Sapounopera

The Dobsons were furious with Ann Howard Baily for killing off Caroline. And so was I. I don't think Lenore wanted out and it's sad that she never had another soap gig apart from playing Brooke Logan's lawyer Pamela Geller for two or three episodes in the mid-nineties.

Thanks. I didn't know Kelly was involved with her mother's boyfriend.

Who played Caroline? Warren was the character they brought back again later played by Jack Wagner?

That Ming Li stuff does sound odd.

I know Eden's rape got a lot of critical acclaim but I do wonder how I would have felt if I was watching at the time.

Caroline Wilson Lockridge was played by gorgeous Lenore Karsdorf (ex-Rita Bauer, GL). Caroline was estranged from her daughter Jane and then it was revealed that she had been involved with an African American man years ago and she gave up his daughter Alice.

Alice was in a mental hospital with Kelly Capwell, she was released, reunited with her mother and sister and they all moved in with Lionel Lockridge. I liked seeing the Lockridge house full of people again.

Yes, that was Warren, Lionel's son. Who turned out not being Lionel's son for an uninspired romance with Cassandra Benedict, Lionel's half-sister.

The Ming Li story was indeed very odd. Those four characters were so isolated, they were a sick little soap opera of their own. As for Eden's rape.. I cared for Cruz and Eden too much during that time to see them go through this. The fact that the show was full of characters and storylines I didn't care for made tuning out much easier.

A number of things ruined SB for me..

Robin Wright leaving and Kelly getting involved with T.J. Daniels, her mother's lover. I hated that storyline.

Lionel, Caroline, Warren, Jane and Alice were a nice family unit and they were destroyed after Caroline's death.

Eden's rape and Adrianna's kidnapping was waay too dark for me

The Donellys and the DiNapolis.

Cain, Andrea, Ming Li and Philip Hamilton. Ming Li was hired by Philip to play Cain's daughter and she was flirting with her "father". It was sick. Who were these people?

Ethan and Laura.

1984-85-86-87 were good SB years. It became watchable (watchable, not very good) again during the Robert/Quinn mess and when the Dobsons returned along with the old Capwell sets, Rosa and nu-Santana, whom I liked.

OMG, I just remembered Cassandra and her story. I hated it. It was Marianne Carruthers before Marianne Carruthers. Mason, Craig, Ethan, Derek were all involved from what I remember.

Rena Sofer would have been a great choice for Amanda Cory.

OMG, Dina was on a cruise when Colleen died?

Marla Adams is still a gorgeous woman. I'd love to see her on Y&R on a regular basis.

Thank you for all these great articles!

Too bad that SB was ruined shortly after that... I am sure that this show would have worked a lot better as a half-hour show. The writers were interested in a very small group of characters, all others came and went every six months leaving nothing behind.

I have question... Who came first? Kay Chancellor and Esther or Iris and her maid?

I guess they brought Eileen in order to combine the Eden and Kelly characters in one. While watching those episodes I felt like Kelly was supposed to be the new Eden and Catrina was becoming the new Kelly. I was certain that Catrina would end up being C.C.'s daughter.

Carrington never really worked as Kelly for me. Perhaps it was story and her romances with Ric Castilio, Craig Hunt, Derek Griffin, Robert, Quinn and that singer/pianist, whose wife Renata was played by Deborah Adair for one episode. Kelly stopped acting like Kelly after she got involved with T.J. Daniels and the feud with Eden was a disaster. Robin played her as a beautiful princess and was very hard to be replaced. Carrington played the part of Eden2 and Eileen was brought to play both sisters under one name.

Todd McKee and Lane Davies apparently got along real well off screen, too. I remember the soap mags covering the "world tour" the two of them took after they were off SB -- IIRC, they spent half a year or so traveling together to Europe and Africa. Make of that what you will.

From what I remember they left town at around the same time in 1989. Perhaps I am crazy, but I also remember Mason saying goodbye to everybody and mentioning that he might end up in Bay City or Salem soon. It seemed so crazy to me back then

Both Ginas were wonderful. As a very young viewer I considered Robin's Gina, daytime's answer to Barbara Stanwyck's Stella Dallas. Linda was more of a Blanche Dubois.

Todd has great chemistry with Lane Davies (Mason). The original Capwell siblings worked great together.

I LOVED Blake's amnesia storyline! I watched it as a kid the first time and my first reaction was OMG, she is in love with him! She never hated him, she has always been in love with him all along!!!

I adore Joan Collins and Alexis has been my "constant" through the years, but I really fell in love with her when she tore up the papers which would destroy Blake during the time they were living as a couple. Another scene I loved was shortly after Adam and Dana's wedding, when Dex told her that she was a lonely woman with nothing and nobody in her life and she told him that she didn't need him or anybody else. (Do you remember Gavin Maurier? Were there any plans to do more with the character and bring him back next season?)

Alexis's reunion with Steven and Fallon in court. The rainbow talk and her comment about Fallon's teeth and tongue Ordering pizza and watching Love Boat in bed with Cecil

Alexis screaming during the Moldavian massacre "Amanda, my baby!!" LOVE LOVE LOVE HER.And I keep hoping that I will run into her during one of her trips in the Greek islands and thank her for everything

The final season definitely used clips from episodes if that's what you're thinking of.

They wanted to keep the black bitch and the white bitch together, Diahann being right before Joan after the guest stars was the equivalent of Stephanie Beacham's "with" credit in season 9. They did however sell Stephanie short on The Colbys by giving her the "and" but putting Ricardo Montalban after her with "special guest star". I guess that's "fair" given his career/history with Aaron Spelling, but if Rock Hudson could go before Joan, Ricardo could go before Stephanie.

I am sure Zachary Powers wouldn't have lasted very long. He was propably going to marry Sable, end up dead after a while and this way Sable Powers would become Jason's number one powerful enemy. (Does all this ring a bell?)

I sometimes wonder if one of the eighties supersoaps could have survived in the nineties, following the new era's "rules". Would it have been possible for new writers and producers to save Dynasty by turning it into a Melrose PLace type of show?

I always believed that Sable's rapist (and M&M's father) was a Carrington man and that would be used in Season 10 in order to turn Sable against Blake's family. Who could it be? Ben? Tom? Or Blake?? (Which I doupt)

This would make Monica a Carrington and a new -less tired version of Fallon-.

Emma Samms was getting better, but....She was still not Fallon. Call me crazy but I think that the original idea was to hire Sherilyn Wolter as FallonII. Crystal Chappell would also work in the part.

So many questions about plans for S10.. We know that Alexis would be leaving(propably with Dex) and then there was the mystery woman in the limo who has been haunting me for twenty years. Was it really Dominique? Krystle's sister Iris? Or was it Sable, who has been scheming against the Carringtons all this time?

When I first watched S9 I thought it was AWFUL. Hated Zorelli, the show seemed too dark and Sable was a constant reminder of the Colbys disaster. Watching it again through the years I understand that it was the only way to make Dynasty work as a nineties show. Too bad we never show what TPTB were planning to do.

PS: The reunion never happened as far as I am concerned.

I just love all pf Carl's vintage articles This living room reminds me a lot of the Forrester living room on B&B (which btw is identical to the Brooks living room of Y&R)

Did Marland create the original Ava? I know she wasn't there from the start and he left after a year or so--but that's interesting.

Original Ava was propably Marland's creation. However I've read somewhere that once ethnic-looking Roya was cast in the part there were some plans to make Ava the product of a "scandalous affair" between Kate and an African American man. Loving never went there, but that would make a great story.

Roya as Ava certainly was even MORE like an Erica Kane clone than Lisa Peluso--I see why many found it beyond obvious when AGnes created the role.

However original Ava (as played by Patty Lotz) was a factory worker and was more like Marland's Nola Reardon, Nola Dancy and Meg Snyder.

Leslie Dennison replaced Christine Tudor for several episodes on Loving and played Gwyneth Alden during her affair with Jeff Hartman, daughter Trisha's then boyfriend. I always felt that Tudor didn't want to play those scenes and that's the reason another actress was brought

I didn't like her at all in this part. This was not Gwyneth, but felt like a different character.

Do you agree with those who think JFP ruined the show?

Was she responsible for Megan Richardson and her son? The DiNapolli sisters? The horrible sick Cain- Ming Li story? The Donnellys? Ethan and Laura? During that period Santa Barbara was a mess.

I think John Conboy ruined the show for good. Among others I hated the Eden-Kelly feud (the Capwell girls were clearly not Lori and Leslie Brooks), the new sets (why would someone destroy the wonderful Capwell mansion sets?), it was a joke alltogether.

She didn't. That was the original Santana, Ava Lazar. I'm pretty sure she only lasted a few months before being replaced with Margaret Michaels, who wasn't much better and only lasted a couple months in 1985. SB didn't get it right until they brought Gina Gallego on in 1985. She wasn't as beautiful as the first two but she played a very flawed, needy, and insecure Santana to the hilt. She was the definitive Santana & probably the reason Wanda DeJesus was such an AWFUL recast in 1992. Jed Allan said in his book what a diva DeJesus was on set & the two did not get along.

As for CC, SB was in a tough bind in the beginning because the original actor cast as CC, Lloyd Bochner, had to bow out at the last minute for health reasons I believe. The actor in the first episode was Peter Mark Richman, who wasn't at all memorable in the part. He was replaced within a month or two by Paul Burke, who was FAR WORSE. If you want a good laugh, find a Paul Burke Santa Barbara episode on youtube. It was like CC was being played by a game show host. Burke didn't last long either & Charles Bateman was brought in. He was okay, but didn't possess the power needed for the role of CC- he was too soft. Jed Allan wasn't brought on until 1986, and there's some mention that the two were at a party together & Bateman found out Allan had been hired as CC before finding out he himself was fired. In his book, Allan says Bateman took it like a gentleman & a professional.

Dame Judith was AMAZING in her supporting role. SB was daytime's Dynasty in the 80s- I still remember how gorgeous some of the sets were, especially the Capwell mansion. The sets today do not compare.

As for the Lane Davies mention, I believe there's an interview you can find on lane-davies.net where he says, in so many words, that the first couple years of SB were carried by himself, A Martinez, Marcy Walker, Louise Sorel, and Nicholas Coster. Those 5 held the ship together and it wasn't until late 1985-early 1986 where the show finally found its footing & had a strong cast in place. From late 85- early 90, though, Santa Barbara was sophisticated, witty, delicious soap fan heaven.

Ava Lazar was GORGEOUS and the only Santana for me. Margaret Michaels' version was way too boring and Gina Gallego was so not... glamourous I never accepted anybody else until Wanda DeJesus took over. Why do you think she was an bad recast?

SB was a great show until it became too dark after Eden's rape and all the cast changes ruined the show. By 1989 it was clear that SB was in trouble.

No sooner had that story concluded, Althea went on vacation and met the suave English psychiatrist Dr. John Morrison, played to sleazy, manipulative perfection by Patrick Horgan. This was 1972, and Althea was on the outs with Nick at this point. John quickly wormed his way into her life. When it looked like she and Nick were drifting back to each other, John married her and then feigned paralysis to keep her loyal. Nick was being pursued by an unstable nurse named Cathy Ryker. Cathy sought psychiatric treatment from John. He deftly used therapy sessions to manipulate Cathy's emotions, leading her to believe that she could have every thing she wanted if she seduced Nick and became pregnant with his child to trap him into marriage. Cathy did just that, but the plan backfired. The baby died in uteruo. That and John's subtle goading drove Cathy insane. She kidnapped infant Stephie Aldrich from the Hope Memorial, and disguised, rented a room in a residential hotel under the name Mrs. Norman. Cathy thought she was living with Nick's son. The hotel's nosy manager wondered why Mrs. Norman's baby bore an uncanny resemblance to photos of the kidnapped Aldrich baby he saw on tv, and when he discovered that Mrs. Norman's baby son didn't have any junk between his legs, he called the cops. The police and Nick descended upon the hotel. Cathy snatched Stephie and crawled out on the narrow window ledge 14 stories above the street. The sequence went on for episodes and episodes as Nick and Steve tried desperately to talk Cathy down. Reluctantly, John Morrison was called in. He lied and schemed effortlessly to get Stephie away from her. When Cathy saw Stephie in Steve's arms, she snapped back to reality. John gently took Cathy's arm. In the same reassuring tones, he told her that everything would work out, just as they discussed in their sessions. A horrified Cathy screamed, "Oh, yes, you got what you wanted...Althea. Everything worked out perfectly for you, Dr. Morrison, but not for me!" Cathy pulled away from his grasp, lost her footing, and plunged off the ledge, her screams echoing as she fell to her death on the streets far below.

The Pollocks did something similar with Claudia on Dynasty.

Do you think that pairing Stu and Jo could have worked? Having them become one big family with Patti, Suzi, Tom, Janet and her kids , or would it just ruin everything?

Thank you, Elsa! So you saw the snake and falling of a bridge?

Oh yes, I saw that Details are not very clear to me, but I remember that I was shocked by that scene. It was nothing like Loving at all and there was no reason to go there. At that time I thought it was clear that they wanted to show us that Jonathan turned into a snake, but I don't know if I would interpret it this way today. Even then it seemed very naive to me.

So who here watched Keith/Jonathan battle and Jonathan making a pact with the devil?

I watched that storyline. Too wacky and "dark" and way too much Dolly Jones during that period for no apparent reason. It felt like a cheap telenovela (probably that's why we loved early Loving here in Greece). It was during the Beachum brothers/Zona mess, or right before that if I remember correctly. Loving was a different show every six months, but it was mostly fun. The Keith/Jonathan/Dolly period was not so much fun and as a kid I was shocked by the fact that someone turned into a snake ON A SOAP.

So sad to read that Roya Megnot has passed away I loved her as Ava and always felt that she should be on another soap after her very successful Loving stint. She was briefly on B&B as Iman, during Ridge and Brooke's 1994 (?) wedding.

Santa Barbara had lost me by that time.

Eden's rape story and her search for her presumed-dead baby was way too depressing for me. The entire Cain-Andrea-Philip Hamilton-Ming Li storyline was very tasteless, there was no reason for Megan and Greg to show up, Bunny was too much, boring Sandra, boring DiNappoli girls, don't get me started on Ethan-Laura-Michael and Heather-Celeste-Scott. Who was in charge of the show back then?

I was a huge Cruz and Eden fan until Robert showed up and for the first time I wanted Eden with someone else

Santa Barbara never recovered from the loss of Lane Davies and Robin Wright. We had two other GREAT Masons, but Kelly was no longer Kelly to me.

From what I understand Santa Barbara's JumpTheShark moment happened sometime in 1988 for me.

Thanks for the great summary!