EXCLUSIVE: Welcome back to WeHo. Three popular Melrose Place original cast members, Heather Locklear, Laura Leighton and Daphne Zuniga, are reuniting for a followup to the 1990s staple. A Melrose Place reboot, with the trio attached to star, is in development at CBS Studios and is currently being shopped to networks and streamers, Deadline has learned.
Written by Lauren Gussis, creator/executive producer on the Netflix/CBS Studios series Insatiable, the new Melrose Place picks up years after the original series, created by Darren Star, and would provide an update on the beloved characters, one of whom may no longer be with us.
In the new installment, when one of their dearest friends dies suddenly, the OG residents of Melrose Place gather to honor the deceased. But the pressure cooker of a reunion soon uncovers old traumas, rekindles old romances, reignites old resentments, and reveals new secrets… throwing our characters into chaotic drama that’s reminiscent of the past, but with a much more modern perspective.
Locklear, Leighton and Zuniga are set to star, reprising their fan favorite characters as Amanda Woodward, Sydney Andrews and Jo Reynolds, respectively. Gussis, Leighton and Zuniga executive produce alongside Tiffany Grant and Jason Weinberg. CBS Studios, which owns the Spelling library, is the studio. A rep for CBS Studios declined comment.
Melrose Place as well as the series it was spun off from, Beverly Hills, 90210, were created by Star and produced by Aaron Spelling’s Spelling Television for Fox. The offshoot, which aired for seven seasons from 1992-99, followed the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex on Melrose Place in the West Hollywood area or Los Angeles.
Locklear was on for the series’ entire seven-season run, starting as a recurring in Season 1 before being upped to a series regular the following season. Zuniga was a series regular for the first four seasons; Leighton was on the show for the first five seasons as a guest star, recurring and a series regular.
Melrose Place‘s revolving core cast over the years also included Thomas Calabro, Josie Bissett, Doug Savant, Grant Show, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Rob Estes, Brooke Langton, Lisa Rinna, Kristin Davis and Alyssa Milano.
I hear more original cast members are expected to join the reboot if it comes to fruition. The outlets it is being shopped to is said to include the series’ home network, Fox.
A number of OGs, including Locklear, Leighton and Zuniga, reprised their roles in guest starring appearances on the CW/CBS Studios’ 2009 revival which revolved around a new group of 20-30-somethings living on Melrose Place. It aired for one season.
Over the past two decades, CBS Studios also revisited Beverly Hills, 90210 twice, with the 2008 reboot 90210, which ran on the CW for five seasons, and scripted-reality hybrid BH90210, which aired a season on Fox. Both featured original cast members.