‘Melrose Place’ Star Shares Update On Long-Awaited Revival: ‘We’re Hoping, Fingers Crossed’

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Few 1990s TV shows have come to define the decade as much as “Melrose Place.”

A soapy spinoff of “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Melrose Place” transcended its roots as a primetime soap and became embedded in the pop culture of the era.

For years, rumors have been swirling about a revival series that would reunite the original cast. Now, one of the show’s stars is sharing a hopeful update about a potential “Melrose Place” reboot.

A Revival Fans Are Demanding

Among the various stars to appear at 90s Con (a three-day event that took place from October 16-18) was Daphne Zuniga, who portrayed photographer Jo Reynolds from 1992 until her exit in 1996.

Speaking with USA Today during 90s Con, Zuniga shared the latest on the revival after 2024 reports that discussions were underway about reviving the show, with CBS Studios meeting with Zuniga and co-stars Heather Locklear and Laura Leighton.

According to Zuniga, two significant hurdles stalled those discussions: the Skydance merger with Paramount (followed by Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros.), and the 2023 writers and actors strike.

“We’re hoping, fingers crossed, and we make our calls every day, and we’re just hoping that it continues,” Zuniga told USA Today.

“If the strike hadn’t happened, and Skydance hadn’t wanted to buy Paramount and CBS Studios, it’d be a done deal right now,” she explained.

“We’re still trying,” she continued. “Lauren and I and Heather, our executive producers, were attached to produce it, and I make the calls. We do have interest, but we don’t know. That’s how Hollywood works.”

Zuniga was hopeful that talks would resume sooner rather than later, joking, “We’re going to be all on walkers soon.”

A ‘Spaceballs’ Comeback

If the “Melrose Place” revival eventually does come to fruition, it won’t be the only blast-from-the-past revival to feature Zuniga.

She’ll also be reprising her role as Princess Vespa in an even longer-awaited reboot, the upcoming sequel “Spaceballs: The New One.”

During the “Melrose Place” panel at 90s Con, Zuniga also shared an update on the “Spaceballs” sequel.

“We filmed ‘Spaceballs: The New One’ that Mel Brooks worked with the writers on. He’s a big influence in it. He filmed his part already before we shot. It was his idea: ‘You better film me now because I’m 100.’ So we did,” she recalled during the panel, as reported by People.

“It opens April 23rd of next year. Rick Moranis is back as Lord Dark Helmet, and Bill Pullman is back as my husband,” Zuniga added. “His real son, Lewis Pullman, plays our son, the prince, and Keke Palmer is in it. It was great fun.”

As Zuniga noted, Moranis will make his return to the screen in the “Spaceballs” sequel by reprising Dark Helmet, the inept villain he played in the original.

This marks his first onscreen role since the late 1990s, when Moranis essentially retired from acting in order to raise his children after the passing of his wife.

“I kept having to pinch myself because I would look at Daphne and Bill and George Wyner. Earl Sanders. And then there were all these young people. And I realized I was their age 39 years ago when we made this, and here we are now, and my kids are the age of this,” Moranis said during an appearance Comic-Con earlier this year.

“I felt like I was in a time warp, but I was in that outfit and wearing the helmet. And it just felt very strange, to be honest with you,” he continued. “But it started to feel really good, and I really started to love it.”