Melrose Remake Casts It's Amanda ...

Katie Cassidy, the daughter of David Cassidy, is the first female resident moving into the CW's new "Melrose Place."



On "Melrose Place," to be directed by David Guggenheim, Cassidy will play the sexy and stylish Ella Flynn, an up-and-coming publicist with a big career ahead of her.

She joins Michael Rady, who was cast as aspiring filmmaker Jonah Miller.

Cassidy, repped by Endeavor and Anonymous, next co-stars on CBS' limited drama series "Harper's Island," a "Ten Litle Indians"-style mystery story set on a remote island. She recurred on CW's "Supernatural" and the WB's "7th Heaven."

SOURCE: THR.com

First Casting Scoop! From "Swingtown" to "Melrose" ...

Well, looks like I spoke too soon about the casting news ...

The first actor cast in the new "Melrose Place" is ... Michael Rady.

The "Swingtown" alum landed the gig Wednesday morning, a day after the CW officially greenlighted the pilot for the "Melrose" update, to be directed by Davis Guggenheim.

On the CBS Par project, penned by "Smallville" exec producers/co-showrunners Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer, Rady will play Jonah Miller, a cute and quirky 25-year-old aspiring filmmaker who makes his living as a videographer of weddings and bar mitzvahs for the rich and famous after moving to Los Angeles with his fiancee a year ago.

The role is somewhat reminiscent of struggling writer Billy (Andrew Shue) from the original Fox series.

In addition to his role as summer school philosophy teacher Doug Stephens on "Swingtown," Rady co-starred in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" and recurred on Showtime's "Sleeper Cell" and ABC Family's "Greek."

Related News ... CW Renews 90210 + Other Series ...

The CW has officially renewed related show, 90210 for a second season. Also renewed are Gossip Girl, Supernatural, Smallville, America's Next Top Model, and One Tree Hill, leaving very little room on the schedule, although, Everybody Hates Chris is rumored to not return, while Privileged, The Game and Reaper sit on the bubble.

"Lily" (the Gossip Girl spinoff) and the remake here in question are rumored to be locks for the fall schedule, as well as Vampire Diaries although all are far from locks, but they seem to be heavy bets.

CW Greenlights Pilot!

The CW's update of "Melrose Place" has received an official pilot order, and Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim has come on board to direct it.

The CBS Par-produced "Melrose Place," an remake of the '90s series about a group of twentysomethings living in the trendy Melrose neighborhood of Los Angeles, was written by Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin ("Smallville"), who will serve as exec producers/showrunners. Endeavor-repped Guggenheim, who won an Oscar for "An Inconvenient Truth," will exec produce as well.

In an interesting "twist" ... Guggenheim is married to Elisabeth Shue, sister of Andrew Shue, who portrayed Billy Campbell on the original Melrose Place from 1992 until he departed in 1998.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter

No News Is Good News? Minor Updates ...

Filming SHOULD begin around May 2009 and I would expect we will begin to have an indication of the actors filling the roles that have been announced. I'm going to assume there will be more character announcements as well, as I can't see a show like MP focusing on such a small cast, especially with Riley (a.k.a. Allison) and Jonah (a.k.a. Billy) being an item, as well as Ella (a.k.a. Amanda) and David (a.k.a. Jake) being on-again/off-again. That leaves Auggie (a.k.a. Matt), Violet (a.k.a. Sydney) and Lauren (a.k.a. Jane/Jo hybrid, IMO).

We would technically still need a "Michael". Also, would it be too much to ask for another try at a "Rhonda". I mean, hello, this IS Los Angeles. I would also assume we'd need a "Jo" type, although it seems like Lauren could be a mixture of Jane and Jo.

In looking back at "90210" and it's casting in 2008, the majority started leaking around April so I would expect the same here. I'd keep more of an eye out around mid-March and mid-late April through the fall for full casting scoops.

I'll keep you all updated as I find out more, but for the next few weeks, odds are, it's going to be a quiet blog.

Smallville Scribes To Pen Remake ... Characters Announced!

From: The Ausiello Files

Here comes the neighborhood!



With Smallville producers Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer now officially installed as showrunners, The CW at last has revealed who'll be moving into its remodeled Melrose Place next season. (Well, they've revealed the characters at least; the roles have yet to be cast.) As you'd imagine, there are some familiar types among the tenants.

Wanna meet 'em? Come on!

The new Jake and Amanda are... David Patterson and Ella Flynn. He's Melrose royalty, the now-grown son of the original Jake, with the taut abs and thick black book to prove it. She's his omnisexual sometime lover, a PR whiz whose tongue is as sharp as her stilettos.

The new Billy and Allison are... Jonah Miller and Riley Richmond. He's a Kevin Smith wannabe whose obsession with his movies is unlikely to give him a happy ending with his sickly-sweet schoolteacher fiancee -- especially when she takes a shine to the glamorous life he loathes.

The new Matt is... Auggie Kirkpatrick. A hunky hippie, this recovering alcoholic is willing to give everybody the benefit of the doubt. No word on whether the word sucker will be tattooed on Debbie Downer's forehead, but come on…

The new Jane is... Lauren Bishop. Sort of an anti-Michael, this straight-arrow med student falls on such hard times that she's forced to pull a Sydney and trade sexual favors for financial ones.

The new Sydney is... Violet Foster. Though she's fresh off the turnip truck, this small-town teen already has a worldly-wise m.o.: play the sex kitten till you're ready to bare your claws.

So what do you think? Are you interested in seeing Melrose Place renovated? Or should this property have remained condemned? I'm thinking Scott Porter and Amanda Seyfried as David and Ella. Got any better ideas?

General Information

To give credit where credit is due ... all of this, right now, is taken from Wikipedia.

• On September 23rd, 2008, Marc Malkin of E! Online reported on the possibility of a new Melrose Place spin-off in the vein of the new Beverly Hills, 90210 spin-off series 90210 ^[1]. According to Malkin, former Melrose Place star Lisa Rinna was at TV Guide's post-Emmy party and was quoted as saying "I've heard a rumor of them bringing back the show like they did 90210" and "I heard that it's somewhere at The CW." When asked if she would be willing to reprise her role as Taylor McBride in a new series, Rinna said "I would do it in a heartbeat."

However, Malkin also reports that "a rep for the CW insists there are no plans to bring back Melrose Place."

• On Oct 11th, TV Guide reported that series creator Darren Star said that the spin-off was a possibility that he'd be interested in pursuing and acknowledged that it's been up for discussion. However, he also noted that no official discussions about the spinoff have taken place.^[2] Later that month The CW and CBS Paramount Network Television said they are in fact "exploring" the possibility of creating a new version of the series.^[3][4] On October 31, 2008 Ace Show Biz reported that when it comes to the spinoff, Jennie Garth (who was instrumental in launching the original Melrose Place) does not plan to appear as her character Kelly Taylor. Kelly Rutherford, who played Megan on the original series, stated there is a possibility of her reprising her Melrose Place role. Lisa Rinna, who played Taylor McBride on the original series, stated that she would "definitely" reprise her role if asked.

• On December 31st, 2008, it was reported that Heather Locklear is being courted to reprise the role of Amanda Woodward in the new spin off.^[5]

• The CW entertainment boss Dawn Ostroff says she hasn't found a Head Writer for the new Melrose. Ostroff also told reporters that unlike the original series, the Melrose remake will try to capture life in the Melrose neighborhood. In regards to casting, Ostroff says the network hasn't spoken to anyone yet. "Heather [Locklear] would be one of the people you talk about because when you think of Melrose," she says, "one of the first people think of is Heather." ^[6]

• On January 14h, 2009 E! reported that Grant Show, who portrayed cast member Jake Hanson (who was instrumental in starting Melrose) stated that he is up for portraying his Melrose character on the new spinoff.

• On January 19th, 2009 Entertainment Weekly reported that The CW had been talking with Smallville show-runners Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin about shepherding the update.

The Blog

Welcome to the CW's Melrose Place blog!

It will be full of news regarding the new series, such as casting, interviews, spoilers, photos and more!