Santa Barbara Discussion Thread

[Carlos Abad]

 

 

Mary end is near. I'm not against her death but I think she could have been in the show at least one more year. Watching these episodes her death feels so sudden. 

And I also love Pearl and Kelly in the clinic. Their acting is so good. I wish they didn't erase their story once Robin Wright returned for Princess Bride. 

I am not saying they should be a couple but they should have bigger scenes as friends.

And I also love the chemistry between Keith and Eden. Their scenes are exciting. 

I love this season of the show. Here Santa Barbara feels like an ensemble show with multiples leading roles.

I forget it. Jane is so annoying. I don't understand why she lasted so long in the show. 

[amybrickwallace]

I didn't like Jane with Brick...or that they left the show together. No chemistry whatsoever.

[redontop4]

 

The Dobsons stepped down as head writers in late 1986. Chuck Pratt was promoted to co-head writer along with newly hired Anne Howard Bailey. Jerry Dobson left SB entirely then to write a screenplay; Bridget Dobson stayed on as a non-writing executive producer. It was also around this time that the show's other executive producer, Mary-Ellis Bunim, left the show and Jill Farren Phelps was promoted from producer to supervising producer in charge of day-to-day production and post-production. Bridget Dobson was sole executive producer for much of 1987 but was ousted in her notorious fracas with NBC and New World (over wanting to fire Bailey) in September 1987. The show was without an exec producer briefly until JFP was tapped to fill the spot in December.

[amybrickwallace]

With all of that mess going on behind the scenes, it's a wonder things stayed as good onscreen as they did...for awhile, anyway.

Edited December 14, 2017 by amybrickwallace

[redontop4]

I think a lot of credit for that has to go to JFP. Love her or hate her, she really knew and loved SB. By most accounts, she was a potent creative force on the show from the beginning, even before she ascended to exec producer, and provided a "constancy" (A Martinez' word), which is why SB maintained its superior quality (despite some shaky writing) until she was fired in 1990. John Conboy and Paul Rauch did not know SB and tried to make it into another show entirely.

[Faulkner]

I only really watched during the Kim Zimmer/Sydney Penny days, but I see there's a trove of the show online starting from the beginning. Any recommendations on where I should begin? Just from 1984 on or should I just start somewhere in '85? I know a lot about the show prior to my short time as a viewer in the early '90s, but I'd love to experience the show at its peak firsthand.

[redontop4]

 

If the last year of the show is all you know of SB, then you've missed the real SB. Fans will argue about the show's heyday (most agree it was 1985 to '88 or '89), but I remember great stories more than years or eras. Personally I am partial to the Elena Nikolas/Utah story (1987), the Sonny/Mason/Julia/Gina mess (1988), Eden's rape (1988), the Cruz/Eden/Robert triangle (1989-'90), and the two brilliant  Capwell dinner party episodes (1991). Most of these are on YouTube.

 

Start with the "Eden's Attack" clips. Truly terrifying and moving.

[Faulkner]

Thanks. I'll search for these. Certainly it's more manageable timewise to follow stories than to watch every episode sequentially. I just saw the Santa Barbara channel and was surprised at the high video quality given the amount of bad or dubbed SB content that's been on YouTube over the years.

[amybrickwallace]

Actually, try watching what you can from the beginning. Yes, it took a while for SB to find its footing, but the Kelly/Joe relationship and the start of the Eden/Cruz relationship are well worth watching. Eden and Cruz were never meant to be a couple; each were originally intended to be paired with others. But the chemistry between Marcy Walker and A Martinez was there from the beginning, and the show wisely began writing for Eden/Cruz.

Edited December 15, 2017 by amybrickwallace

[j swift]

I'm re-watched the first 200 as they are posted and I really empathize with the Dobsons.  It's February 1985, they are more than 6 months into production, and the producers still can't get it right.  The storyline is interesting.  The scripts allow for every beat of Sofia's re-introduction in town. From Rosa to Augusta everyone got their scene with Sofia and they were complex and interesting. 

 

BUT CC, as interpreted by Charles Bateman, is bizarre.  He lacks charm, charisma and, sex appeal.  He yells his way through scenes with his kids and the bedroom episode with Gina was not a turn on. Maggie the cop and Brick are also examples that the early casting was not good at finding talented unknown actors.  There is tons of attention to the main homes but, anytime they go to new places (State Street Bar) it is a plain set and poorly lit.  Also, it is notable that the time of day in every episode seems incoherent from scene to scene.  

 

So, I feel for the Dobson's having written a unique bible for totally contemporary show only to see it being poorly interpreted by a mediocre cast with some highly notable exceptions (Mason, Sofia, Lionel, Augusta, Warren and, Minx).  I can imagine how having actors playing Gina and CC who didn't fit their vision really hampered the storytelling. There is no sense of Sofia yerning for CC, or being torn by Lionel or even threatened by Gina because CC is a fire-breathing-villain and Gina is a quivering-little-pipsqueak.  In retrospect, I know that CC and Gina will become great but those characters have a very rough start given how integral they became to the show.

[amybrickwallace]

I feel that SB finally started to gel in summer 1985 with the Christie Duvall rape, which Ted was accused of and arrested for. This was the story that introduced Harley Kozak as Christie's sister, Mary, who would forever changed Mason's life.

[Faulkner]

I started watching the Eden's attack storyline, and it's as incredible as everyone here attests, mostly due to Marcy Walker but all the actors are fantastic. The videos I'm watching don't seem to show any reactions from Eden's family beyond C.C. and Ted, which feels... odd.

 

I know it's hard to believe for those here who love her, but I'd forgotten how good MW could be. She was so miscast as Tangie and while she was amazing as Liza when Lorraine Broderick was writing in the mid-'90s, I was so tired of her by the time she left AMC. 

 

Too bad the playlist I'm watching has a cruddy VHS transfer with audio that drops out as inopportune moments. Still the writing and acting shine through.

 

I do think I may go back and watch earlier episodes. While it's great to watch individual stories, I think they have more impact when you've seen the backstory and are really invested in the characters.

[redontop4]

 

There was a bit of controversy, or at least disappointment, when SB submitted the rape episode for the Best Directing Emmy in 1989 and failed to get even a nomination. That was the year the show all but swept the awards (Best Drama, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Juvenile Male, Best Writing, plus a few technical awards), but nothing for the directors. They would, however, win in each of the next two years.

 

And yes, it's riveting television, especially in the context of 1980s soap opera. JFP, Chuck Pratt & team had been at GH when Luke's rape of Laura was rebranded a "seduction" and set out to make it clear that there was nothing seductive or romantic about this rape. At one point, Eden even goes on TV to criticize shows "like 'General Clinic'" for their whitewashing of rape. Unfortunately the reveal of the rapist's identity brought its own controversy and undercut the import of the story a bit. But there's no denying the power of the episodes before, during, and immediately after the attack. Keep watching!

[amybrickwallace]

 

Sadly, I feel SB may have been ahead of its time with the rapist's identity in light of the #MeToo movement. But I digress.

[Faulkner]

Watching Eden confront the actors from "General Clinic" who play Lincoln and Laurie (!). They mention the executive producer of GC whose name was Betty Bounty (!). Meanwhile backstage, some PA mentions that the actors really hate each other in real life, a nod to Geary and Francis's friction. Wow.

 

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