CW's Melrose Place: Official News; 90210 Star Crossover??
This is the official thread of one of the most anticipated 2009 TV shows, Part of 90210 franchise, "Melrose Place", maybe you can't remember the name but actually you should remember Heather Locklear playing the role of Amanda, Marcia Cross as Kimberly Shaw, and Vanessa Williams as Rhonda, now new stars will make this show this fall on CW channel. Remember tuesday after 90210!
Cast Members:
Katie Cassidy as Ella Simms
Colin Egglesfield as Auggie Kirkpatrick
Stephanie Jacobsen as Lauren Yung
Jessica Lucas as Riley Richmond
Michael Rady as Jonah Miller
Ashlee Simpson-Wentz as Violet Foster
Shaun Sipos as David Breck
Ryan Eggold as Ryan Matthews (90210 recurrent character) | not confirmed yet
Recurring Characters:
Thomas Calabro - Dr. Michael Mancini (MP old main character)
Laura Leighton - Sydney Andrews (MP old main character)
Aurelia Scheppers - Ruby
Jessica Lucas Role: Riley Richmond, a wealthy and beautiful 24-year-old who works as an inner-city elementary school teacher. She is engaged to Jonah but has second thoughts about marrying him.
Ashlee Simpson-Wentz Role: Violet Foster, a small-town girl with a “shrewd sex kitten” within
Shaun Sipos Role: David Breck, a son of Grant Show’s Jake Hansen, a bad boy with smokin’-hot looks
Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen Role: Lauren Yung, a med student by day, high-end call girl by night
Colin Egglesfield Role: Auggie Kirkpatrick, a surfer by day, sous-chef/aspiring restaurateur by night
Katie Cassidy Role: Ella Simms, works in PR, dabbles in bisexuality and probably qualifies as the playah of the group. As a high-strung, snarky fashionista, she brings the funny to the party
Michael Rady Role: Jonah Miller, a cute and quirky 25-year-old aspiring filmmaker who makes his living as a videographer of weddings and bar mitzvahs for the rich and famous after moving to Los Angeles with his fiancee a year ago
At Thursday’s CW upfront presentations, we got our first glimpse of the Melrose Place reboot. We saw a few scenes, and then asked the cast members about their new alter egos. But as it was just a preview, take these comments with a grain of salt. That said, it was the simply the most important piece of television ever. Read on to see why:
Who’s Back from the Original?
Laura Leighton and Thomas Calabro are reprising their roles as Sydney Andrews and Dr. Michael Mancini, respectively. Though they’ve shared a marital bed in the past, they aren’t a couple in the pilot episode. But Syd-Mike ’shippers needn’t fret. Leighton left the door open for some future hanky-panky. “Sydney has most likely always maintained some sort of relationship with Michael,” she teases. “It’s been complicated, and that’s not going to change.”
Hey, Wait! Didn’t Sydney Die?
Um, well, technically, yes, but hey, look over here, shiny things! No, don’t worry — the producers aren’t trying to pull a fast one on sharp-minded Melrose fans. Leighton sheds light on her “resurrection” in next week’s Mitovich Mega Minute video.
Where’s Amanda?
Heather Locklear has not yet agreed to appear on El Nuevo Melrose, but at least one former cast member is crossing his fingers. “The businessman in me thinks it would be crazy not to have Heather back,” Calabro says. In the meantime, it’s Sydney who’s collecting the steep rent checks as the Place’s landlady.
Is One of the Resident Fellas Jake’s Son?
While it was originally reported that bad seed David (Shaun Sipos) was Hunky Handyman, Jr., it’s quickly revealed in the pilot that he’s actually Michael’s kid, one of two Mancini offspring actually, who “may or may not be cast members of the show,” Calabro says. For now, the “very rich and very handsome” Michael (as Calabro describes him) has his hands full with David. “He takes some jaunts outside of the law,” Sipos of his alter ego. Also: He might have slept with/be sleeping with Sydney!
Who’s Doing Whom?
Lovebirds Riley (90210’s Jessica Lucas) and Jonah (Greek’s Michael Rady) are together in the pilot … but maybe not for much longer. Riley is a sweet, devoted schoolteacher and Jonah is an aspiring filmmaker. The shocker: It’s actually Riley who takes to Hollywood’s fast-paced life.
Is There Really a Hooker with a Heart of Gold Among Us?
Not exactly. Stephanie Jacobsen, fresh from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, plays Lauren, a driven med student who finds herself in a financial pinch. “Her journey in the pilot is about how she finds her way out,” says Jacobsen. In short, $1,000-an-hour buys a really nice stethoscope.
Ashlee Simpson? Seriously?
Yep, but it’s Ashlee Simpson-Wentz now. She plays Violet, and while not much is known about her character, Simpson-Wentz described her as “fresh off the bus.” And what about that new dye job she’s got? That particular shade of red appears to match Leighton’s own, no? Hmmm. Coincidence? “We don’t know — they’re not giving us the juice yet,” AS-W says. “But the first episode does have a nice jaw-dropper.”
Oh Yeah, What’s This About a Murder?
The pilot episode revolves around a murder mystery, as signified by a body that shows up, Sunset Boulevard-style, in the complex’s iconic pool. Gee, talk about going off the deep end!
Will Characters from the New 90210 Cross Over?
CW president Dawn Ostroff says that they’re still working on how such a crossover would make sense, story-wise, so don’t expect Dixon and Annie to show up at the new Shooters - yes, there will be a new Shooters - any time soon. That said, a little bird told me that Ryan Eggold, who plays 90210’s Mr. Matthews, just might have a cameo in the first episode.
Anyone Gay?
Katie Cassidy (who plays the bride on Harper’s Island, though she’s blond here) plays Ella, an ambitious aspiring publicist who bats for both teams. Though the preview shows scenes of Ella meeting cute with David, we hear she’ll also have female suitors. When asked if Ella has a boyfriend, Cassidy remains coy. “I don’t know — there might be,” she says. “It is Melrose Place.”
We have a new summary of the new series which spills some light on the plot:
In an elegant Spanish-style apartment building in the trendy Melrose neighborhood of Los Angeles, a diverse group of 20-somethings have formed a close-knit surrogate family. Sydney Andrews is the landlady, still beautiful at 40, and a central figure in the lives of all her tenants, especially handsome and rebellious David Breck. Sydney started an affair with David despite her turbulent history with his estranged father, Dr. Michael Mancini. Both father and son learned through experience that Sydney was not above using blackmail to control people. Another tenant, high-powered publicist Ella Simms, once considered Sydney her mentor but their friendship was destroyed by betrayal, and Sydney threatened to evict Ella and ruin her career. Sydney also played a pivotal role in the career of Auggie Kirkpatrick. After they met at an AA meeting, she became Auggie’s sponsor and encouraged his dream to become a chef. Now a successful sous chef at the trendy restaurant Coal, Auggie has been avoiding Sydney since she began drinking again. The other tenants include Lauren Yung, a medical student in desperate need of money to pay her student loans, and Jonah Miller, an aspiring filmmaker who has just proposed to his live-in girlfriend Riley Richmond, a first-grade teacher. The newest tenant, 18-year-old Violet Foster, has just arrived in LA with her own secret connection to Sydney.
Melrose Place is back to its old dirty tricks. The CW’s forthcoming reboot of the classic ’90s sudser will launch this fall with the kind of bombshell revelation that would make Kimberly Shaw’s legendary scar bust open. Unfortunately, unlike that iconic cliffhanger, there ain’t a chance in hell this twist will remain unspoiled before it airs in September. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if this thing leaks in the next week or so. Or today. Or right now after the jump. (Yes, that was your warning. Seriously, this is a gigantic spoiler, so head for the exit if you don’t want to know the bombshell at the center of Melrose 2.0.)
The Melrose pilot — snippets of which were unveiled to advertisers at The CW’s upfront presentation this morning — has been shrouded in the kind of secrecy more typical of an episode of Lost than a trashy primetime soap. “The pilot script isn’t being released to anyone — not even to writers who are meeting on the show,” an industry insider recently whispered. “There’s apparently some twist involving Sydney that they’re trying to keep under wraps.”
It’s under wraps no more: Someone murdered Sydney! Again!
Sources confirm to me exclusively that the dead body found floating face down in Melrose’s trademark pool in the opening minutes belongs to none other than Laura Leighton’s bitchtastic ex-stripper. I’m told her death will set in motion a season-long murder mystery that finds nearly all of the show’s principal characters — particularly Syd’s ex, Michael (Thomas Calabro) — a possible suspect.
I know what you’re probably thinking: They brought Sydney back to life only to kill her off in the first 10 minutes?! Sorta. Yes, she dies (for real) right out of the gate, but Leighton will be sticking around. An insider confirms that Sydney will be seen via flashback in multiple episodes. Said flashbacks will explain where’s she’s been and what really happened after she became road kill more than a decade ago.
I know what you’re also probably thinking: Is this the story Heather Locker was pitched and ultimately turned down? Yes, that was supposed to be Amanda Woodward’s bloodied corpse floating in the pool. But when Locklear nixed the offer, producers approached Leighton. (Mystery solved: Locklear killed Sydney!)
Ashlee Simpson-Wentz ‘So Excited’ About ‘Melrose Place’
Come this fall, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz will make her way back to the small screen for a new full-time gig on the CW’s new “Melrose Place.” The series, based on the drama-filled original from the ’90s, which starred Heather Locklear, Marcia Cross and Kelly Rutherford of “Gossip Girl,” promises to be just as scandalous as the original.
“I play the girl that’s straight-off-the-bus. It’s fun,” Simpson-Wentz told MTV News about her character, the seemingly naive Violet Foster. “It’s exciting because we don’t get to see the next episode. We don’t get to read the scripts until we’re actually about to shoot it, and everyone is dying to know what’s going to happen to their characters, so it’s fun. It’ll be exciting to play that arc. … It’s got good drama.”
And with rumors that a dead body is already involved in the plotline of the first episode, it’s a far cry from Simpson-Wentz’s other TV series. “For me, I started off doing ‘7th Heaven.’ I went on to do my music career so now I’m really, really thrilled [to be back on TV]. This is what I wanted to do and this is such a great show. I’m so excited about the show.”
Recently, Simpson-Wentz made a cameo on “CSI” alongside her hubby, Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz. But don’t expect to see him on the show anytime soon. “He hangs with me, but we don’t read lines,” she laughed. “I’m sure he would if I asked him to. I don’t know about [him making a cameo]!”
The CW will kick off its fall campaign on Sept. 8 with the sophomore year of “90210″ and the bow of “Melrose Place.”
It’s the second year in a row that “90210″ is the centerpiece of the net’s fall launch campaign, and CW is hoping that anticipation will be high for the remodeled “Melrose.” CW is getting a jumpstart on its competish by launching the week of Sept. 8, but it won’t be quite as quick out of the gate as last year, when the net’s fall sked launched on Labor Day.
Josie Bissett Returns to New Melrose Place
Looks like Melrose Place is getting more tenants – Josie Bissett is returning to her old haunt as a guest star, PEOPLE confirms.
Bissett reprises her role as Jane Andrews Mancini, sister to Laura Leighton’s Sydney Andrews, in at least one episode and may do more, according to a source.
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Can't wait to see Ashlee owning those bishes :heart: