Grosse Pointe refers to an area of Metro Detroit, Michigan, United States that comprises five very wealthy adjacent individual communities. From southwest to northeast, they are:
The term "Grosse Pointe" is ordinarily used to refer to the entire area, referencing all five individual cities, with a total population of about 50,000. The Grosse Pointes altogether are about twelve square miles, bordered by Detroit on the north and west, Lake St. Clair on the east and south, Harper Woods on the west of some portions, and St. Clair Shores on the north of some portions. The cities are in eastern Wayne County. Essentially all of the Grosse Pointe population is south of the famed Eight Mile Road, and as few as six or as many as twelve miles (19 km) east and north of downtown Detroit.
Grosse Pointe is one of the affluent suburban areas in Metro Detroit, which shares a border with affluent historic northeast Detroit neighborhoods. Grosse Pointe has many famous estates. The Russell Alger, Jr., House, at 32 Lake Shore Dr., serves as the Grosse Pointe War Memorial and is open for public tours. The Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, at 1100 Lake Shore Drive, is also open for public tours. On the coast of Lake St. Clair, the area has a waterfront allure. Downtown Grosse Pointe, along Kercheval Avenue from Neff to Cadieux, nicknamed "The Village," is considered by many to be the central downtown for all five of the Grosse Pointes, although each of them (except Grosse Pointe Shores) has several blocks of retail. Downtown Detroit is just over seven miles (11 km) west of this downtown area, accessed by Jefferson Avenue, or several other cross-streets.
The Grosse Pointes have been a settled area since the late 18th century, but most of their development came early in the 20th century. The slender area along Lake St. Clair is often divided on a north-south basis, basically coinciding with the boundaries of the two high schools. The southern areas (basically south and west of Moross Road) feature housing and retail districts that are generally older and more densely organized than those in the north.
Grosse Pointe is an American television sitcom which aired on the WB Network during the 2000-2001 television season. Created by Darren Star, it was a satire depicting the behind-the-scenes drama on the set of a television show, and was inspired in large part by Star's experiences as the creator and producer of the nighttime soap Beverly Hills, 90210.
On the DVD audio commentary for the Grosse Pointe pilot episode, Star explained that the behind-the-scenes antics on the set of 90210 were often more interesting than the show itself, and that the idea of creating a comedy based on this had been kicking around in his head for years.
The series takes place in Los Angeles, on the set of a fictitious WB nighttime soap, also called Grosse Pointe, and several characters were based on real-life actors. The fictitious Grosse Pointe ("a misguided 90210 rip-off", as Star describes it) is set in the wealthy Michigan suburb, and was very much a parody of teenage nighttime soaps.
Reportedly, Beverly Hills 90210 producer Aaron Spelling called WB executive Jamie Kellner to complain about Lindsay Sloane's character Marcy Sternfeld, who in the original pilot was a thinly veiled parody of Spelling's daughter, actress Tori Spelling. blank">"Pointe, Counterpoint", TIME Magazine, September 25, 2000
Several actors from other WB series appeared as themselves on Grosse Pointe, such as _Leslie Bibb and Carly Pope of Popular and Sarah Michelle Gellar of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Grosse Pointe was on the WB's Friday line-up in between Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and Popular. The show did well and was moved to Sundays in hoping of raising viewership on that night. The ratings wavered at that point and it was canceled in March 2001 after 17 episodes.
The show's theme song was "Sex Bomb" by Tom Jones and Mousse T.
In an episode, Johnny Bishop mentions he was an underwear model. Al Santos (I), who plays Johnny, was an underwear model for Calvin Klein.
