Heather Locklear and Grant Show have passed, but one original Melrose Place cast member has signed on for The CW’s reboot. Laura Leighton, who played the scheming but mostly good-hearted Sydney Andrews in the first incarnation of the campy nighttime soap opera, will join the pilot as the drama-ridden apartment complex’s landlady. If When the show gets picked up to series, Sydney will continue to appear on a recurring basis.

The Melrose Place reboot also stars Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, Katie Cassidy, Jessica Lucas, Stephanie Jabobsen, Michael Rady, Colin Egglesfield, and Shaun Sipos. Ryan Eggold, who plays teacher Ryan Matthews on 90210, will be a resident and making crossover appearances.

Viewers last saw Sydney in the fifth season finale of the original series. She was hit by a car on her wedding day and was presumed dead for the remaining two seasons of the show’s run. I expect the explanation for her survival will be delightfully soapy but it can’t match the iconic moment where Kimberly (Marcia Cross) ripped off her wig.

With the 90210 remake, it took one original cast member signing on to get others on board. Perhaps the same will be true of the new Melrose Place. Now that Leighton is returning, which of the Melrose Place 1.0 residents would you like to see again? Locklear and Show are out for now, while Cross and Leighton’s husband Doug Savant are busy on Desperate Housewives and Jamie Luner just signed on at All My Children. I’m personally rooting for Thomas Calabro’s Michael Mancini to make a return and it would also be a hoot to see Lisa Rinna and Rob Estes return as Taylor and Kyle McBride.