amanda woodward

The CW was hoping the triumphant return of Heather Locklear, the eternal "special guest star" of the original 'Melrose Place,' would boost the alarmingly low ratings of the CW reboot. But, alas, it seems that not even a scheming vixen like Amanda Woodward can do much to help the struggling series.

The Live Feed is reporting that Locklear's appearance on the tenth episode of 'Melrose Place,' which aired on Tuesday, had little to no effect on the ratings. In fact, the show was only up 14 percent from last week's ratings, which were at an all-time low for the series.

Heather Locklear was nominated for four-consecutive Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Television Series (Drama) for her performance as Amanda Woodward, the ambitious and manipulative head of D&D Advertising, in the original 'Melrose Place.' The series ran for seven seasons on Fox from 1992-1999.

Well, last night was the BIG night on the new Melrose Place, the return of Amanda Woodward (Heather Locklear). Judging from Locklear's entrance, she really did shake up things on the show.

A question for fans of the original: did this make you watch this episode even though you weren't watching the new show? And for fans of the new show who really aren't familiar with the original: are you excited by Locklear being on the show?

Can Heather Locklear save the new Melrose Place? Who knows. But she makes her big return as Amanda next week, and here's the scene. By the way the staff looks at her when she's walking down the hall it's like she rose from the dead or something. Not sure why the other blond in the scene turns around and the first thing she looks at are the Amanda's shoes.

The article says that "details are mum on [Heather] Locklear's role," but I'm going to assume she's going to play...Amanda?

US Magazine is reporting that Locklear is indeed going to join the new CW version of Melrose Place after several months of negotiations. Her first episode will air on November 17. US says that Locklear saw the pilot and was surprised at how much she liked it. I'm also guessing that she saw the contract and was surprised at how much she liked that too (though there's nothing wrong with that).

At the beginning of an article profiling the book The Girl's Guide to Being a Boss (Without Being a Bitch), Hanna Seligson of the New York Daily News asserts that Heather Locklear's iconic Melrose Place character, Amanda Woodward, ushered in a new era of "bitchy" female bosses. The article then goes on to talk about the book and how various women find it difficult to be forceful but nuturing bosses at the same time. But it never goes back to discussing the influence of Locklear's mini-skirt-wearing power-hussy on the American workscape. And it doesn't look like the book discusses it, either, at least judging by the content of the article.

Which makes me wonder: Is this writer just going for an easy intro, or does she really believe female bosses everywhere "suddenly" felt it was OK to become shrill and catty in 1993 because "hey, Heather's doing it!"?

Methinks that any boss, male or female, who wanted to act like a jerk didn't need a television show to make it OK, but that's just me. I mean, I had plenty of asshole bosses before Michael Scott and The Office ever came on the scene... oh wait... scratch that. Never know who might be reading this.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

[via Gawker]