Actors - Melrose Place

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	Actors - Melrose Place

Melrose Place is a TV series that ran between 1992 and 1999, created by Darren Star. In the United States, Melrose Place appeared on the Fox network, and ran around the world. In late 2004 the network SOAPnet began repeating the show.

Show history and description

A spinoff from Beverly Hills 90210 (though not featuring any permanent cast members crossing over), Melrose Place is an apartment block in the West Hollywood district of Los Angeles with young adults living in it. In the story, 90210 teenager Kelly (Jennie Garth) pursues hunky, brooding carpenter Jake Hanson (Grant Show), but returns to her zip code when she realized they were from different worlds.

During the first season, the show was a relatively earnest serial drama focused on how young people come to Los Angeles to realize their dreams. The ratings were poor, and as time went by, the show took a more sensational and soapish turn as more and more rich and powerful characters appeared and the focus was on their rivalry for power and money. The real turning point in the show was the late first season arrival of former Dynasty vixen Heather Locklear as the conniving Amanda Woodward. Amanda bought the apartment building and quickly took over the company that another principal character (Alison) and herself worked at; her catty one-liners, sexy-but-tough wardrobe and man-stealing helped make Melrose a guilty pleasure for many millions of viewers around the world. Within a few seasons Locklear had slept with or made out with every male cast member except the gay Matt Fielding (Doug Savant). The show is remembered fondly for its twist endings, miniskirts, and the many "vixens" who were regulars on the show.

Dr. Michael Mancini, played by Thomas Calabro, was the only original character that appeared during every season. Jane Andrews Mancini, played by Josie Bissett, took a brief hiatus but returned for the final season. Michael and Jane were originally supposed to be the stable couple, with Michael a good guy, but in no time at all Michael was cheating on Jane with unstable Dr. Kimberly Shaw (Marcia Cross), divorced Jane, married Kimberly, then slept around with Jane's sarcastic, trashy prostitute/stripper sister Sydney (Laura Leighton). This established Michael as the goofy, wisecracking slut and con artist he would remain until the end of the show. Kimberly was the love/hate of Michael's life until her death in 1997 and quite an awe-inspiring character in her own right, providing many jolts to the audience, such as Kimberly pulling off her wig to study her shaved, scarred head in the bathroom mirror; having her wig torn off in view of hospital staff by Matt Fielding; struggling to contain multiple personalities; learning fighting techniques at a survivalist camp; and blowing up the apartment complex in an incendiary fourth-season opener.

Michael's only real friend was fellow apartment resident Matt Fielding. Matt was gay, and fit the widely seen long-suffering homosexual characterization of much of TV, frequently being harassed, fired, or beaten up for his homosexuality. Matt had very few relationships and those relationships always ended with Matt being dumped, being abused, or in one case, being framed for the murder of his lover's wife. Matt had none of the red-hot sex scenes which helped make Melrose famous; when he and then-boyfriend Dan (guest star Greg Evigan) shared a brief kiss, FOX forced producers to edit the scene out. Savant felt that his character was in love with Michael Mancini, but producers turned the story down. Savant exited the canvas in 1997; Matt was killed off-screen in a car crash a year later.

Other original cast members were the African-American Rhonda (Vanessa A. Williams) and Sandy Harling (Amy Locane), who were both written out after the first season; chronically depressed photographer Jo (Daphne Zuniga), who pined for Jake and searched for the son she gave up at birth; and star-crossed, pure-hearted lovers Alison (Courtney Thorne-Smith) and Billy (Andrew Shue). Amanda's first major sin upon arriving in Melrose was to seduce Billy, who was generally dim-witted and thought with the wrong head. Alison and Billy reconciled, but Alison fled their wedding after flashing back to childhood sexual abuse.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Melrose Place ]

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Actors - Melrose Place

Show history and description

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