Sunset Beach Discussion Thread

[Liberty City]

Yeah, her being in it for twenty-nine episodes before she showed up was... a choice? But get that pay-day Ms. Garita.

[Manny]

Oh SB was much different for me. It was also a HUGE hit in Europe. And I enjoyed it a lot, in the early years. And you're right, both shows would have been shells of themselves by the 2000s. Santa Barbara already was in somewhat by its end. I couldn't even watch it.

I actually loved the original opening BECAUSE it seemed to primetime-ish.

Please register in order to view this content

And the Shockwave opening was cool, but it never aired in Europe. I guess it was only for the US market. 

I cannot imagine Cole Deschanel being so awesome if Ashley Hamilton continued in the role. He was very bland and lacked all the sexyness of Cibrian. Cibrian was a perfect Cole, the con-man, thief, lover and anti-hero.  

[Liberty City]

I keep thinking about the "new" Capwell set, and how destroyed it would have been. No grand staircase and we'd likely be stuck with the smaller parlor room (a-la DAYS) from the original set. So sad. And I have a feeling the set where Elaine worked would've been one small table, and no outdoor eating area.

Hamilton was very cold in the role, but held the definition of "tall, dark, handsome and moody" going down, which they obviously didn't want in the end. Plus, he wasn't in the role long, from episodic debut, to announce of exit, to his actual exit.

He debuted on January 21; his exited was announced on February 11, and then by February 19 he was out. Cibrian debuted two-days later on February 21. Hamilton said his departure was by mutual decision based on the "evolution of the character from the way it was initially conceived," so I fully believe they wanted to warm the role of Cole a bit to match Caitlin a bit more. And then they went and recast Caitlin. I feel like Hamilton would have worked with Kam Haskin a bit better than he did with Dorman.

[te.]

I'd assume he was initially cast because he's George Hamilton's son and it's not a secret he's struggled with sobriety along with eating disorders. I'm sure that played into him being recast so quickly. 

I do wonder how far they shot ahead though at that point. 

[Liberty City]

I would wager two-or-three months ahead. Since less than one-month passed from episodic debut (January 21) to announcement of his exit (February 11). I would assume once he began filming, they made the ultimate choice to recast, a-la what happened at Days of Our Lives with Natalia Livingston/Tamara Braun in the role of Taylor Walker.

[Manny]

Oh yeah, those sets would look really shitty nowadays. Didn't they already ruin the Capwell mansion set by 1993? I have a feeling like it shrank at some point already then.

And SuBe would for sure lose all of its outdoor set and scenes.

EDIT: Oh yes! Absolutely, Ashley would have matched Kam much better. I never liked her to be honest, so I would have preferred if we had Vanessa Dorman and Cibrian till the end. Vanessa was a bit green, but I'm sure she would have gotten better as the time went on.

I had to google who George Hamilton is. I recognize him

Please register in order to view this content

Did not know he was Ashley's father. 

Edited December 6, 2024 by Manny

[Liberty City]

YES! My thoughts exactly: Cibrian & Dorman > Hamilton  & Haskin

[Manny]

I think who they should have recast was Randy Spelling as Sean (or just dump his character, send him to school or something). I never cared for Sean or Randy Spelling. I know he was the boss' son, but he just didn't work for me. I loved Emily and Cristi Harris, and always thought she was so wasted on Sean.

[Liberty City]

SAME! It was him trying to pull a Tori 2.0, and it did not work out as effective.

[AMCOLTLLover]

Oh no not Randy/Sean. I loved him playing with Adrienne F. As Tiffany.

[Manny]

Oh yeah, I never found him to have chemistry with anyone (even Tiffany), and just found his acting really bad. Especially when he was in scenes with Lesley-Anne and Sam. 

[John]

BAD

and tomlin reportdley wanted Buxton as Tina in 2001 as OLTL but ABC Nixed that

[chrisml]

If I'm not mistaken, wasn't it discussed that Ashley Hamilton was fired because he couldn't handle the pace of daytime? I seem to remember some gossip about this relating to his substance abuse problems. I liked Kam Heskin but she was playing a different character than Vanessa Dorman. I appreciated the change but it did shift the dynamic. I also didn't mind Randy Spelling but that could be because I enjoyed Krissy Carlson's Amy.  

I think a big mistake was getting rid of Lisa Guerrero's Francesca. She was such a good villain. 

Edited December 6, 2024 by chrisml

[Chris B]

I thought Randy Spelling was good on Malibu Shores. Can’t speak on Sunser Beach yet but am curious to see him. 
 

Right now I’m 7 episodes in and I have to say, it has my attention straight away. There aren’t any big glaring errors I want them to resolve. I know Adrienne Frantz gets recast then the character is dumped but I find her to be enjoyable. The cast overall feels solid and I feel like the story hit the ground running. When you compare it to the slow starts Melrose Place and 90210 had, they definitely seem to have learned from the failures there. 
 

I’m not looking forward to when they tone down the production model. I really like how the show looks. 
 

Early standouts for me are Annie of course, Vanessa, Tiffany, Aunt Bette, Olivia, Gregory and Meg. I know she doesn’t last long but I do enjoy Kelly Hulu’s character. 

[Manny]

Oh I mentioned earlier that Annie and Bette are some of my all time favorite soap characters. But I really loved Vanessa and Olivia and Gregory. Even Meg, although in retrospect, I think I would not love Meg today. She was so whiny

Please register in order to view this content

 Instead, I think today I would love Gabi more. I did not like her watching back then, but I think today's Manny would love someone like her more. 

Oh and Kelly Hu's character Rae was so cool, I really thought she could have been used better and more. Alas... 

Oh Francesca was awesome! And even if she was gone too soon, considering that the show ended in the same year I am happy we got the who killed Francesca storyline. I really enjoyed that. The cake scene was so campy and soapy