Melrose Place Melrose Place Season 5.

[Carrie Fairchild]

I don't know why people dislike season 5 so much. I loved it. It was seasons 6-7 that I found sub par.

I'm finding it very hard to stay focused and interested in it. I don't think I have ever cared less about a bunch of characters.

When you look at it, episode count wise, season 5 of MP was the equivalent of going into season 7 of a standard (at the time) network show. They'd burned through so much storyline, it's no wonder it started losing it's way and the cast started jumping ship.

Because they showed the seasons more or less back to back on Irish TV, the timelines can get a bit confusing but I'm pretty sure season 6 was the one that I thought was a mess.

 

[Marika]

[...] I'm pretty sure season 6 was the one that I thought was a mess.

Yeah, it was. I remember looking at the cast picture when they promoted the premiere of season 6 – back then when magazine ads were still a thing – and I thought to myself: "Who are all these people?"

If you have a cast of 12 regulars, and only 4 of them have been on the show longer than one season (those 4 were Amanda, Michael, Billy and Peter), something is clearly wrong.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Yeah, it was. I remember looking at the cast picture when they promoted the premiere of season 6 – back then when magazine ads were still a thing – and I thought to myself: "Who are all these people?"

If you have a cast of 12 regulars, and only 4 of them have been on the show longer than one season (those 4 were Amanda, Michael, Billy and Peter), something is clearly wrong.

Yes! I'd forgotten that the erosion of the original cast had become so obvious at this point. You begin to stop caring when this happens.

This happened with another show that I loved - Australian series The Secret Life of Us. By it's fourth series, only two original cast members were left (one of whom was always more of a supporting character) so they added seven new characters to fill the gaps. The show was scrapped soon after as it had become almost unrecognizable.

 

[Alexis]

Yikes! More Mr Baywatch and more Mrs Crazy Frog. I don't know how down for this I am... But I already bought it!
Alyssa Milano could maybe be good? And I like the look of the hot blonde guy behind Kelly Rutherford. I still haven't went back and finished season 5 yet either!

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

And I like the look of the hot blonde guy behind Kelly Rutherford.

Being hot was about all that hot blonde guy had going for him. His character was boring as hell.

 

[tommie]

Yikes! More Mr Baywatch and more Mrs Crazy Frog. I don't know how down for this I am... But I already bought it!
Alyssa Milano could maybe be good? And I like the look of the hot blonde guy behind Kelly Rutherford. I still haven't went back and finished season 5 yet either!

Linden Ashby. He also played Jo's abusive husband way back in season 1.

 

[tommie]

This happened with another show that I loved - Australian series The Secret Life of Us. By it's fourth series, only two original cast members were left (one of whom was always more of a supporting character) so they added seven new characters to fill the gaps. The show was scrapped soon after as it had become almost unrecognizable.

Honestly, Melrose Place was unlucky in the fact that so many cast members were itching to leave at the end of season 5. Had they at least been able to space out the leavings over another season it might not have effected the show as much. I remember Darren Star talking around the finale of Melrose Place that he had envisioned the show going for a Knots Landing style of run - and he was right. The set up of the show would've really been benificial to that sort of run.

 

[Marika]

Or they could have gradually introduced new regulars in the earlier seasons.

Okay, technically they did by upgrading Amanda (season 2), Sydney (season 3), Kimberly, Peter and Brooke (season 4) to series regulars, but they could have added 1 or 2 more new and fresh people at the same time. All these new regulars had been on the show before in a recurring capacity.

Before season 4, the show only had 8 regulars (9 in season 3). They always had so many guest stars, so there would have been enough space to fit in some extra regulars.

BH90210 was lucky that they had 5 cast members who were always happy to renew their contracts until season 9 – and their seasons were just as long as Melrose Place's were. I think if either Laura Leighton, Courtney Thorne-Smith or Grant Show would have stayed on the show after season 5, season 6 wouldn't have been that bad.

I mean, I've always liked Jane and I was glad to have her back for the final season, but her exit in season 5 didn't really leave a big void. Jane and Sydney needed each other as characters, and they didn't really work on their own. Same with Kimberly/Michael, Amanda/Alison, Billy/Alison etc. Maybe that's what hurt the show in the long run.

Another thing that damaged the show in season 6 was the change of scenery. Familiar locations like Shooters and D&D disappeared, and too many scenes didn't place at the apartment complex anymore. The building was the heart and center of the show, but they didn't really acknowledge that anymore.
I remember this one scene in early season 6 when Coop moved in and Megan told him everything he needed to know about the other tenants. And I was like, "Okay, how long has Megan been living here? 4 weeks? And does she really know anybody of these people?" I mean, how exactly did Megan know Craig, Billy, Samantha or Kyle? As far as I remember, they never shared a meaningful scene together.

 

[tommie]

Or they could have gradually introduced new regulars in the earlier seasons.

I think that was Darren Star's intention when he left the show with a draft until the "winter finale" in season four - I just tend to think it was the typical short-sightedness of Frank South and Chuck Pratt that squashed all those new characters. While I was happy to see the last of the Parezi clan, killing off Alycia was a mistake for an example; she could've easily been a series regular and considering she was a lawyer and all the legal problems the tenants had, it would've made sense to expand her role. Brooke was simply made too unlikeable, but that wasn't exactly Kristin Davis's fault - she could've easily lasted a few seasons if they had played their cards right and expanded her orbit beyond Billy and Alison, at the end she wasn't even in Amanda's orbit! While Patrick Muldoon wasn't going to win any Emmy's, making him a crazy psycho rapist was also an example of the "shit, we need a cliffhanger and something exciting to happen" line of thinking.

 

[Marika]

Yes, Richard and Mackenzie Hart could have easily been Kyle and Taylor McBride. Both couples were entrepreneurs, and just like Richard, Kyle was a player and ladies' man.

I loved Brooke – but yeah, they really gave up on her character a few weeks into season 4. There were so many missed opportunities. Brooke and Sydney could have become frenemies doing some crazy stuff, she could have hooked up with Jake (like everybody did sooner or later), or I could have even seen Michael taking Brooke as a trophy wife and crazy Kimberly tormenting her and tearing her to shreds.

Alycia... well, she was okay, but the actress looked like she was 50. She could have stayed in a recurring capacity, for sure.

Caitlin Mills (Jasmine Guy) was a good contender for a regular role. I mean, there was so much build-up in that S3 winter finale (?) and she was heavily featured in that two-part episode, but then it was all over in a second. Maybe Heather Locklear felt threatened and didn't want another super b*tch on the show stealing her limelight.

 

[Toni]

Yikes! More Mr Baywatch and more Mrs Crazy Frog. I don't know how down for this I am... But I already bought it!
Alyssa Milano could maybe be good? And I like the look of the hot blonde guy behind Kelly Rutherford. I still haven't went back and finished season 5 yet either!

By then I could only like Kelly Rutherford, funnily enough. Amanda wasn´t Amanda, she eventually became Big Lips´ nemesis. Milano wasn´t that bad, but what I never forgave them was that they didn´t let Doug Savant say goodbye and turned him into a mean beech after he was gone (that diary...).

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

I think that was Darren Star's intention when he left the show with a draft until the "winter finale" in season four - I just tend to think it was the typical short-sightedness of Frank South and Chuck Pratt that squashed all those new characters. While I was happy to see the last of the Parezi clan, killing off Alycia was a mistake for an example; she could've easily been a series regular and considering she was a lawyer and all the legal problems the tenants had, it would've made sense to expand her role. Brooke was simply made too unlikeable, but that wasn't exactly Kristin Davis's fault - she could've easily lasted a few seasons if they had played their cards right and expanded her orbit beyond Billy and Alison, at the end she wasn't even in Amanda's orbit! While Patrick Muldoon wasn't going to win any Emmy's, making him a crazy psycho rapist was also an example of the "shit, we need a cliffhanger and something exciting to happen" line of thinking.

Yes, Richard and Mackenzie Hart could have easily been Kyle and Taylor McBride. Both couples were entrepreneurs, and just like Richard, Kyle was a player and ladies' man.

I loved Brooke – but yeah, they really gave up on her character a few weeks into season 4. There were so many missed opportunities. Brooke and Sydney could have become frenemies doing some crazy stuff, she could have hooked up with Jake (like everybody did sooner or later), or I could have even seen Michael taking Brooke as a trophy wife and crazy Kimberly tormenting her and tearing her to shreds.

Alycia... well, she was okay, but the actress looked like she was 50. She could have stayed in a recurring capacity, for sure.

Caitlin Mills (Jasmine Guy) was a good contender for a regular role. I mean, there was so much build-up in that S3 winter finale (?) and she was heavily featured in that two-part episode, but then it was all over in a second. Maybe Heather Locklear felt threatened and didn't want another super b*tch on the show stealing her limelight.

In a Vulture article looking back on the show's third season, Charles Pratt had this to say. “On Melrose Place, we’d manipulate the audience to like people if we liked them, and not like them if we didn’t. Usually those ones we just killed them off.” I'm wondering did the likes of Jack Parezi, Brooke and Alycia fall foul of this policy given that they felt written off before their time?

https://www.vulture.com/2014/09/melrose-place-1994-1995-writers-room-stories.html

@Marika I agree with you regarding Caitlin. She was great. I remember her leaving and her vowing that they'd all be sorry they'd crossed her. I was expecting her to reappear with a vengeance down the line but nothing came of it. Two episodes and she was gone. She would've made a good nemesis for Amanda. In the earlier seasons, Amanda just kind of steamrolled her way through anyone who crossed her. There was her rivalry with Alison where Amanda usually always had the upper hand but she never really had anyone on par with her, which is where I think Caitlin could've stepped in. Someone who could match her at her own game. They tried the rivalry thing in the later seasons with both Taylor and Lexi but I think they missed a trick by not expanding on the Amanda vs Caitlin friction.

 

[Marika]

They tried the rivalry thing in the later seasons with both Taylor and Lexi but I think they missed a trick by not expanding on the Amanda vs Caitlin friction.

Especially since both Taylor and Lexi both came across as quite cartoonish villains. I don't think anybody ever believed that they could eventually outdo Amanda.

Caitlin, however, was the real deal. She was raw and downright evil. Same with Jack Parezi.

(In this crazy Melrose world, Caitlin could have been Rhonda in disguise, taking revenge for being neglected in season 1 and being put on a bus )

 

[Alexis]

I have no idea who Caitlin is, even though I watched the entire season 4. So, that really shows what think of Melrose Place.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

I have no idea who Caitlin is, even though I watched the entire season 4. So, that really shows what think of Melrose Place.

You could rewatch all of season 4 again and you'd still have no idea who Caitlin was because she only appeared in season 3

It was during the early days of Peter and maybe something's getting lost in the mists of time but I'm pretty sure there was an arc where he was trying to kill Amanda for some reason, which she found out about, but subsequently fell in love with him anyway despite him trying to off her.

 

[Alexis]

You could rewatch all of season 4 again and you'd still have no idea who Caitlin was because she only appeared in season 3

It was during the early days of Peter and maybe something's getting lost in the mists of time but I'm pretty sure there was an arc where he was trying to kill Amanda for some reason, which she found out about, but subsequently fell in love with him anyway despite him trying to off her.

Still no idea about any of this?

 

[tommie]

Still no idea about any of this?

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Still no idea about any of this?

It's 20 years ago now since I watched parts of it I think if I were to rewatch from the beginning, it'd be like watching a new show for the first time. Particularly those earlier seasons which are my favourites yet I can recall sweet FA about Amanda's cancer or her relationship with Jake (bar them shagging on her desk).

 

[Alexis]

ZERO. Wasn't she on The Cosby Show?

 

[Alexis]

So I am finally finishing season 5. Alyssa Milano has shown up as Michael's sister and she's all kinds of pointless and annoying. She doesn't even serve any purpose. This whole thing with Sidney and the fake lawsuit against D&D and then her relationship with Craig. All of it is nonsense. Especially her getting hired as an exec at D&D and then leaving with Craig to start a rival Add agency. Total bollocks.

Peter's personality switch from a mostly good guy to a dominating chauvinistic asswipe is a bit of a reach. I mean I hate Taylor and all but I don't get the switch in personality. Then again I just don't get their relationship at all. I mean it's his dead wife's sister and he just doesn't even seem to like her at all. So why not just throw her out? It's a dumb stupid storyline and a waste of the Peter character. He worked much better with Amanda. This whole gaslighting by Michael and Taylor is daft. I don't know exactly when Peter became so utterly stupid.

Amanda and Kyle is not even a thing. They have zero chemistry and I see it going nowhere. Or I hope it doesn't go anywhere.

Speaking of things that aren't even a thing. WTF is up with Jake and Alison. I mean, why are they a couple? When did Jake loose control of his brain? Seriously they cut his hair he didn't have a lobotomy. Why does Jake, who's known alcoholic Alison for years just let her drink. All the time, at Shooters and at home. Why do they want to buy a house in the suburbs and adopt a child? What happened? How is this a thing? It makes no sense. Alison is probably the most horrible TV character ever. Why couldn't she have left when Jane did.

Ya know what also makes no sense. Billy and Samantha being harassed by her dad. This is going on and on and on.... All they had to do was go to the police and tell them where he was and that he was blackmailing them and he would be out of their lives and they would be off the hook. But no... They just let it go on and on and on... This threat over them. Something that is so easily solvable is somehow turned into a plot. Bullshit!

Matt's whole thing with his evil sister in law and his niece is such a truncated Lifetime movie. I mean it's not Melrose Place. Matt actually comes across as grossly smug and self righteous. He's an annoying preachy asshole busybody. And apparently he doesn't even have any friends at the apartment complex now.
Actually there don't seem to be any friends at the complex anymore. Which I feel makes it really boring. It just makes it a show with mostly scenes involving a pair of characters and not much else. There isn't any major interaction with the whole cast.

I'm currently on the season finale two parter. Who's Afraid of Amanda Woodward. I think when I am done it will probably be about a year before I start season 6. Even though I have it sitting on the shelf ready to go.
This season has been a tough one. And I have realised I really dislike most of these characters and the direction the show has been taking.