Allison from Melrose Place

My least favorite character on the show by far

Such a horrible actress.

But she was Darren Starr's heroine. Spelling hoisted Heather Locklear on him. Courtney Thorne Smith is funny in real life, but yeah, by the time she left MP the show was total shit.

I think she's tremendous.

All she has left is that proverbial wish: that she'd never been born.

The scenes with her and Andrew Shue could be shown in an anti-acting class.

Those who really caught the spirit of the show: Tom Calabro, Marcia Cross, Laura Leighton, Jamie Luner.

Her character was such a wet blanket.

Billy!

Doesn't she shill for Meaningless Beauty?

OK, here's the recap.

You set me up. You went behind my back and told Jake that I had an affair with Chas. Then you almost killed my career. by blabbing that lie in court. I almost lost my job and my mother.

Well, it's payback time. I promise to make your life a living Hell, and I always keep my promises.

Oh, and, uh . . . don't bother quitting. With the report I can put in your personnel file, you wouldn't get a job bagging groceries.

I HATED Allison. She was such a whiny, indecisive bitch. Her power grabs at D&D were laughable. Nothing was better than the many smackdowns Amanda gave to Allison.

I liked drunk Alison. She told off that no-good, supposed best friend Susan.

I only watched that show to see Andrew Shue and Grant Show in shirtless scenes.

I think this show and Baywatch wouldn't have existed if people had internet porn in the early 90s.

Allison sucked but CTS was at least a competent performer. Josie Bissett OTOH…

Allison’s wardrobe was tragic

I just watched the episode where Jo goes down to skid row to take pictures of squalor for fun. The 90s were a different time.

"You're too beefy!"

The show needed a few weak, wet blankets like Alison in order for the more awesome characters to shine.

Jane was also quite lame

You overrode my decision on the Glorious Gowns copy!!

Billy and Allison were one of the first TV couples I obsessed over. So sad they cancelled their wedding because Allison was molested by her father!

R14, that is WHY the early 90s were magical

Allison got all the choice dick: Parker Stevenson, Perry King, David James Elliot, Monte Markham.

I hated Allison but Courtney Thorne Smith went from one hit series to another for about a total 25 year run - she must be rich as fuck.

...

R24 don't forget Brian Bloom!

William Moses was hot as her stalker.

Too hot to be her stalker really.

She was equally awful on Ally McBeal. She should be the poster candidate for buccal fat removal surgery. Ugh, that face!

I loved the tablecloth trick scene. I was hoping we'd see more those shenanigans but I think she went into rehab right after that.

[quote] I hated Allison but Courtney Thorne Smith went from one hit series to another for about a total 25 year run - she must be rich as fuck.

Melrose Place, Ally McBeal, and According To Jim. Some actresses would sell their soul to suck this bad at acting.

A lot of people seem to like her. Maybe because she’s so average looking

She was also a series regular on Day by Day.

She was also on Two and a Half Men.

Very lucky.

It was very sad when Billy and Allison didn't end up with each other on Melrose. They were destined to be together. I cried when Allison left Billy at the airport. In my own mind and heart, Billy and Allison are still together. Free from Amanda. Free from Allison's drinking. Love wins.

#BillyandAllisonForever

I still cannot think of Billy and Allison without thinking of Adam Sandler's hilarious caricature of Billy on "SNL" (starting at 3:44). It may be the only funny thing he ever did.

She was also on La Law.

Aldo great at r35: Jane (David Spade) and "the gay guy" (Jay Mohr) vie as to who has the worst role on the entire show (starting at 5:18).

I was not a fan of Allison but still wanted to see her and Billy together.

[quote]A lot of people seem to like her. Maybe because she’s so average looking

She reminded me of almost every straight "white chick" in college. Not that much going on upstairs, a sense of entitlement because she thought of herself as the top 10% of girls in high school that were popular. Now pissed off and bitchy having to compete in the real world.

That show would have been a lot hotter if Matt the original gay guy hooked up with Kyle McBride. A little closet affair would have boosted those ratings through the roof!

I always thought Allison looked like she was uncomfortably constipated. And farted a lot.

She’s was so weak. After Keith almost raped her an terrorized her he kills himself and she can’t even take joy in that

She was the original Karen. Good lord I hated her 2 OP.

R31 you forgot two and a half men which she probably made a shitton on. She was actually very funny on that. Which indeed surprised me.

She's who you hire when you need someone to be a nag but not completely unlikable I guess.

R42, that post attempted-rape scene where she tells Billy and breaks down is hilariously bad.

CTS sort of looked like Sheryl Lee(Twin Peaks). Darren Starr adored her, and made her his heroine as stated before. So the love/hate fest for her is understandable. I'm sure the other actresses resented the storyline load she hauled. And when she left, the show went poof. CTS never took the show too seriously, and years later she appeared on Conan, and Norm MacDonald was a guest, and he was merciless in skewering her for being in a Carrot Top movie, and she laughed harder than anyone.

[quote]Darren Starr adored her, and made her his heroine as stated before.

She was preferable to Daphne Zuniga who sounded permanently like she had too much starch at lunch and was now tired or frauey Kristin Davis.

Kristin Davis wasn't on the show for very long.

The other female leads had very limited range, especially the awesomely inexpressive Josie Bissett. Daphne Zuniga was not much of an actress either, and even Heather Locklear (always fun as a bitch) did not have a lot of range. One reason they gave a lot of heavy lifting to CTS and Laura Leighton (the only two lead women who could act) and to supporting performer Marcia Cross was that they all could genuinely act. The problem is that CTS is just not very likeable.

CTS made Zuniga and Bisset look like Meryl and Glenn.

As usual, gay men have no taste in women. I have never seen Melrose Place (and never wanted to), but rest assured that back in the day, Courtney Thorne-Smith was smoking fucking hot.

Now, not so much.

What older woman do you find attractive, senior lesbian?

And are they other senior lesbians, like Meredith Baxter or Holland Taylor?

Charlotte Rae? Ann B. Davis?

Spring Byington? Mary Wickes?

How senior ARE you?

Was Laura Leighton bearding for Grant Show? It was so weird how she went straight from dating him to Doug Savant and now they've been together for like 30 years.

Courtney Thorne Smith makes mr think of Megyn Kelly.

I’ve been rewatching Ally McBeal, and Georgia really makes me think of Megyn Kelly.

I saw Joan Baez on Colbert the other night and she looked pretty damned good. She's 82. Is that old enough for ya, Pops @ R52?

I forgot Jasmine Guy was on melrose Place. I love her on almost as much as I loved her as Whitley Gilbert

From 1988 to 2015 she had regular TV gigs. I’m guessing she’s similar to Heather Locklear in that she’s considered one of the nicest people in the business and easy to work with.

CTS was so much fun as drunk Alison. She was gorgeous too. Too bad the show kept pressuring her to lose weight.

R59 - One episode.

R60 - I think you are right too.

Keith led to her downfall.

I thought Keith was really weird looking and irritating. It was so hilarious when Billy went to his house in Seattle and there was just a giant garbage can sitting there.

Billy was weirdly overprotective.

Keith was William Moses of Falcon Crest.

Keith was weird looking? Dafuq?

Keith was the astronomer in Mystic Pizza.

R68- Right.

William R. Moses is 63 now and still a busy actor.

R70 - He got old.

Billy still looks good. I loved Lorenzo Lamas, but over time I preferred Billy.

“Billy” can’t act.

I wasn't an Alison fan, but I wouldn't say she was the worst character. There were so many worthy candidates in the later years when the show was hanging around past its sell-by date. At least we remember Alison. I thought CTS could be pretty, especially in the first season.

The "good" women on that show had it rough. Maybe they were harder for the MP scribes to write well. More than one of them went through a period of turning into a bitch for a while, like that was the reward for being a good sport. Alison turned into a bitch in season 3, and Jane turned into a bitch in season 4. Daphne Zuniga said when she came to the mutual decision with producers to leave after season 4, they dangled the idea of turning Jo into a bitch in season 5 if she stuck around. Either "bitch" or "crazy"; those were the salvage ideas. And Jo had kind of started out as a bitch. Maybe not one of the Amanda/Kimberly type, but standoffish, guarded, and edgier than the other women pre-Amanda. Over time, that personality vanished, and they had Jo falling for one abusive asshole after another.

Jane was the most useless character.

Yeah she was. I forget about Allison’s bitch phase. It’s pretty great.

Also for jakes brother did they just cats some hobo?

Cast I mean

Casted you mean.

Yeah, Jane was useless.

R80- Michelle Johnson was fabulous in that episode.

Sandy had a few moments.

What’s all your bases guesses on someone like CTS’s net worth?

What would she have been paid for a show like two and a half men?

I expect something around 10 million, if she has been smart with money.

Even for Melrose Place, Kristin Davis was the worst fucking actress. And then Darren Star slips her into another show that happened to be SATC - when we talk about actors who won the lottery.

Kristin was not bad. Not fantastic but not bad.

R85 who on that show was worse? Not even Andrew Shue.

Andrew was worse. R86.

Kathy Ireland was worse.

I was brilliance in motion the way I took that brick to the head!

[quote]Also for jakes brother did they just cast some hobo?

Wasn’t that 90’s himbo Dan Cortese? Or was he a different character?

Kathy Ireland was on Melrose?

R89, yes, Cortese played Jess Hanson. He was never a strong actor, but he was having his pop-cultural moment around that time, as an MTV personality and an Elaine boyfriend (on whom George developed a man-crush) on Seinfeld.

There was a fair amount of MP/Seinfeld overlap. There was the classic episode in which we find out that Jerry is an MP fan and doesn't want anyone to know; it had references to actual MP's plots of season 2. Later in the Seinfeld run, both Marcia Cross and Kristin Davis were one-episode girlfriends for Jerry.

Re: The acting ability of Davis. I couldn't stand her as Brooke on MP, but I thought she was better in comedy than in drama or melodrama. She could be endearing on SATC. That character was well tailored to her.

R91 no matter what people say it’s generally easier to do comedy; a lesser actor will typically be better (or more passable) in lighter material.

R90 - Kathy was on several episodes at the start of season 3. She interacted with Jake.

I'm sure we discussed this at the time but they did an online Zoom reunion for Stars in the House a few years ago during the Covid lockdown. Courtney has a gorgeous house

Kathy was God awful, even for Melrose Place.

R94 - Daphne looks very good.

Grant Show looks better older I was never attracted to him young.

Grant and Daphne had an earlier reunion on a short-lived show she had in the mid-'00s, called Beautiful People. She was the star, playing the mother of two daughters, and he guest-starred as her ex-husband. He looked about the right number of years older since MP; she had hardly aged. I wouldn't want to speculate on work she'd had or how much, but it was good work, if so. They still had strong chemistry.

The series was a not-great Gilmore Girls knockoff, but those episodes were nice for Jo/Jake fans. Those characters didn't even get a proper goodbye scene on MP, which was always a bit heartless when it came to things like that.

Grant and Daphne had great chemistry.

They also reunited in the last season of Dynasty with Zuniga playing a friend of Show's Blake for a few episodes.

Alison high on pills.

Heather and Courtney were great arguing.

Was Kathy on during the 'Models Inc.' spin-off period? I actually liked that show too.

Kathy was later than Models, Inc. She was connected to Amanda's estranged dad which I think was in early season 3, and Linda Gray and her models show up in season 2.

Kathy was early season 3.

Hillary Michaels.

Isn’t she supposed to be the everywoman ingenue? A character the audience relates, a pretty blonde but not extremely sexy with a more normal personality. She just plays off the crazier characters. A lot of TV shows are set up that way

I didn’t care for her

R107 - Originally yes. She was a Midwestern girl next door.

Alison and Billy were set up as the “will they, won’t they” couple from the start.

Both are very attractive, though Courtney is a better actor than Andrew.

Andrew Shue still looks hot today. At least he was aware he can't act and stopped. Courtney is good in the sitcoms she did.

Yeah Andrew Shue looks great

The character billy always seemed borderline retarded

R113 - Billy knew Keith was bad news.