Writers: Darren Star and Charles Pratt Jr.
Director: Charles Correll
Cast: Josie Bissett, Thomas Calabro, Laura Leighton, Grant Show, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Andrew Shue, Daphne Zuniga, Marcia Cross, Doug Savant, and Heather Locklear
Rating: TVM
Studio: CBS and Paramount Home Video
Release Date: November 13, 2007

Melrose Place was always part of my primetime lineup when it was on television. Those teenage years were great for television with shows like Beverly Hills 90210 and then later when Melrose Place came out. There were always plenty of trash talking moments, pregnancies, drug addictions, marriages, affairs, divorces, and murder attempts. It’s everything you could want in completely useless television. The angle with Melrose Place is that all of the people lived in the apartment complex of the same name. The group had some people you could like, some you could hate, and a few you just figured weren’t even worth being there.

As far as the third season goes, the group had settled into life in Melrose Place. The acting was relaxed, the storylines were involved, and things were flowing pretty well for a Primetime soap opera. If you are new to the series you might be slightly confused by a few things because the season ties up a number of loose ends from the previous season. For instance, Michael’s attempted murder is investigated, Jo is pregnant, and Amanda’s father wants to get rid of Jake. However, if you are new to the show, all of this will leave you wondering who these people are. Fans of the show will sink right into the old days though, and they will feel right at home when they do.

Release Information:
Melrose Place first aired on July 8, 1992 as a sort of older-aged spinoff to Beverly Hills 90210. The series lasted for seven seasons, ending in 1999. Paramount Home Video released the complete third season of Melrose Place on November 13, 2007. The box set includes all 30, hour long episodes and added extras to top the season off.

The Plot
This season of Melrose Place begins right where the last season left off. Jane (Josie Bissett) is sitting in jail because someone ran down her ex-husband, Michael (Thomas Calabro) in her car. Jane is convinced her sister (another ex-wife of Michael), Sydney (Laura Leighton) was the real criminal, though Sydney wants to pin it on Kimberly (Marcia Cross), the crazy current fiancée of Michael. Right from the beginning it may seem that this guy cannot catch a break, but if you’ve watched the former seasons, you might have hoped he died in the attempt.

This action is just part of what you see in the beginning of the set. Billy (Andrew Shue) and Alison (Courtney Thorne-Smith) call off their wedding thanks to Alison’s issues about relationships and men. After going to visit her sister she admits that her father abused them both as children and sets out on a downward spiral to take him down and everyone else with him, even herself. Alison becomes an alcoholic after losing Billy and all of her self respect in the process. Meanwhile, Billy gets along just fine as he hires a younger secretary who looks somewhat like Alison and begins dating her, though like most things on Melrose Place, she won’t last for long.

Jake (Grant Show) meets a mysterious woman, Brittany (Kathy Ireland) and later, narrowly escapes with his life when his boat explodes. He later has to tell Amanda (Heather Locklear) that her father (who was trying to kill Jake) was on the boat, as well and did not make it out alive. Jake goes on to buy the neighborhood bar, Shooters where everyone tends to hang out.

Jo (Daphne Zuniga) is pregnant and fighting for custody of her unborn fetus with the paternal grandparents who hate Jo for killing their, drug trafficking, woman beating son. As the custody case ends in favor of the father’s family, Jo has no choice but to pretend to fake the baby’s death and run away with the child. Little does she know that Kimberly, who cannot have children, has a stillborn baby and is just waiting for Jo to deliver so that she can take Jo’s baby for herself, and Jo can think that her baby is dead.

Melrose Place offers plenty of drama that includes sex, drugs, murder, more sex, deception, and backstabbing. The acting isn’t always the best, but the writing definitely keeps things interesting all the way around. This season brings on seasoned soap actor, Jack Wagner as Dr. Peter Burns. Peter and Amanda are quite the devious duo, which adds something more wicked to the Melrose Place dynamics.

All in all, season three is an entertaining set of shows that is filled with all of the delicious tid bits that make soap operas fun and worth watching. This isn’t life changing television, but if you’re looking for a little gratuitous drama then Melrose Place is going to be just what you need to watch.

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Acting:
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Audio/Visual:
Melrose Place is presented in a full frame format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. This looks to be about the quality that was presented when it was on television. While this was fine, it seems that there were some issues with grain, color dullness, and blur. It was watchable, but it would have been nice to see the quality improved for Melrose Place. The audio did not appear to be enhanced either. The sound was courtesy of Dolby Digital English Stereo. While it was decent, again it was not of the highest quality.

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Bonus Features:
There were three main special features on this Melrose Place DVD. The first bonus feature, “Melrose Place: According to Jake” gives Grant Show a chance to detail his thoughts on his former character along with the show’s creator, Darren Star. During this featurette, Show talks about how cool he was in comparison to the other guys and he discusses the relationships he had with the various women of Melrose Place.

Next there is “Seven Minutes in Hell”, where the hottest moments of the series are looked at in a brief seven minutes. Finally, there is “Everything you Need to Know about Melrose Place”, which is a skit that discusses the series from the eyes of the lost Melrose Place tenants.

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Bottom Line:
Melrose Place may not be the best show out there, but for what it’s worth it is nothing if not entertaining. If you want something with drama, smut, and laughs due to the sheer absurdity of some of the actors and the roles that they play, then Melrose Place is definitely for you.

If you have never seen Melrose Place you may want to start with the earlier seasons. Season three is fairly involved and if you start watching now you may be confused by a couple of things that have been brewing for a while now. However, if you have watched the show before and consider yourself a fan, you will definitely want to add this to your collection.

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: Melrose Place, Primetime Soap Opera, DVD Box Set, DVD Review, TV on DVD, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Andrew Shue, Heather Locklear

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