Melrose PlaceProducer Reveals 1 Shocking Reason the Show Was Canceled — and It Had to Do with Heather Locklear's Salary

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:FOX TELEVISION NETWORK/SPELLING TELEVISION / Album / Alamy Stock

FOX TELEVISION NETWORK/SPELLING TELEVISION / Album / Alamy Stock

Melrose Placeexecutive producer Charles Pratt says the show never got an eighth season, in part because Fox couldn’t afford starHeather Locklear’s salary.

Pratt joinedMelrosealumsCourtney Thorne-Smith,Daphne ZunigaandLaura Leightonon the most recent episode of their re-watch podcastStill the Place, where he reflected on the hit primetime drama’s revolving cast and its series finale.

Pratt explained that the soapy nature ofMelrose Placemeant that the show’s writers would run out of over-the-top storylines for the characters, forcing them to bring in new ones.

“We ran you through a soap mill,” he told the hosts. “You know, marriages and, you know, deaths and crime.”

The cast of ‘Melrose Place’ in 1998.Getty

While Pratt said he loved “every person we brought on,” he still “took it, like, personally every time” a veteran member of the cast left.

By the end of the show’s fifth season, Thorne-Smith, Zuniga and Leighton had all departed. But, according to Pratt, Locklear was irreplaceable in the eyes of the network.

“I think the feeling was at Fox, as long as Heather’s on the show, it doesn’t matter who else is on the show,” he explained.

“And quite frankly, they said, ‘We can’t afford to pay Heather Locklear,’ ” Pratt added.

Pratt, who wrote and directedMelrose Place’s May 1999 series finale, described the episode as “so sad.”

“I made sure the last shot was of Heather,” he said.

Courtney Thorne-Smith in ‘Melrose Place’ and in ‘Ally McBeal’.Snap/Shutterstock; Alamy

Snap/Shutterstock; Alamy

Pratt also revealed that he’d wanted to bring back several characters for the finale, including Thorne-Smith’s Alison Parker.

“They wanted me to come back,” the actress confirmed. “I was working onAlly McBealat the time, and that schedule was crazy, and we just couldn’t make it work.”

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Pratt said he’d also hoped to bring backAndrew Shue, who leftMelrose Placeafter season 6, as Alison’son-again-off-again love interestBilly Campbell for the finale along withMarcia Cross’ Kimberly Shaw.

Andrew Shue and Marcia Cross in ‘Melrose Place’.Snap/Shutterstock; Alamy

While Pratt said he regretted not being able to get Thorne-Smith and Shue back for the finale, he made sure to include two empty bar stools in a party scene in the finale as a tribute to their characters’ absence.

“It was gonna be a Billy and Allison moment,” he explained. “And I thought, ‘I’ll always know what that means.’ ”

source: people.com