Santa Barbara Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

Sonny Sprocket is one of those things I've heard about but never watched. I always thought it was popular but I can see how it would grate.

[scherra]

I was thinking more about M&J being in a rut storyline-wise in 1989 (before LD left) but I agree what took place the year before was the root of the problem. It wasn't just the schizophrenia storyline/Sonny Sprocket though, the show as a whole in the latter half of 1988 was relentlessly dark and there was no reprieve from that. We had Mason "dying" in the summer, Julia grieving for him then going under cover as a nun to investigate his death at the convent, Kelly and Jeffrey's marriage disintegrating (not that I cared for them, but I loved Robin Wright and between the recast and Jeffrey acting out of character/plotting to kill his wife, it was a depressing storyline all around), Mason resurfacing with a double identity and colluding with Gina (who blamed Julia for Keith fleeing SB) to bring down the Capwells, and the storyline that repulsed me to no end (and IMO foreshadowed JFP's sick idea of entertainment for television) -- Eden getting raped by none other than her OB/GYN who terrorized the whole town (eg. kidnapping Julia) then abducted her baby.

There was nothing, no storyline, no character to offset all of that, not even Keith Timmons' antics. (Maybe that's why they brought back Louise Sorel/Augusta, to balance some of that out, but without Lionel, her children, what was she exactly supposed to do? They gave her nothing to work with, outside her involvement with M&J.) And Sonny Sprocket was no substitute for Keith Timmons in terms of enjoyment because I couldn't stand to see the anguish this was causing Julia. I couldn't laugh at Sonny fooling around with Gina because Julia was going out of her mind trying to figure out what was wrong with Mason. There were some payoffs every now and then (eg. Nancy's performance when Julia left Mason at the altar, Lane's when Mason found out Julia slept with Michael, M&J's short-lived truce over the holidays), but everything in between was torture for the most part, esp. when Sonny's personality completely took over and he started to blackmail Julia and CC. Mason and Julia might have feuded before, but nothing could compare to how badly their relationship deteriorated by the end of 1988.

The next couple of months were the light at the end of the tunnel, and I enjoyed that (though I wish they had gone further and showed Mason working with Heather for his therapy). But knowing that Lane was leaving, I was frustrated that much of his and Nancy's storyline in 1989 consisted of waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for their characters to get married (because Cruz and Eden were off in Paris to search their daughter). It was a delight to see M&J in love after what I had to endure the year before, but it wouldn't surprise me if the reason some of their scenes then felt rather risque (eg. the infamous jam scene) was because NLG and LD were bored out of their minds and needed to entertain themselves.

ETA. Wendy, I'm actually familiar with the Mason chronicles though I appreciate all the rec's. Have some of the clips and the M&J edits somewhere.

Edited February 2, 2012 by scherra

[DRW50]

Do you think Julia suffered as a character after Lane left?

[scherra]

Not sure I'm qualified to answer that. I didn't care for JFP's version of SB so Lane Davies (whose Mason was the quintessential Dobson character) leaving was the excuse I needed to give up SB. I love(d) NLG/Julia so I'd check in occasionally but while I enjoyed some eps./storylines, I never really regained the habit (and by the early 1990s, I was enamored with GL).

But my answer despite my sporadic viewing would be no, she didn't suffer. Julia Wainwright was that rare breed on soaps, a strong, intelligent, and independent (female) character, and much of that came from NLG, which helped through the regime changes over the years. I think that was the difference with Lane's Mason, in that his character struggled to flourish without the Dobsons (and later on, without Lane), whereas Nancy's Julia wasn't as dependent on the Dobsons to forge and maintain her identity. She also had chemistry with both Terry Lester and Gordon Thomson, which was essential to establishing them as Mason. (That TL's Mason wasn't a hit wasn't her fault.) She had chemistry with Roscoe Born and John Callahan too, which added some spice to her work-related relationships, even if TPTB kept throwing her the least interesting men (forgettable characters whose names I can't even recall at this point). Timothy Gibbs was an exception, but I detested the rape storyline so...

I'd say that's where Julia suffered as a character, but that's my just 0.02. I never liked it, at least not for long, when Julia was a martyr, let alone a victim, and that's what the rape storyline did to her character. She had a very serious side to her character which her relationships with Mason, Augusta and Lionel helped balance out (even if Mason was often responsible for Julia coming across as a martyr), and I hated that the rape storyline took her to such a dark place that she did something that was inconceivable to someone like her, kidnapping her rapist to force him to confess to the rape. I don't care for rape storylines on soaps and I hated that Julia Wainwright, of all people, became a victim. I'm not upset with the idea that rape could happen to someone like Julia. I just don't care for how rapes are dealt on soaps, and I was upset that she became a victim of the soap version, resulting in the character taking drastic measures that were so alien to her identity.

But she recovered from that (Augusta not so much, but that's a different issue), and I think that over the years, Julia (and NLG) offered the show much stability amidst many, many, many changes on and off camera.

[DRW50]

From a May 1988 Digest

[SFK]

I always enjoy a Marj interview. thanks. I wonder if that's true about her being "approached" for those roles or if she merely auditioned.

[DRW50]

It's a shame her SB run never seemed to work out. You'd think she would have been suited to that show.

[Wendy]

Yeah, I get that. But I also believe Pamela was a character used best in small powerful doses. And for her longer run, the ending was memorable, what with C.C. trying to kill her and Mason (for once) defending his father and telling C.C. that Pamela wasn't worth it, etc.

Her final appearance at the ill-fated Capwell Dinner in '91 was fabulous.

[juniorz1]

Oh no, it was TERRIBLY unpopular and it dragged on forever. It wouldn't surprise me if it played a (small) part in Lane's leaving.

His performance was fantastic as always, but Mason, of all characters, did NOT need a separate personality. He was FAR too entertaining on his own and though Sonny's reactions to the SB residents were sometimes amusing, it ranks easily as my least favorite of all Lane's storylines. Hell, ANY Mason's storyline for that matter.

[DRW50]

That's interesting.

Do you agree with those who think the show relied too much on a Mary fixation (trying to recreate her in several characters)?

[juniorz1]

Beautifully stated. I think it helped some that we had Terry Lester in between and while Terry was a great actor, he just wasn't Mason.

I think that was part of it. The other part, IMO, was that Justin Deas had left and they needed a scene partner/comedic foil for Robin Mattson. Frankly, the best part of the story was the climax. My heart kind of broke for Gina. Though she & Keith were her definitive coupling, Gina always had a special love for Mason. But as usual, Gina went about going after him in all the wrong ways.

[juniorz1]

I don't think she was made a victim in the storyline so much as the premise of the storyline made no sense for her character. SB wrote and played that rape storyline as a he said/she said. There were plenty of grey female characters they could have used for that story and Julia was the LAST one I would have chosen. We'd watched Julia for years. The characters on the show had known Julia for years. She was many things but delusional was never one of them. For that story to work, the audience had to maybe think twice as to whether the female character confused sex for rape or called it rape over guilt for sleeping with Dash. Gina, Santana, Flame, even Kelly would have made sense to use. But NOT Julia.

I, and no other fan of the show (or character on the show for that matter) would EVER buy that Julia could possibly do that so it was frustrating for all of us who saw it as and knew it as a HE LIED/SHE DIDN'T storyline.

But a victim she was never played as. No victim kidnaps her rapist and forces him at gunpoint to FINALLY admit to her that he did indeed rape her. That's why Julia rocks and NLG ROCKED that sequence!

ABSOLUTELY! If it weren't for Julia and Nina Arveson's Angela in that last year and a half, I might have tuned out myself. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Cruz, but they did him no favors pairing him with Kelly, and a TERRIBLY RECAST one at that.

I know for a FACT that the Dobsons wanted her from jump. But Anne Howard Bailey/Chuck Pratt wanted Samantha Eggar (who never aired because she couldn't handle the rigors of daytime) and Shirley Anne Field and they won out. In fact, this was the beginning of the end of the Dobsons at SB.

To be honest though, I preferred Field's Pamela. She was exactly what I had always imagined Pamela to be. Dusay was a little too OTT for my taste.

No, I don't. I don't think they ever tried to recreate her. Victoria Lane was meant to resemble her somewhat to attract Mason (and in a strange way I thought she did) which was mentioned on air. But Victoria DEFINITELY was never intended to be a recreation of Mary.

Having seen Linda Gibboney's Gina now (when I started watching, Mattson quickly took over), I actually think Victoria was more of a recreation of Original Gina.

[DRW50]

I've seen comments that Katarina (was that her name?) was supposed to recreate the Mary/Mason dynamic, when the Dobsons returned. Apparently that nun who was played by the deaf actress was also supposed to appease Mary/Mason fans, until they cast said actress during the strike and they couldn't use the character in the way they wanted.

I also saw some comments at TWOP which said the Capwells lost their warmth in the last years (eg, Ted/Mason). Do you think that's true?

[Wendy]

I am one of the TWoP posters. And it was in SOD that the Dobsons brought Katrina Ruyker/Maria Ellingsen on as a love interest for Mason. The Dobsons even had them in a scene discussing Mary. But GT looked like her father. Then the Dobsons were fired, and that was that. The Dobsons made a point of saying Mason and Julia were star-crossed lovers, and they seemed to like Mason when he was forever unhappy, never quite staying happy. I think their second and last tenure had proven that much!

Ditto Sister Sarah supposedly being younger. The strike casting killed her as a Mason/Julia foil. I recall reading that, perhaps in SOD, or maybe TV Guide, but it was out there.

And I was the one who claimed Mason/Ted were more distant with the recast Ted and Mason. But, as I also said, it made sense since Lane Davies and Todd McKee were friends in real life and even went on a European trip together once both left the show. I remember SOD had pictures.

[DRW50]

Yes, Anne Howard Bailey blatantly said after the strike that the idea for Sarah was supposed to be for Mary/Mason fans. As I think you said over there, it's bizarre to expect that Mary/Mason fans would have been happy seeing him in a similar story with a new woman.