day 339

ashlee simpson heads to the unemployment line

just yesterday, execs over at the cw announced that an additional 5 episodes of melrose place (and 9 more eps of the vampire diaries, their biggest hit ever) had been ordered in addition to the in production 13. and, today, the creative forces behind the show are making some major changes to the apartment-themed dramedy. my guess is that these changes may have resulted in the episode pick-up. two of the shows current stars - ashlee simpson and colin egglesfield - are being let go. why change a show that works? well, because it's not working - and, yes, there's a distinction. by "work" i mean the show is creatively strong, but it's not "working" because no one is watching. the duo of simpson and egglesfield are victims of wrapping up the season-long murder-mystery plot early. yep, the "who killed sydney?" question is now set to be answered in december instead of may. according to exec producers todd slavkin and darren swimmer, ashlee and colin's characters were only going to be around through the mystery because they play the most vital roles. uhm, is it just me or does that mean one of them did it? or both? i mean (if you watch the show) we've been lead to believe they're involved, but we don't know for sure. i also think this creative turn around has to do with the series finally nabbing heather locklear.

the original melrose placer was originally asked back for the murder-mystery plot but passed because why would you want to kill of the defining character of your career? that left the door open for laura leighton's sydney's return and resurrection - the character died in the original show. once the execs were able to land locklear, it's understandable they want to shift the focus to her. rumors are circulating that locklear is returning as "special guest star," the same title she held when she was a series regular on the original series. slavkin and swimmer say heather's amanda woodward is around indefinitely and has more to do than just torment ella (katie cassidy, above) at the pr firm they work at. also, in the post-murder-mystery era of melrose 2.0, the show will become more light hearted and comedic. basically, it will be an entirely different series. s and s are explaining all these changes as just the normal evolution a show takes, but i see it as the ceedub handing down some orders: change or be canceled. the beautiful life: tbl anyone?