Santa Barbara Discussion Thread

[Capridge]

 

Actually, the French website is right. Eden was the one who went undercover as Adriana's nanny, Kelly went undercover as a maid. Ric never worked for Bunny.

Ric's wealth in France came from Hollis and her family made sure he didn't get a cent after she died.

 

I really liked the Paris story though. Elizabeth Storm was great as Hollis and it was a really nice way to introduce Peter Love's Ric. I really liked Kelly and Ric and was so mad when Robert blackmailed Ric into working against the Capwells. So, even though I wound up preferring Robert and Kelly over Ric and Kelly, it's too bad that Kelly never found out why Ric had turned against her family.

 

Danny didn't go to Lyman Prep. He went to a public school like Santana. That's why he's never in the classroom with Jade/Ted/Laken during the school scenes.

 

Yeah, Santana should have been on the show during the show's entire run. One of the rare things I liked about Pam Long's writing is that she gave Santana a good exit.

 

I've been watching episodes from 1992 and pretty every cliffhanger before every commercial break is about B.J. It's really annoying. I really hate the last year.

[redontop4]

Interesting set of interviews of several SB actors in the wake of its cancellation. Lots of love for JFP . .

Various SB stars share their thoughts and memories of the cancellation   Courtesy of Soap Opera Weekly - January 5, 12 & 19, 1993

Gordon Thomson (Mason Capwell, 1990-1993 "In a lot of ways, working on SB has been one of the most wonderful experiences in my life as an actor.  I have done some of my most satisfying work there.  When Jerry and Bridget Dobson were writing the show, I was the most talkative man in soap opera history, but there was also a lot of dark exploration, which I enjoyed.  Every writer has characters through whom they see themselves, and I think Bridget and Jerry saw themselves through Mason.  I love what I do for a living, and I was glad to have a job and a fascinating part.  Nancy Lee Grahn is a very good actress.  She's funny and feisty, and we got along very well.  Marj Dusay was a treat to work with, too.  The show had a strong group of actors and an extremely nice crew.  It will be sad to disband such an intense team of gifted and dedicated people!"   Marj Dusay (Pamela Capwell, 1987-1988, 1990) "I always thought Santa Barbara was a very good show and liked the work on it.  But when I went in it seemed to be just going to hell in a hand basket.  I truly believe they had their problems within the show, and they just more or less hired me to get rid of the character.  Pamela was the baby of the Dobsons, and when they had their struggle [with NBC, which resulted in their outster from the series they had created] somebody had to take it over, and by then the character couldn't go anyplace.  It evidently was so much politics, and if I had known that it would have helped me feel a lot better.  I thought Pamela was going to be a wonderful character, and she might have been had the Dobsons stayed.  It felt good to return, because there was something of real substance for me to play, and I was much more comfortable.  I liked the way the Dobsons brought Pamela back and where she was coming from.  It's a shame the show was canceled and I'm sorry for all my buddies there."   Eileen Davidson (Kelly Capwell, 1991-1993) "Santa Barbara called me because I had a following from The Young and the Restless, and that was very flattering.  I felt pretty lucky to be working with such tremendous group of people, who were working very hard and doing some really terrific work.  It was challenging and also a lot of fun."   John O'Hurley (Stephen Slade, 1989-1990) "As an actor I liked the freedom that I felt on that show, but I look back with mixed emotions.  I liked a lot of the work I did, but I'm sad I was caught in that revolving period of indecision.  I thought my character was very interesting, and I could explore a lot of the darker sides of him, which I liked.  Unfortunately, the show was going through a pattern of not committing to any particular storyline, because I think there were just too many people in the creative kitchen.  One of the wonderful things the show had was comedy, but during the interim that I was there I watched all these great comedic characters - and I use the word characters strongly - just disappear, and it was frustrating.  One reason a lot of the actors who were there with me at the time went over to Santa Barbara was because of the comedy, but all the wonderful humor, the richness that was singular to SB, was just gone.  But I've never had a bad experience in daytime.  I loved the people I worked with on the show.  In fact, many of them remain very close friends.  I'm always sad when a show gets cancelled, because it means you've got 20 contract people who are out of jobs, and that's too bad."   Sydney Penny (BJ Walker, 1992-1993) "Joining Santa Barbara was more than I ever expected it to be.  I certainly didn't expect to just walk in here and be plunked down in the middle of every storyline going.  I like BJ very much; she's probably my favorite character [of all the ones] I've ever played.  I feel very fortunate I've been given such wonderful stuff to do.  Everybody here is so talented, and it's very pleasant to be working with people you like.  They don't come here with their own personal agendas and just do their work and leave.  We genuinely enjoy being with each other and doing things outside of work.  It didn't take long to get used to daytime.  One of the major reasons I wanted to check out this medium was the opportunity to work at my craft on a daily basis, and that's exactly what the last seven months have given me the opportunity to do.  I love being an actress and being around other people who do the same thing.  Everybody welcomed me into the fold, and our working relationship is really perfect.  These are friendships that I intend to keep."   Scott Jaeck (Cain Garver 1987-1989) "I had a great time while I was on the show, and the only reason I left was that I felt I had other things I wanted to do.  I decided to do the show to begin with [because] I thought the character was great and seemed to be unsoaplike.  Plus, I didn't have to shave or cut my hair!  The show always had such interesting writing - it never really seemed to take itself too seriously and had such a great sense of humor to it, with great comic characters and strange and bizarre situations, which I think it lost the last couple of years.  Santa Barbara was way ahead of its time, and it changed too much from what was its success.  It's too bad the network couldn't stay with it.  It was a great run while it lasted, and I hope it's not forgotten."   John Cassadine (Grant Capwell, 1986) "Before I joined Another World (as Reginald Love), I worked on Santa Barbara for a week.  I did six episodes as CC's brother Grant, and it was a lot of fun.  I always thought it would be a good opportunity to bring some conflict to CC's storyline, but for some reason they never brought the character back.  I really liked the show, and would have loved to return."   Todd McKee (Ted Capwell, 1984-1989) "Santa Barbara was refreshing because it pushed the limit.  There was a lot of talented actors over there, and it was fun to watch them create.  Everybody was so talented and so different.  I was inexperienced when I got the job, but what a place to start!"   Susan Marie Snyder (Laken Lockridge, 1987-1988) "Working on Santa Barbara was fun, and one of the easiest jobs I ever had in my life.  I'd come in two or three days and do this fluff, and I was sorry that it ended so abrubtly.  I felt like they didn't seek the full potential of the character - for whatever reason - but if was a good time for me!"   Michael Durrell (Alex Nikolas, 1987) "My feelings are a little confused, because the show that was cancelled was not Santa Barbara.  It became something else, just an entirely different show.  What I remember very fondly is a show that was a family, headed and nurtured and created and supported by a wonderful woman named Jill Farren Phelps (formerly executive producer).  It was the Dobsons (Bridget and Jerome, SB's creator, and former head writers and executive producers) who actually brought my character in and supported me in the role, but the true genius behind the creation and the nurturing of all of the characters was Jill, who was the one behind the scenes making the show work.  She was the one who helped create it, and she was Santa Barbara; I have only great, fond, wonderful memories for a show that left a very special place in my heart.  What we had was so warm, wacky and so wonderfully confusing sometimes, but that was the charm of it.  The family atmosphere with everyone there was initiated and maintained by Jill, and I missed it from the first day I left the show."   Shirley Anne Field (Pamela Capwell Conrad, 1987) "Pamela Capwell Conrad was a woman who was beautiful, witty, wily and throughly unscrupulous.  [She was] a woman with all the infinite charms of an ageless Helen of Troy - capable of launching a thousand ships.  That is what enchanted me about the role.  However, it was a nightmare when I left.  It was a really sticky situation, and unfortunately I was caught in the middle of the politics."   Sherilyn Wolter (Elena Nikolas, 1987) "Elena was my most challenging role, and it was really fun to play that wicked a character.  During the day I would run rampant as Elena, then I'd go home and be very sweet.  At the end of my stint, the producers asked me to stay, but I really felt she had done her thing for the time being.  Everyone was so personable, and it was a real nice family there.  A Martinez (Cruz) was such a doll, and a real sweet person to work with."   Jane Rogers (Heather Donnelly, 1988-1989) "It was really well put together.  The people there were wonderful, and the coordination of everybody - from props to producers - was great.  I was very pleased."   Vincent Irizarry (Scott Clark, 1988-1989) "At the time I thought the show was definitely one of the better-written shows on daytime.  The people involved with it were really a great group.  They were outgoing, friendly, there for you, and they had a sense of humor.  I had never seen such a spirited, fun group of people in production."   Signy Coleman (Celeste DiNapoli, 1989-1990) "I can honestly say that working on Santa Barbara was a wonderful experience for me.  It wa the first solid acting job I was given, and I grew a tremendous amount in the year I worked on the show.  Not only that, but that's where I met my husband (Vincent Irizarry), who gave me my child, Siena.  Even though Vincent and I are no longer together, I'm extremely grateful because we have a beautiful child.  Santa Barbara interwove storylines very well, and it was wonderful to be excited about going to work every day.  The show was so good at the time we were working on it, and I was very disappointed to hear it had been cancelled.  I wish everyone who was involved in it nothing but the best of luck!"   Terry Lester (Mason Capwell 1989-1990) "Santa Barbara was a different kind of show from all the other daytime shows, but I loved it.  At the time, I'd never been happier professionally.  I had the best material that I'd ever been asked to do, and I can think of no one in my entire career with whom I enjoyed working more than Nancy Lee Grahn!"   Nancy Lee Grahn (Julia Wainwright Capwell, 1985-1993) "I loved the character of Julia!  It was a really good character on daytime, because she was very multidimensional.  I loved the relationship between Julia and Mason because it was different and very unpredictable.  It wasn't a sappy love story, and that's what I liked about it.  The cast was terrific.  There isn't a bad apple in this group, and it's been very pleasant to be here."   Stella Stevens (Phyllis Blake, 1989-1991) "SB was my first experience on daytime, and I enjoyed working on it.  I thought Robin (Mattson) and I were cute together, and I enjoyed working with her because it was so natural.  People told us we were Lucy and Ethel, and that was the highest compliment.  It showed on the screen how much fun we had.  But I felt like I was out in the cold for a while, because my character got caught in a changeover of producers and people in power."   Nina Arvesen (Angela Cassidy, 1991-1993) "They've given me a fun part, and I've had enormous fun doing it.  We had a wonderful group of people here.  I think [executive producer] Paul Rauch has done an incredible job of bringing together the group of  people that we had, and it was a joy to come to work every day."   Rosalind Allen (Gretchen Richards, 1990) "Out of all of the daytime shows, I thought SB was one of the finest.  My time on the show was all too short lived, but I liked working there.  They were good to me, and I really had a high respect for the actors on the show."   Steve Bond (Mack Blake, 1989-1990) "SB was a different experience than General Hospital.  It was a much freer experience from a creative standpoint.  The day-to-day element, as far as the people and environment, was great.  But I felt that SB never really delivered to me what they promised, and that was frustrating.  At the time the show had two major producer changes and numerous writer changes, so there was no consistency with my character.  They enticed me onto the show, and I believe they did have the best of intentions, but it just didn't work out.  I thought the work I did with Louise Sorel was interesting, and she did too, but the writers chickened out.  The story with Rosalind Allen was interesting, too, but it happened so fast."   Karen Moncrieff (Cassandra Lockridge, 1990-1992) "The two years I spent on Santa Barbara were a wonderful time for me as far as stretching my limits and forming some of the depths of my potential as an actress.  I loved my character, and I think I had the good fortune of being able to speak some of the best lines in daytime.  I loved working with Gordon (Thomson) and also made some friends I know I will keep in Eileen Davidson (Kelly) and Michele Val Jean - one of the writers - and that's really nice!"   Timothy Gibbs (Dash Nichols, 1990-1992) "I felt doubly blessed to be on SB because of the family atmosphere and what I learned from my storyline.  The writers really pushed themselves and were serious about the date-rape issue, and it gave me a chance to play something meaty.  The actors I worked with were another blessing, most notably Nancy (Lee Grahn).  I thought SB was innovative, and in some respects at the forefront of its type of programming.  I also loved the comedy in the show.  I enjoyed being part of that aspect, in a very minor way, later on with Louise (Sorel).  I came on the show during the Jill Farren Phelps/John Conboy transition, so I didn't ge the pleasure of working with Jill, but John was fantastic to work for.  I wish everybody, both in front of and behind the camera, all the luck in the world.  I think they're very talented and are going to do well."

[Manny]

Thank you for sharing these. So fun to read these!

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[amybrickwallace]

 

I've said before that from August 1991 on (when MW/Eden left), SB felt like an entirely different show. The Walkers never fit in, though I can't fault Sydney Penny - a talented actress both before and after SB.

[chrisml]

I don't know what happened during the Dobsons' return, but I wish they hadn't mucked it up so much. I liked what they did with Flame and Michael, but that didn't last long because of the Born/Rauch fight. I wonder what would have happened if there were a different producer.

[Capridge]

 

Unfortunately I didn't like the Dobsons' return all that much either. I loved the dinner party episodes with Pamela (some of the best scenes on the show EVER), but I didn't like how they had Mason act like a spoiled brat who used video cameras to spy on people. It didn't work, and I'm not sure it would have worked with Lane Davies in the role either. Mason was so vicious and mean and his motives didn't make much sense (Why did he even hate Warren? Why did he want to torture Cassie so much when he didn't even love her?). Flame and Michael were probably his most popular pairing, but they didn't work for me either. Michael had been such a good friend to Cruz/Julia/Eden for years and to turn him into a bitter drunk that looked down on everyone did the character a great disservice.

 

Also, the Cassie storyline had been pretty intriguing & mysterious (she was becoming an Elena-like character that seemed to have it in for the Capwells & the brotherhood), but when the Dobsons took over, she suddenly turned into a tortured heroine. Mason and Julia should have found out about her schemes.

 

Most of the Dobsons' new characters were plain boring (David, Katrina etc.), they got rid of the wrong characters/actors (Laken, Augusta, Craig, Carrington Garland's Kelly) & they focused on the wrong characters (Katrina got more screen time than Craig & Kelly for months). And the storylines they inherited from the previous team they didn't really fix and their stories pretty much ruined relationships (Augusta having fantasies about her sister's rapist, Cruz not recognizing Eden/Suzanne). I get that they wanted to do forbidden love, but Dash/Augusta and Michael/Flame did not work IMO. And they focused way too much on Jack Wagner.

 

And the worst part was that the show became so wordy. There were all these endless scenes at the Oasis and there was little very action.

 

What I did like was Rosa's return, and the dinner party, but Rosa was rarely used and Pamela was gone within a week. Angela was a great new character. I'm glad they tied her to the Capwells in 1992. She really fit in there.

Edited July 8, 2020 by Capridge

[chrisml]

@Capridge I agree with you for the most part, but I do think Flame/Michael worked quite well. I think it was the only relationship that worked during their stint because the characters were not dumbed down to make the plot work. The Dobsons seemed to like writing for Flame so it's a shame the backstage stuff got in the way.  I wonder sometimes if the Cruz/Suzanne stuff was the Dobsons getting back at A. MArtinez for supporting Phelps. It plays that way to me. 

[pdm1974]

I remember being very excited when the Dobsons came back, but yes, much of their work fell flat.

 

Cassie had such great potential to be a real force to be reckoned with and having her turn out to be Minx's daughter helped bolster the Lockridge family. But, having her turn out to have had a love affair with Warren seemed so odd, and they had to reconn Warren's birth father to not make them aunt/nephew.  Warren's birthfather was never revealed (I suspect they were planning on making it CC), and it all served no purpose in the end. Cassie went nuts and was shipped off. 

 

Getting rid of Carrington Garland's Kelly had to be one of the biggest casting mistakes of all time for the show. She was the perfect one to step into Eden's role as lead heroine.

 

I too thought Flame and Michael had potential...sigh.

 

I did enjoy Rosa's return as I thought she was such an interesting character and more of a mother figure to the Capwell kids than Sophia had actually been, especially to Mason. Mason had hinted that CC somehow stole valuable land from the Andrade family, but that plot point evaporated, too. The Santana recast flopped because of personality issues between the actress and the cast.

 

August and Dash was a horrible idea from the word go.

Cruz/Suzanne was such a boring story...not to mention implausible.

[chrisml]

That was a HUGE blunder. Garland could have taken over for Walker, and the show could have rebounded because audiences adored her. The Dobsons and Rauch took everything the viewers liked and got rid of it, and added people and stories no one cared about. Conboy made such bizarre blunders (Julia's rape was never needed; the weird story with Ric and the Harlan stuff; the director story with Sophia that didn't really go anywhere) but he brought on the Quinn/Flame stuff which everyone liked. I also was a fan of the Laura/Annie/Bunny stuff which got more wacky during his time. I think he could have righted the ship if his worst excesses had been curbed. I know Mulcahey loathes him, but I think Conboy was the last time the show worked for the most part.

Edited July 9, 2020 by chrisml

[pdm1974]

I LOVED the character of Laura once she went crazy!  Bunny was a favorite, too. 

[Capridge]

 

ICAM about Conboy. Mulcahey had an example about Conboy wanting Cruz to play polo, which would have been OOC, but Conboy did respect the show's past. He was the one who brought back the Lockridges and when Kelly was arrested for Quinn's murder, bail was denied because her family had helped her flee the country after Dylan's death. Danny, Ted & Jade were mentioned by Laken. I really liked things like that. So I'd rather have Cruz play polo than have him not recognize the love of his life because she was wearing a bad wig.

 

Another Laura fan right here!! Christopher Norris played her to perfection. She could be a villainess one moment and a grieving mother the next.

[j swift]

I think Cassie is a flawed idea given that Minx had switched Brick and Channing at birth,  which established Minx as a serial baby concealer.  The suggestion that Minx allowed her daughter to be raised at an orphanage (with boys who made regular visits to the Capwells) while years earlier she couldn't bare the thought of her grandson being raised in the Capwell mansion, (right next door), strained logical reasoning. 

 

As for storyline potential, the Lockridge estate was always on the brink of foreclosure due to a lack of new income, so Cassie was not immediately wealthy when she came into the family.  There was no conflict with Lionel feeling betrayed by having a long lost sibling.  There was no discussion of finding Cassie's father.  The Angela/Warren coupling was not worth complicating.  Cassie and her Musketeers played with Mason as children which would have made her years older than Warren.  Finally, the exposition about her birth required the written contortions of both Minx's de-Sorasing and the retcon that Warren was not a Lockridge, (two soap tropes that are not usually appreciated by soaps fans), indicating that Laken was the only child in the family who was actually raised by her biological parents.  If the Lockridges fed their only legitimate child her pet pidgin, perhaps Cassie should have been more grateful to those nuns...

Edited July 9, 2020 by j swift

[amybrickwallace]

 

She was fantastic - and what a shame that she never landed another soap (though not for lack of auditioning).

[redontop4]

 

Patrick Mulcahey once explained that he and Jerry Dobson and Chuck Pratt would gather at the Dobsons' house every few weeks to plot story, and that was the genesis of some of SB's best storylines. I  believe that's why the Dobsons' second stint didn't work. As talented as they are and as much as they deserve credit for the concept and launch of SB, they had a lot of help from some very talented people. For my money, SB was at its best circa 1987 when the Dobsons were exec-producing, Chuck Pratt was co-head writer, Patrick Mulcahey and Courtney Simon (and others) were writing scripts, and Jill Farren Phelps (who knew and loved SB and was fantastic there) was heading the production team as supervising producer. By 1990, John Conboy had run Mulcahey off and fired Pratt and Phelps. Simon left in 1992 to rejoin JFP and Mulcahey (and her husband) at GL.

 

What might SB have been if Conboy and Jackie Smith (NBC) had not made those personnel changes and the Dobsons had returned in 1991 to find the old crew still intact?

[chrisml]

Thank you for the background info. IT does put things in context, but I think one of the big problems with the Dobsons' return is they had complete disregard for the fans who stuck with the show during their absence. The Dobsons wanted to right every "wrong" they saw with the show, but they ended up giving the finger to longtime SB viewers. It's one thing to want to fix a show, but it's another to do it in such a way that you're alienating the existing audience. Pamela Long did more damage, but it wasn't a show she created. The Dobsons should have protected their creation even if it meant keeping material from previous regimes.