It's a good day for the walking dead, as The CW has announced episode orders for both 'Vampire Diaries' and 'Melrose Place.'

The news comes as no surprise for 'Vampire Diaries', which has been picked up for a full season. The series, which follows the lives and afterlives of a group of young humans and vampires, is adapted from a popular line of novels and has become one of the network's few breakout hits.

This vampire thing could be getting to the point of oversaturation. Bram Stoker is to blame for inventing the concept. However, vampire fans and those that frequent Hot Topic can rejoice because the CW has ordered a full season of the freshman series The Vampire Diaries. This is opposed to the still-struggling revamp of Melrose Place which has only had five additional episodes requested of it.

Between True Blood, The Vampire Diaries and the ever-immortal Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which I still count despite being long off the air), you'd think television has had enough of our fanged friends. Perhaps other series should start involving vampires in order to boost ratings.

When it debuted last spring, 'Parks and Recreation' already seemed in need of some urban renewal. Sure, Amy Poehler was funny, but the rest of the ensemble didn't gel around her, the plotting was listless and the jokes fell flat.

In its second season, however, the writing has become sharper, the pacing has gathered steam and Poehler's bureaucrat with delusions of grandeur has become someone to sympathize with and root for.

'Parks' deserves a ribbon for improving on a rocky start; after all, few shows that stumble out of the gate are able to recover their footing and race to the forefront. Here are nine more that did ...

The CW already gave up on its lowest performing newcomer, cancelling The Beautiful Life: TBL. That left an empty spot on the schedule and an opportunity. Certainly not wanting to have another quick failure on their schedule, the network has decided to shift repeats of Melrose Place to Wednesdays at 9pm.

While it's been doing better than TBL did, Melrose Place isn't healthy. Premiering with 2.3 million viewers, it slipped below 1.5 million this past week. That's terrible by anyone's reckoning. But The CW has hope, for this has happened before. Long ago, when the original Melrose Place hit the airwaves, it too didn't set the ratings world on fire. Not until Heather Locklear swooped in and made it a sexy guilty pleasure.

The CW's hoping she can do it again, so they're doing what they can to keep the show on life support until she arrives. Maybe they'll find Wednesdays friendlier. No more NCIS: LA or DWTS. Instead it's Modern Family, Cougar Town, Glee, SVU and Criminal Minds. Well, that doesn't look good either.

The cancel hammer fell faster this season than I expected. After only two episodes, even The CW's lower ratings expectations couldn't save The Beautiful Life. The real reason The CW canceled The Beautiful Life: TBL is right there in the title. How pretentious do you have to be to put your acronym in your title?

Acronyms are earned. Acronyms like OTH, VD and MP. Those stand for shows that are doing much better for The CW. The network has tossed a full season order to the veteran One Tree Hill. They came a little short of that with The Vampire Diaries, ordering nine more scripts, but a full-season pick-up can't be far behind. While TBL slipped to one million, VD achieved 3.8 million and growing.

As for Melrose Place, it's not doing nearly as well, but The CW is maybe hoping that Heather Locklear can save this iteration the way she did the original. I'm not so sure, but they've got six more scripts to prove their case.

Doug Savant made a name for himself as the openly gay character Matt Fielding on the original 'Melrose Place' from 1992 to 1997. After reportedly leaving when producers backed off from addressing Matt's sexuality, Savant stayed busy with made-for-TV movies and guest spots on shows like 'JAG' and 'The Love Boat: The Next Wave' until he re-emerged, in 2004, as Tom Scavo on 'Desperate Housewives.'

Now Savant's promoting '36½ Reasons to Laugh,' a book that helps raise money for underprivileged children who need dental care. He dished with AOL TV on the new 'Melrose,' how Matt Fielding changed television (and his career) -- and addressed those pesky rumors that the ladies of Wisteria Lane don't get along.

This is Spoilers Anonymous, a weekly column here at TV Squad where we supply you with the dirt on some of the more popular shows on the air. We'll never put spoilers up here on the main page in order to help the reformed stay unspoiled. If you have anything to add to the group, feel free to step up and let yourself be heard, either with our tips form or by emailing us at tvsquad at gmail dot com, or call and leave a message at (775) 640-8479. Your anonymity is guaranteed, if you wish to remain as such.

This week we have spoilers for: 24, 30 Rock, Damages, Desperate Housewives, House, Lost, Melrose Place, Private Practice, and Ugly Betty. (SPOILERS FOLLOW!)

Fox is negotiating a deal with Simon Cowell to bring 'The X Factor' to the U.S., the CW renews 'One Tree Hill' for a full season, 'SNL''s Jim Breuer lands a new deal with NBC and more of today's top TV headlines.

She's baaaack!

The CW has confirmed that Heather Locklear will officially reprise her role as Amanda Woodward on 'Melrose Place,' beginning Nov. 17.

According to E!, Locklear will become the fifth original cast member to appear on the CW remake, joining the previously cast Thomas Calabro, Josie Bissett, Daphne Zuniga and Laura Leighton, whose character, Sydney Andrews, died in the pilot.

Locklear first joined Fox's 'Melrose' during season 1, and remained on the show until the series finale in 1999. The last time we saw Amanda, she had faked her own death, then married Peter (Jack Wagner) on a remote tropical island (check out more 'Melrose Place' episodes on Slash Control).

L.A.'s hottest apartment complex was reopened last night with the premiere of The CW's 'Melrose Place' remake. The original was known for its campy storylines, over-the-top acting and, of course, Heather Locklear.

The new series, again, revolves around a group of 20somethings, including sharp publicist Ella (Katie Cassidy), aspiring filmmaker Jonah (Michael Rady) and L.A. newbie Violet (Ashlee Simpson-Wentz). This generation of tenants has ties to the previous one: David (Shaun Sipos) is the estranged son of Dr. Michael Mancini (Thomas Calabro), who happens to be having an affair with his landlady -- Sydney Andrews (Laura Leighton). And he becomes the No. 1 suspect when Sydney turns up dead in the complex's infamous swimming pool.

So how do you think the new 'Melrose' compares to the original?




What did you think of the premiere? Post your review in the comments!

Each year, as the new fall season approaches, I go through all the magazine and online sources talking about the various shows to try and figure out which ones I'm going to be excited about, and which I'm going to avoid like the plague.

Inevitably, I wind up sampling plenty of shows from which I should have steered clear. At the same time, a few shows will slip between the cracks, and then I'm bashing my head against the wall because I missed out on the beginning of something special. I hate coming into things late.

This year, I decided to share my top and bottom five selections. I'm sure the rest of the Squadders and you will have differing opinions than mine, but that's what makes America great, right? Chime in with your own lists in the comments.