Santa Barbara Discussion Thread

[Beach Climber]

I’m in the middle of a rewatch because I missed a lot of episodes in my initial viewing. One thing I’ve noticed is they never really tried to give Julia an alternate love interest once she was put into Mason’s sphere.
 

They’d throw her guys she’d have heavy screentime with but either nothing would play out, she would shut them down after kiss because she was still in love with Mason, or it was a doomed ONS. Compared to Mason who had the marriage to Victoria, engagement to  Cassie, relationship with Gina (as Sonny), and affair with Sasha. 

 

[amybrickwallace]

Who was the most serious - or at least longest-running - non-Mason love interest for Julia? Michael Donnelly?

[Beach Climber]

I think it was Michael. That was the only one I recall that was mutual. They timed it so he wasn’t a real option by not having him leave the priesthood until Mason/Julia were back together and solid but they played it like she had feelings for him but didn’t want to blow up his life. The only other longer one was that judge David who was married to Angela but it always came off as one-sided and he was moved out of her sphere as soon as Mason and Julia reunited. 

[amybrickwallace]

Exactly.

[Soaplovers]

I'll be honest...I thought 1985 was a pretty good year for SB.

Cruz/Eden at the start when both were individuals and not boxed into the super couple realm.  And their conflicts in 1985 felt authentic.

Mason/Mary were starting and were a nice opposites attract couple with her being from a working class family and helping less fortunate..while Mason came from a wealthy family with a chip on his shoulder.

Christie rape trial really helped focus the show...and let's face it..issues with the wealthy having a different set of rules shows up here well. 

Brick/Amy were the couple with the most focus.  The odd New Strainland story is so bizarre that having the 2 down to earth characters involved helped ground it.  And they got the huge November sweeps wedding as well.  

Kelly was all over the place..but she just lost her 1st love just when they got back together so she was lost...and Nick was steady and grounded...so made sense why she went for him at first.

Augusta/Lional were fun and dramatic..plus with Sophia being back..we could have had a triangle brewing.  And having Julia come in as Augusta's conscience was a nice touch.

Julia in 1985 had the benefit of not being in a super couple so she floated in and out of stories.  She had a good rapport with Amy/Brick..even a nice rapport with Jack (sadly cut short because of Joel Crothers illness and death), and she helped bring some calmness to the Lockridge family.

And original Gina was fascinating...could hate her, yet feel for her.  Santana/Gina/Brandon had a lot of mileage even with the recasting of both women.

1985 set up a lot of good stories to carry them for years...yet in 1986 most were abandoned or ended too quickly.

[amybrickwallace]

@Soaplovers, what a great post. I personally hated the New Stailand plot, but you made some valid points about it. Who knows how much the trajectory of SB would be different had Joel Crothers lived. Would Jack Lee have been Julia's endgame instead of Mason? Would he have been an interloper in the Eden/Cruz relationship? 

1985 also had Eden and Cruz's doomed first wedding at the Capwell Hotel, which I've always seen as SB's homage to The Towering Inferno. The special effects were pretty impressive for a soap at that time.

[j swift]

I've been thinking a lot about the origin of SB and I've come to the conclusion that one of the largest issues was the writer's inability to define female characters in ways that didn't make them redundant from strategical plot perspective.  Perhaps it was the age of the writing staff, or the fact that younger dramas like 90210 were years away from creation, but they really did a terrible job at creating a variety of female prototypes.  Y&R was considered revolutionary when it began because it focused on young character,  SB went even younger, but most of the teens were phased out because they were not unique enough to sustain audience interest.  There were no Blair Waldorfs, Kelly Taylors, or even Lilly Walshes, to motivate me to follow from year to year.

I've already mentioned that original recipe Gina and Santana quickly became redundant as Eden protagonists/younger distractions for CC with substance abuse issues.  It could be argued that they were given different backstories, but their purpose within the plot was too similar to provide stories for both characters.  I would propose that same was true for Kelly and Laken, they were both daddy's girls whose love lives were the main focus of their plots.  Jade and Christie were interchangeable as middle class girls envious of their richer friends.  Sophia and Pamela were both women who abandoned their children, returned in disguise, and remarried rich Europeans.

SB would never have passed the Bechdel Test (two women who talk to each other about something other than a man).  I would challenge anyone to recall a significant scene between Eden and Julia.  The relationship between Kelly and Eden shifted according to the plot.  And Sophia's relationships with Kelly and Eden were unexplored after her initial return. Julia and Victoria shared some fun scenes while Mason was kidnapped, but that quickly dissolved, and she seemed to only talk to Augusta about man troubles. 

All in all, there were too many female characters who were either ill defined or unexplored and I think it was a key element to many of the missed opportunities for stories that SB experienced in its short run.  

[amybrickwallace]

That applies to the remaining soaps today, sadly.

[Beach Climber]

It probably wasn’t intentional but Julia and Eden always came off like a secondary friendship to me. I’m not sure if they have been friends if not for Cruz and later Mason. Julia’s mostly had close male friends which is ironic considering her characterization. 

[Wendy]

Maybe, but Mason or not, aunt or not, she didn't have to give Samantha "Eden" as her middle name (when Eden was thought dead), but she did. That was nice. And there were great, heartfelt scenes between the two that I can still remember right after Dash was acquitted of raping Julia, with Eden checking on he, bring Julia and Samantha a bunch of Christmas presents from the Capwellsr. Eden was in her reporter phase then, and I recall her being almost as devastated as Julia. I realize part of that has to do with Eden's own history with rape, but she was also clearly sad for her friend.

I think they may have started to be friendly through Cruz and Mason but made their own friendship along the way.

The Dobsons talked up Julia with David Raymond in their second tenure. Trouble is? He had all the charisma and personality of dirt. And before the story went south with the rape, the show did have Dash pursuing Julia. I recall, at one point, the show also throwing around Mac Blake (Gina's brother) and Julia.

Pre-Mason, there was also Jack, played by Joel Crothers.

For good or bad, Julia's best chemistry was always with Mason, no matter the actor, and the audience responded. And it forever will piss me off that Cassie was never exposed in meddling with Julia/Mason. At least Mason dumped her asssss for Julia and she was left to chase her own nephew versus Angela and went nuts. Karma.

[Marissa Gallant]

What is ONS?

I am watching 1985 now. I'm really enjoying it. I agree that a lot gets set up for 1986. And too bad they weren't able to tell the stories.

I thoroughly enjoy Augusta and Lionel together. And Julia is so much fun. 

I love Amy and Brick and it's a shame that  they put them SO deep on the back burner.

Personally, I have a difficult time extending the Golden Age past the departure of Lane Davies. But there are great stories after that. 

[Errol]

One night stand.

[Marissa Gallant]

Technically speaking, Sophia was taken from her children. She had amnesia, Marcello took her to Europe. She got her memories back, came home, killed her son who wasn't her son, went nuts again. But I do see your point.

Eden started unique because she wanted to be in business. But subsequent writers turned her into a damsel. 

Julia stayed strong.

But there were definitely plot repetitions and parallels. It feels like there was a serial rapist every year. And serial killers. Too many of both.

Gina and Santana drive me crazy. And the never ending custody battle. As well as the constant rewriting of Gina's backstory. (Remember when Gina and Summer were the only Bkakes because their parents were killed?) Then she has a brother and mom too later?

The show wasn't perfect. But it is so much fun. 

[robbwolff]

I don't know. It always seemed to me that the teens like Jade, Danny, and Laken were phased out because they were part of families that the Dobsons just weren't invested in. Plus all three roles were played by actors who weren't overly impressive in their performances, unlike Todd McKee who seemed to always shine as Ted. I loved Christie. Unlike Jade, Christie drove story and provided lots of needed conflict. I don't understand why the Dobsons introduced this family and then dropped them so quickly. The Duvall/Bassett family was compelling and intriguing and portrayed by excellent actors. It's a shame Santa Barbara didn't hold onto this family. So much wasted potential.

[Marissa Gallant]

I think the teens kind of fell flat. I think the Dobsons might have wanted to invest, but the fans didn't. I liked Danny, and think his slide into drug addiction should have happened on screen, not just suddenly Cruz shot him. We know Jade eventually had acting chops- different show, different character. And same with Christy. 

I am not sure, but I know that in her interview, Harley Jane Kozak said she was killed because of the new owners wanting to save money. I think that is part of why the Duvall were phased out. (Pure speculation on my part) i also feel the Dobsons didn't understand normal and couldn't write them well. Also, I doubt that Robin Mattson and Jed Allen came cheap. 

There was SO much behind the scenes that the show definitely suffered. But also, who cares about Theda when Augusta is turning radios on with her feet. Sorry Theda makes my skin crawl.  I didn't miss her at all. I could have missed Marissa Perkins, but she was never enough of a presence. I missed Amy BEFORE she left. I definitely missed Augusta. I missed Warren and Laken. I missed Lane Davies when he left. In fact, I missed LD so much I left too and just came to visit a few times a year. 

And I have said this before, but eventually HIGH drama-all drama and zero relief or joy drives me away. Far, far away...