Sunset Beach Discussion Thread

[te.]

Honestly, I don't really get why they choose to write off the characters they did in the mini-revamp that happened maybe eight months in. Tiffany I understand since the actress that replaced Franz didn't have the same charisma, but Paula and Elaine I don't get. I thought the set up of Gabi being Paula's half-sister on her paternal side and Cole being Elaine's son was an interesting family dynamic that went effectively wasted. I guess they wanted to expand on the Torres's and maybe uncomplicate it a bit for new viewers.

[Manny]

Yeah, I guess they wanted to expand the Deschanel, Torres and Cummings families, so they had to lose some people. 

But I felt really sad losing all the characters after year one. Even if I enjoyed some of the new characters like Antonio, Carmen and Emily. 

But it would have been interesting where Paula, Elaine, Mark, Rae and Tiffany would go. 

Why did Adrienne Frantz leave the show? Was she fired? Or did she leave on her own choice? I think she got hired at B&B right after, so I guess that was a win for her, but I wasn't sure if she left because of B&B or was she fired from SuBe.

[Liberty City]

I completely agree; Rae was a breath of fresh air in terms of the original characters. But I also feel like they softened her too soon, and that they hadn't any clue what to do with her.

Could the revamp have been why Robert Guza Jnr was out and Meg Bennett came in as head writer? I've always wondered what could have been had H. Wesley Kenney not left the show, due to creative differences, and been replaced with Gary Tomlin?

[te.]

I suspect that must've been a part of the direction of making it more in line with the other soaps. It's obvious that initially they had more of a 90s Spelling soap feel with "unconventional"  family units and "chosen" families. I never got why they expanded on the Deschanel's while leaving Elaine in the dust. But I guess they needed Elaine to leave to get the Cummings there to run the waffle place. 

I checked and Meg Bennet already came in after one month (episode 25 per IMDB). So I suspect not as it probably had barely premiered when they filmed that. 

[Liberty City]

Yes, but I am speaking of Bennett's first credit as sole head writer, which wasn't until October 22, 1997. Even you mentioned the mini-revamp coming eight months in, which would have been August-airing wise, and would have potentially caused Guza Jnr to abandon his position (due to being unhappy), and allowing Bennett to take full control. Although, per credits, Bennett is not credited right with Guza Jnr (which normally a co-head would).

[te.]

Could be, though I don't remember exactly when it happened. With that said, Kelly Hu was written out much earlier than that (maybe in April?), so I feel they started adjusting the show pretty early on. I do think Guza might've left out of frustration with NBC's demands. Of course, they did the Terror Island arc at the end of the year with James E Reilly coming in as a story consultant. 

[Liberty City]

I think Terror Island is when I checked out during my first watch; don't recall it necessarily being because of the storyline itself, though.

[Manny]

Oh yes, exactly that. I think I remember reading an article way back when that this is exactly what they were trying to do. They wanted to restructure it to have several soap core families, and less of the individuals, chosen families etc. Which was a shame. I mean, I did enjoy the addition of Carmen and Antonio, but I did not really care for the Cummings' (including Sara). Even A.J. and Leo Deschanel were pretty meh for me. I liked the other characters that left much more. 

Oh you didn't enjoy Terror Island? Oh if I was enjoying SuBe, by the time Terror Island hit the screens, I was obsessed lol But I was very much into Scream and I Know What You did Last Summer, and I've always been into "whodunnits", so this was exactly my cup of tea. The only thing I didn't love as much was that they made "Ben" the killer, which was obvious.. I mean, the twin was obvious. 

[te.]

I pretty much feel the same way - I like Ma Walsh, but the Cummings' coming to Los Angeles just felt pretty forced and took away from Meg's "fish out of the water" status. With them there, there were never any question of her packing her bags and going back to Kansas. Sara was sort of meh, especially with the "ripped from the headlines" Lewinsky storyline. I did like Shawn Batten, but preferred her on Spyder Games though lol. A.J. and especially Leo just were bland to me... I barely remember them existing on the show. Again, why bring in A.J. without Elaine there? 

[Liberty City]

Ultimately, by the time I hit Terror Island I felt like I missed a ton of episodes... and I likely did. Hence why re-watching of it.

[Manny]

Oh yes, maybe I would have enjoyed AJ more if Elaine was there. Especially since Olivia, Bette and Elaine were friends and then both Olivia and Bette dated AJ at some point.. So Elaine was needed for sure. Leo never did anything memorable anyway haha

Ah okay. I am curious if you will enjoy it this second time around

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[Liberty City]

I have a feeling I will; I am on episode 30 now, so.

[Liberty City]

Adrienne Frantz's new opening shot was a new-shot; the haircut debuted during the February 27, 1997, episode.

[Manny]

Really weird how they did that 2 months into the show when some shows don't update their openings for years

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[Liberty City]

Who knows. Maybe because of how unlike it looked from how she did on the show?