It was a one-two punch that defined the Fox primetime soap lineup for years. But bringing it to The CW some 15 years later just isn't working.

The premiere of the "Melrose Place" revival drew a 1.7 rating/3 share, according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research, unable to compete with reality fare from the other networks on the eve of the 2009-10 season starting.

"Melrose Place" couldn't hold on to the audiences The CW got to tune in to its lead-in, "90210," which earned a 1.8/3, losing more than 5 percent of its first-hour audience, according to Zap2it.

The second season premiere of "90210" looked bad even compared to last season when the show premiered with a 3.3/5, but dropped an entire ratings point by its second week. "90210" averaged a 1.9/3 in its first season, meaning the second season of the show already is already 5 percent off last year's average right out of the gate.

However, the season premiere is up 20 percent from "90201's" season finale last spring, where it was pulling in audiences at 1.5/2.

Even the now-cancelled "Privileged" had a better start in the 9 p.m. slot last year earning a 2.1/3 for The CW. That show would eventually end its run in that timeslot pulling in numbers an entire ratings point lower before making way for "90210" repeats.

It wasn't a great start for The CW, which opens its new season with a 1.8/3, and clearly in last place behind the Big Four.

Fast Nationals usually provide a snapshot of what Americans are watching by pulling numbers from the top urban markets that includes both live viewing and same-day timeshifted viewing. A rating point generally represents more than 1.1 million households while the share indicates the percentage of televisions turned on that was tuned to the specific program. These numbers typically shift when final ratings are issued.