Melrose Place

Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer are the kinds of writers who bring back popular people from the dead only to kill them. In 1997, "Melrose Place" viewers were devastated when a car struck and killed Sydney Andrews (Laura Leighton) on her wedding day. But in the pilot of Slavkin's and Swimmer's remake, Sydney is alive and looking sensational in her middle age -- until she's discovered floating in the apartment complex pool about 10 minutes into the show. That the executive producers have chosen to kick off the new series with the resurrection and swift death of a fan favorite is a fitting tribute to the '90s version and the classic episode in which the villainous Kimberly Shaw (Marcia Cross)

SERIES Britain's Missing Top Model: This new unscripted series revolves around eight women, all aspiring models, each with a disability. In the premiere the contestants model lingerie in the main street window of a popular clothing retailer, proving how comfortable they are (or aren't) with their bodies and their disabilities (6 and 9 p.m. BBC America). The Biggest Loser: The winning weight loser is revealed in the two-hour season finale (8 p.m. NBC). NCIS: Los Angeles: Callen and Hanna (Chris O'Donnell, LL Cool J)

Re "Seriously, What About a Tarp?" by Scott Timberg, Jan. 29: I spent some of the happiest times of my life in the 8500 Melrose building in late 1988 and early 1989. One of my best friends and I became business partners and opened an accounting service there. We spent lots of dollars, laughter and tears as we redesigned our space within that building. We obtained clients despite predictions that we wouldn't, and the fact that we were in that building added to rather than detracted from that.

SERIES 90210: Liam, Dixon and Ivy (Matt Lanter, Tristan Wilds, guest star Gillian Zinser) plan to confront Naomi (AnnaLynne McCord) at the horse races in this new episode (8 p.m. CW). So You Think You Can Dance: The top 10 contestants perform (8 p.m. Fox). Melrose Place: Amanda (Heather Locklear) moves into the penthouse formerly occupied by Sydney (Laura Leighton) and takes a very special interest in David (Shaun Sipos), who's growing closer to Lauren (Stephanie Jacobsen)

In reference to the "Melrose Place" location shooting in Oxnard: For more than a year a while back, "Melrose Place" did location shooting at Monteria Estates in Chatsworth. As a security guard working for the Monteria Estates Homeowners Assn., I can say that "Melrose Place" was always totally professional in every regard to shooting on location in Monteria Estates, from permit and insurance paperwork to after-shoot cleanup. They were/are welcome any time there. I received no complaints and they treated everyone royally, every time.

At the month-old Melrose Place farmers market, produce stalls are outnumbered two to one by crafts and prepared foods, but the farmers don't seem as overwhelmed as they do at some other markets. The new venue offers a decent selection of growers, strong on plants and flowers, though it is just beginning to catch on in the neighborhood.

The most disarming thing about Laura Leighton and Thomas Calabro -- "Melrose Place's" diabolical Sydney Andrews and Michael Mancini -- is that they appear not to have aged since Aaron Spelling's campy hit wrapped in 1999. Calabro dismissed the idea with a laugh. "You're not the first person to say that, but it's not true," Leighton said. Oh, but it is, as evidenced in Tuesday's episode, which flashed back to Sydney's first death 12 years ago, a fatal car accident she somehow survived.

It's too bad there's no Brandon Burger at the new Melrose Place--that would make it yet another "90210" spinoff. And so far, the restaurant isn't hip enough to attract the TV apartment-dwellers of "Melrose Place."

The people who inhabit "Melrose Place," Fox's steamy nighttime soap, may think they live in Los Angeles, but here are a few reasons why that is absolutely impossible: * There is always an apartment available in the Melrose complex. * There are no homeless people. * No one ever complains about traffic or parking. * No helicopters disturb their nighttime larks. * Their cars are never stolen.

Now that the "90210" remake has been renewed for a second season, the CW is moving ahead with plans for a remake of "Melrose Place," which was originally a spinoff of "Beverly Hills, 90210." This week, the CW greenlighted the pilot, which was co-written by "Smallville" producers Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin, and hired Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim ("An Inconvenient Truth") to direct it. On Wednesday, the network cast the first actor, Michael Rady, who recently appeared on CBS' "Swingtown."

Ashlee Simpson-Wentz is ready to show some razzle-dazzle on Broadway. The pop singer, who was recently booted from "Melrose Place," is set to play Roxie Hart in the long-running musical revival of "Chicago." Producer Barry Weissler says Simpson-Wentz will join the production on Nov. 30 for a 10-week engagement ending in early February. The performer played Roxie in the London production of "Chicago" in 2006. Among her bestselling singles are such songs as "Pieces of Me," "Boyfriend" and "L.O.

That shaking underneath Hollywood tonight is not from a quake, but from the force unleashed by the return of a TV powerhouse no less than William Shatner reprising his role as Capt. James T. Kirk or Larry Hagman taking over "Dallas" again. Amanda Woodward -- that is, Heather Locklear -- is back on "Melrose Place," and her arrival couldn't be better timed. The first time Amanda appeared at the West Hollywood apartment complex of twentysomething troublemakers and bed-hoppers, Aaron Spelling's show wasn't living up to its "Beverly Hills, 90210" spinoff hype.

Angelenos can (and do) wear warm-weather clothing well into fall. You don't necessarily have to mothball your favorite T-shirts and tank tops during the colder months if you have lightweight knits to layer over them. Taking the cue, the clothing company Vince incorporates in each season's collection a nod to the Southern California fashionista's preference for wearing luxury casual gear -- T-shirts, tanks, leggings and sweat pants -- around town. The bicoastal clothing company was founded by Christopher LaPolice, who lives in New York, and Rea Laccone, who resides in Malibu.

It's the CW's dirty little secret: In its seventh season, "One Tree Hill" is watched by more people than the network's "it" show, "Gossip Girl." It always has been. The success, hushed though it has been, has come despite major upheavals to the show, a sort of earnest older sister to younger, hipper series such as "90210" and "Gossip." Since launching in 2003, "One Tree Hill" has occupied five time slots, switched networks and survived a risky plot decision to jump its high school-age characters four years into the future.

After only two episodes had aired, the CW pulled the plug Friday on "The Beautiful Life: TBL," a drama executive-produced by Ashton Kutcher about young models living in New York. It was the first cancellation of the fall television season. "TBL" premiered Sept. 16 to just 1.5 million viewers, and the audience dropped this week to 1 million. The series starred Mischa Barton and Sarah Paxton. The CW said it would fill the 9 p.m. Wednesday slot with reruns of its new "Melrose Place" series.

The most disarming thing about Laura Leighton and Thomas Calabro -- "Melrose Place's" diabolical Sydney Andrews and Michael Mancini -- is that they appear not to have aged since Aaron Spelling's campy hit wrapped in 1999. Calabro dismissed the idea with a laugh. "You're not the first person to say that, but it's not true," Leighton said. Oh, but it is, as evidenced in Tuesday's episode, which flashed back to Sydney's first death 12 years ago, a fatal car accident she somehow survived.