The doors are shutting on Fox' "Melrose Place." Show creator and executive producer Aaron Spelling informed the cast and crew over the weekend that the once-red-hot prime-time soap opera won't be coming back next season. Declining ratings and a general lack of media or audience buzz about the show led Spelling and Fox to close production.

The series, which returned onetime "Dynasty" vixen Heather Locklear to the top of the TV-diva heap and prompted millions of teens and young Gen-Xers to dress and swagger like their favorite stars, will end its seventh and final season in May.

"I would like to publicly thank the wonderful cast, producers and crew of 'Melrose Place' for an amazing seven-year run," Spelling said in a statement. " 'Melrose Place' is one of my all-time favorite shows and I will miss it and everyone involved very much."

Spelling gave the word now to his "MP" cast and crew so they would have time to look for work during the just-heating-up pilot season, when networks produce sample shows for consideration as fall series.

Also, by making it clear now that the show won't be back, writers will be able to conjure up a sufficiently juicy plot twist for ending the series, and perhaps boost viewership for the final episode.

"Melrose Place" launched in July 1992 and almost instantly developed a cultlike following with Fox' younger-skewing audience.

Set in a Los Angeles apartment complex, the show mixed good-looking people with enough sex, deceit and turmoil to make the steamiest daytime soap blush. It was created as a spinoff of the super-popular "Beverly Hills, 90210," but was aimed at a slightly older audience. In the beginning, it wasn't unusual for groups of twentysomethings to hold viewing parties the night "Melrose Place" aired.

The program made household names out of many of its players, such as Andrew Shue, Courtney Thorne-Smith and Josie Bissett. In 1993, Locklear, a favorite of Spelling's since "Dynasty," which he also produced, joined the cast, and the ratings really took off. In her first full season, the show went from No. 114 to No 79.

It continued a steady climb, going to No. 64 in the '94-95 season, then to No. 61 and No. 58 during the '96-97 outing.

But like a majority of shows lasting that long, ratings eventually started to tumble. Last season the show averaged 10.1 million viewers and ranked 78th out of 143 shows. So far this season, "MP" is ranked 88th of 152 programs, down 14% to 8.7 million viewers.

"'Melrose Place' will go down in television history as a pop culture icon of the '90s," Fox said in a statment. "We'd like to thank Aaron Spelling and the talented cast, producer and crew for providing us with seven seasons and 227 hours of great television. We promise to honor the series and its fans by sending off the show with the fanfare it deserves."