Truth to tell I never quite understood that old Peanuts saw of it being "sydney or the bush" but the meaning isn't hard to fathom - put up or shut up, do or die, succeed or fail and tonight MELROSE PLACE's success or failure hinges on how well or poorly Heather Locklear is received and how well or poorly they've written her in the reboot. Known for saving the Dynasty and then the Melrose Place franchises, Locklear has a unique reputation among viewers (and probably the folks in LA who hire and fire) for being a never miss actress. She saves everything she's in from being absolute dreck - and usually everything she's in is absolutely dreck - but there's something about her that elevates the material to campy dreck - and a lot of times that's all that people really want.
Although I like the new MELROSE PLACE, I can see why it's struggling. They went in a questionable direction to start the show - killing off Sydney, a popular lead character from it's previous incarnation who was already thought to be dead - in a murder mystery where we're just getting to know the characters that are at the center to the mystery. It's hard to care who's guilty (or not guilty) when we just don't know or care about these people at all.
But despite that, I've come to really like some of the cast and hope that the return of vixen Amanda will give the show more time to spin itself around while it's trying to catch the spirit of the times - much like the original did. There are a few characters (Ashlee Simpson's super crazy Violet and Colin Egglesfield's Augie) who are being written out. It wasn't Egglesfield's fault he got saddled with an exceptionally dark character which probably contributed to turning people off. Meanwhile Simpson's Violet is simply bat-shit crazy but she's not quite Kimberly Shaw crazy (mainly because Marcia Cross is a far superior actress to Ashlee Simpson which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone with a pulse).
On the plus side, there is tremendous talent on this show - Katie Cassidy as Amanda heir apparent Ella is brilliant as is Shaun Slipos as David, Michael Mancini's thieving son who has the most beautiful pouty green eyes in the history of television. Speaking of Mancini, Thomas Calabro's portrayal of the older but no wiser (although much richer) doctor is right on target. So too is Stephanie Jacobsen's role as a med student who turns tricks to pay for school and MIchael Rady does an admirable job as filmmaker Jonah who is much too nice to make a living in LA - he's too nice to own a car in LA, but it is nice to see a nice character being nice. Isn't it?
So, like the show itself, this drama is ongoing and tonight we'll have a better idea - will it be Sydney (dead in the water) or the bush (growing, reaching to the sky and possibly on fire)?
