Overview: A nighttime soap opera about the lives, careers, trials and tribulations of a group of young people living in an apartment building in the trendy neighborhood of Melrose Place. The show was a spin off of Beverly Hills 90210 and starred Heather Locklear as the scheming Amanda Woodward, head of her own advertising agency and owner of the apartment building.

DVD Verdict: The cast is young and pretty, and servicably talented. The characters they created in the first season that were a little green around the edges have now - for the most part - blossomed. Indeed, there's substance in the proceedings, as a group of strangers forges a faux family out of socio-economic instability, flirty chemistry, and a genuine affection for their shared abode - an eden of greenery, wrought iron balconies and the ubiquitous pool in the courtyard.

Frankly, such a place would have been way out of the price-range for a pack of 20-somethings that includes a struggling actress, a social-worker, a construction-worker, and various office drones. I suppose that's part of the charm of the show!

Season 2 picks up where Season 1 left off, but takes off in an entirely new direction. Gone are the mundane "after school special" lessons of the first season episodes. Madness, murder, mayhem, and backstabbing abound as Billy, Alison, Amanda, Jo, Jake, Michael, Jane, and Matt try to live life. The relationships between the characters become more complex. Amanda moves from messing things up between Billy and Alison, to driving a wedge between Jo and Jake. Alison and Billy become engaged, but as their wedding approaches Alison begins having horrible nightmares which lead to startling revelations about her father.

Jo's new beau, Reed, kidnaps her and she ends up having to kill him. Michael and Kimberly become engaged and buy a beach house together; Michael "kills" Kimberly drunk driving, is blackmailed by Sydney into marrying her when she finds out, and later dumps Sydney when Kimberly comes back. Kimberly comes back wrong though, and runs Michael down in Jane's car, framing Jane. It's been years since I've seen this season so I don't really remember much about Jane's new relationship or what Matt did in this season (other than help Michael cover up his role in Kimberly's "demise").

I highly recommend this season, as this is when the show became a "must-see" hit. Also, Marcia Cross and Doug Savant (Desperate Housewives) and Courtney Thorne-Smith (According to Jim) aren't the only Melrose alum back on tv... check out the Courtney Cox show "Dirt" to see Grant Show (Jake on Melrose) in a very interesting role!

I can't wait for season 3 which is the best season of the entire series, in which Kim blows up the building, we meet poor little rich girl Brooke and watch Alison become a raging alcoholic. So much fun, so much drama!This is a Full Screen Presentation (1.33:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

Audio Commentary by Series Creator Darren Star on Select Episodes
All 31 episodes from the 1993-1994
Melrose Place - Complex Relationships
Melrose Place - The Best of the Worst
Melrose Place - Meet the Neighbors