One year ago, Heather Locklear traded in her trademark vixen drama queen persona—that DYNASTY and MELROSE PLACE fans had come to know and love—to join one of TV's top sitcoms, SPIN CITY. She proved that she had the right stuff to tackle a featured role in a comedy, thanks to the guidance of series star Michael J. Fox. This season, with Fox's departure, Locklear will be the old pro taking newcomer Charlie Sheen under her wing. Is Locklear up to the challenge? We find out!

PRIMETIME FOCUS

SPIN CONTROL

MELROSE PLACE vixen Heather Locklear
is now the reigning queen of comedy

One year ago, Heather Locklear was coming off of seven season as MELROSE PLACE's delicious Amanda Woodward. She certainly must have worried that her Amanda character (a troublemaking sexpot who was part ad exec, part landlord) would forever be etched in our minds, making it difficult for her to get other acting gigs.
     Well, Amanda is forever etched in our minds, but the actress was immediately snatched up and personally hired by Michael J. Fox for his ABC sitcom SPIN CITY. After nearly 20 years as a "dramatic" actress—she starred on DYNASTY and T.J. HOOKER before MP—she would be the co-star of a hit comedy. She would also have to pack up her family, toddler Ava Elizabeth and rocker husband Richie Sambora, and move them to New York City, where the series was filmed.
     It was a daunting challenge for Lcklear, but at the time, she told Update, "It would have been absolutely silly for me to say 'No.'" Locklear was up to the task and joined Fox as his character's new sparring partner Caitlin Moore. Still, she was nervous about being funny and working in front of a live audience. The Emmy-winning Fox gave her this advice: "Just be yourself. Just look right at me, look in my eyes and be yourself."
     His sage advice worked and got Locklear through her freshman year. Her portrayal of Caitlin won over the audience and critics, but the actress is still wary of compliments. "Thank you, knock on wood," she says about her newfound success. "Hopefully, it'll get better and easier. I'm still nervous," she admits. "Oy! It's scary."

     It's hard to even fathom the woman who played control-freak Amanda and now plays Type A Caitlin as nervous about anything. "You know what, I just don't have confidence," she candidly admits. "Hopefully, with each script I see, I'll feel more confident. I'm just not quite sure what I'm doing half the time," she says with a laugh.
     Adding to the pressure that Locklear puts on herself is the fact that the man who brought her on board for this adventure, comedy king himself, Fox, is no longer her co-star. After four seasons on screen as the star of this comedy, the actor left to focus on his Parkinson's disease. Still, he's working behind the scenes and they trade phone calls often. The actress knew early on that Fox would be a lifelong friend. "It was probably when he hired me and when he asked me to come on board," she reveals. "He was like, 'It's going to be great and I'm so excited and I knew you would do this!' And I just thought this is a great person. Michael's a lifelong friend to lots of people."

HEATHER FROM COAST TO COAST Heather Locklear was nervous about leaving her lifelong home in Los Angeles to move to New York for SPIN CITY. Now that the series is filmed in Hollywood, the actress is happy to be home. "It's actually been great freedom to be in a car!" she tells Update. "I missed my yard and I missed the weather and I missed my family and friends. I missed all that when I was in New York. But now that I'm home, I miss the great shopping, the great food, everything you miss about New York! Every time I see Sex and the City, I go, 'Now wait a minute, I need to go back and experience that'... but don't tell my husband."

     Film actor Charlie Sheen ("Major League") was tapped to step up to bat in Fox's absence, as new deputy mayor Charlie Owen. To accomodate Sheen, the production of SPIN CITY has been moved from New York to Los Angeles. It was a swap that Locklear gladly made because she was happy to return home, but others in the cast passed on.
     This isn't the first time that Locklear and Sheen have joined forces. The two played a couple in the 1997 comic thriller "Money Talks." "At the end of the movie, we got married," she recalls. "I think that was the last time I ever saw him, so we've been joking that we're still married." Producers are hoping that any romantic sparks the two shared on the big screen now translate to their work on ABC's SPIN CITY.
     While Locklear did attempt a sitcom once before on the short-lived ABC comedy GOING PLACES, this is Sheen's first crack at TV comedy. After one year on SPIN CITY, is the actress such an old pro at comedic timing that she's helping out her new co-star? When asked, the actress jokes, "Charlie needs no help," she says about the veteran. "Maybe he'll help me out."
BY DAMON ROMINE