Sunset Beach Discussion Thread

[chrisml]

I enjoyed the character of Amy. I think she would have been a lot more interesting if she had been written into another storyline and out of Randy Spelling's scenes. Her machinations tickled me.

 

I'm feeling quite nostalgic for the show. There's something utterly depressing about a show with so much potential that never got the change to right the wrongs.

 

 

[amybrickwallace]

 

She was a fun character, as I recall - with her sidekick/would-be henchman Brad.

[Ben]

 

Me too. I think it’s quite sad how the show had a lot stacked against it, tried to be something to everyone, and was cut down before it had a chance to really get going. 

 

It was an international hit (especially in Europe), and I think it tells you something of its popularity that it recently had a complete rerun on CBS Drama in Poland! It’s sad that the US audience wasn’t there. It’s also sad that NBC kind of short changed it in the end by moving its time slot and not having every state air the show.

 

I loved how Sunset Beach had real location shooting every week. It really made the location feel like another character, and something that really set it apart from every other US soap. 

[amybrickwallace]

I still remember the show playing in the waiting room when I went in for a minor surgical procedure in early 1999. Antonio and Gabi were on. Don't ask me why I remember that. 

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[te.]

 

The issue is that they kept changing it over and over again and the audience that liked the show to begin with tuned out - if they had left it alone for a bit it might've been able to have viewers find it to begin with.

 

Say what you will about Passions, but it seems like they mostly left it alone for the first few years and let it do its own thing, which partially paid off when it grew a bit in the ratings during 2002-03. Of course, that was temporary (and JER obviously went off the deep end towards the end of his life), but we've never really had a soap grow since then.

[amybrickwallace]

 

That's so true. Turkey baster aside, SUN didn't have the disgusting storylines that Passions had. Of course, it was only on three years to Passions' nine...

[John]

I remember when she subbed Fancy in 2008 on Passions 

Edited April 10, 2019 by John

[Ben]

 

Do you think that had something to do with NBC owning Passions outright? Or did they just learn from their mistakes?

[te.]

 

I think it just had to do with their infatuation with James E. Reilly.

 

Plus, Spelling himself wasn't a patient man going by his prime time record - Models, Inc had three retoolings within one season; Dynasty (post-season 5) and Melrose Place (post-season 3) had several "save the show" type of reboots, sometimes twice per season and so on. He sometimes got it right, but a lot of the times his impatience led to unnecessary changes...

Edited April 11, 2019 by te.

[Khan]

To Aaron Spelling, I think, every one of his shows had to be like "Charlie's Angels," a ratings juggernaut from the start, or else something was wrong.

[Soaplovers]

And Aaron spelling didnt realize that daytime is different than primetime...sometimes it takes time for a show to gel..and soap fans dont like revamps every few months either.

 

I dont recall Adrienne frantz on the show..was her character as bad as people thought..it didnt seem like her character fit.  I know her character was involved with the Meg/Ben story before the mark/sean triangle...but i think Gabi was a better fit with Mark and was a better written character....and Annie served as a better spoiler for Ben/meg (and I didnt like how she got spun off from that story into the Richards orbit).

[Khan]

 

Exactly.  In the past, I've heard Spelling was crushed about SuBe's failure; but really, if he had exerted some patience, he might have avoided the hurt feelings.

[amybrickwallace]

I know that Spelling was billed as EP, but who did the actual showrunning on SUN?

[Khan]

 

Gary Tomlin, I believe?

[amybrickwallace]

 

Yes, you're right. Thanks.