Drama Still Lives Here

More than three decades after the show dominated prime time, we reunited six of its leading ladies to reflect on their experience at TV’s most iconic (and chaotic) apartment complex

- ANDREA LAVINTHAL,YU TSAI

Backstabbing & Blackmailing "There's a little bit of everybody in all of the characters," says Locklear (with her former costars in L.A. on Feb. 19) of the appeal of the show's nonstop drama. "So maybe they like seeing a glimpse of themselves and then maybe what they should be doing-or not doing."

Long before streaming, Monday nights at 9 p.m. belonged to Melrose Place. The show, a spinoff of Beverly Hills, 90210, created by Aaron Spelling, debuted on July 8, 1992, on Fox. The first season was lukewarm, but ratings heated up in season 2 when Heather Locklear became a series regular. Increasingly unhinged storylines helped too, including the most shocking wig reveal in TV history.

Thirty-two years after People dubbed the show “prime time’s unsung guilty pleasure,” we reunited Josie Bissett, 55, Laura Leighton, 57, Courtney Thorne-Smith, 58, Vanessa Estelle Williams, 62, Daphne Zuniga, 63, and Locklear, 64, to look back at life at 4616 Melrose Place.

When did you realize that Melrose Place was a huge hit?

DAPHNE We didn’t know because we were working so hard. We were always on a soundstage.