Jump to content
Email System Update

Santa Barbara Discussion Thread

dm.

By dm.
in DTS: Cancelled Soaps

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 4.5k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Posted Images

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Members
Paul Raven Grand Master

Paul Raven

Posted
  • Members
Posted

Channels magazine Feb 88

 

Mid -afternoon Pickup KSDK's task: introducing Santa Barbara locally, three years after its network debut.

 

Late last summer the creative services department at Multi J media's KSDK in St. Louis got an uncommonly juicy, high -priority promotion job: to introduce the NBC soap opera Santa Barbara that the station had been preempting for the past three years. Starting a new soap in the '80s, as NBC had proven, wouldn't be a snap. It would take promotion dynamite to dislodge fans from CBS's Guiding Light and ABC's General Hospital. Back in '84, KSDK management had doubted NBC would stick with the new soap, but Santa Barbara's producers kept tinkering. They invented the Carnation Killer to remove an excess of look -alike blonde characters, recalls Susan Morse of Soap Opera Digest, and they unexpectedly thrilled viewers with the Chicano/ WASP romance of detective Cruz Castillo and a surviving blonde, Eden Capwell. By last summer, the show's national share was up from its initial 10 to 16, and KSDK found a sudden need for the soap.

 

When the CBS affiliate, KMOV, moved The Oprah Winfrey Show from morning to 3 P.M., KSDK retaliated with counterprogramming-moving its strongest NBC soap, Days of Our Lives, to the same hour. As a bridge into that soap at 3, leading out of Another World at 1 P.M., Santa Barbara was clearly preferable to the game shows KSDK had been running. Santa Barbara came to KSDK on August 31. Rich Brase, the station's creative services director, launched a 12 -week promo barrage worth a hefty 300 gross rating points (GRPs) a week-nearly as much as the aggressive station spends to promote its newscasts. Besides selling an unfamiliar soap, Brace's team had to remind Days of Our Lives fans to tune in at 3 P.M. instead of 12:30, the time Days had aired for years. Promo producer Laurie Theiss stitched together clips to make sexy generic spots for the new soap block ("Afternoons on Channel 5, we're going to make your day!"), and sent scripts to Burbank, where the Santa Barbara cast taped teasers introducing their characters (Gina Capwell: "OK, so maybe I'm not the girl next door, but I sure could show the boy next door a good time!"). Brase backed up the spots with nine ads in each of five issues of TV Guide, plus 17 radio spots starring a housewife who bubbles over about the day's plot developments.

 

Then in November, NBC supplied three cast members for a couple of suburban mall appearances to start word of-mouth publicity. A thousand fans turned out. But the station didn't rely entirely on the performers to create hysteria. It also held a contest, promising the winner a trip to Burbank and a bit part on -air. Santa Barbara still has a way to go before it conquers St. Louis. The show averaged a 3 rating and 12 share in the market's November Arbitron book, still behind the national Niel - sens (5 rating/17 share). Every little bit helps NBC, however, says Brian Frons, network v.p. for daytime programs. NBC lobbied for years to get Santa Barbara onto KSDK. Now it gets a few more tenths of a rating pointvital because Santa Barbara trails sec- ond -place Guiding Light by less than a point nationally. Locally, however, KSDK is still a distant third. But the station isn't finished promoting the show. Brase planned a second contest in January, in addition to more radio spots and increased on -air spots up to 400 or 500 GRPs a week. "We are going to win this time period," Brase predicts. "I don't like to lose. Nobody in this building likes to lose." He's counting on a little bit more publicity this month when the winner of the first contest goes to Burbank for her moment in the sun of Santa Barbara. Her name was pulled out of a drum just before Thanksgiving: Laurie Keener, who turns out to be a good-looking young woman from nearby Illinois-reportedly a model. Fate has disappointed Brase: "We were kind of hoping she would be a frumpy housewife," he grouses. "This looks a little rigged."

0
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
  • Members
juniorz1 Newbie

juniorz1

Posted
  • Members
Posted

You guys, I'll tell you what, I am re-watching Eden's split-personality storyline on YouTube and am completely mesmerized.  Every actor involved turns in top-notch performances- Gordon Thomson, A Martinez, Jed Allan, Judith McConnell.......

 

But Marcy Walker's acting has me transfixed.  When she goes into the Lisa personality, she does something with her eyes and eyelids that immediately lets you know that Eden has left the building and Lisa is running the show.   It is subtle as can be, which is what is so engrossing about MW's work.  I know people say Bev McKinsey.  Others say Susan Flannery..  And there are even a few who say Kim Zimmer.   But for my money, when Marcy Walker burst onto the Santa Barbara scene, she raised the bar to a whole nother level.  It doesn't hurt that the dialogue writing is impeccable.

0
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.


  • Recent Posts

    • Broderick
      Y&R: Old Articles

      By Broderick · Posted

      Yep, that scene was at the conclusion of the Derek Thurston vs George Packard storyline, when Kay decided neither of them should run Chancellor.  By the time she put Victor in charge, Victor had been on the show for months & months with his Rolls Royce, his ranch, and Newman Enterprises.  SONY released some Y&R "trivia cards" in the late 1980s, and one of the questions was "who brought Victor Newman to Genoa City?" The answer on the back of the card is "Kay Thurston, to run Chancellor Industries", and it's a wrong answer lol.    
    • DRW50
      Guiding Light Discussion Thread

      By DRW50 · Posted

      I think someone said it did exist, but I can't remember.
    • Franko
      Guiding Light Discussion Thread

      By Franko · Posted

      The bit with the scarf reminds me of the fabled stuffed animal scene with Rick and Phillip. (That wasn't debunked, was it?)
    • alwaysAMC
      Guiding Light Discussion Thread

      By alwaysAMC · Posted

      Ohh, interesting. I instantly gravitated towards her in that episode. Of course I'm already hooked and want to know why she was trying to poison that older lady, but then how did the older lady know to switch the mugs so Susan drank her own poison...  but I have too many timelines I'm watching right now haha.  Oh, Bolger is definitely hot. I didn't realize he was on GL haha. I knew him from OLTL and other primetime stuff.
    • Gatecrashers
      BTG: May 2025 Discussion Thread

      By Gatecrashers · Posted

      This is a effin shame. Eff Trump and eff the bastards that enable him.
    • Chris B
      BTG: May 2025 Discussion Thread

      By Chris B · Posted

      I 100% agree but I think this is due to how the show is structured. It's a one family show which means there are no people in her age range that could be used as friends or contemporaries of her. The show definitely needs a second main family. I am glad someone finally said this. Especially now that the cast is gelling in their roles, he stands out like a sore thumb. No energy, no chemistry with anybody. He is just there.  I thought that was odd as well! The previous scene would've worked better as a tag for the credits.
    • DRW50
      Guiding Light Discussion Thread

      By DRW50 · Posted

      That's the one and only Carrie Nye (Mrs. Dick Cavett) as Susan Piper, a deadly realtor. I don't want to spoil a lot if you ever want to see those episodes. She returns as another character in 2003. I think Grant has aged well and he always did a good job at being ripped without going too far, but he was never entirely my cup of tea either. I did think John Bolger was hot.
    • edgeofnik
      B&B: May 2025 Discussion Thread

      By edgeofnik · Posted

      Totally agree. KKL looks great! It makes the Widge groveling so bizarre. Brooke needs to leave FC and with $B's/Liam's funding launch a rival fashion house with Hope, Rick, Katie and a secret designer. The best scenario is that Rick has been absent because he's been with very much alive C2, who is revealed on the runway as the secret designer. It'll never happen because B&B is comfortable just focusing on FC and the Forresters Marones v. Logans. But it'd been so much more interesting if the Spencers/Logans united.
    • Maxim
      Show how are you feeling right now as a GIF or YT clip

      By Maxim · Posted

      Please register in order to view this content

       
    • alwaysAMC
      Guiding Light Discussion Thread

      By alwaysAMC · Posted

      Haha that scarf thing did go on a bit too long, very odd. And what a young Rick!  I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I just never got the physical appeal of Grant Aleksander, but he's definitely a great actor. Who is the older lady around the 8:30 mark, and also ends the episode, alone and in pain? She seems like a really interesting character. I love the smoky voice and sultry, snaky vibe she seems to have.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

  I accept