The actress known as Heather Locklear is legendary. She is one of those actresses that does not seem to age as the years go by. Locklear played an officer on a television series called "TJ Hooker" along with William Shatner in the mid 1980s. After Hooker, she appeared on the drama "Dynasty" until the show ended in 1989. Locklear did appear in a few episodes of the show "Chips."
Melrose Place
During the 1990s, Heather started becoming known as the savior of television shows that were nearly becoming canceled because of low ratings. The first show known to be saved by her was the prime time soap "Melrose Place."
The show started out very shaky in its debut year of 1992. It did start getting stronger, but was not as strong as it needed to be. Locklear was introduced as "Amanda Woodward" in 1993. Her character was well written. Her beauty and seniority to the television industry saved the show. The ratings started rising after Heather was brought in. Melrose lasted a total of 7 seasons. Without Heather, the show might have been cancelled after two seasons.
Spin City
Another show that had changes was a sitcom called "Spin City" starring Michael J Fox. This show debuted in 1996 and ended in 2002. The show was always strong even from the beginning. Fox departed the show in 2000 because the Parkinson's disease he was fighting was getting bad. Charlie Sheen was brought in as a replacement to Fox. Sheen took over the lead of the show. Locklear was brought on the show in 1999. The rating were sliding a little bit until Heather came in. She play a somewhat similar character to the Melrose character. She played a boss for the second time. Her character played opposite of Fox and then opposite of Sheen until the end.
Franklin and Bash
The sitcom "Franklin and Bash" was another show that Locklear partially saved. This show debuted in 2011. The main leads in this show were Mark-Paul Gosselaar who was known from the show "Saved By The Bell" and Breckin Meyer. Locklear's star power did give the show a shot of adrenaline, but was not enough. The show was cancelled after 4 seasons.
There was a revised version of "Melrose Place" that debuted in 2009 with new residents of the famous apartment complex. Locklear revised her character of Amanda Woodward. Even with Locklear on the new show, it was not enough to save the show. The show was cancelled after one season due to the low ratings.
Sometimes it is a gamble to bring a show back with new characters. There are people who are loyal to the original characters and an original show. If a show is well written and the right actor or actress is fits the character, the show will be a success. One issue that nobody seems to see, there are more new shows that debut at on time. It was not like this in the 1980s and 1990s. During those decades, there was time to soak a show in and rate it.