The CW's reboots of 90210 and Melrose Place return from hiatus tonight, and, let me guess: You don't care. And I don't blame you. I myself stopped watching 90210 halfway through a first season so tiresome that I was nodding off before the first commercial. And while Melrose Place did delight for several weeks, periods of dullness eventually began to creep in.
But now both shows are better than they're given credit for, and they have serious potential to be great. Plus, they each boast a cast of characters I'm not ready to say goodbye to. Much to my relief, 90210 has been picked up for a third season, but Melrose Place is teetering on the edge of preemptive cancellation. So here's my appeal to set your DVRs and get watching.
90210: New and improved!
How has 90210 rebounded from that mess of a first season? Peripheral characters, like Adrianna and Liam, have been moved to the forefront. Flat storylines (who cares about those parents, anyway?) have been dropped. The angst level has been recalibrated—there's enough to make for good TV, but the show is sufficiently lighthearted to keep viewers entertained.
I wish The CW would quit endlessly teasing the upcoming same-sex relationship between Adrianna and Gia (Rumer Willis), but I'm confident the rest of the season will be about more than just ratings-grabbing liplocks. I'm dying to find out, for example, what's going on with Jasper, the creepy drug-dealer who's now got accidental murderess Annie under his thumb.
Melrose: Trashy good fun
I admit that Melrose Place is a harder sell. The first half of the season wasted too much time on a misguided murder mystery, which was wrapped up clumsily in the last episode. But now that we're done with that nonsense, I'm ready to see the more interesting storylines play out.
Why? Because Melrose Place is trashy good fun. The CW advertises the series as the steamier, skin-heavier alternative to 90210's bright high school drama. Which is pretty accurate, actually, as this is one attractive cast. Aside from the "dead Sydney in a swimming pool" plot, we've gotten some compelling stories: Cutthroat bitch publicist Ella rising to the top, the innocent Riley choosing modeling over teaching, and—of course—Lauren turning tricks to pay for medical school. (Don't you dare judge her!)
Look, it's not high art, and Melrose Place still has a lot of growing to do. But given how drastically 90210 improved from one season to the next, I bet Melrose Place will prove its haters wrong—provided it has the chance.
Comments (17)
Melrose Place is a good show, I don't understand why nobody likes it...weird...
I hope they don't cancel it...
Nice try, but still not even slightly interested. If I wanted to watch a version of 90210. . . I'd watch the old version. :) Hmm, must go comment more on the Chuck page about how awesome it was this week. . . Now THERE's a great show. You should all stop watching this drivel and watch Chuck instead!
90210 is probably one of the most drastically improved shows of the year. Season 1 definitely had it's slow parts, but once the new show runner jumped on board things started to turn around, and season 2 is actually pretty good. Melrose Place started with promise, but they definitely shouldn't have revolved the first 12 episodes around a murder mystery that no one really cared about. And the big reveal? It was Michael's wife, who had been in one or two episodes prior...awesome. I haven't seen the new episodes of either show yet so I'm hoping 90210 continues what it's been doing so well this season while Melrose improves.
I rather liked 90210's first season. The Jen storyline in season 2 was unbelievably boring. Melrose isn't too bad, but there is a legitimate reason that no one watches it.
Did the CW pay you to say this? I highly doubt you watch and if you do... it's not for the stories.
No thanks!
Even you don't sound like you really believe in what you're writing about these 2 shows. The sell is not too convincing, sorry. They're still a waste of time to me.
Wow, the CBS-owned TV.com wants us to watch God-awful, sure-to-doom, needs-all-the-promotion-it-can-get CBS-Owned The CW shows? Must be philanthropic.
Both the shows are just ok. I personally like Melrose more than 90210
Just because people don't like something, doesn't mean they hate it.
I actually like Melrose Place.Like a lot!
I wish they would have brought back Reaper instead of wasting time with these two HORRIBLE shows
Even your review can't make me watch them. They aren't the kind of shows I like.
OMG, who cares!!!!
I agree that 90210 is much better than it used to be and really can't wait for the next episodes. I'm not sure about the all Adrianna kissing a girl thing. hope they keep her character interesting coz she's one of my favourates.
90210 is a million times better now than it was in season 1. The quality rise is clear to see to anyone who has watched even an episode from both seasons. Its still a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, but I'm looking forward to it coming back, I've definitely been missing it!
LOL what? I'll still pass..