Heather Locklear books 'Melrose Place' return

Heather Locklear (this picture was taken in June)

Credit: Matt Sayles/AP

After two weeks of lower-than-desired ratings, The CW has reached out for a human life preserver, finalizing a deal to bring Heather Locklear's Amanda Woodward back to "Melrose Place."

The CW proudly announced Locklear's return on Tuesday (Sept. 22) morning with a press release titled "The Bitch Is Back" and promising a Tuesday, Nov. 17 reintroduction of the beloved character. 

"We're ecstatic to have the chance to bring Amanda Woodward back to 'Melrose Place,'" say executive producers Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer.  "Heather's involvement in the show is something we've been working on for some time as we couldn't imagine creating and producing this show without the iconic character’s inclusion."

Locklear joined the original "Melrose Place" at the end of its first season and she's generally credited with helping to transform a limp, tepid "Beverly Hills 90210" spinoff into TV's most buzzworthy primetime soap. She spent the rest of the show's run credit as a "special guest star."

The CW assures HitFix that Locklear will, once again, be listed as "special guest star" in her new "Melrose Place" run, saying only that she's set for multiple episodes.

Her arrival can't come soon enough for The CW's "Melrose Place," which drew only 1.8 million viewers in its second week. The netlet is boasting that "Melrose Place 2.0" has improved on last year's time period performance from "Privileged" in the desired demos, but "Privileged" is no longer with us, so that's not the most giddy of comparisons.

Other original "Melrose Place" denizens dropping in for the reboot include Laura Leighton, Thomas Calabro, Josie Bisset and Daphne Zuniga.

Locklear, who earned four Golden Globe nominations for her work on "Melrose Place," has most recently been seen on episodes of "Hannah Montana," "Rules of Engagement" and "Boston Legal."

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

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A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.