Carlos Abad

After 40 years, there are many Santa Barbara actors who have disappeared from our screens. But there’s still a few left who are still doing movies or TV shows.

I love to watch them now in different roles than the ones they were doing on SB.

Here’s is the trailer of the last movie with our dear Cruz (A Martinez) that was released on September 2023. It’s a movie with Bailey Chase and Amanda Righetti.

And also there’s a trailer of the upcoming movie DAMSEL with our dear Kelly Robin Wright playing an evil character with Millie Bobby Brown and Angela Basset on the cast.

I know this is not Santa Barbara. They are not Cruz Castillo and Kelly Capwell. But I love to watch them still working after these 40 years.

Didn't like Lionel and Eden stuff. So weird. 

For me the strongest years of santa Barbara were 1985, 1986 and 1987. This Emmy promo is narrated by Jed Allan and it shows some of the plots of 1987. I love it.

Loved her as Pamela. RIP!

2 minutes ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

There was nothing wrong about your post! You did well with the English language!

Just curious is all, what is your native country? 

España. Spain. 

23 hours ago, j swift said:

I've always rebelled against group-think when it comes to fandom, as I have no interest in expressing an opinion only for the purpose of consensus.  Therefore, I've never cared that "everyone" hated John Conboy or those who say that Paul Rauch's stomping out the cigar was the "most offensive thing ever on TV."

Luckily, we each have our own memories, and the distance of time, to come to our own conclusions.

Hello! I think I expressed wrong because I’m a foreign fan and maybe my words were not the right ones because I don’t dominate the English language.  

I’m all for unpopular opinions and of course everyone has the right to have their own opinion.

I only tried to say that most of the fans that I have read on the sb fan sites love Robin Wright as Kelly and don’t care at all about the other actresses. In this case I’m with them. I have the same opinion “popular opinion”. I love Robin as Kelly and don’t care about the other actresses.

But I also have some thoughts against the fandom/groups which is not in consensus with most of the fans.

For example, I think Ava Lazar, Dane Witherspoon and Julie Ronnie are gorgeous looking. But at the same time, I think they 3 are terrible actors which makes them the worst Santana, Joe or Laken. And I think that’s also an unpopular opinion. So sorry if my message about Kelly/Robin sounded wrong. It was not my intention.

If you visit the many different Santa Barbara fansites, only Robin Wright was really loved as Kelly. She was the one and only and great Kelly for most of the fans. Most of the fans do not care about Kimberly, Carrington or Eileen. They only loved Robin Wright in this role.

Just watched this very recent interview of Robin Wright where they talk a little about Santa Barbara and her role as Kelly Capwell. 

Episode 8:

-This is the first episode of Renée Jones as Toni, one good friend of Kelly. I like her. I wish they have used her more.

-I realized in this beginning they sometimes wear different outfits in the same episode. For example, Kelly has 3 different outfits and 3 different hairstyles. But in the future episodes they can be with the same clothes for about 6 or 7 episodes.

-Beautiful scene between Rosa and Kelly. I wish they have used her more. Margarita Cordova is a good actress and she has good chemistry with all the Capwells. But they never gave her an important story, despite being a regular character.

-Here C.C. says that Kelly looks so much like his mother, but in future episodes Eden is the one who is a Sophia lookalike.

-Many extras in the party. I see that in this beginning they are using many extras. They spend more money than in future episodes.

-This is the first time I feel sorry for Mason when C.C. makes his toast: To the beginning of Channing’s brilliant career. That was a great scene.

-I wonder if Patricia, Mason’s date, is a prostitute or not.

-Ava Lazar in these earlier episodes looks amazing as Santana. Sadly later on they made something really weird with her hair.

-Nice to see a big star like Tim Robbins doing a small role. But in the tittle of the episode, they also highlight Janine Turner and I have no idea who she is.

-Location scenes for Joe and Dominic which is always nice. I love when they shoot outside the sets. I think those scenes were shoot outside the studios. I have seen this parking in other episodes.

-I like to see some scenes between Joe and his sister Jade. Those are good scenes and well acted by Melissa and Dane. Nothing to do with John-Joe scenes that are terrible and really bad acted by both actors.

On 7/27/2023 at 7:34 AM, Ryan Mason said:

Similarly, the driving scenes on Santa Barbara always looked super low-budget to me. There was such an obvious border outline between the actors in the car and the alleged moving "background"!

That’s true. And you know what it makes it worse?

Many of those scenes were with convertible cars so it even looks worse. I remember a Paul Burke Ava lazar scene going from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara in a convertible car that looked so cheap around episode 60. Also I’ve recently watched a Ted Christie scene where they go to Theda’s house that is also in a convertible car and it looks terrible.

20 hours ago, Jdee43 said:

Equally icky was Lionel and Eden. I just watched episode 94 and were they really going to go there? Was CC/Santana/Mason going to be followed by something like Lionel/Eden/Warren?

Lionel and Eden had no chemistry. Lionel did have chemistry with Augusta and Sophia.  

Episode 94 shows how bad the show was in late 84. An episode with just 6 characters, Ted and Laken, Eden and Lionel, and Brick and Augusta. Only the latter two had any life, especially Augusta. The show seemed to be designed to put people to sleep.

Only 6 regular characters?  maybe that was the episode with less characters in the whole soap.

Episode 6:
-I’m enjoying these episodes very much but I can get why some viewers are struggling with the first months of Santa Barbara.

 -Messy edition sometimes. The whole episode seems to be taking place during the night but there’s a C.C. and Rosa scene about minute 18 in the Capwell set that it seems to be taking place during the day. There’s so much light and all the other scenes in the Capwell set of this episode are very dark.

 -The Capwell set is too empty compared to future episodes. They need more furniture and decorative elements to make it look real.

 -In this episode they are developing a love triangle between Danny, Jade and Warren, but that never happened. I guess that was the story they planned according to the first promotional photos of the show.

 -The ending scene of the last episode with Joe and Kelly reunion was strong, but the scenes of this episode in the yacht are a disappointing continuation with some poor acting and poor writing.

Episode 7:

-Very good episode, except for the silly stuff of Ted and Danny in Hollywood.

 -Love to see Lupe Ontiveros as the nurse in Acapulco in Santana’s scene. This actress has been in many things but I will always remember her as Juanita Solis on the first season of ‘Desperate Housewives”. The scenes between mama Solis and Eva Longoria were pure gold.

 -I think it’s funny C.C. likes so much Peter for Kelly and then he likes Kirk for Eden, two killers. Meanwhile he dislikes a lot Joe or Cruz for his daughter’s. I guess he’s not as smart as he thinks he is. But I really like Peter Mark Richman as C.C. Capwell.

 -Fake cliffhanger in the last episode because in episode 6 Kelly told Peter “Let’s get married right now. We can go to Las Vegas an get married’. But now she wakes up in the car and she says: “Peter, I don’t want to marry you this way”.

 -I’m used to watch fake exteriors set in soap operas like beaches, caves, gardens, woods and many more. There are some that look more real and better than others and I do accept that. But the fake polo field green screen with C.C., Kelly and Peter is just too much. It looks so fake and cheap. It’s difficult to take those scenes seriously with those “special effects”.

7 hours ago, Keri said:

I wasn;t a huge fan of Mary either, she is very judgmental imo, and in general sometimes she rubbed me the wrong way. Nevertheless, I did root for her and Mason.

This is also my opinion about Mary and the reason why I don’t like her very much, but Mark was an horrible person so of course I also root for Mary and Mason. But I don’t mind that they killed her and gave Mason a better coupe imo: Julia.

Also, if I remember well, I think Mason becomes a very likeable character thanks to Charles Bateman. In late 1984 or early 1985 C.C. treats Mason in a horrid way. He’s so violent, he even hits Mason a few times, C.C. is despicable with Mason during many episodes. And that is when Mason becomes one of my favorites and I really root for him. I guess Charles Bateman made me a fan of Mason Capwell.

Episode 5:

-I like the clear lighting of the sets in these earlier episodes. Later in 1988 the sets were darker and brown and I didn’t enjoy that.

 -C.C. wants a military school for poor Ted. He’s so soft and a sensitive teenager. It won’t work.

 -The Capwell Enterprises scene with Peter, Kelly and Joe seems to be a real building and not a set. I think that was filmed at the offices of the studios.

 -Later on Kelly becomes one of my favorites, but here I don’t like her very much, the same that happens with Mason who I like him more later on. Here Kelly is too soft, quiet, sweet and passive. But at least she has great taste in music. She puts on her radio cassette the song Time after time by Cindy Lauper. I think Lauper is one of the best singers from the 80s.

 -The ending scene with Joe and Kelly finally meeting after all these years is a great way to finish this episode.

 -John Perkins is again shouting and hating his son. I cannot stand him. He’s the worst!

 -I also love the song from Vangelis Alpha that is present in Santana scenes.

 -This is the first episode of Veronica. Here she’s a recurring character but later she will be a regular one. But it won’t last because she receives a carnation from her boss.

 -This is also the first episode of Ruben Andrade but he does nothing remarkable during all his episodes.

 -I think everything is working in this beginning, except the teenager’s story. I’m sorry to say this because I really like Todd Mckee and Melissa Reeves, but if they deleted all the Ted, Danny, Jade, Laken scenes the episode would be so much better.

 -Santana has a spicy revenge with Mason and her chili peppers. I like her. I don’t like him at all. Lane Davies is great in the future episodes, but right now Mason is probably one of my least favorite characters after John Perkins.

On 7/19/2023 at 8:15 AM, Jdee43 said:

I don't think Mason becomes likeable or a lead until 1985. I think it takes the character of Mary.

Maybe I change my opinion once I arrive there, but I remember disliking very much the character of Mary Duval.

Just watched episode 4. These is what I think about this ep.

 -They have beautiful locations with Joe, Peter, Kelly and C.C. I love when they shoot in exteriors.

-I guess it’s true that they played that Joe and Kelly song so many times that it loses the meaning, the magic.

-I’ve read that the scene where Peter Mark Richman confronts Dane Witherspoon and his men thrown him into the water is a reshoot. They actually filmed that scene with Lloyd Bochner.

-Mason pretending he has left the house and then coming in and spying Santana in her underwear is so wrong. He’s so creepy in these episodes. I don’t like him at all.

-The scene where Augusta hits the waitress is so good. She’s one of my favorites from these earlier episodes.

-Then we have Augusta and her pussycat Breeze in La mesa. That’s another great scene. And she has chemistry with Joe. I guess Louise Sorel has chemistry with everybody. She’s is giving so much life in these earlier episodes.

-And a mystery that was never resolved. Who thrown the bomb on the Perkins house? They never addressed that subject.

 -This is the first episode of Dominic and while Judith is for me the one and only Sophia I think Rosemary Forsyt is a lot better playing a man than Judith.

Just watched Santa Barbara Episode 3.

 -Hot, Stormy, Breathtaking! I just love the promos. ❤

 -I will get a little shallow in this episode because we have a lot of shirtless for the girls and gay fans (Ted, Danny, Warren, they all look great) and also we have a lot of girls in bikini for the heterosexual fans (Laken, Jade, Kelly). Not a big deal, but this caught my attention. They all looked great and very young. They all were babies and gorgeous!

 -I really dislike John Perkins, but on the other side I really like his wife Marissa. I wish they have given her a proper storyline, but that never happened.

 -We can see in this episode that they were trying something between Warren and Jade. In fact, they had lots of promotional pictures together posing as a couple. I don’t know if a story between them would have worked. But it’s sad that we will never know, because this was a story that was dismissed without trying.

 -I also like the friendship between Ted and Jade. Todd and Melissa work very well together.

 -Mason is acting very creepy with Santana. He seems like a stalker. Sorry, but I cannot like him here.

 -One of the best scenes of this episode is the confrontation of Rosa and C. C. The ‘Who do you think you are?” scene is just amazing. Peter Mark Richman and Margarita Cordova are great in it, but sadly it leads to nothing.

 -One thing I don’t know: Santana had Brandon in Acapulco before or after Channing’s murder?

 -I love the song ‘If Ever You're in My Arms Again’. I don’t mind that it appears every 10 minutes.

2 hours ago, Liberty City said:

No offense but I would stop linking to the episodes... it's going to cause them to be copyright removed at a certain point. It's what happened before, and it took months for the user to return.

I didn’t think about that so thanks for telling me. I have removed the links

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.

On 2/17/2023 at 4:36 PM, Marissa Gallant said:

I'm not accepting this excuse anymore. The strike didn't start until March. This was after the TJ affair, so I have to say it wasn't ALL the strikes fault

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.

On 2/3/2023 at 6:53 PM, Marissa Gallant said:

Yeah, those episodes are horrible. I made it through them. Once. I doubt it will be twice

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.

6 hours ago, Keri said:

So is the consensus the last Laken - Shell D - was the best? I just watched a clip and she seems the best actress maybe?

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.