juniorz1

Looking forward to watching that clip. I always really liked Lisa Brown's Iva. She was such a strong actress, which is probably she worked as an acting coach for several years after leaving the spotlight.

sungrey- Keith, Gina, and the whole lot of Capwells are HILARIOUS in those scenes!

I actually liked MOST of Sheffer's stuff. I ESPECIALLY enjoyed some of the restored sense of community we got under him and the renewed Kim/Susan rivalry. Episodes like the radio "mystery" show, where different groups of Oakdalians played along and tried to solve the mystery together, were fun little breaks from the action. I liked Hunt Block's Craig. Sue me, but it's true. I LOVED the way they re-introduced Rosanna with Cady McClain in the role. Man, she rocked with Maura West those first couple years. Of course, all of the tie-ups of Leah Laiman's storylines were AMAZING, ESPECIALLY the now-infamous "Katie's Comeuppance" episode where Katie gets her just desserts at the Endicott Awards (is THAT on the DVDs? Man, I hope so- I'd LOVE to re-watch that on Christmas morning). I know "Phantom of the Barbara" was over the top but the previous writers didn't use CZP at all so I was just happy that Hogan saw what a gem he had in her. Same thing with Marie Masters' Susan, who admittedly was and is my favorite actress and character on the show. Hogan used her A LOT, which the writers before and after did not. He fixed Simon, who was kind of a mess under Laiman, made Katie into the town tart which I LOVED her (and him) for, gave some FABULOUS dialogue to Maura West and Hunt Block (I almost wanted her with Craig instead of Jack.......almost), got FIRE performances out of Martha Byrne, I could go on and on. And yes, truth be told, the Hogan years are when I reallllly got hooked on ATWT. I watched off and on in the 90s, particularly Maura West's run which glued me. And I LOBSTER LOVED his last umbrella storyline that he started and Passanante finished, which was the Jenn/Gwen baby switch/Iris Dumbrowski vs Carly/Carly and Gwen are SISTERS! IMO, that was the last great umbrella story that any soap told, complete with the AMAZING Meg, who I completely, utterly, and totally fell in love with in that storyline. Gosh, when they wrote Meg properly, Marie Wilson was the perfect imperfect & flawed heroine. Sort of like a young Susan, but less of a mess. Though I do agree that Sheffer was at his best with Carolyn Culliton, I still found his entire run mostly enjoyable and most certainly watchable. In fact, this is when ATWT took over top honors as my favorite soap over Y&R (really, B&B as I was glued for Brooke/Thorne and it had become my fave over Y&R) and it never relinquished. IMO, ATWT was the best soap of that decade- '00-'10.

Sigh. I'm sad that the writer missed the boat on Brooke/Thorne because they were the awesomeness. Yes, their sex scenes were lusty and hot, but their love scenes and in love scenes were pretty darn magical. What's funny is I wanted Brooke with Ridge from when I started B&B, which was around '92 (when Brooke was pregnant with Bridget so whenever that was). But Thorne made me forget all about Brooke/Ridge and finally, I actually wanted them apart. And ever since then, ESPECIALLY since Brooke woke up one day and decided she was still obsessed with Ridge after all (while married to and in love with Thorne), I just don't care for them any more. In fact, the only thing I like about them is that I hate Taylor and don't want her ever to be happy with Ridge. But now Taylor is working Thorne and it's HIGH time Brooke wake up and go after the Forrester man who is RIGHT for her. That's Thorne. I can't believe it's been 10 years since they've been together and 10 years since B&B has been that good.

Carl- there's a set of clips up where Mason tries to pull a fast one on Eden while she's in Hawaii. Watch those clips. They are super entertaining. Also, capwellgirl has a set of clips entitled "The Family Plan." It's the sequence where CC fakes his death so the family can have a memorial service and sneak Kelly into the house. You MUST watch those. Hilarious stuff and it comes from my favorite SB storyline of all-time- Gina and the Tape.

It was Kirk Cranston's baby so we were grateful, sad as that may be. But the last thing Eden needed was a baby tying her to that nutjob forever. There aren't a whole lot of Elena clips (you're likelier to find clips of the trial for her murder) but you should look up those clips. Sherilyn Wolter should have stayed on SB for years to come, as she was Eden's most formidable rival. Man she was a bitch. You should see some of the horrible things she said to Eden while she was confined to a wheelchair, which is why it was disappointing that by the time Eden could walk, Elena was dead.

It was always like that KMan, almost every year. To the point where we just got used to and accepted it. And I agree- FABULOUS ARTICLE Carl!! :D And nope, I've never seen nor read it.

Santa Barbara did that. Just because some people are listed as original cast members (and some not even) doesn't mean they were there from Day 1. Cruz came later. So did Eden. And Sophia. And Gina. Julia wasn't introduced til 85 (and she was a major player on the show- maybe not in the original outline but I'd certainly count her). Those are 5 MAJOR players on the show and key characters that weren't there in the beginning.

Oh gosh, I laughed at loud re-reading this just now. "Ensuring that I don't wake up thinking I'm your dead mother." God, I miss writing for Augusta! Can't wait to start this up again.

You wanna know what I think, what I really think, since she probably won't pop in and say it herself? I don't only think that NLG is a brilliant actress but also a brilliant woman. And haunted houses or not, she knew what she had in Julia Wainright and she knew that she was never going to have that again. And though she may have fought for airtime and better writing, I think she knew that she was gonna play that role to the bitter end, til the last possible breath of camera airtime that she could take as Julia Wainright. So no matter what they did or put her through, she wasn't going to let anyone take that away from her no matter what they tried. So No. I think she never had any intention of leaving or giving up that role until she got to say her last brilliant line of the entire series. Like her or not, NLG was a lot smarter than some of the people who left for greener pastures, whether they had to do it for themselves or not. She knew what she had, it was hers, writing or no writing, she WAS Julia Wainright Capwell and it was the grandest, most identifiable fantastical role she would ever play in her life. And it was going to end on her terms. Simply put, she'd still be there today with rarely a break if it were still around. She would have played Julia until she was 80 and they would have been foolish to allow someone so capable, brilliant, and excellent and unique go so long as she'd stick around. NLG would have chained herself to that set if she thought it would have bought the show another 6 months just so she could play Julia for 6 more months. She was and is today committed to everything Julia and Santa Barbara. It's one thing to be in a period of grace, excellence, and something that's never going to happen again in your life. It's another to know it while it's happening. NLG was one of the few who knew and GOOD FOR HER!

And if you really want to know, it was Paul Rauch who really caused the problem with Louise Sorel. Augusta was flirting with Dash well before the Dobsons. By the time she got there, she was infuriated and I guess expected Bridget to be as infuriated as she was, as Augusta has long-suspected to been based on her. I think Bridgette appreciated the idea of an Augusta/Dash flirt-mance as a sorta Joe Perkins redux, but I think she would have written it as Augusta just wooing him in order to get him to admit to raping Julia, if given the chance to write it that way, which they never did. Hell, Augusta was on her way in a new path anyway and Bridgette didn't take long to have Dash admit he raped Julia, as anyone who'd watched the show knew all along anyway. Julia was a lot of things, but delusional and confused about the confines of a LAW was never one of them.

I LOVED 1986 the best. 1986 was magic. 1987 had A LOT of strong stuff too. 1988 faltered some. But Marcy Walker poured her HEART and SOUL into that rape and as a fan, it was ELECTRIFYING TO WATCH. 1989 started slow but ended strong. I for one LOVED 1990. The Dobsons came back in 1991 to a mess mostly created by Paul Rauch in the few months he'd been there. It was unbalanced. 1992 was ATROCIOUS from the moment I heard the name Pam Long on until the end.

That's all I could come up with. Allison. I can't blame her for trying to shag Larry. At all.

GIVE ME THE BROOKE/THORNE/MACY ARTICLE!

I'm always curious, because I LOVED her on Days of our Lives and can not and will not ever accept Lauren Koslow because of her, but what was Deborah Adair like as Jill? I have her on my fanfic and I had never imagined her in the part before but LOVE writing the character FAR more with her in mind. Cole was best suited over on ABC romancing Little Budig. Eve dying, sorta remember and fine I think I agree with.

Only if they paired him with Julia or Carrington Garland or Robin Wright were playing Kelly. He wasn't gonna make it through recast soap star hell, that was for sure.

BEAUTIFULLY STATED! However, with Eden gone, JULIA was ALWAYS the direction he should have gone in. They flirted once, sort of, for a brief sequence in the 80s and fans would have accepted Cruz with Julia before a badly recast Kelly. It's what I would have done. It was the ONLY play to make with Cruz to keep your fans happy and provide years of story and a mess if Eden ever showed back up. What they did was all wrong and it's why A wasn't there at the end.

Yes, quite frankly. If I had any mix of Julia, Kelly (GARLAND!), Eden, Augusta, Lionel, Gina, Mason, CC, Sophia, Keith (Deas) running the show and driving story, then yes. The last interesting character SB created was Angela Cassidy and (TAH DAH!) She was a DOBSON creation. And she was perfect for the show, the best part of the final year, vastly underused, and the only rootable character left that could really rock and infect a story with some interest. Not Zimmer and her family of Wrangler Jeans.

A link to a classic, music back intact. http://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/blog/60/entry-3628-episode-55/

Dullsville and didn't suit Santa Barbara AT ALL. Where is the FUN in THAT? There was none. For SB to be right, the following characters had to be in play with properly cast actors (aka the original or best stand in) Eden, Cruz, Mason, Julia, Kelly, CC, Sophia, Lionel, Augusta, Gina, Keith Therein lied the magic of the show. Add: Ted, Laken, Robert, Ric, Santana (GALLEGO!), Kirk, maybe Craig, Brandon Stir and Mix.

She had already re-signed.

The Dobsons worked with her on GL. She and Harley Jane Kozak, who SHOULD have survived or been brought back. I LOVED the bond Eden and Mary formed when they were stuck with Kirk and Mark and I LOVED the Julia/Mary relationship and Mason/Mary. She worked so well with everyone it just sucked to see her get killed off when the character was getting some gumption just to depress poor Mason.

And sadly, Carl, I was commenting on how this thread has deteriorated to posters popping in to post a rare promo. Lenore Kasdorf was ok, but she wasn't Louise Sorel nor was she meant to be. She wasn't going to work long term. Neither was Jane. Or Alice. Or any random character that was in and out of what was once the Lockridge house during that period. So who cares that she came from Guiding Light to Santa Barbara? A Guiding Light fan. That's who.

Nope, still Lane I'm pretty sure.

Good Heavens! PROMOS! My GOD! I have to visit this thread more often. Here's a scene that captures everything that made Santa Barbara special and set it apart and yet probably seemed so small to the actors when they filmed it. But everything the characters say is so true it just brought me to tears after not having seen it in years. THIS, my friends, is why a Santa Barbara fan will never truly fall in love with another soap.' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31o11RMb1nY