Carlos Abad

Episode 2 is not as good as the series premiere. -The presentation of Santana and Augusta feels like cheating. In this episode we see that Santana wants to kill Joe with her gun and in the previous one we saw Augusta ordering her goons to kill Joe. And this killer attitude is only for these 2 episodes because Santana and Augusta are not able to kill anybody during the rest of the show. They are not killers! -I like Marissa. I know she doesn’t do anything remarkable during the show. But the actress is natural, just the opposite of her husband John who IMO, is a terrible actor and a bad written character. -And speaking of acting talents, I don’t like to be hard with the actors because I know some of them are reading the posts here, on Facebook, Instagram, etc. But there are at least 4 actors whose acting is not very good. In fact I think they are sometimes bad and for this reason I cannot take some of their scenes very seriously. -I love Philip the butler and Breeze the dog, but I know they don’t last on the show. Sad! ☹ -I like Mason later, but in these episodes he’s not very likeable. -I love Augusta’s outfit. She’s one of the best actress/characters from the beginning. -One of the best parts of Santa Barbara are the soundtracks. The music is amazing, except for the big Santana and Rosa scene where the soundtrack is terrible. Sorry! -The fights between John and Joe are terrible scenes. Bad acting by both actors! The actress who plays Marissa in the only one who is acting well in those scenes. -We don’t have as many locations (which I really love). I guess Sunset Beach was the soap with the most locations because they have locations in almost every episode. Still we have Peter and Kelly on the helicopter, island and yacht. By the way, Steven Meadows and Robin Wright work well together even if we don’t have to root them as a couple. We also have the exteriors of the Lockridge home with Ted.

After watching Santa Barbara during many years on YouTube, I left the show about one year ago because I was hating the 1988 episodes. I was in the episodes where Pamela poisons Kelly, Eden is in Paris and Mason is “dead” after the convent fire. I was not enjoying those episodes. So I decided to begin the series again, especially because someone told me that the first 200 episodes have been improved with better audios and many missing English scenes. So today I have watched the premiere! I love the promos they have added in the first episode. It’s great to see how the series was presented. In one of the promos we can see Lloyd Buchner. I’m not familiar with his work, but it looks that he could be a great C.C. Capwell. The premiere episode is great and huge. It has many locations and it reminds me of a primetime soap. Sure they spent a lot of money in this series premiere. And I like Peter Mark Richman as C.C. He has a presence. Robin Wright always looks gorgeous, but I’m surprised of her bad hairstyle during the premiere. It’s not good at all. And Santana’s dress is so strange. Also I don’t understand Santana first scene in 1979. She is dressed as a maid and she’s very thin, but she’s supposed to be 8 months pregnant because Brandon was born on August 21, 1979. But I love the premiere. It’s a great way to start the show!

Just watched episodes 36 and 37. For Lionel and Augusta fans, I think this beginning has maybe their best scenes. It was a shame, but later on this couple (and the whole Lockridge family) were just supporting characters. In these episodes the scenes of Lionel spying (thanks to the two-way mirror) on Augusta and Peter are hysterical. I love Augusta criticizing Lionel while he’s watching and also enjoyed Lionel’s reactions. Also, I realized these first episodes have a big difference from the later episodes. Here most of the cast appears in every episode. But some of them are just only featured in one or two scenes. But later this is not the way of doing the soap because every episode only focusses in a small number of characters and there are many principal actors not appearing during many episodes. These episodes have about 16-17 regular cast actors and later the episodes only feature about 10-11 actors per episode. IMO the last great episodes were made in November-early December 1987. It was great to watch Jeffrey and Kelly’s wedding, the resolution of Elena Nikolas murder and Mason and Julia together again. Those were amazing episodes. But after that it began the horrible Fox story, and the T.J and Sophia romance, and the Tori’s nasty divorce that was not interesting at all. And all of that was before the writer’s strike. So in late December 1987 – early January the series was just in decline.

I'm on episode 34. Jed Allan is the one and only C.C. Capwell for me, but Peter Mark Richman was quite good and now is out. Paul Burke, his replacement, is the worst. But it's interesting 3 Dynasty guys played C.C. Capwell (if we are counting Lloyd Bochner who was really the original C.C as we saw in the first promos from the first episode). Also I read Lloyd Bochner filmed a few scenes like the one in the harbor with Joe Perkins from episode 4.

R.i.p. And brilliant casting. Stella Stevens and Robin Mattson were perfectly cast together as mother and daugther duo.

I’ve read an article from 1984 that said NBC invested $12 million into the biggest and newest videotape production facility in the US designed specifically for a daytime drama. Bridget Dobson said that they had the largest and most exciting studio with sets that are unequaled. I can see that because this soap has many different sets compared to others and also some very big ones like the Capwell house. Still, I wish it has more exteriors. It’s great when you watch scenes on location. It makes the show more realistic.

I'm enjoying watching Santa Barbara from the beginning even if it has some weak stories. Meanwhile I came across this video which is a summary of the plots of 1987, in my humble opinion, a great year, maybe it's peak. After 1987 everything was in decline.

I left when Kelly suddenly and without explanation hates Jeffrey and T.J. becomes her new best friend. Also it had the creepy Ming Li, Major Hamilton, Cain, Andrea plot. And Cruz and Eden were in an island with a manhunter. Seriously it was difficult to decide what story was the worse. You have watched more than me. When the show is good again after these preposterous stories?

I was stuck in 1988 writer’s strike episodes which I didn't like so I started over again. The channel where I watch has improved the audio and also has completed some parts that before were in French language. The early episodes is not the Santa Barbara I really love but I'm enjoying it so far.

Maybe this doesn't make sense. But I think Julie Ronnie was a bad actress (really terrible, one of the worst from the regular cast) but I was interested on Laken and Ted during her years. Meanwhile I think Susan Marie Snyder was quite good as an actress, but she was not Laken at all. It was another character. She didn't make any sense. And about Shell Danielson. She was also quite good as an actress (probably the best as you say), but Laken was zero interesting. About the consensus: I'm not sure but I think most of the fans would choose Julie Ronnie as the best Laken.

I'm watching again the beginning and it's very enjoyable but bad in some parts. The teenager's story is separated from the rest of the stories and it feels like another show. There's some bad acting. Ava Lazar, Dane Witherspoon and Julie Ronnie were my favorite Santana, Joe and Laken but they are bad in some of their scenes.

Not by the earthquake but I think the main victims of the bad ratings were Dane Witherspoon, Ava Lazar and Melissa Reeves. The three of them had character individual promos, the same as Mason and Kelly, and Dane and Ava were fired. In Melissa’s case she has many counts episodes in the first 3 months or so and then she practically disappears from the show with little episode counts (maybe one episode every month with nothing to do).

Only John Perkins died.

I've just watched this video and wanted to share it here because imo is very beautiful. I think it's from a week ago or so. I like it very much because I know the fan Pier from the Internet, not personally, and his dream was to meet Robin Wright, his favorite actress from his favorite soap opera. And he finally did it! And he talked to her about our favorite soap opera.

Some months ago, the last episodes I saw was Kelly telling Eden and Cruz about her miscarriage. Robin Wright and Marcy Walker delivered wonderful performances in those scenes. But everything else was so bad so I quit the show. Maybe I will try to watch again soon. But most of the stories were really bad at that time.

I think I know the channel you're talking about. It has a photo of Keith and Gina, right? The problem is that the last episode in English was 1244 and it was uploaded on May 22, 2021. And that person never continued the series from that episode. So, do you know where I can watch from episode 1245 to the end. Thanks.

Kimberly McArthur. But I remember she had a story in those episodes on the train about Jeffrey and T.J. triying to kill her or something like that.

Please, correct me if I'm wrong becuase I saw that ending credits many time ago. But Kelly Capwell is missing from the photos of the ending credits, right? I think that was so weird if that's the truth.

Been around santa Barbara fansites for years and for what I read most people favorite years are from 1985 to 1987. But from 1988 to 1989 Santa Barbara kinda became the Cruz and Eden hour so I think there are fans of the couple who vote 88 and 89 their favorite year because of that In my case I have stopped watching after the Cruz and Eden wedding, Gina in a cult, Chip kidnaped, a randon manhunter, T.J. as Kelly's best friend........ because sorry to say but the show has become terrible. Maybe I return again but it was really painful to watch

"Cruz killed me, Daddy. " Those were Elena's last words. She said them to C.C.

Which episode are you on? I ask you to know better what you are talking about. I'm now near 940 and I have lost all the interest. But I’m still watching.

I've been reading during many years Cruz and Eden fan comments, well also Santa Barbara fan comments in general, on YouTube episodes, Facebook and insta fanpages, boards. And I have always felt the fans of this couple and also sb fans in general are really more Marcy Walker fans than A Martinez fans. They liked better Eden than Cruz. When they are separated (like in Utah, Robert Barr Nikki, Kirk Santana and other stories) they enjoy Eden by far. This is also my opinion. I enjoy a lot more the Eden scenes than the Cruz scenes. Cruz is more boring, righteous, and perfect and Eden is more "crazy", impulsive, troubled, irrational character like her mother Sophia, Mason or Kelly… So that makes Eden more interesting than Cruz. All of this makes me think the show would have work a lot better with Eden sans Cruz that with Cruz sans Eden. Also Eden has better attachments with her family. Marcy scenes with Lane Davies, Todd McKee, Jed and Judith, Robin Wright, Carrington Garland…) are a lot better than A Martinez scenes with his people (either family or other characters like Pearl, Cain…) But we will never know.

No rehab this time. She went to Los Angeles to star in a new TV Series.

what video are you talking about? I cannot find anything. Is this the channel you are talking about? https://www.youtube.com/c/santabarbarasoapopera