The CW is taking us back to "Melrose Place" (Tuesday, 8 p.m., Ch. 30), and doing a surprisingly good job of it.
The first two episodes are trashy fun. And, when it was at its best, that's exactly what made the original "Melrose Place" so popular.
It took the original a while to get there, however. When the show premiered in July 1992, it was a big, honkin' bore. Pretty people with almost nothing to do.
And the show didn't get interesting until Heather Locklear joined the cast as Amanda Woodward in the second season, bringing the much-needed vixen element to the show.
No such problem this time around. Not only is there already an Amanda-esque character in the cast — Ella Simms (Katie Cassidy), an entertainment-industry publicist who'll stop at nothing to get what she wants — but there's a murder in the first episode, complete with plenty of suspects.
When it comes to launching — or relaunching — a soap opera, that's the way to go.
"The murder won't be milked out for an entire season, but it will go over several episodes," said executive producer Darren Swimmer. "But ... the idea of mystery and suspense and intrigue is very much a part of the overall tone of the show."
The new "Melrose Place" is built on the framework of the old. It's about a bunch of impossibly attractive 20-somethings who live in that now-refurbished apartment building in the trendy Melrose area of West Hollywood.
"We were huge fans of the original," said executive producer Todd Slavkin. "But when we set out to do our version of 'Melrose Place,' we wanted to pay 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) and I have 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 an homage to the city using the old show as a great backdrop and creating something new and exciting."
In addition to Ella, there's bad boy David (Shaun Sipos); Auggie (Colin Egglesfield), a chef who has a dark, tortured past; aspiring filmmaker Jonah (Michael Rady) and his teacher/live-in fiancee Riley (Jessica Lucas).
This being "Melrose Place," even the good folks do bad things. Lauren (Stephanie Jacobsen) is a med student who makes some, um, unwise decisions when she runs into money trouble. And Violet (Ashlee Simpson-Wentz) is a wide-eyed innocent who just moved to town. But don't be surprised if she's not as innocent as she appears.
There are also a couple of returnees from the original cast. Laura Leighton returns as crazy/manipulative Sydney Andrews — now sort of the matriarch of "Melrose." And Thomas Calabro reprises his role as the ever-manipulative Dr. Michael Mancini. Who, as it turns out, is the bad-boy David's father.
As was the case the first time around, "Melrose Place" is definitely not a show for the entire family. Remember, it's not just fun, it's trashy fun.
"I would say it's definitely still the most scandalous address in West Hollywood. That hasn't changed," Slavkin said.
Ella leads the way in outrageousness. There are indications in the pilot that she is bisexual, but, apparently, it goes beyond that.
"We call her 'try-sexual,' which is she will try anything, Slavkin said.
The smartest decision Slavkin and Swimmer made was to make the new "Melrose Place" feel like the original without copying it.
"It's got all the scandal and the sex. And the fun," said Leighton, adding that the new show "is all its own."
It's modern and it represents the concept of the shared apartment building, but in today's time."
Is it great art? High-class entertainment? Absolutely not.
But it might just be the kind of entertaining, over-the-top, trash that's fun to watch. If you like that sort of thing.
IN ADDITION to Calabro and Leighton, at least a couple more original characters will return to "Melrose." Josie Bissett will be back as Jane Mancini — Sydney's sister and Michael's ex-wife — and Daphne Zuniga is bringing back Jo Reynolds "with a vengeance," Slavkin said.
He's also talked to Grant Show (who played Jake Hansen) about a possible return, and they didn't rule out Lisa Rinna — who has publicly campaigned for the job — returning as Taylor McBride.
"I think we're open to all possibilities when it comes to the former cast members," Swimmer said.
But the star they'd really like back — the star who has turned them down — is Heather Locklear.
"We're huge fans of hers and have a great way for her to come into the show," Slavkin said. "So the door is always open for Heather."
"MELROSE" MARKED a highpoint for Calabro's career, and he's thrilled to be back in Michael's shoes once again.
"I was very excited to find out he had even more money than before and ultimate power," he said. "So I thought, if he continues to be an evildoer, that bodes well for his ability to do so."
But, to his way of thinking, "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. ... 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."
Yes, Michael is married. Again He's got a young child. But he's still looking for love.
"In all the wrong places," Calabro said with a smile.
e-mail: pierce@desnews.com