Melrose Place

Hey, did you hear that Heather Locklear is returning to Melrose Place in the role of Amanda Woodward?!?

While that casting news is well-known at this point, fans of the series should also be excited to know that it will focus heavily on Amanda over the next couple months.

The CW certainly isn't shy about advertising her return, which takes place on November 17. This is the latest teaser commercial it's been airing:

Of course, there is still one more hour of Melrose Place to go before Amanda returns. The episode "Ocean" airs next week.

According to the promo below, the Jonah/Riley relationship is truly on its last legs. Will Ella be there for the former when it finally topples? Follow the jump and see what we mean...

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Red hot sex between Auggie and Violet.

The likely end to Jonah and Riley.

The discovery of Sydney's murder weapon.

A whole lot went down on this week's episode of Melrose Place, all of which we reviewed earlier today.

Storylines aside for a moment, what about the songs played throughout the hour? As always, we've listed them all in our Melrose Place music section. Check out a sampling below, with easy links to iTunes for quick purchasing...

• A Fine Frenzy - "Electic Twist"
• Colin Barstow - "Wolves Final and Sexy"
• Dashboard Confessional - "Belle of the Boulevard"

Paging Heather Locklear: can you get to Melrose Place even earlier than November 17? The show really needs you.

Last night's episode, "Gower," highlighted a few of the show's weaker points and characters. Click on the title of the episode for a recap and read below for our expanded take on the installment...

Just fire them now: Like Grey's Anatomy, Melrose Place now has the problem of real-life events blurring on-camera plot developments. It was difficult enough to take any scene with Colin Egglesfield or Ashlee Simpson seriously before, due to their acting. Now that we know they're leaving the show? Any time spent on Auggie and Violet feels like a waste.

Just break-up already: How long will the show drag out the relationship between Jonah and Riley? The love birds were clearly doomed from the start, but a couple of kisses - followed by guilt-ridden reactions - is not what we signed on for with Melrose Place! Give us sex, give us dark, dirty secrets. Don't give us seemingly realistic problems between two seemingly nice, normal characters.

No more crying for David: Unless writers were hoping viewers would laugh at David's cascade of tears while kneeling over his mother's grave, let's hope Shaun Sipos sticks to brooding in the future.

The bright, hot spot: Katie Cassidy can act. She's believable as Ella, who also happens to be the best character on the show. She's shrewd when she needs to be, but she has a soft spot for her friends when it matters. The discovery of Lauren's big secret was handled well, as is the relationship between these two. Heck, even Stephanie Jacobsen can kind of act.

Did you like the episode? Review a few Melrose Place quotes from it below as you decide...

Riley: I feel like we're on two trains going in totally opposite directions. It's bigger than Auggie or Kendra. | permalink

Lauren: What are you doing?
Ella: I was gonna ask you the same thing, Pretty Woman. | permalink

Ella: No more putting that crap up your nose. Otherwise, your gonna have a powder lunch with River Phoenix. | permalink

Ella: Gossip may be my bread and butter at work. But, off duty, I can actually keep a secret. | permalink

As you might expect, The CW is doing everything in its power to hype the return of Heather Locklear.

The actress reprises the classic role of Amanda Woodward on the November 17 episode of Melrose Place, still images from which you can check out now.

The network has also released a new promotional poster, warning fellow characters to watch their backs over the next few months...

It's no secret that ratings for Melrose Place have been tanking. The show hopes this return will create a spike, along with the recent cast shake-up.

Colin Egglesfield and Ashlee Simpson-Wentz are out; while it's recently been confirmed that Nick Zano is in.

It's official: Nick Zano is moving in to Melrose Place.

The actor, most recently seen on Cougar Town, will portray a doctor at the hospital at which Lauren and Michael work. He recently spoke to Michael Ausiello about joining The CW drama. A few excerpts:

On his character: He moves into the building and works at the local hospital. He’s a person who enjoys life. He lives every day to [its fullest]... I just literally walked out of a meeting with [exec producers] Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin. They were very specific about how they’re going to change the direction of the show. In TV, you usually don’t get a chance to fix anything.

It’s always easier to cancel something than fix it. And The CW clearly has a passion for the show, because it’s still on the air. And all of these people are making a very concentrated effort to improve the show and I’m happy to be a part of it.

On what his character is hiding: It’s Melrose Place. Everybody has a secret. That’s all you’re getting out of me, man.

No word yet on when Zano will debut. But Colin Egglesfield departs the show in January.

Following a week off, Melrose Place returns tomorrow night with an episode titled "Gower."

As viewers can find out in the clips below, a pair of major events take place during the hour:

1. Ella confronts Lauren about the source of her influx of cash;
2. The show flashes back to when David first meets Sydney.

As always, we'll recap the episode in full after it ends; reviewing developments and posting quotes, music and more from the installment.

For now, get ready for "Gower" with the two scenes below from it.

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You'd be surprised what I know...

So states Amanda Woodward at the conclusion of the video below.

Indeed, The CW debuted a new trailer for Melrose Place during last night's episode of The Vampire Diaries.

It doesn't reveal much, but one thing is clear: nothing at this iconic apartment complex will ever be the same.

Watch the promo, check out a few episode stills from Heather Locklear's debut and let us know if you're excited for it to take place on November 17.

For a show that hasn't aired a new episode in over a week, Melrose Place has remained in the news.

It announced the firing of two stars a couple days ago, and also confirmed that Heather Locklear's Amanda will be featured prominently over the next couple months.

As for the new upcoming episode, The CW airs "Gower" on Tuesday night. As the photos from it reveal, two major storylines will play out during the hour: we'll flashback to David meeting Sydney; and we'll see Jonah continue to flirt with Kendra:

As always, visit TV Fanatic for a detailed review of the episode soon after it airs. Below, we've compiled a few still shots from the installment. Click on each to enlarge...

We hope you're excited about Heather Locklear's return to Melrose Place, fans.

Because The CW plans on featuring a great deal of Amanda Woodward soon after she re-debuts on November 17.

According to Jessica Lucas (Riley), the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010 is pretty much all Locklear, all the time.

"The back nine will be focusing on Heather. There is some kind of mystery there between her and Sydney, so Laura Leighton may be staying on in some form," Lucas said to E! News.

As for the supposedly spoiled murder mystery - due to her firing, it seems clear Ashlee Simpson-Wentz's Violet was involved in Sydney's death - Lucas says viewers will still be surprised to see what went down.

"Episode 12 is the whole wrap of the murder mystery, so something really shocking happens in the pool. It ties in with the murder mystery, but it's something completely unexpected."

As Melrose Place bids farewell to one hunk (sorry, Colin Egglesfield), a rumor is spreading that it may have found its next one.

Nick Zano, who just complete filming as Courteney Cox's boy toy on Cougar Town, is in negotiations to join The CW reboot in a recurring role.

According to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, Zano would portray a doctor who works with Lauren and Michael at Wilshire Memorial.

In an interview last week, executive producer Todd Slavkin described the character as “irreverent and funny.. He will move into the [apartment] building. He doesn’t take life very seriously. Medicine can be very fun as well as serious to him, and he ends up lightening up Lauren.”