The CW's struggling Melrose Place welcomed Heather Locklear home as Amanda Woodward on Sept. 29 with high hopes that the 48-year-old blonde beauty will work the same ratings magic she did on the original series back in 1993 when it too was facing cancellation. To that end, producers put Amanda right back in her signature mini-skirt, moved her in to Sydney's old apartment (while Amanda's Bel Air mansion is being built) and gave her the prime office space at Ella's WPK Public Relations firm. (Now we know the 'W' stands for Woodward!).

Executive producer Todd Slavkin says pairing Locklear with Katie Cassidy's ruthless Ella Simms has already proven to be an "explosive" combination, which viewers will see when Locklear's first episode airs Nov. 17.

“Heather is fierce!," raves Cassidy, who shares the majority of Locklear's screen time as Amanda's publicity protege. "She brings such a great energy to set! There have been many comparisons of my Ella to her Amanda, but there is no competition. Amanda is the Queen Bitch and I am so lucky that I am able to work alongside her. Ella has a lot to learn."

Slavkin says negotiations to land Locklear go back to before the series aired. "She didn't want to walk into a show without any knowledge of what it was," he explains. "She has an image that is known throughout the world and she wanted to know we weren't mocking and would show her in a great light."

So where has Amanda been these past ten years? Fans of the original will remember she and her mischievous lover, Dr. Peter Burns (played by Locklear's current real-life beau, Jack Wagner), faked their own deaths in the 1999 series finale and fled to a tropical island to begin their lives anew. "Michael Mancini (Thomas Calabro) was paid a million dollars to provide the cadavers, so Michael clearly has some experience at this whole faking death thing, which we of course have fun with," says Slavkin, who devised a similar plot to explain Sydney's (Laura Leighton) resurrection in the new series' pilot. (In the eleventh episode, we'll see Michael and Amanda spar just like the good old days - and learn Peter's fate. There are no current plans to bring Wagner back.)

But Amanda grew tired of the island - and Peter. "She's not a gal to sit on a beach watching the waves crash," says Slavkin. "It was only a matter of time before she got bored. This is a woman who wants to be in the center of the action."

Having burned her bridges in Los Angeles, Amanda relocated to New York City, and "reinvented herself" by establishing WPK. Now she returns to her old stomping ground with a vengeance and a hidden connection to Syd. "She arrives with a big agenda," teases Slavkin, who will once again bill Locklear as Melrose Place's eternal 'Special Guest Star'. Casting is getting under way for a name actor to portray Amanda's new love interest.

"Heather appears very excited to be here," Slavkin says, "and the young cast is in awe of her."

"It's true," coos Cassidy. "Melrose Place isn’t Melrose Place without Amanda!”