It’s a story with all the makings of a Hollywood movie: Maryland boy moves to Los Angeles, goes to college (USC, then UCLA), waits tables at the Hamburger Hamlet, answers phones at a public relations agency, then writes a B-movie script (namely, “Doin’ Time on Planet Earth”). Before you know it, he’s become one of the most sought-after writer-producers in the TV biz.
That, in a nutshell, is the life of Darren Star, the 33-year-old creator/executive producer of the hit nighttime sudsers “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Melrose Place” (unquestionably two of Fox’ biggest hits) and CBS’ upcoming “Central Park West.”
He’s the man who, this past season, struck Heather Locklear’s Amanda with Hodgkin’s disease, bounced Andrew Shue’s Billy between lovers and turned Marcia Cross’ Kimberly into a bomb-blowing psycho babe.
And, if his “Central Park West” scores big with viewers, he’ll be the best thing to happen to CBS since David Letterman came to roost at Broadway’s Ed Sullivan theater.
CBS, seen by many as an older-skewing network, is so sure Star can pull in the coveted 18- to 34-year-old audience that it committed to a 13-episode run without seeing a pilot and is paying all of the New York-based show’s production costs. In addition, the net is sharing ownership with Star’s company, and splitting all the profits, 50/50.
It’s a deal that’s virtually unparalleled in the industry; only the cream-of-the-TV-crop (think Steven Bochco) have similar production deals.
As for those who have dubbed it “Melrose East,” Star begs to differ.
“When `Melrose Place’ began, everybody thought it was just going to be `90210′ a few years later,” he said. “But it really became its own animal. And I think this show is its own separate animal–the only thing it shares with `Melrose Place’ is the same nighttime serial drama genre.”
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” `Melrose Place,’ for me, was really about that time after college when you’re trying to establish yourself and your life and your identity and become an adult. This show is about characters who are already successful in their lives, and are really part of a sophisticated New York.”
These sophisticates include Mariel Hemingway as a chic magazine editor; Tom Verica is her novelist-teacher husband with a scandal-ridden past. Ron Leibman is the magazine’s owner; Lauren Hutton is his bohemian socialite wife, and “Twin Peaks”‘ Madchen Amick is her spoiled daughter, a club scene columnist. Also thrown into the mix: an aspiring, JFK Jr.-like assistant D. A., a SoHo gallery owner with designs on the aforementioned; a blue-collar Bergdorf’s perfume spritzer from Staten Island and a Don Juanesque stockbroker. Episode three will mark the addition of a British fashion editor.
Whether the show, which will air at 8 p.m. Wednesdays is destined to be a hit, no one knows, least of all Star, who’s trying not to dwell on the matter.
“I think when `90210′ became a hit, it was great; when `Melrose Place’ became a hit, it was great. . . . I’ve sort of had my nose to the grindstone with these shows–executive-producing 32 hours a year doesn’t leave you much time to take stock, which is probably for the best.
“If you’re running a marathon, you don’t want to stop and take a breather, because you may not keep going.”