Sunset Beach Discussion Thread

[Toups]

Ooppps...yeah Ricardo. LOL

Richard was "Tobius" around same time, I think.

[dm.]

No, it was Gregory. "Richards" was his last name.

[Toups]

OMG! I'm having a brain fart today! LOL!! Yes, I meant Gregory.

[EricMontreal22]

Wsa that the year JER consulted? ;)

You're right SUBE did but for whatever reason I NEVER found it as slow moving and repeititive as Passions. EVen when they did do repeated scenes it felt playful to me--like they were campily aware of it. I know on Passions they musta been too but you wouldn't know it

[dm.]

No, JER consulted in 1998.

[SBfan]

I am a huge fan of SuBe. I watched it during its original run after the first year. I have enjoyed reconnecting with the show through the internet.

I have also enjoyed reading some of the posts on this thread that provide behind the scenes information such as the article posted about the "bible" and the different writers on the show.

I was wondering if any of you could provide any information on where the writers were intending to take the characters if the show had not been cancelled. Would Ben have stayed with Maria and would Meg have ended up with Casey?

Also I understand some actors were not going to renew their contracts but then it became a moot point when the show ended. Was Susan Ward one of them? Who else?

As I mentioned I missed the entire first year but now have been able to see Ricardo and Paula together as a couple. I thought they had great chemestry and I though she was a very good actress (better than some that stayed the entire 3 years.) Do you all know why she left the show?

Thanks

Edited February 6, 2009 by SBfan

[bellcurve]

I remembered reading in SOD that Susan Ward signed on to do one more year of BEACH, as did Clive Robertson. But, of course, the show was canceled.

I know Jason George and Sherri Saum weren't renewing. Dax Griffin was axed. Eddie Cibrian left to do Third Watch during the middle of July or August(Gary Tomlin, once he was safe working at OLTL, said he was pissed that NBC(who handled the actors contracts) allowed Cibrian to leave BEACH for THIRD WATCH, instead of letting him do doube duty.

I do say that even though I have more Margaret DePriest/Whitesell stuff on tape, the best period of this show was when Meg Bennet was co-HW. I know alot of people really credit Reilly's consulting with the show's upswing in late 97, but I think the plotting and especially the characterization majorly lost something when she jumped ship and DePriest took over(BTW, I believe Reilly's name was still credited with the show until early 1999). The show became alot darker and more shallow than it was before(not that it was any less fun before). Not to mention more dumb.

I remember when I was on this huge BEACH board back in the day and someone spoiled that Meg and Ben's wedding was all a dream. LOL. The Ben/Meg fanbase were SO pissed, I'm sure the show ended up setting up the bed on the soon-to-be-struck set and wrote that last corny scene "assuring Meg it was no dream," confusing the hell out of the audience.

Edited February 6, 2009 by bellcurve

[SBfan]

I do say that even though I have more Margaret DePriest/Whitesell stuff on tape, the best period of this show was when Meg Bennet was co-HW. I know alot of people really credit Reilly's consulting with the show's upswing in late 97, but I think the plotting and especially the characterization majorly lost something when she jumped ship and DePriest took over(BTW, I believe Reilly's name was still credited with the show until early 1999). The show became alot darker and more shallow than it was before(not that it was any less fun before). Not to mention more dumb.

Could you clarify what years you are referring to with regard to the different writers and consultants?

Was Meg Bennet co HW during the first year? I think that was my favorite year now that I've seen it. I didn't enjoy any of the wierd supernatural or silly story lines especially that last year. The main reason I watched and loved it during those last 2 years was because of the Gabi Antonio story line. I didn't really care too much for any of the others. I think I would have been more invested in Ben and Meg if I had seen the beginning of their relationship. I did not enjoy Maria. I thought the actress who played her always overacted with her facial expressions and so she was annoying to me.

With regard to Gabi and Antonio I about fell off of my chair when they finally consumated their relationship. I still have that video tape( and I don't even have a vcr anymore) It was the only episode of a soap that I taped and saved!!

[bellcurve]

Toups has the information in the boards archives, but going by memory, I don't think Meg Bennett began her HW stint until after Guza left in late 1997. She was paired with Christopher Whitesell(who would stay on till the show ended in 1999). When Bennett left after Shockwave(probably September/October of 1998), she was replaced with Margaret DePriest. Reilly consulted(credited as Execitve Story Consultant) from late 1997 to the beginning of 1999.

Beach's first year was very rocky. It had it's highlights, but I also think the show suffered from that whole, "Let's be like Melrose Place" disease every new show was suffering from in the mid-to-late 90's(Port Charles, The City). The problem with Beach was that the show, aside from it's wonderful production values(which many believe were stolen/inspired by/borrowed from Santa Barbara), there was really nothing else. Stories that were interesting(Paula's Kidnapping By Fellow Cop Eddie, Rae/Casey) moved way too fast and/or were dropped altogether. Certain characters that DID click weren't placed in storylines or weren't utilized to their full potential.

The best thing Meg Bennett/Whitesell/Reilly ever did was push characters into other orbits and although not every move was successful or well-received(the biggest misstep in the Gabi character was killing off Mark and pairing her with Ricardo again), they struck gold with others(moving Annie out of the boring Ben/Meg romance and getting her involved in every aspect of the Richards Family, a seed planted when the show first began). The last two years, although somewhat campy and silly at times, were infinitely better than the first year.

[SBfan]

Thanks for the reply!

Does anyone know who currently owns the rights to Sunset Beach? I see that it is currently airing in Sout Africa on etv

I would love to be able to watch this soap again and would love if the owner would at least put it all out on the internet maybe as a payper view site or something.

I see no hope of any network airing it again in the us but it bugs me that with all the technology there is not a was for the owner to put it out on the internet or cable tv and still make money off of the fans who want to watch it

[bellcurve]

Hmmmm....Dunno for sure, but I do know Spelling Television properties were absorbed by Viacom which is now owned by CBS/Paramount. NBC also co-owns the show. I doubt that NBC owns the syndication rights to the show because on their distribution website, Sunset Beach(which is still playing in some areas of the world) is nowhere to be found, but Passions and Saved by the Bell are. Not that it means anything...

[Eric83]

I was thinking today that this show should have been pitched to FOX. I think that FOX could have been interested in developing a soap in the late 90's, and this was a perfect match. Aaron Spelling created this show right? He gave FOX 90210 and Melrose Place, I'm sure they would have been interested. Since FOX always had lower ratings then NBC at this point, I think they would have been okay with the show in at least the 2.0-2.5 range. On top of that FOX probably would have tried to push this show in an afternoon timeslot like 3pm or 4pm, unlike NBC who let affiliates run it at 9am or 2am at night. This show most likely wouldn't be on now, but I think they could have lasted longer on FOX.

Edited February 8, 2010 by ga68153

[EricMontreal22]

To be fair the Let's Be Like Melrose Place symptom hit Beach harder than The City or PC--Spelling specifically created a daytime show he thought would be the equivalent of Melrose, but in the daytime. That was why Charles Pratt Jr was involved in the creation (I never got why Josh Griffith was though) since he was MP's main headwriter during its top years (and created many of Spelling's flop attempts at a new Melrose), why they had the moody original opening credits (which I prefered) etc. In hindsight they seemed to realize this was at least partly a mistake--so they took those two weeks or whatever (when we got all the flashbacks) to retool the show--out went the film process look, most of the location scenes (which I loved), some of the cast (god remember how awful some of the original characters were--the runaway girl, the original Cole and Caitlin, Ryan Spelling of course, the pacing, etc... and the over reliance on the Internet... I did though like the Asian doctor who was quickly replaced) Still even at its worse, SuB looked brilliant compared to Passions.

I actually really liked the DePriest period myself, but that was also when I was around to watch it the most. It was a good mix of camp I thought (something DePriest seems to have been doing since her first soap opera she created--Where the Heart Is)

The show has been repeated in the UK and elsewhere a few times--I don't assume Spelling or whoever ownes it charges THAT much for it? (I know the first 12 eps are on DVD in Germany--do they have the English track?)

Edited February 11, 2010 by EricMontreal22

[Huntress]

Yes, the English audio track is included. But there has been no news of more episodes being released on DVD - probably because almost nobody bought the first volume. The show wasn't a huge hit in Germany to begin with, so I don't really know why they bothered to release it on DVD here.

[DRW50]

It's Laura Harring, in a horrible dress.

http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/go_fug_yourself/2010/04/gossip_fug040210.html