Sunset Beach Discussion Thread

[Sylph]

Oh, I never said I watched the show! Who do you think I am, Ben? A Grey's Anatomy regular viewer?

Simply because her Charmed scripts were the cr*ppiest and she rose so high after that show. I don't think she deserves it. I was even disappointed in another Grey's writer - Allan Heinberg, who I really, really loved (he wrote for Sex and the City, among other shows).

Maybe it's Shonda Rhimes who tells her writers to put incredible amounts of sap and sleaze in those scripts...

[Cat]

The thing that bothered me about Grey's Anatomy when I used to watch was the invasive, self-consciously "quirky" music that was meant to prompt us how to feel and signpost the emotions.

And the fact that I don't buy that waif actress as some uber-talented doctor. Or that her chinless, whiney-voiced boyfriend is the hottest man on earth.

I loved Dr. Bailey because she was a breath of fresh air, but the whiney puppy-dog intern, I could have done without. And had it from a very reliable source that Katherine Heigl was the biggest agenda-pushing beeyotch in Hollywood, back when she was on some small show called Roswell.

So, yeah. Don't really rate the writers on GA, other than the fact that they added a little diversity to my usually white-washed TV screen.

His voice is so campy. But I love him anyway.

I was in London around the time of SuBe and used to tape the show! There was a GREAT lady continuity announcer, if I recall, who really added to my enjoyment. One time, the show ended with Caitlin and Cole running away from the police on horseback. Cue wideshot of two stuntmen on horseback. Then an extreme closeup of VD and EC obviously jumping up and down on the spot in a terrible attempt at pretending they were on a horse! The poor continuity announcer was laughing so hard, she couldn't get the words of derision out.

And I loved her names for characters -- like "Thickardo" -- California's most inept policeman. And Smeg for SuBe's favorite heroine. Spawn of Spelling for Randy!

[Sylph]

I totally co-sign! But tell me about that agenda-pushing!

I like Cristina Yang (no h apparently ) and Addison Montgomery.

[Cat]

I like those two as well. The actress who plays Addison has amazing star quality. A red-haired Catherine Deneuve, they said in one episode, and they were right!

Agenda-pushing story: The teen TV show Roswell started life as a Romeo & Juliet, star-crossed love story with a sci-fi twist. This is what drew many fans to the show initially.

Heigl played the sister of the main male lead (who quickly became her boyfriend IRL). She was a supporting character with some good bitchy lines, if I recall correctly (I gave up the show when it started to change).

And change it did, according to my source. KH got her new "fiancé" and herself to start pushing for more SL for her character. Of course, she couched it with phrases like "making it an ensemble show" and this brought other supporting actors on her side. So, the focus moved away from the love story and the "Juliet" female lead (who was relegated to more backburner stuff) and towards Heigl's character. Ratings dropped. I believe the show only lasted halfway into a third season and change of networks before being cancelled.

It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but she treated the young female lead (who was only 18 at the time) not very nicely, edging her out in grand High School clique-style. Oh, and when the show got cancelled, Heigl's boyfriend and her supporting-actor pals from the show were all dropped. I don't think she's ever referred to them or the show. Because, you know, she's a movie actress now.

And if this pattern sounds familiar, try replacing "boyfriend" with "TR Knight" and "young female lead" with "Isaiah Washington" in the story above. Obviously, Washington got into major trouble all on his own as a result of his homophobic remarks during a fight with Patrick Dempsey. But there are rumors that she was already gunning for a fall guy in order to pimp her own importance to the show. Which, funnily enough, she is now dissing because of her newly fledgling film career.

[Matt P.]

I never watched Sunset Beach when it was on the air but I ended up falling in love with it after it was cancelled. It's very strange. It's like, would I have watched it when it was on the air? All of the campy plots, the cat fights, and the creative arcs. This was my kind of show.

This show actually brought me to my connection to Aaron Spelling via SuBe's theme song composer Tim Truman.

A lot of the Sunset Beach actors have had a lot of acting roles. I see a few of them from time to time.

Sherri Saum is on FX's show Rescue Me.

Tim Adams was on Rescue Me also but pops up from time to time on shows like Law & Order.

Kam Heskin is on NBC's web show Coastal Dreams and starred in the TV sequel and now prequel to The King and Me.

If you check it out on imdb, you'll see that a few of them left the business (Shawn Batten), others went the America Telenovela root (Clive Robertson), and others became big (Eddie Cibrian).

[David V]

Sunset Beach remains an enigma. It was just plain fun to watch, but the writing was very uneven- brilliant some times, awful at worst. Storylines ranged from traditional to supernatural, although earthquakes and tsunamis certainly don't count as "far out". Where Sunset Beach did stand out was in its production values, especially location shots.

[Ben]

I'm not a big fan of Shonda Rhimes. She did an interview with Scrip Magazine, last year, and there was something that she said, which alienated me. It had something to do with her writing technique and storylining on Grey's. Maybe I should reread and see if it has the same effect.

I wouldn't say all of Krista Vernoff's work was awful. She did write a couple of eps that I really enjoyed - although she was responsible for most of the dreadful clangers, like, Necromancing the Stone.

Can't really comment on SATC, as I never really watched. Being a guy, it was kind of alienating... But well always well written.

I think her name was Pauline. She was in the same league as John Darvell (who had a crush on Sarah Buxton). He originated the character nicknames (which I think I can remember most of them). He left the business after Five's daytime lineup disintegrated. I think she's still continuity announcing, and is the best of a very crap (female) bunch.

There was: Father Fit - soaps hottest ever priest. Francester - in honour of Francesca's assets. Gobby - for Gabi. Sister Sara (obvious). Bimbi (formerly Smurf) - Dimwitted Caitlin. Dimples - Cole. Bubble wrap - a name given to Vanessa thanks to Martin's Syndrome. Bungalow - referring to Casey's good looks, with not much happening up top. Tight pants Tim (obvious). Miracle man - Dr. Tyus. Bad-to-da-bone - Mrs. Moreau. Dumbo - Maria's inept ability to not see the truth. The plank - that is Hank. The Gorgeous One (TGO) - Ben/Derek (Thanks to Pauline).

The things one remembers.

ETA: Seeing as you were in London, do remember the Sunset Beach Tour? Five organized it, which saw them travel around the universities. But I can't remember if it was specifically a fan thing, or if it involved cast members.

From what I've seen, these two were a favourite, along with Bailey.

Edited July 19, 2008 by Ben

[Cat]

LOL, I remember Father Fit. Nick Kriziakis = gorgeous. I loved the Antonio/Gabi/Ricardo triangle -- especially when Ricardo had his stroke and went evil. Personally I always thought Gobby and Father Fit should have ended up together. Their love scene was smoking!

"Bad to da bone. You is Bad to da bone, Virginia!"

I don't remember the SuBe tour when I was in England, although I do remember Sarah Buxton showing up to promote B&B's zoom-forward three years. Then again, I wasn't at university back in 97-98, I was working so maybe I just missed all that.

[Huntress]

I bought the DVD of the first twelve episodes and have watched four episodes so far. I don't know why, but to me Sunset Beach is a comedy because I can't stop laughing during most of the scenes. It's just so silly and over the top. Most of the characters come across as totally dumb and clichéd.

And why do the viewers learn in the very first episode that "S.B." is Ben Evans? Where is the suspense, when we know beforehand that Meg is totally on the wrong track when she believes that Casey is "S.B."? Instead, it just gives us the impression that Meg is simply stupid. Just because Casey happens to have a computer, Meg thinks he's "S.B.".

Despite this, I like some of the characters, for example Casey, Rae, Annie, Paula, Ricardo and Michael.

I couldn't stand Adrienne Frantz on B&B and on SuBe she totally ruins any scene she's in.

The opening sequences deserves 10 stars because for me it's the best opening an American daytime drama ever had.

Edited September 6, 2008 by Huntress

[EricMontreal22]

They changed the opening soon after cuz they thought it felt too primtime soap with the darker music etc--I loved it.

It's funny I've never been a huge Spelling fan but I really enjoyed SB (especially when Margaret DePriest was writer)--to me it was the campy, silly, FUN soap that Passions shoulda been but never was.

[Cheap21]

Bc Ben/Meg was the flagship couple and where they were heading. They didnt want to build up a fanbase for Casey/Meg which would have been big had they gone that route. Ben/Meg was a core focus of SB throughout the series and had they had them go in different directions early on, in wouldnt have been a good idea

[Toups]

Passions was campy, silly and fun.

And SuBe became that when JER began consulting.

[EricMontreal22]

Well he shoulda stuck to consulting--though I actually didn't like his consulting era the best. My prob with Passions compared to Sube was Sube moved at a fun pace and had GREAT witty, campy dialogue. Passions moves at a snail's pace, repeats the same scene over and over so that they no longer are fun, and for nearly tis whole run had awful dialogue with one or two fun lines thrown in.

[Toups]

So did SuBe, especially in 1999. Remember how many times Richard flashbacked to him finding the videotape and had the same scenes over and over when he had the stroke.

[dm.]

I was confused there for a second. You obviously meant Ricardo.