from the stunt, the show could be gone by spring. "Melrose" averaged a mere 1.1 rating among the CW's target women 18-34 last week, losing more than half "90210's" lead-in. The CW ordered some additional scripts but has not given the show a full-season order.

"Melrose" has struggled creatively as well.

A few weeks ago word leaked that two cast members, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and Colin Egglesfield, had been fired. Producers insisted it was a creative decision, saying that the show is going to take more of a light, soapy tone after the murder mystery that involved their two characters is solved.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	NBC	“Today” (N)	Sandra Bullock and James Patterson both guest.
8 p.m.	CBS	“NCIS” (D)	A blackout forces the crew to used old-fashioned detective work without technology. What will McGee do?
8 p.m.	ABC	“V” (D)	One hundred diplomatic visas are handed out to the American Visitors.
8 p.m.	ESPN	“College Basketball” (S)	Good early-season game between Gonzaga and Michigan State.
9 p.m.	CBS	“NCIS: Los Angeles” (D)	A militia group commits murder and steals a missile.
10 p.m.	FX	“Sons of Anarchy” (D)	Chibs makes a deal with Agent Stahl that could protect his wife and daughter.
10 p.m.	ESPN	“College Basketball” (S)	Another good one, this time between Kansas and Memphis.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CW	“America’s Next Top Model” (R)	Season finale. The final two shoot a cosmetics commercial and the winner is selected.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Modern Family” (C)	Edward Norton guests as one of Claire and Phil’s favorite musicians.
9 p.m.	CBS	“Criminal Minds” (D)	The team looks for someone who’s killing entire families.
9 p.m.	Fox	“Glee” (C)	The glee club is split into couples for a ballad.
10 p.m.	ABC	“In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts” (N)	Roberts interviews Janet Jackson.
10 p.m.	CBS	“CSI: NY” (D)	A body is found, and it appears to be the work of the Compass Killer.
10 p.m.	FX	“Nip/Tuck” (D)	Julia’s mother wants custody of Annie and Connor.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	ABC	“Good Morning America” (N)	Shakira visits and performs.
7 p.m.	ESPN2	“College Basketball” (S)	California plays Syracuse at Madison Square Garden in New York.
8 p.m.	CW	“Vampire Diaries” (D)	Elena’s relationship with Stefan is affected by something she discovers.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Grey’s Anatomy” (D)	Bailey’s dad visits for the holidays, and he doesn’t like how she lives her life.
9 p.m.	NBC	“The Office” (C)	Michael, Andy, Dwight and Oscar attend a shareholders meeting in New York.
10 p.m.	Lifetime	“Project Runway” (R)	Season finale. The final three showcase their collections at Fashion Week, and a winner is picked.
10 p.m.	ABC	“Private Practice” (D)	Must be daddy issues night on ABC: Addison’s father makes an appearance, but she isn’t exactly happy about it.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CBS	“Ghost Whisperer” (D)	The ghost of a young girl who died from leukemia becomes friends with Aiden.
8 p.m.	NBC	“Law & Order” (D)	Lupo and Bernard look into an armed robbery at an elderly man’s shop.
8 p.m.	ESPN	“NBA Basketball” (S)	The Magic versus the Celtics in an Eastern Conference battle.
9 p.m.	CBS	“Medium” (D)	Is this episode sponsored by Lenscrafters? Allison is forced to wear sunglasses when her eyes become sensitive to light.
9 p.m.	USA	“Monk” (D)	Monk finds a challenge in trying to track down a serial killer.
10 p.m.	Starz	“Crash” (D)	Seth, Kenny and Bo get trapped during a power outage.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21
Time	Network	Program	Description
11 a.m.	ABC	“College Football” (S)	Most will likely see the big rivalry game between Michigan and Ohio State, which isn't quite as big now that Michigan isn't quite as good.
7:30 p.m.	Versus	“College Football” (S)	And the band is on the field! Cal takes on Stanford.
8 p.m.	Fox	“Cops” (R)	Cops in Oklahoma chase a carjacker, but on foot.
8 p.m.	ABC	“College Football” (S)	Teams TBD, but most could end up seeing a good one between Oregon and Arizona.
8:30 p.m.	Nickelodeon	“True Jackson, VP” (K)	True asks out a boy she likes but gets rejected.
11:30 p.m.	NBC	“Saturday Night Live” (C)	Joseph Gordon-Levitt hosts and Dave Matthews Band performs.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22
Time	Network	Program	Description
3:15 p.m.	ABC	“NASCAR Racing” (S)	The final race of the season, the Ford 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway.
8 p.m.	Fox	“The Simpsons” (C)	Jonah Hill plays one of Springfield Elementary’s all-time pranksters.
8 p.m.	ABC	“American Music Awards” (A)	Jay-Z, Black Eyed Peas, Janet Jackson and Eminem are all slated to perform at the 37th annual event.
8:15 p.m.	NBC	“NFL Football” (S)	The Eagles take on the suddenly reeling Bears in Chicago.
8:30 p.m.	ESPN	“MLS Soccer” (S)	The MLS Cup championship game from Seattle.
9 p.m.	HBO	“Curb Your Enthusiasm” (C)	Season finale. Larry returns a favor but then doesn’t get to spend time with Cheryl.
9 p.m.	Fox	“Family Guy” (C)	Peter and the guys try to replace Cleveland with a guy named Jerome.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.