As "Melrose Place" star Heather Locklear and the cast reunited to discuss the sultry soap at 90s Con, actress Daphne Zuniga explained what's stalling the show's revival.
Revival talks at CBS studios revved up in 2024, with Locklear, Laura Leighton and Zuniga rumored to star, Deadlinereported. Zuniga, who played Jo Reynolds, attributed theWarner Bros. and Skydance-owned Paramount mergeras a reason for the holdup. The 2023 actors and writers strike also delayed the project, she said.
"We're hoping, fingers crossed, and we make our calls every day, and we're just hoping that it continues," Zuniga said. "If the strike hadn't happened, and Skydance hadn't wanted to buy Paramount and CBS Studios, it'd be a done deal right now."
Earlier this month, Paramount
Skydance closed its bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, bringing the two media conglomerates under one corporate umbrella. The move allows the corporate entity to control two Hollywood studios, two streaming services, cable and network news like CBS and CBS News, and channels ranging from MTV to Food Network and TLC to Comedy Central and HBO.
"We're still trying," she continued. "Lauren and I and Heather, our executive producers, were attached to produce it, and I make the calls. We do have interest, but we don't know. That's how Hollywood works. We're going to be all on walkers soon."
The reboot, announced in 2024, begins as the Melrose Place residents gather to honor an old friend who dies suddenly. Ahead of the reunion, old traumas, romances, and resentments reveal new secrets that throw the characters' lives into a tailspin.
Locklear, who played the no-nonsense Amanda Woodward, joined Zuniga, Leighton, Grant Show, Rob Estes andJack Wagner at the Hartford, Connecticut, convention on Oct. 18 as they discussed love triangles and fan encounters.
Grant Show says fan's boyfriend bit his hand at nightclub
Grant Show, who plays resident hunk Jake Hanson, quickly recounted a real-world encounter when a fan and the fan's boyfriend approached him at a nightclub. The boyfriend wasn't enthused to meet him.
"I did what I do, which is introduce myself to him and try to give him a lot of attention," Show said. "I put my hand out and said, 'Hi, my name is Grant,' and he took my hand [and] bit it."
As the crowd erupted in gasps and laughter, Show said that he pulled his hand away and that the man fortunately didn't break the skin.
"Big hands, big feet, big disappointment," Show joked.
An audience member also asked Show about a 1995 "Seinfeld" episode that references "Melrose Place" and features his wife, Katherine LaNasa. In it LaNasa plays a police officer, administers a lie detector test on Jerry Seinfeld and asks if he's ever seen "Melrose Place."
LaNasa and Show, who met on the HBO series "Big Love," married in 2012.
"She still hasn't seen Melrose Place, but I love her all the same," Show added.
The seven-season drama ran from 1992 to 1999 and followed the sexcapades, cat fights, and murder plots among friends living in Melrose Place. The first season debuted to 16 million viewers, with Locklear joining the series during Season 2.
By the season finale, Locklear's Amanda and Wagner's Peter Burns fake their death, and elope on a tropical island.
The show renewed as the CW spinoff "Melrose Place" in 2009, but was canceled after the first season afterlow viewership and criticism. USA TODAY calledthe cast, "hard-bodied young things, most of whom can’t act their way out of a Birkin bag.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Melrose Place' star provides update on show's revival at 90s Con
