Published on Double X (http://www.doublex.com)
Willa, Melrose Place seems utterly redundant to me now. Its great innovation was, as I recall, to make TV watching cool again. Before Melrose Place, TV was in a sitcom stupor, a vast wasteland of cinematic junk suitable only for children and old ladies. Then suddenly Melrose Place came around, and my post-college friends were gathering in batches weekly to watch what was really just a daytime soap that happened to air at night.
By: Hanna Rosin
Posted: September 8, 2009 at 4:02 PM
Willa, Melrose Place seems utterly redundant to me now. Its great innovation was, as I recall, to make TV watching cool again. Before Melrose Place, TV was in a sitcom stupor, a vast wasteland of cinematic junk suitable only for children and old ladies. Then suddenly Melrose Place came around, and my post-college friends were gathering in batches weekly to watch what was really just a daytime soap that happened to air at night.
Willa, Melrose Place seems utterly redundant to me now. Its great innovation was, as I recall, to make TV watching cool again. Before Melrose Place, TV was in a sit-com stupor, a vast wasteland of cinematic junk suitable only for children and old ladies. Then suddenly Melrose Place came around, and my post-college friends were gathering in batches weekly to watch what was really just a daytime soap that happened to air at night. (For the record, I will say that I resisted, in a smug, self-righteous way, and made endless fun of my then-boyfriend, now-husband for participating.)
Of course, making TV cool again gave us Sex and the City [1], The [2]Sopranos [2], The Wire [3], and also endless bad reality shows and night time drama rip-offs. But why we need a new Melrose Place in that mix is beyond me. The new show is, as you say, just as dreadful as the old. It seems to have updated by throwing in a little ER, a little CSI, a little Gossip Girl, and some offhand web-speak: "Let's give them something to tweet about," says our new Heather Locklear, as if that will mask how outdated her type really is.
Links:
[1] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0011UBDTK?ie=UTF8&tag=dblx-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0011UBDTK
[2] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C3O6R2?ie=UTF8&tag=dblx-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001C3O6R2
[3] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FA1P1W?ie=UTF8&tag=dblx-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001FA1P1W