The cast and creators of the new Melrose Place recently spoke to journalists at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour. Paul McGuire of The CW said about the new series, it has “new faces, new drama, [and] the same pool. [The] updated version of the popular 1990s series, Melrose Place returns with fan favorites Laura Leighton as Sydney Andrews and Thomas Calabro as the infamous Dr. Michael Mancini. The courtyard at 4616 Melrose is now occupied by a fresh crop of 20-somethings searching for love, money, and fame at L.A.’s premier hot spots.”
Resurrecting a Classic Series
Todd Slavkin, Executive Producer on the show, told the journalists, “We were huge fans of the original [series]. But when we set out to do our version of Melrose Place we wanted to pay a tribute to the old show, but really create our own show with our own group of characters that were inspired more from the experiences Darren [Swimmer, another Executive Producer] and I had. We grew up in Los Angeles and have known each other since sixth grade. So this city is special to us, and this was a great way to pay homage to the city using the old show as a great backdrop and creating something new and exciting.”
And Slavkin explained what it takes to make a popular TV series. “Write great scripts,” he said, “have an amazing cast that creates great characters and give [the viewers] compelling stories that [they’ll] want to watch every week.” He added, “That’s the goal.” He also said that music will play an important part in the show. “Music is a huge deal to Darren and I. We were in a band together through our formative years, so we are both musicians. So music is a huge deal. The show is full of new music both emerging artists and artists that are already well known.”
The show will deal with a murder and Swimmer spoke a little about that at the Press Tour. “The murder won’t be milked out for an entire season, but it will go over several episodes. But one thing that we will be doing is the idea of mystery and suspense and intrigue [which] is very much a part of the overall tone of the show. And so whether or not an initial murder is solved, there will still be plenty of mystery and suspense and some crime elements and fun stuff like that to keep going that we'll keep continuing through the life of the series.”
Veteran Cast Members Laura Leighton and Thomas Calabro Talk about Their Returning Characters
Laura Leighton is one of the veteran cast members returning in this updated version of the show. She is excited to return and is happy with what the creators and writers have done with her character. “They had an approach to the show that incorporated my character in a very unique way. And to me, I had no expectation, going in, what it was going to be. I only knew that playing Sydney the first time was such fun, and there was no downside to coming back to play her again.”
Returning to the set was an interesting experience. As Leighton explained, “I think everyone who stepped onto the courtyard set has had the feeling of stepping back in time, stepping back into the old world. And this is a completely new set created to look like the old one but after having gone through a really terrific remodel. So the courtyard looks great, but the feeling is just the same and the blue doors are there, and they completely bring back memories of shooting there, or scenes that happened there. It is a great feeling.”
Thomas Calabro is the other returning cast member. As he explained about his character, “I wasn't looking forward to anything specific, but I was more interested in the ideas they had bringing the show forward. And I was very excited to find out [my character Michael] had even more money than before and ultimate power. So I thought, you know, if he continues to be an evildoer, that bodes well for his ability to do so. So that's what I kind of got excited about.”
According to Calabro, his character was misunderstood. “Michael was never a bad guy. However, he did bad things to preserve his good life. And here, again, he has a family and he's trying to keep it together. I look at this way, and I really do, all joking aside -- that he wants a normal, good life. And get out of my face if you are going to try to mess with that. And people are constantly trying to mess with that. So he is forced to do things that he wouldn't want to do, but must do, in order to preserve his life.”
Melrose Place premiers Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 9 PM ET/PT on The CW.
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