Sunset Beach Discussion Thread

[dm.]

I loved Ben and Meg as a kid. Any couple that was good and decent was the one that I was rooting for.

Nowadays it's more team Annie.

I don't hate Meg and Ben as much as some people do, they're fine by me.

[Cat]

Oh, I liked Ben & Meg -- and I liked Annie. I actually thought Ben & Annie had a lot of chemistry and that's why it was a good triagle at the beginning! But it became clear that Ben & Meg were the star-crossed endgame and that's cool, too, as Robertson and Ward had a nice working relationship. Ben & Meg were always going to be where it was at!

[Cheap21]

Ben and Maria were much more appealing to me. I couldnt stand Meg. The only time she was likeable was when they recasted her with Sydney Penny. That was such an odd choice but she made it work

[Cat]

Ben and Maria?! Cheap, say it ain't so!

JMO, I know, but I thought Christina Chambers made the drippiest Maria.

[dm.]

A lot of people liked Maria. But any other role Chambers had later was met with much hate.

I was very intrigued when I watched Maria's return from the dead, first in the form of a patient named Dana, then later the big surprise at the wedding. It certainly provided a lot of amazing scenes. But later on she was always the one to rescue, always the victim. Then again, I only saw a few episodes, so I'll reserve my judgment when I actually reach those episodes.

[Cheap21]

Christina Chambers is part of the reason I became a fan. I started watching in the summer of 1998. Shockwave drew me in and the Dana story kept me thre. I loved the mystery behind her and I was such a Maria fan. She was my first favorite. I rooted for her over Meg. I really liked her friendship wtih Annie bc they were such polar opposites and Annie really needed her. Overall Maria was a great character and Id have prefered Ben with her over Meg

[dm.]

Cat, what did you think about Paula and Elaine as characters, and the actresses that played them, and their departure before Christimas '97?

[Cat]

I was sorry to see them go. I liked Paula and Laura Harring a lot -- she played one of those decent characters who tries to do the right thing. I liked how Gabi was jealous of her and how she still tried to form a sisterly relationship with her. I also liked Elaine because she was such a big part of the "history" of Sunset Beach -- her love affair with AJ and the fact that Annie's father stole their baby and told Elaine it had died. I wish SuBe had hired Gordon Thomson earlier so we could have gotten to see all that Elaine-AJ history play out again, and how jealous Olivia was of them.

I don't know why they left so abruptly but I'm thinking that behind-the-scenes changes in the HWing team prompted it. Guza left and was replaced by his wife, Meg Bennett, who was later replaced as well. I got a sense after the first year that they re-evaluated the show and decided to reorient it a little and dump a couple of characters along the way. Like, they also got rid of Nick and I really liked him! And Rae and Wei Lee and I liked them too (although I know I'm alone in that feeling).

[dm.]

You mean Mark (Nick Stabile)?

I agree about both Paula and Elaine. There were so many possibilities with A.J. and Elaine after all the stories Elaine told of her complicated relationship. I think the blame is entirely on Meg Bennett's shoulders. She was head writing from October '98 to October '99. Or maybe it was Gary Tomlin after all.

[Cat]

Yeah, Mark. He was a little hottie. And I liked he and Gabi's burgeoning relationship.

[dm.]

Yeah, there was plenty of potential there, but obviously they had Antonio in the works already.

[dm.]

Just leaving a little wow for the difference in the Sara casting.

Lauren Woodland was okay, maybe a little bit child-like, but still I liked her. But the first scene with Shawn Batten blew me away - she immediately won me over in her very first scene.

I'm not going to miss Eddie, even though I liked the thing he had going with Bette.

Also, wonderful acting by Kathleen Noone when she reacts to Annie betraying her.

Nice to see A.J. on the show and finally Olivia returns after more than a month of absence.

[Cheap21]

How are you watching the series?

I started watching just after Sara was recasted so I never saw he first girl. I loved SB in the role though

[dm.]

The difference was amazing. With Woodland, Sara seemed to be scared and pulled back, but with Batten suddenly Sara was way more tough.

There's this site that has all the episodes put up, but there's also a user on YouTube putting up episodes, TaintedBeach I think.

[Cheap21]

Can you share the link to the website?