For anyone who was pop-culture loving teenager in the 90’s, the name George Lange might not sound that familiar, but his work as a photographer should be more than burned into your teen psyche as Lange’s photographs graced not only the covers of major magazines world wide but also many a teenage bedroom wall (certainly mine) with his iconic photos with the casts of Seinfeld, Melrose Place, Dawson’s Creek, The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer – just to name a few.
Those iconic photos featured the cast of Friends all dressed in black and white, perching precariously in white shadow boxes on a red backdrop, the cast of Seinfeld, dressed in their character garb, posing under an umbrella with pigeons, X-Files star Gillian Anderson perched high on co-star David Duchovny’s shoulders and Merlose’s Marcia Cross and Thomas Calabro playing in copious amounts of feathers while Laura Leighton shot out of a television dressed in a slinky silver mini.
While these photos iconic and a flashback to the heights of prime time television that was the mid 90’s, these images slowly faded into fond memories perhaps found years later on a dusty Entertainment Weekly cover found in the attic and as Lange even notes on one of his Instagram posts, they become buried under the weight of history.
For 2019, Lange though, is taking a new positive approach to his archives with a new collection of his classic prints and embracing the work that he was once afraid to look into for fear of being unable to move forward. The collection, titled ‘First Run ReRuns’ offers a look at the never before printed images from some of Lange’s most memorable work. The photos that didn’t make the cover or included in the photo spread.
‘First Run ReRuns’ opens on March 7th at The Dairy for the Arts in Boulder, Los Angeles and runs until April 14th. For those wanting to know more about the images, sessions and Lange’s process can attend an evening with George Lange on March 20th where you can check out scenes from actual photo shoots, hear from those who admire his work and get an inside look at his dynamic process.
Sibling Rivalry never looked so good. Sydney Andrews (Laura Leighton) and Jane Mancini (Josie Bissett)
This coming July marks the 25th anniversary of the pilot episode of one of the hottest and arguably one of the most iconic television shows that aired in the 90’s – night time Spelling mega soap Melrose Place. Crazy characters, iconic and shocking scenes and memorable quotes have stood the test of time and now, with all episodes streaming on Hulu, Melrose is in the middle of a current day resurgence with younger audiences hopping on the Melrose train, taking in the fashion and life that was L.A in the 90’s.
To mark this occasion, there’s a brand new Melrose Place recap podcast coming our way! L.A based couple Jenny and Dan Hill have begun, from season one, to re-watch each and every episode of Melrose Place and podcast their hilarious and witty episode recaps, available on a week to week basis available via their website (plus wherever you get your podcast episodes from!)
“I really fell in love with the re-watch podcast format where one or two people will watch a movie or TV show and analyze/ re-cap every aspect of the movie or show. I really wanted to find a show that my wife and I had a connection to, but haven’t seen much of. Melrose Place was the perfect fit.
I was 10 years old when Melrose Place first aired, but I remember sneaking to watch it without my parent’s permission with my sister. Growing up it was our guilty pleasure and I suspect there are many other like me who share this. Being 10, I was way too young to wrap my head around what was truly going on once the show got into the thick of things, but I held onto bits and pieces of a few story lines that I to this day find fascinating!”
Sydney (Laura Leighton) knows how it goes on Melrose Place
So just what story lines are Dan and Jenny looking forward to re-watching and recapping? For Dan, it’s Michael’s (Thomas Calabro) downward spiral into TV villain along with Kimberly’s (Marcia Cross) ‘psychotic shenanigans’ while for wife and co-host Jenny, it’s the complex run of ever evolving relationships between the characters.
When asked about podcast release time Dan says “With a 6 month old, we’re hoping to record and release one episode per week covering one episode of the show. This could be a 5 year run, but we’re up for the challenge! Maybe as our little one gets older it will become easier to record more frequently. We also want to sprinkle in episodes that spotlight one character where we break them down and cover their story arc.“
The Melrose Place Podcast is currently on season one (episode four is the latest update as of writing this), the podcasts feature funny, entertaining and tongue-in-cheek recaps of the Melrose Place episode along with special “moral of the episode”, “alternate titles” and “favorite 90’s moment” spots at the end of each episode which are must-listen to moments!
When thinking about Melrose Place and its position in the television timeline landscape (namely the early to mid 90’s) fashion played a huge part in not only the show but in creating the characters and their place within the series. From copious amounts of crushed velvet to teeny tiny mini skirts, white singlets and floral prints to pastel twin sets, Melrose has a very distinctive 90’s look.
The woman behind those looks – costume designer Denise Wingate (who’s resume also includes Cruel Intentions, The Sweetest Thing and Wedding Crashers) worked on the show for a total of 112 episodes starting at Drawing The Line (S01E14) and finishing up at the very wonderful Dead Sisters Walking (S04E32) spoke to me via email about her run with Melrose, how working on a show in the 90’s was very different from today, 90’s power suits and wedding dresses bound for a watery cat fight.
A beachy photo shoot with parasols, and Amanda (Heather Locklear) looking very 90’s
After being involved with over 100 episodes of Melrose Place that aired twenty years ago and then moving from production to production in the years after, it is no surprise Denise’s memory is a little bit foggy when asked about some of the iconic outfits worn during the shows run.
“I have to admit that half of the costumes I don’t even remember. It’s amazing how digital cameras and computers have changed how I document my work now!” she says before getting into how sourcing costumes back in the 90’s was a lot more hard work than it is these days.
“I used to take our Christmas hiatus and travel to Europe or Asia and tried to find some interesting fashions and fabrics and bring them back to use on the show. You have to remember this was before the internet where fashion is everywhere and readily available, so everything I sourced for each character would have to be with my own eyes. Our stages were about 30 miles outside of Los Angeles and there wasn’t really any shops close-by so sometimes I’d rely on new jewelry or fashion designers shipping me boxes of work where I would buy what I liked and thought would work well with a certain character and just send back the rest.“
And did working on one of the most watched shows at the time come with wardrobe regulations from cast and/or producers? “I don’t remember any rules or guidelines I had to adhere to from the producers. At the time I was on the show, the ratings were huge and the fashion was getting a lot of press, so they just figured if it isn’t broken don’t fix it. Basically, they pretty much let me do whatever I wanted. I had a great time!” Though the same can’t be said about Heather Locklear and a certain pink dress Denise had specially created for her. “It was the most memorable outfit that I remember from my time on the show and it was a really tight form fitting white Lycra dress that I bought in Paris just for Heather Locklear. It was amazing and I knew she would look incredible in it. Though, at the last minute, not being happy with the white, I decided to dye it this bright pink color, but unfortunately the dye had not set properly before she wore it and the dyed dress just turned her whole body bright pink. Memorable for me though I don’t think Heather was too happy about that.“
For the most part, Denise happily admits her time on Melrose Place and dressing the cast was filled with fun times. “In real life Daphne Zuniga who played Jo and I were friends, so it was always fun shopping or doing fittings with her and I still run into Laura Leighton from time to time and it is always such a joy to see her!”
Workplace rivals Alison and Amanda were specifically dressed in opposites.
So how about the characters themselves? When asked about Amanda’s entrance on the show in season one, Denise says she relished the chance to shake things up when it came to her D&D Advertising power wardrobe. “The dynamics of the show really changed when Heather Locklear joined the cast as Amanda. This character was such a wonderful evildiva and we were able to really push the envelope with her professional wardrobe as at that time, most suits were a little slouchy, conservative and beige such as what is seen on Alison Parker (Courtney Thorne-Smith). We kept making Amanda’s suits tighter and shorter and as Heather had such a great figure, she could really rock that short skirt look but still appear professional.” Denise also notes how Alison’s wardrobe became a little more dynamic when she took over the role as D&D President from Amanda “When Alison takes over, we felt she would take inspiration from Amanda’s wardrobe so she too started wearing “power suits” but we thought she would be much more professional [about her look] so it wouldn’t have been in her character to wear her skirts as short or as tight fitting as Amanda would wear them.“
Jane Mancini (Josie Bissett), ‘fashion designer extraordinaire’, was a fun challenge for Denise as Jane’s career (and Josie’s modelling background) allowed for the use of new and upcoming designers that would sometimes push the envelope of current era fashion . “The character of Jane was fun, because we were able to really experiment with using up-and-coming, interesting and eclectic designers on her. As Josie started her career as a model, she really knew how to wear clothes, and everything always looked fantastic on her. We saw Jane as being somewhat more classy than the other residents but in a stylized way and it suited her character. I had a lot of fun creating her outfits every week and she just made my job so easy.”
That ‘easy’ that Denise talks about also comes up when talking about Laura Leighton’s Sydney Andrews who made the transition from bratty little sister with a penchant for leather jackets to trashy hooker to sassy stripper to 60’s go-go girl to polished business woman throughout her time on the show. “When Sydney arrived on the scene, things really heated up and I just loved Laura Leighton as she was game for anything we put on her. Laura loved wearing the period, kooky outfits and managed to carry off even the craziest of outfits with a sense of humor and style not many people could get away with. I loved dressing Sydney just for the sheer absurdity of some of the costumes we chose!” And THAT wedding dress that Sydney wore that ended up in the Melrose Place pool? “I can’t remember the name of the shop the wedding dress came from (it’s no longer in business) I just remember that we needed multiples, I think a total of 5 for multiple takes. It ended up looking perfect though!”
The iconic cat fight and the wedding dress.
And it wasn’t all about the ladies either as Denise is quick to point out. “The guys were generally easy to dress and they already had their own specific styles and also very large closets, so we could just pull from those every week for whatever was needed. I mean seriously, how many pairs of jeans and white t-shirts did I really need to buy Jake every week?!. That being said, all of the guys on the show were really nice and super fun and easy to work with.”
For more information about Dan and Jenny Hill’s Melrose Place podcast endeavor, or to download the podcast, hit their social media links below!
From a pilot that was a massive hit to a slow burning season one to eventually becoming one of the hottest shows on the 90’s, Melrose Place cemented itself in pop culture history. Loved it or hated it, you knew Melrose existed and the bed hopping, black mailing and crazy that went on.
But behind the on screen dramas, we got to learn a little more about our favorite 90’s guilty pleasure, the cast and the crew, thanks to Lifetime’s Unauthorized Melrose Place Story. Check out the 11 things we all learnt from this tell-all…
1: Grant Show was almost Brad Pitt
Having been name checked in 90210’s Unauthorized movie (Pitt at the time, lived with Jason Priestly before Priestly was cast on 90210) it was revealed Grant Show was originally intended to play the role of good looking bad guy J.D in Thelma and Louise but had to turn down the role due to his Melrose Place commitments. The part of course went to Brad Pitt and kick started his big screen career. Wise choice?
2: The Melrose Place cast could have looked VERY different
While Thomas Calabro (Michael Mancini), Josie Bissett (Jane Mancini), Grant Show (Jake Hansen), Doug Savant (Matt Fielding), Vanessa A Williams (Rhonda Blair) and Amy Locane (Sandy Harling) were already cast, it seems the role of good girl Alison Parker almost went to Courteney Cox (who was coming off Family Ties) instead of Courtney Thorne-Smith and before Tori Spelling selected Andrew Shue for the role of Billy Campbell (who knew Tori had a knack for casting?) Matthew Perry, Paul Rudd and Jason Bateman had all read for the role.
3: Thomas Calabro was a major theater snob!
It was pointed out on several occasions that not only was Calabro a theatre actor but that he somewhat despised the shows early scripts, often mocking them and pointing out how much lesser the content was when compared to his previous stage work (ok, so season one and early season 2…he’s not wrong there!). It was until his characters affair with Kimberly Shaw (Marcia Cross), which saw a new shady direction for the Michael, that he started to get into the part.
4: Laura Leighton’s manager got her on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine
We all know the cover – it’s now iconic – Laura Leighton, Josie Bissett and Heather Locklear looking all sexy with tousled hair and white tank tops and satin slips on the cover of Rolling Stones 1994 Hot Issue special…but it turns out, Courtney Thorne-Smith was originally in Leighton’s place and it wasn’t until Leighton’s then manager (who was also Heather Locklear and Bissett’s manager) suggested the two swap spots, ensuring Leighton (and her two other clients) made the cover. Thorne-Smith and Daphne Zuniga ended up being folded under the cover of the magazine.
5: FOX and Darren Starr told no one about Matt’s gay kiss being cut from the show
What should have been history in the making (Savant’s Matt Fielding was the first ever gay character on prime-time network television) led to fan outrage as the the first ever on-screen gay kiss between Matt and his date Rob (Ty Miller) was cut from the Season 2 double episode finale – even though it had been filmed. When the episode aired with the edited scene, no one from the cast inlcuding Savant had been told.
Side note – the actual kiss took place in front of Matt’s apartment door while Billy (Shue) watched on in surprise but in the unauthorized movie, the scene was set on a park bench and the two’s kiss was interrupted by a passing cars headlights. Either way, Matt finally got his kiss on screen!
6: Josie Bissett, Daphne Zuniga and Courtney Thorne-Smith all asked for crazier story lines.
When going up against Amanda’s power bitch monologues, Sydney’s hooking-stripping-drug taking and Kimberly’s cray-cray, the other female actresses felt they needed their characters to go a little more into the dark side. In the movie Thorne-Smith suggests Alison robs a bank while sleep walking, Zuniga recommends Jo becomes a serial killer and Bissett wants Jane to go all out crazy – but we can all safely assume none of those suggestions actually happened. In the end, all three saw their characters get some more juicer story lines including stalking ex boyfriends, killing ex-boyfriends, dealing with stolen babies and pretending to be blind to win over an ex love! Gotta love Melrose Place!
7: Heather Locklear and Laura Leighton were originally hired for a handful of episodes
While Leighton was hired for three episodes as Jane’s bratty younger sister and Locklear was brought in for a few more for a guest-star ratings push, both actresses ended up securing themselves multi-season contracts. Leighton came back in season two as a recurring then regular character until the season five finale (where Syd was unceremoniously run over by a car on her wedding day!) and Locklear maintained her guest-star status (and dark roots) until the end of the shows run at season 7.
8: Andrew Shue has someone else to thank besides Tori Spelling for the role of Billy Campbell
Actor Stephen Fanning (or Stephen Dale as oddly named in the movie) actually HAD the role of Billy Campbell when Melrose first began to shoot. Scenes for the pilot were shot and promo photos taken, but according to the movie, the time between being cast and production beginning (which is being quoted as two months) Fanning lost his ‘hot body’ while with family in Canada, gaining a crap load of weight and thus being fired from the show – because Melrose had no room for fatties. Fanning didn’t find out until he arrived on set to find Andrew Shue in his trailer!
9: Vanessa A Williams was convinced she was going to stay on Melrose for more than a season
It’s the case of what-could-have-been or blind want, with season one actors Williams and Amy Locane both being booted by the end of the first season. Convinced her and Savant’s Matt Fielding were the shows two edgiest characters i.e “the black chick and the gay guy” Williams, it seems was completely blind sided by her axing from the show. She did however go onto bigger and better things like…the TV movie Ice Spiders and a recurring role on Chicago Hope.
10: Laura Leighton and Doug Savant got married after Melrose Place
While not news to me, twitter was abuzz about finding out two of the shows stars were in fact married and are still to this day. While the movie made note of the Thorne-Smith/Shue and Leighton/Grant Show’s off-screen romances, Leighton and Savant began dating (after her romance with Show ended and Savant had separated from his wife) and were married in 1998.
11: The entire cast all got on well together off-screen
Unlike that which was shown in the 90210 movie (Jennie and Shannen car park fight!!), the entire cast of Melrose Place was shown to actually get along with each other off set. There were no over-bearing egos or fights over wardrobe and even when Thorne-Smith and Zuniga were lost on the Rolling Stone cover (they barely battered an eye lid), Leighton called her manager demanding to know why. Sadly, this really off-set the whole ‘unauthorized’ feel of the movie as there wasn’t really much drama to be told.
Regardless of how much the truth was stretched or how badly the Melrose time line was presented, we can all agree this Unauthorized movie reignited our love with Melrose Place. I wonder how many are cracking out the DVD’s right now?
Laura Leighton (Sydney Andrews) on set with controversial guest star Traci Lords
First it was Saved by the Bell, then Beverly Hills 90210 and now, Lifetime have added another 90’s soap to it’s “Unauthorized behind the scenes” movies in the form of the all bitching, all back stabbing, all bed hopping and all blackmailing Melrose Place.
Originally created as an ‘authentic’ and ‘grounded’ look at 20-somethings in Los Angeles, Melrose Place quickly amped up the heat and star power and become one of the most watched prime time soaps on the 1990’s, created stars out of some of it’s (then) lesser known cast, created a spin-off (Models Inc), produced a re-boot (CW’s Melrose Place lasted one season in 2010) and included guest stars from Loni Anderson to Linda Grey to Chad Lowe and Kathy Ireland.
According to US Weekly, shortly after announcing the 90210 movie, Lifetime quickly jumped on board with The Unauthorized Melrose Place Story which will“draw from true stories and anecdotes from interviews with the original cast and crew, The Unauthorized Melrose Place Story will highlight the remarkable behind-the-scenes moments that shaped the series — from early casting drama and Heather Locklear arriving to ‘save’ Melrose Place to the actors begging its writers for even wilder story lines to make them fan favorites.“
Did Josie Bissett (Jane Mancini) ask for Jane to get a backbone?
Or did Laura Leighton and Grant Show’s (Jake Hansen) real-life romance influence writers to hook up Jake and Sydney?
While most of the drama took place within the walls of 4616 Melrose Place (Sydney and Jane’s wedding dress cat fight – Kimberly blowing up the apartment building, Amanda having cancer, Kimberly stealing Jo’s baby…..) the show and it’s cast were often featured in and on the cover of tabloid magazines. Andrew Shue (Billy Campbell) and Courteney Thorne-Smith (Alison Parker) dated, so did Laura Leighton and Grant Show (Leighton eventually married another former cast member Doug Savant – who played gay social worker Matt Fielding). There was also the rocky marriage of permanent ‘special guest star’ Heather Locklear and her then-husband rocker Tommy Lee that dominated the headlines, porn star Traci Lords guest appearance and the mysterious case of Bold and The Beautiful star Hunter Tylo’s shock axing for falling pregnant before even filming one scene as Taylor McBride – a role that eventually went to Lisa Rinna (Tylo took Spelling TV to court and won).
The Unauthorized Melrose Place Story will focus on the original series run from 1992 to 1999 where cast members included Amy Locane (Sandy Harling), Daphne Zuniga (Jo Reynolds), Thomas Calabro (Michael Mancini), Patrick Muldoon (Richard Hart), Marcia Cross (Kimberly Shaw) and Kelly Rutherford (Megan Lewis) among many many other names.
No word on casting or just what exactly will be featured in this ‘tell-all’ or an air date.
Will you be tuning in? What do you hope to see covered?
Could it be true? After 5 seasons, over 100 episodes, assorted deaths, mysterious text messages and many a red coat, it seems we are finally edging closer to discovering the real identity of Pretty Little Liars’ ‘Big A’.
We’ve been led down many a winding road with our liars only to be let down with mini A’s (Mona) and fake members of the A Team (Toby and Ezra) but now, it seems, we are heading towards the light.
PLL’s Keegan Allen (Toby Cavanaugh) has let it be known that when it comes to the identity of Big A….we’ve already seen them. It won’t be some random character that pops out of nowhere saying ‘surprise bitches’.
So who is Big A? Or who could be Big A?
Everyone from lead characters Aria (Lucy Hale) and Hannah (Ashley Benson) to Ashley (Laura Leighton) and even the deceased Maya (Bianca Lawson) have all been tossed around the theory bin but it looks like we’re going to have to wait until the season 5 finale on March 24th for a very long awaited answer.
Who do you think is Big A? Sound off in the comments below!
Pretty Little Liars airs Tuesday nights on ABC Family (USA) and on Fox8 on Fridays (Australia)
I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about ‘binge TV viewing’ lately and it seems, every list, is as different from the other. We all have our favorites, those we recommend to others and those we keep to ourselves as guilty pleasures. With quite a few shows now on hiatus or heading into break, you may need something to keep your eyes on the screen so here’s my choice picks for ‘binge worthy television shows’.
Breaking Bad: Without a doubt, Breaking Bad makes every binge worthy list. It should. It’s ridiculously good. I never watched Walter White and Jesse Pinkman when Breaking Bad originally aired….yes I know that makes me a bad television blogger, but it was one of those shows I had to be talked into watching…and watch I did. I binged on the entire series of Breaking Bad over the space of 2 months and am somewhat glad I was able to take in the entire story-line in one sitting. Made me appreciate what was on offer and experience the build-up to that last season without beak.
Stars: Aaron Paul, Bryan Cranston and Anna Gunn
Seasons 1-5 available on DVD
The Comeback: Lisa Kudrow (post Friends) as a faded and jaded actress named Valerie Cherish who has allowed cameras follow her and her journey to reclaim her former spotlight. A show that was well before it’s time and only really appreciated after it’s demise. Great to hear talk of a possible comeback for The Comeback!
Stars: Lisa Kudrow, Malin Ackerman and Kellan Lutz
Series one available on DVD
Melrose Place 2.0: The beauty here is that fans of the original series like to claim this re-boot never happened but for those new to the series, we’ve got an 18 episode single season that follows a who-dun-it murder mystery of Melrose’s junkie landlord Sydney Andrews. Everyone is a suspect and it’s great to watch while playing drinking games (that mostly involve guzzling your wine anytime Ashlee Simpson appears to act or whenever a character from the original series pops up!)
Stars: Laura Leighton, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Calabro and Ashlee Simpson.
Series One available on DVD (from Amazon or eBay)
The Chicago Code: Jennifer Beals post The L Word as tough as nails Teresa Colvin, Chicago’s first female police superintendent who plans to bring to light the mass of political corruption currently polluting the town. There’s connections to the Irish Mob, undercover cops, and this accents all-round.
Stars: Jennifer Beals, Jason Clarke and Matt Lauria
Availability: None as yet 😦
Tim Daly and Laura Leighton. Source Provided
EYES: Tim Daly as a smarmy and cocky Harlan Judd, who is the head of J.R Investigations, a risk management firm that will bend all aspects of the law to get results. His company is in financial crisis, his competitor wants to buy him out, there’s a mole within the company, his staff have secrets of their own and his love interest is a do-good lawyer who has issues looking the other way. ABC shamefully only ever aired 5 episodes of this 12 episode first series back in 2005.
Stars: Tim Daly, AJ Langer, Laura Leighton and Natalie Zea
Series One is not available on DVD but can be found on YouTube.
ORPHAN BLACK: Fast paced sci-fi thriller that looks into the world of human cloning and accelerated human evolution through the eyes of young mother Sarah who’s world comes crashing down when she discovers she’s not as unique as she originally thought. Edge of your seat stuff that keeps knocking out reveals and epic scenes.
Stars: Tatiana Maslany, Jordan Garvais and Dylan Bruce
Season one now available on DVD.
Miranda: Britt comedy at it’s best, Miranda Hart is an unlucky in love, bumbling and fumbling joke shop owner/operator who manages to give the crazy that goes on inside her head a life all it’s own and spreads it among those around her including her highly posh and overbearing mother, her vertically challenged best friend and co-worker and the man of her dreams who works down the road.
Stars: Miranda Hart and Tom Ellis
Seasons 1-3 available on DVD
Dawson’s Creek: You can’t have a binge list that doesn’t include Dawson’s Creek. It’s the mega 90’s teen drama that gave us James Van Der Beek, Joshua Jackson, Katie Holmes and Michelle Williams. Joey has feelings for Dawson but Dawson is too interested in his movies to notice Joey, that is until new girl Jen Lindley comes along while Pacey is having secret meetings with his teacher. Drama, ugly crying, teen sex…this has got it all.
Stars: James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams and Joshua Jackson.
Seasons 1-6 available on DVD
Nip/Tuck: Christian loves drugs, money, women and sex. His professional partner Sean McNamara loves his son, his wife and his professional career. It’s the lives of two plastic surgeons trying to rule the roost, deal with their inner demons and still come out on top regardless of who they end up hurting. One of the greats to come out of the 90’s/00’s period.
Stars: Julian McMahon, Dylan Walsh and Joely Richardson.
Seasons 1-6 Now available on DVD.
Cougar Town: Bad title, good comedy says it all. Cougar Town feels very Scrubs with it’s humor (created by the same team) and as you watch through the seasons, you’ll see this great show evolve from it’s ‘cougar’ story line into a very tight and funny comedy around friends and family. Don’t judge this show by it’s title!
Stars: Courteney Cox, Busy Phillipps, Christa Miller and Dan Byrd.
PLL cast members including Tyler Blackburn, Lucy Hale and Laura Leighton
The series four finale of Pretty Little Liars is finally going to answer a lot of the questions hanging around Alison’s (Sasha Pieterse) disappearance and subsequent reappearance. It’s a story-line that has been floating around since episode one, season one of the show and now, four seasons later, it looks like dedicated fans will be getting some answers!
What will we learn? “Not everything,” producer Oliver Goldstick told Zap2it on the red carpet at the show’s Paleyfest panel. “We’ve got to leave something for Season 5, but you’ll get some very nice answers you’ve waited a long time for. You’ve waited 95 episodes to hear what happened that night and you’ll get some real definitive answers.”
The season 4 finale titled “A is for Answers” will see Alison finally reveal just what happened to her the night she disappeared. We’ll find out who it was that buried Alison alive (it’s not the same person who attacked her!) and begin to question this persons motives for wanting Alison dead. It’s a shock revelation that no one will see coming.
We’ll also get to find out more about where Alison has been hiding and what she’s been up-to since her initial disappearance and also, who knew that Alison was alive all along.
Pretty Little Liars season 4 finale airs tonight on ABCFamily
Pretty Little Liars Season 4 finale airs 7:30pm Friday on FOX8 in Australia!
Tyler Blackburn will be back as Caleb Rivers in Pretty Little Liars
ABC Family announced today that Tyler Blackburn will be returning to hit teen drama Pretty Little Liars after the cancellation of the drama spin-off Ravenswood in which Blackburn headlined.
Blackburn will be making a return to Rosewood early in the fifth season, back as a season regular though no real details have been released as to how and when his character – Caleb Rivers, will make his return, though Caleb is expected to be back in the lives of ex girlfriend Hanna Marin (Ashley Benson) and her mother Ashley Marin (Laura Leighton).
What this means for Hanna and her relationship with Caleb remains unknown. Since Caleb’s departure, Hanna hit a downward spiral and has been showing romantic interests in both Travis Hobbs (Luke Kleintank) and Detective Gabriel Holbrook (Sean Faris) much to her mothers dismay.
Pretty Little Liars executive producer Oliver Goldstick would only say that “it’s a lovely reunion.
ABC Family cancelled Ravenswood on Feb 14th after a lackluster first season that saw the spin-off fail to reach the same highs as Pretty Little Liars.
Pretty Little Liars Season 4 finale airs next Tuesday on ABC Family
Pretty Little Liars currently airs Friday nights on FOX8 in Australia.
Having only just recently finished watching the entire run of Breaking Bad, a friend asked me what my thoughts were on the show and in particular the finale. My first immediate response was “I hated Walt”. Apparently that was a pretty natural response as my friend replied “You’re supposed to by the end”. It got me thinking how I could become so involved and enamored with a show in which you literally despise the lead character for all the bad he or she does.
That said, this does this not apply to every character that expresses dark behavior. Take for instance Dexter Morgan (Michael C Hall). The guy is a serial killer (who only kills bad people) whose actions led to the death of his wife Rita (Julie Benz) and several other innocent people along the way (Doakes, his sister Deb and LaGuerta to name a few) yet we are rooting for him to evade the law and continue on his merry killing way while, watching Breaking Bad, all I wanted was for Hank to get his man and put Walter White (Bryan Cranston) away for good.
Nurse Jackie’s Jackie Peyton (Edie Falco) is another prime example of a love/hate relationship. The pill popping superstar nurse all but ruined her marriage, her career and treated friends and co-workers like trash all while downing copious amounts of pills and having an illicit affair and all I wanted was for her to get what she had coming. I disliked Jackie Peyton for all the horrible she brought to peoples lives.
Melrose Place’s Sydney Andrews and Kimberly Shaw
Yet going as far back as the 90’s with the Aaron Spelling soap Melrose Place. Two of the show’s most devious characters Sydney Andrews (Laura Leighton) and Dr. Kimberly Shaw (Marcia Cross) both slept and blackmailed and even bombed their way through a decent run of the series, but in true form, all I wanted for these crazy ladies was to come out on top.
What I can’t get my head around is what is the difference between Walter White and Dexter Morgan and Jackie Peyton and Sydney Andrews? Each are flawed, each have done inexplicable acts and yet i’m divided as to who I root for and whom I want to receive their comeuppance.
Part of it, I think, is because we go into a show, say like Dexter, knowing he is a serial killer. There’s no surprise shock act that makes us question our feelings towards him. Same applied to Kimberly and Sydney on Melrose Place. The two made a splash on their entrance, letting us all know they were here to cause trouble, while on the other hand, when we meet Walter White, he’s a married science teacher who’s discovered he has cancer. We want to resonate with his less than perfect life situations and we do….but then we witness his actions of atrocity (including poisoning a little boy) and suddenly we begin to question.
It’s this tickle on our emotions that makes characters like Walter White and Jackie Peyton so different from those like the Melrose duo, Dexter Morgan even American Horror Story Coven’s Fiona Goode (Jessica Lange) or Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and Mad Men’s Don Draper (Jon Hamm).
There’s no denying that there has been some shocking and incredible “OMG” moments this year on television. From Game of Thrones to The Walking Dead and Pretty Little Liars, these moments immediatley incur bouts of crying, laughing, anger, yelling and everything in between. Check out my list of my top OMG moments from 2013!
RICK SENDS CAROL PACKING: The Walking Dead
After admitting to Rick (Andrew Lincoln) that she was the one who killed Karen and Dave, Rick takes it upon himself to tell Carol (Melissa McBride), while out on a supply run, that she is no longer welcome to stay with the survivors within the camp grounds. We’ve seen Carol, who has been a member of the group from the beginning, emerge as a strong player this season and Rick’s decision and her subsequent absence split fans right down the line.
TRAVIS AND LAURIE KISS: Cougar Town
Travis (Dan Byrd) and Laurie (Busy Phillips) have always had a fun and flirty kind of relationship, but it’s always been that one where the guy likes the girl more than vice versa but when Laurie decides to explore her growing feelings for the teenage son of her best friend, it results in a rather awkward feeling kiss between the two. We’d all been hanging for Travis to finally get his, but now it’s happened, most of us were wishing it didn’t.
THE BIG TWIST: Homeland
Well were we all not played for fools! Here we all are bitching and moaning about how bad Homeland had become. We couldn’t figure out why or where such a great show had gone wrong. Brody (Damien Lewis) was MIA and Saul (Mandy Patinkin) had Carrie (Claire Danes) committed to an asylum and we were getting too much focus on Dana only to have it all turn around and be revealed that Saul and Carrie were in fact working together all along in a bid to draw out a foe that could become an ally.
ASHLEY MARIN HITS DETECTIVE WILDEN WITH HER CAR: Pretty Little Liars
Poor Ashley Marin (Laura Leighton) found herself on the receiving end of some unwanted harassment from an overly inquisitive Detective Wilden (Bryce Johnson) who demands that her daughter Hannah (Ashley Benson) keeps quiet about an indiscretion she witnessed involving him and a young lady. never one to listen to demands, Ashley finds herself in a screaming match with Wilden before suddenly putting her foot to the pedal and throwing him over the bonnet of her car before speeding off!
THAT TAMPON SANDWICH: Orange Is The New Black
New inmate Piper learnt the tough way not to piss off the lady who rules the prison kitchen! When word get’s back to prison chef Red (Kate Mulgrew) that Piper (Taylor Schilling) has been less than impressed with the food on offer, Red takes it upon herself to ensure that Piper will never make comments like that again by serving her up a bloody tampon sandwich! The scene itself was highly unsettling and intentionally confronting.
DEBRA MORGAN DIES: Dexter
In the series finale, we knew someone was going to die. Most of us expected it to be Dexter, or even Hannah, perhaps Quinn…it was never meant to be Dexter’s sister Deb. After being involved in a shoot out with Oliver Saxon, Deb is wounded and is rushed to hospital. The doctors all seems to think all should be ok but complications following the surgery lead Deb to have suffer a massive stroke leaving her in a permanent vegetative state. It’s here Dexter lands the final blow, removing Deb off her life support effectively killing her.
RAYMOND DENIES BEING LIZ’S FATHER: The Blacklist
It’s the theory that everyone seems to have – Raymond Reddington (James Spader) is actually Elizabeth Keen’s (Megan Boone’s) birth father. It’s been hinted at right from the get go…his selecting her to be the only one he deals with, his wanting to know more about her life, his knowing certain things about her husband, but in the closing scenes of the final episode of the first series, Liz flat out asks Red over the phone “Are you my father?” to which Red replies “No.”
THE BOMB: Home and Away
Known for it’s annual end of year shake-up, Home and Away offered up one heck of an explosion involving fan favourites and unexpected faces and leaving us not knowing who has survived. After continuously butting heads with her boss Bianca (Lisa Gormley) and Bianca’s husband Heath (Dan Ewing) Jade (Tasma Walton) decides to get her revenge in the form of a bomb placed inside Bianca’s laptop bag. We then spent the whole episode wondering when the bomb will go off as the bag changes hands numerous times before going off inside the hospital in which pregnant Ricky (Bonnie Sveen) is being treated. Irene (Lynne Mcgranger), Bianca, Heath and Doctor Nate Cooper (Kyle Pryor) are also there when the bomb goes off.
HELENA CUTS OFF OLIVER’S TAIL: Orphan Black
Things got a bit weird when it was revealed Neolution club owner and believer in self-directed evolution Oliver (David Richmond-Peck) was actually sporting a real life tail. After coming to Sarah’s (Tatiana Maslany) aid while in a fight with Oliver, psychotic clone Helena wins the upper hand and swiftly chops Oliver’s tail off…then makes her way back to the dancefloor to partake in a rather ghastly dance with said tail still in her hands.
TULLY CHEATS ON HER GIRLFRIEND: Big Brother
Fun and funky social media expert and lesbian Tully quickly turned into a sullen and sobbing mess after entering the Big Brother house. She missed her girlfriend Tahlia but thankfully she had housemate Drew to lean on and talk to. Quickly though that talking turned into sleeping in the same bed and sharing sneaky kisses when suddenly the two swapped secret “I love you” bombs leading to Tahlia to make a very public break-up via twitter.
MATT AND KIM’S FIRST ROOM REVEAL: The Block
Not ones to be left hidden among the pack, West Australian couple Matt and Kim had planned to something controversial when it came to styling their first room – the guest bedroom. Their inspiration? Artist Jackson Pollock, he of the abstract expressionist movement (or paint splash era). While the final result was clearly shocking, it was more ‘kids gone wild’ than Pollock admiration.
THE RED WEDDING: Game Of Thrones
I don’t watch Game of Thrones, but even I found myself on YouTube watching the events that led to THAT video going viral showing fans reactions to the wedding as it aired. While I may have no idea who was who or why everyone was being killed, but the red wedding sure stuck to it’s name after half the people in the room celebrating were slaughtered, including a very heavily pregnant woman! “May the rivers run red with the blood of the non-believers.”
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