Jdee43

From the beginning, Santa Barbara always had a great musical score. From 1984 on, many of the couples and the main characters had their own little theme. My favorites are the ones they had for Santana in 1984 and for Peter; it captured aspects of the character; for Santana, her spunkiness, for Peter his sleaze. I also like the score they had for Peter in 1985 when he becomes the Carnation killer; very spooky!

Totally agree that Denise Alexander as Missy would have been so much better! How much better this show would have been in its last two decades if it had used its history and tried to bring back characters we actually saw on screen!

It should be Rick and Lesley. Maybe they could finally undo the horrible story of Rick's return and exit in 2002, and making Scott his killer in 2007. They have so many horrible stories to undo though, no doubt that one probably gets lost in the shuffle.

Felicia has been pretty much invisible since January. There was nothing for KW's 40th anniversary on the show either.

Gloria Monty recast Ned in spring 1991 when the original actor decided to leave. She also recast Dominique in mid-1991, when the original actress wasn't working out.

I just wrapped up January 1985. The show is so much more watchable now than in 1984! It wasn't an earthquake that revitalized the show, but a serial killer! That's probably something Jill Farren Phelps never forgot; this was her first serial killer story as one of the producers. The story works here because there literally was nothing going on. Finally the show has some juice and energy; some stakes! The writing of it is ok, and the acting is good, especially from the killer Stephen Meadows. Finally Cruz has some real purpose on the canvas. He's been good as the cop, and to see him work with Mason, who he called "partner" once, has been fun! All the other stories that weren't working have been dropped (Jade and Danny, the Amanda Lockridge) or are being downplayed. The one exception has been Ted and Laken. Why they insist on giving these two dramatic material when they can't act is beyond me! Your father killed my mother; you ratted out my brother; etc. It's silly, and all just a recipe for bad acting. They should have kept it light with them.

Were they really trying to go for humor in the scenes where Sonny and Carly were trying to work out their alibi? This show is lost. 🙄 Of course the show continues to vilify Jagger so as to make Sonny's killing seem justifiable. Both Anna and Mac comment on how Jagger went to a dark place 🤢🤮 Mac seemed so enthused when he heard Jagger was back in town, he wanted to catch up. Today Mac was more like "meh, he's dead"; I guess Mac never got to talk with him.

The show is a joke, so why not cast as many comedians on it as possible. Perhaps Rena doesn't want to do the accent anymore, hence this storyline?

Re: Robert, it is sad. When I started watching GH in 1990, 1991, he was the star of the show. I guess with old stars coming back (Luke) and new stars being created (Sonny and Jason), he got lost in the shuffle, and, with all of them staying, there was no need to revisit the days when the whole show revolved around the Robert character. Since his return in 2006, he's always felt more like a guest star than an integrated part of the cast. I wish they'd give him more to do, but I guess fans who remember when he was the star should just be happy he's on from time to time. The actor was always opinionated behind the scenes, which probably does him no favors. It is getting to the point now that they should probably just give his character a happy ending and have him and Holly ride off into the sunset. Embrace the happy memories.

The actor that plays Drew doesn't have the chops to come off as anything but creepy in this storyline.

I think now the only way Sonny should end is with Carly shooting him in cold blood, point blank, the way he shot AJ and Jagger. Maybe she thinks he's killed Jason. But, like how Sonny was mistaken that AJ shot Connie, she's mistaken, and Jason comes back and helps her cover it up. The character of Sonny is so played out and so unrealistic, he needs to be gone. They can bring Maurice Bernard back as another character though, maybe as Father Flanigan the hospital chaplin, who gives sage advice and hugs it out with people.

The show is trying to sell that Sonny is justified in killing Jagger because Jagger broke the code and went after Sonny's kids; give me a break. Jagger, a character from the 90s, with connections to so much history, is being given a C-level exit. It's like the producers are taking their disappointment with the actor and his lack of chemistry with anyone out on the character. This character shouldn't have been Jagger. The show is back in 2014 territory, when Sonny did the same thing to AJ and suffered no consequences. The show is a joke. It can't be taken seriously.

Sonny killing Jagger point blank in cold blood totally undermines so many of his relationships from the 90s. Sonny is a monster and should be taken down as such. It's stunning that this character passes as a soap opera lead in this day and age, as the "good guy." But I guess the audience is so tiny, that there won't be much blowback, if any. That the producers think this is what that tiny audience wants to see though is amazing; it is not. Instead of having characters do the same trash over and over again, how about we see them evolve?

It was disgusting when they had Sonny shoot and kill AJ point blank in 2014 and not face any consequences. It's disgusting having him do the same to Jagger in 2024. Other than satisfying Maurice Bernard's huge ego, what's the point of this crap? How is any of this entertaining?

What the show's doing to Jagger is pretty disgusting. There was no reason to bring him back in the first place, but once they did, they didn't have to turn him into the bad guy. I guess with the actor failing all his chemistry tests, and Sonny back to bring the hero, the producers thought why not, but I wish they hadn't.

Killing her off seems a bit vindictive, but the character has been useless and the actress lifeless for over 2 decades. The only spark she had was her brief turn as a villain back in 2007 or so. Her current story with Dante feels like a repeat of the story she had with Patrick a decade ago. If her character is not paired with one of the Jasons, she's paired with a character who will certainly dump her for his true love once his true love comes back from near death. Her character has always been a placeholder.

Things are happening, but the writing is still weak. Basic motivations, which take time to set up, are gone, as are little character moments. The motivations of Jagger, Ava, Anna, Kristina are completely muddled, as are Brennan's, who seems poised to take over Jagger's role as Jason's handler. Lois is given another non-story, being concerned with her accent of all things. Lulu's and Lucky's returns are beyond cliché and I expect will be needlessly drawn out. I also expect that they will try to recycle elements of the first, rejected version of Jason's return story into Lucky's "adventure" story; can't wait for the brainwashing, or brain damage, to explain Lucky's deadbeat behavior. One could go on. Is it really that hard to do character stuff, and keep things moving, and have things not violate common sense, all at the same time?

I always thought that Scott and Rick served the same function on the show, slimy lawyers, just interacting with different generations. It's hard having them on the same time, as they're almost the same character. Kin does throw in a bunch of neurotic actions to try and distinguish himself though.

I apologize for getting on the actress about something that she has no control over. I'm sorry.

It makes no sense for the story. Abby came out of plastic surgery sporting new acne scars?!

For me, Laura Malone was one of the main reasons to watch the mostly boring Another World episodes from 1980 and 1981 that were posted years ago on the AOL soap channel. She was such a spitfire; she brought so much life and energy! Sad that her run on the show ended the way it did -- apparently stabbed in the back by co-stars and producers who had no appreciation of what she had brought to the show for so many years.

Whenever I've tried to watch, I just get distracted by her acne cheek scars. HD can be really unforgiving.

Watching episodes from late January 1985, I've come to appreciate Stephen Meadows. It's too bad that they screwed up his character from the very beginning, giving his background as high school teacher, then having him be a cooperate exec, then revealing he had been a male prostitute, then turning him into a jealous bad guy willing to resort to murder, then a hospital patient for a couple of months, and finally a serial killer. He didn't mean to be a serial killer; it was all caused by a brain aneurysm he got as a result of injuring himself while trying to kill Joe 😂 At least the show gave him the chance to go out in a blaze of glory, and he rose up to the challenge. But again it's too bad they couldn't give him a decent long term character, he was good.

The show hasn't introduced one successful new character since the current regime took over in 2012. Their new characters all have had convulted, unconvincing backstories, and they all do stupid things that sabotage them from the go. In bringing back old characters, they look to the 90s or 00s. There's nothing to bring back from the 10s; no one anyone would want to see come back. It's just a testament to how creatively bankrupt the show has been for a decade and more.

No doubt Robin Wright's feelings for the show are also clouded by her meeting one of her ex-husbands on it, who the show also didn't treat well. Santa Barbara was the only show where A and Marcy were truly "the stars." I'm sure they regret its cancelation. Not sure they could have done anything to prevent that though; had they stayed, the show probably would have been canceled anyway, right?