| The Accent: | Our loving nickname for Chris, the Australian lowlife who conned Jane and, in one of the series' highlights, "kidnapped" Sydney and dragged her to Las Vegas. I wasn't sure what his name was in the first couple of stories, so he was dubbed "The Accent." The name stuck. |
| The Alison Gape: | The classic look that Courtney Thorne-Smith did at least once per episode. Whenever Alison was shocked by someone's comment, she dropped her jaw, blinked furiously, then turned her head slightly to the right, while Amanda or Billy or Brooke walked triumphantly past her out of camera range. I don't know if she has refined ths technique on "Ally McBeal." |
| Big Daddy: | An affectionate term for the late, waterlogged Hayley Armstrong, created back when we were hoping to find out something smarmy about the Hayley/Brooke relationship. |
| The Bizarre Dr. Peter Burns: | Peter Burns has romanced Amanda, betrayed Amanda, taken over D&D, lost D&D, attempted to kill Amanda, lost his medical license, served jail time, regained his medical license, gone into business with former blackmail victim Michael, psychoanalyzed Kimberly, professed his love for Kimberly, romanced Amanda again, lost Amanda, married Amanda, divorced Amanda, trashed Lip Lass at the altar ... Can anyone figure out what this guy will do next?!? He's just so ... bizarre! |
| The Brooke Grimace: | A close relative of the Alison Gape. Whenever Brooke saw something repulsive, like her father kissing Alison or people shopping at K-mart's, her eyes grew wide and misty, while her lips peeled back in a semi-sneer. Very unattractive. |
| D&D: | Also known as "Dumb & Dumber" and "Dungeons & Dragons": The advertising agency formerly run by Amanda, where Billy and Alison had wildly fluctuating job responsibilities. Other people did work there, but they were forbidden to speak. Amanda reported to an unseen, unheard Board of Directors. Women at D&D adhered to a strict dress code: Wearing a skirt that does not rise at least 5 inches above the knee was cause for dismissal. D&D's need for a receptionist was urgent! Most of the employees jumped over to Sky High Advertising, lured by the promise of more money and real dialogue. Before the electricity was turned on, though, Craig's Sky High plummeted, forcing Billy and others to beg for Amanda's forgiveness in her favorite position: on their knees! |
| Eric the Iguana: | Eric Baines, Amanda's former mentor in New York. (Of course, this contradicts what we know of Amanda's past life with those darn Paresis in Miami, but we'll let that slide.) Perhaps the creepiest thing to appear on network TV since Mariel Hemingway found herself attracted to Roseanne Barr, the charisma-challenged executive has come to L.A. in pursuit of the Dominatrix of Desire. |
| Fashion Boy: | Richard Hart (no relation, thank Odin!), played by Patrick Muldoon, he of the moussed hair and sub-Shue acting ability. Once Jane's fiance, he became her bitter rival as they both design fashions that only a serial killer could love. His complexion improved considerably after being buried alive. |
| Lip Lass: | Also known as "Collagen Queen" and "Lipsa Rinna": Taylor McBride (Lisa Rinna), who has lusted after The Bizarre Dr. Peter Burns. Physicists are trying to figure out how her spine can support lips the size of Kansas. |
| The Matt Slot: | The weekly tribute given to the character with the least amount of time in the episode. (Named, of course, in honor and memory of Matt Fielding, the show's most often missing character.) |
| The Only Bar in Town: | Shooter's, of course! Actually, we have seen another bar: the dive where Jake's Evil Brother, Jess, hired the Steven Tyler lookalike to kill Jake. Sadly, Shooter's vanishes at the end of Season Five, to be replaced by Kyle's jazz bar, Upstairs. |
| The Pool: | The strange mixture of experimental chemicals known as the Melrose Place swimming pool. There's definitely something in the water that's causing such weird behavior by the residents. Every couple of weeks, a different Pool Boy is seen tending the area, leading to speculation that the pool is hungry. Call Mulder and Scully! |
| "Waaah! Sydney!" | The splendid performance by David Charvet (Craig) in the sixth season premiere. His horrible whining and crying in the wake of Sydney's sudden departure raised the bad-acting bar for the series, surpassing even the great accomplishments of Patrick Muldoon and Andrew Shue. |
