Melrose Place
The Usual Santas
TV Flash files “The Usual Santas” as hour 210 of 226 in the TV Flash guide — Melrose Place (1992–1999) on Fox, season 7, episode 19, aired 1998-12-21, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S07E19: listed hour 210 of 226 in the Melrose Place guide, hour 19 of 35 in season 7. It aired 1998-12-21 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Suddenly Sperm” (S07E18). Next is “The Kyle High Club” (S07E20).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
The Christmas holidays begin poorly for everyone when Peter, Michael, Kyle, Ryan and Louis Vicontti are mistaken for a group of bank robbers.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Usual Santas sit in the Melrose Place guide?
S07E19 is listed hour 210 of 226 — hour 19 of 35 in season 7, season 7 episode 19.
When did Melrose Place S07E19 air?
The Usual Santas aired 1998-12-21 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Is it related to 90210?
Yes — same Darren Star/Spelling orbit, a more adult spinoff-adjacent soap sharing the universe's glossy DNA.
In the series
Why this series still plays
West Hollywood courtyard as a contact sport: affairs, schemes, and the occasional explosion once Heather Locklear's Amanda Woodward takes the complex by the throat. Darren Star's 90210-adjacent adult soap mutates into pure primetime villainy under the Spelling banner. Trust no neighbor. Glitz without prestige homework.
The first useful thing *Melrose Place* does is mutate. Young professionals in a West Hollywood courtyard spiral through affairs, schemes, and the occasional explosion. Darren Star's Fox soap premiered July 8, 1992 as a 90210-adjacent adult drama and became pure primetime villainy once Heather Locklear's Amanda Woodward took the complex by the throat. Apartment-complex heat, workplace sabotage, Aaron Spelling glitz: late-night-cable energy on network TV. Thomas Calabro, Laura Leighton, Daphne Zuniga, Grant Show,…
Filed against
- Heather Locklear as Amanda Woodward
Heather Locklear’s Sammy Jo Carrington is Dynasty as a younger, sharper blade — oil-adjacent glamour that could cut the mansion from inside the family. ABC’s shoulder-pad soap sold catfights as national infrastructure. On TV Flash she is…
- Thomas Calabro as Michael Mancini
Thomas Calabro cheated Melrose Place as Michael Mancini — West Hollywood courtyard as a contact sport, affairs, schemes, the occasional explosion once Amanda Woodward takes the complex by the throat. Darren Star adult soap mutating into…
- Laura Leighton as Sydney Andrews
Laura Leighton's Sydney Andrews made Melrose Place a courtyard contact sport — affairs, schemes, the occasional explosion once Amanda Woodward takes the complex by the throat. Darren Star's 90210-adjacent adult soap under the Spelling…
- Daphne Zuniga as Jo Reynolds
Daphne Zuniga’s Jo Reynolds brought a photographer’s glare to Melrose Place — West Hollywood courtyard as a contact sport, affairs and schemes once Amanda Woodward takes the complex by the throat. Darren Star’s adult soap under the…
- Grant Show as Jake Hanson
Grant Show's Jake Hanson made Melrose Place a courtyard contact sport — West Hollywood affairs, schemes, Heather Locklear's Amanda taking the complex by the throat. Darren Star's 90210-adjacent adult soap mutating into Spelling villainy.…
- Courtney Thorne-Smith as Alison Parker
Courtney Thorne-Smith’s Alison Parker walked Melrose Place before the courtyard became a contact sport — West Hollywood affairs, schemes, and the 90210-adjacent adult soap that mutated into primetime villainy under the Spelling banner.…