Sunset Beach Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

From the August 3, 1999 SPW. Primedia

Edited November 22, 2010 by CarlD2

[dm.]

How sad. He had hope, but that evaporated very soon.

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I wonder if anyone actually thought the show was staying on the air. It's one of the reasons I held no ill will towards the show when AW was canceled, even though I did resent Passions for several years. NBC had little interest in either show, and they just did not want to get press for canceling two soaps at once.

So what did you think of the show's last year?

[dm.]

I don't have an opinion on the last year. I've heard of almost all storylines during 1999, but I never actually watched any of the episodes. SuBe got canceled after the Terror Island episodes in my country and that's where my regular viewing stopped. I saw several '98 episodes on a foreign channel (pretty much the earthquake/Titanic storyline) but that was it. I did, however, read through all the episodes of the show.

Now, finally, I get to watch the show again. I'm currently on February '98 but will work my way through all the episodes.

[DRW50]

I'm glad you get to see them. Let me know if all these long things I put clog up the thread -- your thoughts would be more interesting, as this is stuff you've never seen before.

For me the whole turkey baster story was their biggest mistake.

[dm.]

It was one of the most recognizable stories though - behind Terror Island and the Titanic (or Poseidon or whatever). Damn, I still get disgusted just thinking about it - but it was entertaining. Virginia was one amazing villain.

It would have been better if I would be able to watch all of these episodes without knowing what would happen. But my curiosity got the best of me years ago. I never counted on the chance that I might watch the show again.

[Cat]

I think SuBe *did* know that they would soon get the chop -- which is why its last year had a Long Goodbye feel to it. Which I wouldn't want any other way because SuBe managed to end on a very SuBe-like high. I did think Gregory returning as Uncle Whatshisname was a mistake -- it was drawn-out and tedious. Although the irony was that Gregory was nicer and more lovable as this uncle than he was as Gregory! the final scene between Olivia and Gregory in jail was one I still have imprinted on my brain, it was so good. Sam Behrens never got the kudos he should have for playing Gregory Richards, but he was phenomenal at it.

Best SL of that last year was Ricardo stroking out when he finally saw that tape of Gabi and Antonio makin' sweet luv in the rubble of the church after the earthquake. He was in a wheelchair plotting revenge on G&A and that was by far the most interesting Thickardo has ever been on the show. Antonio continued to look hot and Priscilla Garita stole the show with her decision to eventually leave town rather than continue to hurt Ricardo and Antonio.

I also think that the show would have invested a little more in Casey and Meg if they hadn't known that the axe was falling. As it was, they had to drop that and make sure Meg and Ben found their way back to each other relatively quickly.

Sarah Buxton continued playing Annie like her life depended on it. More than anybody else, she really was the star of that show. I'm bummed Sean Kanen didn't have enough time to establish himself, though.

[bellcurve]

Thanks for the articles, CarlD2, especially the one about Beach facing cancellation:

Interesting that Tomlin does not mention Beach's overnight airings as a reason why his audience may/may not have dwindled. I remember reading his thoughts on SOAPnet when he was EP of OLTL and he was pissed about the "Don't Watch Now, Watch Later" ads that would pop up during the middle of his program.

"New opening credits" meaning re-editing shots and adding cheap looking taped poses in with the ones that were filmed. Yeah, those are "new opening credits" allright.

Lies, lies. Love Tomlin, but Michael/Vanessa were never heavily involved in Ricardo's story. I think they were pretty much off the map until they planned their wedding close to the series finale.

I also read in Digest from Tomlin himself that he wanted Victoria Rowell to temp for Meg. THAT would have been hilarious and totally something up Tomlin/Sunset Beach's alley.

Sydney Penny was great as Meg. She showed more growth, more depth, and more maturity playing the role of Meg than Ward did in her entire run. Especially towards the last year, after Susan Ward got those huge knockers of hers, she became bitchy, irritated, and arrogant and she played Meg the same way.

How diplomatic of him. In another post-Beach interview, Tomlin also talked about how pissed he was when NBC let Eddie Cibrian out of his contract to do Third Watch. Gotta love how he bit his tongue there.

Wonder if he felt the same way about Derwin being allowed to leave OLTL for Life With Bonnie(Pretty sure that happened under Tomlin's regime too).

Again, more rose-colored glasses talk. Sunset Beach was yanked for Passions in many timeslots, left with its only airing being in late-night in some areas and then by the end of the summer, they replaced the second airing of Beach with a repeat of Conan O'Brien. So Beach had low affiliate clearance by the time the show ended, hence the 1.2 household by the end.

Very interesting article. I think they should have ended both shows in June, so affiliates would have time to get replacement programming in there instead of doing that mid-season.

I also think it was a colossal mistake to get rid of Leeza and let Paramount move it to syndication. Later Today bombed and Leeza was as much a part of NBC Daytime as Days was. Leeza was a way to pimp NBC soaps, especially DAYS. Knowing how closely tied both audiences were to each other, especially during the height of Passions(The Ethan/Theresa wedding drew in record numbers in terms of their own success, IIRC), using Leeza as a vehicle to promote both shows wouldn't have hurt. Today/NBC's news division would never promote the daytime lineup the way Leeza did. They should have given her, at least, a few additional seasons.

[Cat]

Bellcurve and his Leeza love. Actually, I loved Leeza, too. Just to underscore what Tomlin said about groups watching soaps, our dorm left the NBC affiliate station on from 11am (when Leeza aired) right through until Oprah-time (4pm) on the ABC affiliate. The NBC soaps were huge in the dorms. And Leeza was a great vehicle for Days. I remember she used to have Patrika Darbo after she lost her Days stint coming on as a talking head.

[dm.]

I do agree very much about the acting abilities of Priscilla Garita, Sam Behrens and Sarah Buxton. They're the best. I'm equally enjoying several others at the moment, including Lesley-Anne Down, Dominique Jennings and Kathleen Noone. Meanwhile, I'm kind of annoyed with Caitlin at the moment.

Sure, Vanessa Dorman was the first Caitlin and all, but from what I've seen Kam Heskin was decent as well.

I can't really grade the acting abilities of Eddie Cibrian, Jason Winston George, Timothy Adams and Hank Cheyne because they're all playing clueless males.

[Cat]

I feel like I'm watching SuBe all over again, over your shoulder!

Oh, LAD, DJ and KN were awesome. Kathleen Noone is like the Carolyn Hennessy of SuBe. She played one of my favorite characters. Dominique was a STAR and I wish I knew what she was doing at the moment so I could keep tabs on what she is up to. Virginia was ultimately too constrained a role for her. She could definitely glam it up in a role if she was allowed to.

True confession: I much prefer Heskin's Caitlin to Dorman's.

True, that. Adams surprised me sometimes with how much better he could be when given the material. Jason Winston George has gone onto better things and that's good because Michael was pretty much a one-note character. Hank Cheyne was never that great. Ever. Cibrian gets a free pass because he was insanely hot.

[dm.]

You have no idea how happy I am to have the chance to watch it. If I could go back in time, to 2000 (when the show aired in my country) and tell my very young self that I would one day have the chance to watch the show all over again, I would just scream... I think I'd even have a heart attack if I knew about that.

They're all amazing. Virginia is a prime villain. And Bette is just... irreplaceable.

It was very obvious how they pimped Eddie Cibrian. Just recently I watched the episode where one of the employees where Cole was trying to get a job was having a fantasy of Cole doing a striptease in a cocktail bar.

[Cheap21]

I love this show but I unfortuantely didnt get into it until the second half. The Shockwave story was what drew me in and I watched till the very end after that

[DRW50]

From the June 24 97 SOD. Primedia Inc

Edited November 22, 2010 by CarlD2

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