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When I came up with the idea for 2 top 10 lists of best and worst guest
stars, I was amazed to realize that I came up with more good ones than
bad ones. I even had to cross a few off this list. My main criteria were
the character getting in funny lines or being part of a classic "Melrose
Moment", or being so nasty they were entertaining. Acting ability didn't
hurt either (you will see the reverse of this is a BIG part of being on
the '10 Worst List' to follow).
- Perry King as Hailey Armstrong. He was lizard-like and icky, and I
had no idea what Alison saw in him, and granted, their whole romance
plotline seemed to serve no purpose in the long run. I think it was
mainly Perry King that made him so entertaining, as I can see another,
weaker actor just being lame in the part. I loved when he threatened
Billy right before the wedding that if he ever hurt his daughter, he
would make sure he wouldn't even be able to get a job sweeping
sidewalks--and you know he could do it, too. The memory that really made
me pick him for the list was a hilarious scene where he was on honeymoon
with Alison, and went to tear an underling to shreds by the side of the
pool. Then, when he realized Alison had overheard part of the
conversation and might realize what a b*stard he really was, he did a
180 degree turnaround in his personality and walked over to tell her,
"Guess I've been spending too much time in the hot sun, heh heh heh!",
grinning and showing all his piranha teeth.
- Traci Lords as Nikki. I have to admit I'm slightly biased because I'm
a big (post-porn) Traci Lords fan, but she was wonderfully sleazy and
sneaky in the role. Her only slightly annoying trait was pronouncing
cult leader Martin's name as "Mah'in" sometimes. Though she messed up
Sydney's life, she was so much fun. I loved the scene where she came out
with Syd wearing one of Jane's dresses, and when Jane protested,
whipping it off and sneering, "Then why don't you just take the damn
dress right now?" (sure all the guys remember that pretty clearly). I
also loved her smashing up Shooters, and was actually shocked at the
scene where Sydney was on "tea service" and found a threesome with
Martin, Nikki, and some other chick. She pulled back her hair to show
her "M" tattoo and purred, "I'm bad, I know. I didn't tell you Ma'in and
I were married". I'm surprised they never brought her back, since they
left it open for her and the cult to return and get revenge on Syd.
- Loni Anderson/Denise Richards and 'Miss Tarzana" and her lovely mom.
Denise Richards can't act, but she sure can play a trampy teen vixen
well ("Vote for me...vote for me...vote for me..."). Michael didn't
stand a chance. I also thought Loni played well with Jack Wagner, since
they were two old pros with lots of TV/soap experience. I liked her
scene in the elevator with him where she wasted no time in going for
Peter's zipper! The scene in the conference room with them and all the
lawyers also had some great lines: Peter: "How does it feel to represent
the bride of Satan?" Michael: "I'll, uh, prescribe him some Valium right
away."
- Antonio Sabato Jr. as Jack Parezi. OK, his acting was not top-notch,
but he had a pretty juicy role. My favorite moment was when he woke up
from his coma for the last time, and said something to Amanda about not
hurting her again for the rest of her life. Then he started strangling
her as hard as he could, gritting out, "Your...SHORT...life!" while
squeezing her throat. He never gave up, even on his deathbed.
- Dr. "Calvin" Hobbs, the homophobic hospital administrator. I loved it
when he got Michael and Kimberly together after they both went to him
about her suicide note and and ended up telling them, "Thank God you two
were never able to have children!" He also turned out to be a complete
slime, and I was blown away when he commented casually to Michael about
Matt, "I still fired the little faggot." Didn't see that comment coming.
- Kristin Alfonso as Sydney's madam, Lauren. Her character started off
so friendly to Sydney, but you knew she would turn on her, and turn on
her she did, after she found out Syd turned down the S & M client and
was furious, viciously attacking her verbally. I also liked her last
scene, when she bought Syd a drink then told her to make a toast to the
last thing she would ever get from her. Sydney threw the drink in her
face--big time Melrose Moment.
- Jasmine Guy was good as Caitlin, the 'efficiency expert' in cahoots
with Peter. Though her voice was kind of raspy, she could look really
evil. Remember the look on her face when Amanda tried to get Alison
bounced because of her drinking problem, and Guy told her she was a
recovered alcoholic herself? Ooooops. I also remember her parting shot:
"One day, y'all are gonna be so sorry you ever met me." (Amanda: "We're
already sorry")
- Shelli (OK, it could be spelled with a Y, but you KNOW a woman like
that would spell her name with an "i" with a big circle to dot it) was
one nasty, evil slut. I hated her so much for breaking up Jake and Jo.
Her and Jo got off some good, nasty dialogue--"Be careful, Shelli, I
wouldn't want you to strangle yourself on all those cords." Her acting
got better, too. I liked the scene at Michael's surprise birthday party
where her, Jake, and Jane were all sitting there, and Jane and Jake were
flirting a little, and she got this jealous look on her face like,
"BITCH!". If I were Jo, I would have kicked her ass the minute she came
out to the pool to join jake in her bikini with a couple of beers. The
scene where Jo caught them messing around on the desk was also a
classic. Her last scene in jail where she looked terrible and revealed
herself to be completely looney-tunes while talking to Jake was great,
too.
- Alan, Matt's closeted (so what else is new?) soap-star lover. At
first I just thought this was going to be another boring typical
plotline for Matt where he falls in love with a man who is closeted, or
can't commit, but it got better and better. It led to some of my
favorite Melrose moments, such as Matt cheating on him and the guy
calling up Alan just to say, "Better ask your boyfriend where he was
last night. Because he wasn't alone." Click. The scene in the church was
a classic to me, especially when the priest overheard he and Matt
fighting over Matt's cheating (see my favorite funniest moments list).
- A cross between the real Henry, and the "fake Henry" that Michael
hired. The real one gave me the creeps, even though at the time I admit
I thought it was slightly corny, and my friend and I used to go,
"Kiiimberrrleeeeeeee!" to one another and start cracking up. When I
first saw him, I thought she was supposed to be seeing the devil or
something. In fact, the official Melrose archive describes it as,
"Suddenly, she imagines that she sees the face of the devil in the
mirror. She backs away in terror but the illusion does not go away. She
cringes in fear and slowly slides to the floor, struggling to blot out
the terrifying images of the
grinning face of the devil." Yikes. The fake Henry played by the
out-of-work actor (who was hilariously named, "Marc Paul"),was
priceless, especially when he let down the act and talked in his normal,
wimpy voice. I'm sure we all remember fondly the scene where Kimberly
chased him down to confront him and sat on him to pin him down, and he
started crying from fear, begging her not to kill him! I honestly have
to agree with a post from Brian on the Melrose Space Message Board,
stating, "Actually, I kind of miss Henry."
Runners up include Billy's mother, simply for her one line she had to
give advice to Samantha on her wedding day when she (the mom) had had a
few too many: "Don't wear your high heels around the swimming pool!" and
the wedding planner from hell that Billy and Alison had, who suddenly
became vicious when they fired her and told them something along the
lines of, "You're making a big mistake by firing me. By the time I'm
done with you, you won't even be able to have your wedding reception at
McDonald's!" Come to think of it, her curse actually worked.
-Kitten With a Whip
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