And so I “like’’ the new “Melrose Place,’’ in that I think it has the potential to be as addictive, and phony, as a can of Pringles potato crisps. The trashy CW series, tonight at 9 on Channel 56, has none of the hokey moral quandaries of the show that precedes it, “90210,’’ no lesson-learning unless you’re a student of chicanery and double-dealing. The new “Melrose Place’’ is just a mess of gossipy plotlines about adultery, murder, and secrets. If it has a moral compass, the arrow is stuck pointing down, to hell.
“MP’’ opens up with one of the zanier soap conventions, to let you know right off the bat that the show demands a sense of humor. Sydney (Laura Leighton), who was killed by a car accident in the original, has been mysteriously resurrected and is landlady at the Melrose Place apartment complex. Yup, brought back from the dead. And then, just as quickly, dead again, afloat face-down in the famous pool. Who killed Sydney? The first chunk of the series will revolve around this mystery, as a number of the complex’s residents, including the hunky sous chef and recovering alcoholic Auggie (Colin Egglesfield), face questioning from the police.
Katie Cassidy, daughter of David Cassidy, plays Ella, this show’s equivalent to Heather Locklear’s Amanda from the original. Ella is a manipulator, and she chews up sincere young folks like wannabe filmmaker Jonah (Michael Rady) and his girlfriend Riley (Jessica Lucas) before dinner. She doesn’t have the amusingly stiff demeanor of Locklear, which is to say she may be a more natural actress; but she has the potential to bring some brio to the “Melrose’’ party. A high-powered publicist, Ella will do almost anything to sign new clients, and she’s bisexual, saying breezily and emptily, “I love love.’’
