Central Park West's first thirteen episodes are some of my favourite episodes of any soap ever. However it was only on air for a brief spell so Melrose Place would probably usurp it on my list of best soaps of the 90's. As I love a list, I'll give my rundown of thoughts on the 90's soaps I've watched.
Central Park West - as I mentioned above, I loved the first thirteen episodes. Great characters, great fashion, great location shooting and a great soundtrack, it really is a time capsule of the 90's. There were elements of the first episodes that I wasn't that bothered with (we could've done with more Nikki and less Alex) but it was mostly great drama. They even tried to tie it up nicely when Stephanie was jumping ship. And then along came "season two" when they tried to Dynasty the show up. The only positive during this period was that Linda got more screen time. Other than that, it was a mess. Separately, the premise of Lauren Hutton and Raquel Welch duking it out is delicious but the attempts to tie the original setup into the new approach was just too messy. Also, I didn't care much for the new additions Jordan and Tyler.
Melrose Place - pure, unadulterated, OTT soap. It obviously lost some of it's sparkle when the originals started leaving en masse and were replaced with lesser versions of themselves but the pared down cast and improved writing in the final season brought the show back around.
Beverly Hills 90210 - this statement may be sacrilege among 90210 purists but some of my favourite seasons were the post Brenda period when Valerie showed up and things got really soapy. I even enjoyed the never ending traumas of Kelly Taylor.
Models Inc - absolute trash. And not even good trash. The writing was appalling and the entire male cast were atrocious. And to see soap royalty Linda Gray slumming it in the middle of all of this.
Pacific Palisades - this was a mess. I can't think of one redeeming feature of this show. At least Models Inc gave us Kylie Travis. This reeked of Aaron Spelling having a deal with FOX and cobbling some old sh*t together in order to fulfil it.
Savannah - excellent first season. The writing was sharp, the tone could be dark and the cliffhanger was top notch. Season two on the other hand, slipped into generic 90's soap territory. It bordered on daytime soap as I recall the bulk of the drama being derived from people overhearing conversations or witnessing events at inopportune moments.
2000 Malibu Road - while having the drama revolve around the tenants of a single beach house seemed a bit restrictive to me, I think the show would have grown had it been on air for longer.
Four Corners - it had a good cast but it was all a bit meh IMO. There was nothing that really stood out about the show. It was all a bit generic.
Hyperion Bay - pretty unmemorable until I had a brief spark of interest when Carmen Electra showed up as the show's "Amanda Woodward" but that interest quickly dissipated when the show continued to be super boring.
Malibu Shores - I really enjoyed this show. I loved the location filming at the beach and the Malibu mansions, I loved the Mean Girls and as hackneyed as it is, I loved the Romeo and Juliet story. I've a feeling this would've been one of my 90's favourites had it continued to air.
