pdm1974

Sally and Macy had a definite Mildred Pierce vibe going on...I also loved Sally during this period. She was still a bit over the top, but more grounded. I miss this dynamic of the show. We don't have a good social climber on the show at this point.

When the show first started, I thought CN and Thorne were WAY hotter than Ridge.

That would have been great!! The last year was so hard to watch. I feel like they were trying to get back on track, but the previous attempt to make the show much more like DAYS flopped badly. AW was never DAYS nor should it have been.

I thought the Dobson's second round was a definite mixed bag...and I had high hopes. The return of Santana (and Rosa, the true mother figure to the Capwell children, especially Mason) was a good move, but unfortunately the casting of WD as Santana did not work out. Firing Carrington Garland was a HUGE mistake as she was poised to take the place of Eden, and the actress could have pulled it off. I liked the return of the "darker Mason." I hated the whole reveal that Warren wasn't Lionel's son, and he had a past with Cassandra. It was a twist that just felt really wrong and had no point in the end...plus, I think it wrote Cassie into a corner, and I always thought she had long-term potential and reenergized the Lockridge family. I think the Dobson's were going the route of having CC revealed as Warren's son with Augusta. There were tons of not so subtle hints. Thankfully, that part was at least abandoned. We never did find out who Warren's birth father was, and the whole matter was dropped completely when Pam Long took over.

I just remember the red swam story dragging on forever, but then the writer's were probably scrambling after Mac's death.

I forgot....but what was the resolution to the red swan plot? What was the mystery behind it?

Looking back, I now realize what a great character Flame actually was. She was so multi-layered and RB played her so well. It's true that I think Pam Long would have fun with the character. I could see her becoming involved with the Capwells and climbing her way up the social ladder.

I remember Mac giving that holiday toast when it aired! The show lost a lot of its moral center after he passed, and I think they struggled a bit trying to decide how to proceed. I do wonder how things would have gone if Harding Lemay had been able to stay.

O...M...G....This show is off the chain crazy. When the First Lady hit herself in the head in the middle of her tantrum I spit out my tea in laughter. Well...at least she didn't use a taser on family member in this one. And what is up with the creepy brother making odd comments to his sister that border on weird flirting. I'm not sure what to make of the show in general. Is it horrible? Is it kitsch at its best? Is it some sort of weird accidental genius. I don't know, but I'm still watching. We're still in the first 24 hours of these characters lives and so much s&%t has gone down in that time that it's mind boggling. I love how the family with kidnapped granddaughter has practically forgotten about her already...and it's just been HOURS. The grandmother just acts like this is all another Tuesday or something...cult breaks into your house, forcibly removes your granddaughter, your son is falsely accused of rape and now maybe murder, your ex-daughter-in-law HAS been murdered...and you're missing a knife in the kitchen, your husband loses his job, still no idea where your grandkid is...and the woman makes sandwiches with a shrug and a "Lord, help!" If you're not watching, you should because this is soap on HEROIN.

It burned bright and quickly, but I think at its top form it was soap at its best.

I watched the whole series a couple of years ago, and I remember season 7 was probably the most boring. Season 9 was actually really great and tightly written...but the times had changed.

Wow...it's great to see that SB really had some upward momentum at one point. With a timeslot NOGT against GH, I think it would have done either better. When SB was good, it was on fire!

SB at 5.2! I wonder what their highest rating was throughout their run. I still wonder how they might have done with DOOL as their lead-in instead of AW (as much as I also loved AW).

I remember Grace talking about that cake all the time! My favorite Grace line of all time though was, "I haven't had a thing to wear since the house got sucked into hell."

Grace returns to town...only now she's especially a bit...off...and she becomes Harmony's most infamous serial killer...all starting with poisoning her tomato soup cake!

I wonder what was the closest SB ever got to AW....Someone posted earlier what would have happened to Santa Barbara's ratings if it had been switched in timeslots with Another World.

How wild! If I wasn't scared to go to Russia right now, I might would visit!

I remember when this happened. It definitely seemed like Patty was back on her way to town. When Patty finally did return with SH portraying the role, I thought initially she was one of the most interesting characters added to the canvas in a long time. But, the writers took her too far and wrote the character in a corner. She could've just stayed slightly off kilter and had long-term possibility.

Brick was definitely a wasted character...he should have stayed throughout the duration being part-Lockridge, part-Capwell (sort of)... It's amazing thinking of all these different families that came and went when the show was only on 8 1/2 years! Sometimes characters, except the Capwells, came and went in a blink of an eye.

Besides the Capwells (and to a lesser extent) the Lockridges, SB was never able to establish another family that really clicked. There were sooo many attempts to start a new core family. Just off the top of my head, I remember... Cruz's extended family Gina's extended family The Donnleys The DiNapoli sisters The Richards The four "orphan boys and Cassie"- an attempt at a "different kind of family" The Walkers (at the end) The DeAngelis family (at the end) Not to mention the Perkins and Andrade families which started the show but were soon gone. Out of all these unsuccessful attempts, which family group do you think had the most potential if maybe handled better?

Gina and Brandon's relationship was one of the best developed...and sweet ones...on the show. Gina was the type of character that needed a Brandon to show her softer side.

CG was my favorite Kelly, too. It was jarring when she was replaced since she seemed to fit the role so well.

Good point!

That would have been interesting to have EW back in both roles, and as you said, at that point in the game, what did the show have to lose?

Not to mention how JB refused to play both roles so we got that horrible Marley now played by EW after a fire...so bad. Not to mention that EW was like a foot taller than JB...did she grow while she was in the coma, too?