A couple of months ago I started re-watching Melrose Place on Netflix. I haven’t watched it since the first go-round 20 some years ago. And I have to say I’m kind of ashamed to admit how much I’m loving it! The first time they were all just a few years older than I was. They were all starting adult lives and careers and I was in University (granted I seemed to do that forever), but their lives seemed so glamorous. Now it seems I’m closer in age to their parents (Allison’s dad just had his 50th birthday – man he looks old) but I find myself still getting sucked into their lives.
I really get the appeal of the Soap Opera and because it’s all on Netflix I can follow the lives of Allison, Billy, Jake, Amanda, Jo, Sydney, Michael, Jane and Matt every single day. Which is pretty awesome because I’ve discovered when my brain tries to get full of my real life worries, I start thinking about how Narcissistic Michael is, or why is Amanda consistently a total b!tch and then all of a sudden does something so kind and generous, or is it actually possible that Matt is the most boring gay man ever to be on TV?
Living an imaginary life at Melrose Place allows my brain a nice little vacation from all the things that keep clawing at it. Instead of worrying about real life people who I’m struggling with, I can instead wonder how it is that Michael is able to con so many women into falling in love with him. Or wonder how it is that I used to think Allison was cool and fun when now I see her as whiney and annoying. And does Billy ever grow up?
Jo just killed her boyfriend who had kidnapped her and now has discovered she’s pregnant with his baby. Sydney married her sister Jane’s ex-husband Michael and they’re trying to get half of Jane’s inheritance. I know it’s only a matter of time before Kimberly comes back from the dead and messes things up even more for them. Billy and Allison are engaged but Billy can’t seem to grow up, and Allison has some issues I can’t begin to understand. Jake and Amanda have some weird relationship I can’t wrap my head around because I still want him back with Jo.
See? With stuff like that going on it’s so easy to distract from any real life daily issues.
Day 15 of 44 days of Happiness goes to Melrose Place and the welcome, light hearted distraction they bring to my life. Getting all caught up in the drama of their lives makes me feel happy. It’s fun.
The site I got this picture from had some “then and now” pictures. It’s worth having a look at.
