Santa Barbara Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

How long was McArthur there?

I know Robin Wright had a lot of issues with the show and she wasn't all that happy. Did any of that ever come across onscreen?

I wonder if she keeps in touch with anyone from SB.

[Wendy]

BTW, someone asked for the birth order of the Capwell sibs. I am also including Elena, as technically, psycho or not, she was CC and Pamela's offspring. So...

Mason

Elena (guessing here based on timeline!)

Channing (Sophia and Lionel's - thought to be CC's...and only found NOT to be Channing at all! Brick Wallace was the real Channing.)

Eden

Kelly

Ted

Greg (That drip played by Paul Johanssen in '89 - CC's kid by Megan Richardson, played by Meg Bennett!) The timeline for Greg did not seem to fit for me, but hey, it was a soap.

ETA: Right before SB's demise, I think it was heading for changing Warren's paternity to CC with Augusta! Sort of late SB's answer to Channing. Frankly, I'm glad the show got the ax before that happened. Warren #1, John Allen Nelson, was almost a Nicolas Coster clone. I know recasts change things, but I think that was best left alone. I think the only reason the show toyed with it was due to Mason and Warren's new-found animosity over useless Cassandra.

Edited October 16, 2010 by Wendy

[juniorz1]

RETURN TO SANTA BARBARA RETURNS TONIGHT!!!!

:D

[DRW50]

From the July 14, 1987 SOD. Network Publishing Co

Edited November 22, 2010 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

From the December 1, 1987 Digest. SB turns 3. Network Publishing Co

Edited November 22, 2010 by CarlD2

[Sapounopera]

Thank you for all these great articles!

Too bad that SB was ruined shortly after that... I am sure that this show would have worked a lot better as a half-hour show. The writers were interested in a very small group of characters, all others came and went every six months leaving nothing behind.

[DRW50]

Thanks for reading them. What do you think ruined SB? The Dobsons being pushed out or was it something else?

Was Anne Howard Bailey, the writer they wanted out, that bad?

[Sapounopera]

A number of things ruined SB for me..

Robin Wright leaving and Kelly getting involved with T.J. Daniels, her mother's lover. I hated that storyline.

Lionel, Caroline, Warren, Jane and Alice were a nice family unit and they were destroyed after Caroline's death.

Eden's rape and Adrianna's kidnapping was waay too dark for me

The Donellys and the DiNapolis.

Cain, Andrea, Ming Li and Philip Hamilton. Ming Li was hired by Philip to play Cain's daughter and she was flirting with her "father". It was sick. Who were these people?

Ethan and Laura.

1984-85-86-87 were good SB years. It became watchable (watchable, not very good) again during the Robert/Quinn mess and when the Dobsons returned along with the old Capwell sets, Rosa and nu-Santana, whom I liked.

OMG, I just remembered Cassandra and her story. I hated it. It was Marianne Carruthers before Marianne Carruthers. Mason, Craig, Ethan, Derek were all involved from what I remember.

[DRW50]

Thanks. I didn't know Kelly was involved with her mother's boyfriend.

Who played Caroline? Warren was the character they brought back again later played by Jack Wagner?

That Ming Li stuff does sound odd.

I know Eden's rape got a lot of critical acclaim but I do wonder how I would have felt if I was watching at the time.

[Sapounopera]

Caroline Wilson Lockridge was played by gorgeous Lenore Karsdorf (ex-Rita Bauer, GL). Caroline was estranged from her daughter Jane and then it was revealed that she had been involved with an African American man years ago and she gave up his daughter Alice.

Alice was in a mental hospital with Kelly Capwell, she was released, reunited with her mother and sister and they all moved in with Lionel Lockridge. I liked seeing the Lockridge house full of people again.

Yes, that was Warren, Lionel's son. Who turned out not being Lionel's son for an uninspired romance with Cassandra Benedict, Lionel's half-sister.

The Ming Li story was indeed very odd. Those four characters were so isolated, they were a sick little soap opera of their own. As for Eden's rape.. I cared for Cruz and Eden too much during that time to see them go through this. The fact that the show was full of characters and storylines I didn't care for made tuning out much easier.

[DRW50]

I love Lenore Kasdorf on GL -- how long was she on SB? I wonder if she wanted to leave or if she was fired. I guess she never interacted with Augusta.

I'm going to type up a quick interview with the set designer. Here's the photo from the interview.

[DRW50]

From the June 16, 87 Digest. Network Publishing Co

SANTA BARBARA's Art Director, George Becket, Creates Some of the Splashiest Sets on Daytime

Forty-four years old, George Becket is originally from France...arrived in this country in 1972...now resides in Los Angeles. He trained and worked in Europe, "which is completely different, technically, from the U.S. There is more time to do things in Europe - they would never put together a one-hour show like SANTA BARBARA in one day, five days a week. That would mean giving up their two-hour lunches!" laughs George.

"I basically had to start over when I arrived here. I had to start at the bottom and work my way to the top." In 1978, Becket became the assistant art director for THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, and then CAPITOL. Next, he worked on the TV movie-of-the-week, NADIA. In 1984, he joined SANTA BARBARA at its inception.

Becket's duties include designing all the sets ("the actual design takes less time than updating what we have"), setting up floor plans, dressing the sets, staging layouts, and establishing the budget. ("It's miniscule. In fact, my budget is lower than any other soap. We end up mixing and matching and reusing everything. We have a huge inventory.") Becket has five assistants (Linda Burger, Bob Franklin, Laurie Davies, Dick Harvey and Jim Yarmer) to whom he delegates work. The days are very long. Reports the art director: "On any given day, I design, say, ten sets and put them up. That means striking existing sets and lights, cleaning up, and putting everything in reverse. We try to keep sets on stage if they're going to be used the next day, or that same week. It saves money to move sets in and out as needed - it also takes a tremendous amount of time. My crew starts striking sets at 10:30 at night and the new sets must be ready by 8:00 the next morning."

Becket also oversees location shoots. "I work with the lightning, props and how a particular background will look in a scene. I have to second-guess the director a lot and imagine the camera movement. I try to add something to the scene to serve as a dramatic point," says George. "We shot some fabulous helicopter scenes, real primetime stuff," Becket exclaims, recalling the time he went on location to Utah for Eden and Cruz's adventure story line.

For George, the most fun, and the most challenging, part of his job is putting everything together so it works. "Not the design, per se, for beauty or aesthetics...but to make it work, it can be intricate, especially on a show like SANTA BARBARA."

"I have a reputation around town as being very detailed. I try to achieve a truthful environment within the set. Sometimes we're accused of over-dressing the set. I don't agree. All other shows on prime time are lavish, and we have to contend with that - that's what people are used to seeing. They've been brainwashed by the nighttime look," believes Becket.

"The producers have given me a lot of freedom. I'm lucky. I enjoy their privileged trust," admits George.

- SUSAN MORSE

Edited November 22, 2010 by CarlD2

[Sapounopera]

The Dobsons were furious with Ann Howard Baily for killing off Caroline. And so was I. I don't think Lenore wanted out and it's sad that she never had another soap gig apart from playing Brooke Logan's lawyer Pamela Geller for two or three episodes in the mid-nineties.

[DRW50]

So Lenore Kasdorf brought down the Dobsons. Wow...

I had forgotten that they wrote and wrote for her at GL. I guess they must have loved her work. It sucks that Bailey decided to kill her off. Why? Did she have some great plan for Lionel or something?

[Sapounopera]

Caroline was more or less Rita Bauer 2.0. It might as well have been the same character. I don't remember what happened to Lionel after that. A reunion with Augusta or did he just leave town once again? Warren, Jane and Alice were all gone rather quickly as well.