Santa Barbara Discussion Thread

[j swift]

It is an odd timeline, because she fell off of Lionel's boat in 1969, and was believed dead.  Sometime after that she wound up in Italy with the Count.  Then, in 1979, at Channing's 18th birthday party, she returned to try to kill Lionel, but mistakenly shot Channing.  And at that time she was actually, kidnapped/rescued by Marcello and returned to Italy for treatment of the shock of killing her son. 

So, there is some room for discussion about her conscientiousness of guilt over leaving her children from the decade of 1969 to 1979, given that she recovered from amnesia long enough to recall hating Lionel and had the freedom to return to Santa Barbara to plot his demise.  Although, I agree that she was not of sound mind enough from 1979 to 1984 to say that she actually abandoned Eden, Kelly, and Ted.

Edited October 13, 2021 by j swift

[amybrickwallace]

No, and it wasn't for Robin Wright, either. No wonder she left in the middle of it (though of course she was going to leave no matter what).

[Marissa Gallant]

Actually, the story of Marcello's first abduction is explained. He was there in 1969 when Sophia fell off the boat. The boat kept running over her and she got amnesia. Marcello was going to kill her, but seeing her bloody after swimming to the shore, saw her as a victim of CC and took her home to Italy. Enter the count (somehow). She got her full memory after seeing CCs picture in the paper. Marcello tried to keep her from going to CC, but failed because she wanted to confront Lionel and reunite with her children. But instead she shot Channing and went full on Bonkers. Marcello took her to the asylum in Alaska. Then it gets fuzzy, but I believe she returned to Italy. But I might be wrong. It could have been after shooting Channing that she sees the CC picture.

[j swift]

Wasn't Marcello adopted, or at least cared for, by Count Armonti after his parents died?  So I always assumed when Marcello picked up Sophia they just went back to his dad's house.

Years ago, the young Hans Ruyker (his real name) lived in the Netherlands, surrounded by his family. And this is during World War II that he loses his parents. At ten years old, the young Hans attends the slaughter of his parents by the Nazis, on May 20, 1944. We really do not know how the drama happened, but Hans rejects the responsibility of the death of his parents on the shoulders of a young officer of the American Air Force : Channing Creighton Capwell. Because Hans' parents lodged this American soldier.

At the end of the war, years are passing by for the young Hans. He leaves for Italy in an orphanage. There, Count Armonti, having not been able to have a heir, decides to adopt him. And that is how Hans Ruyker becomes Marcello Armonti.

Years later, a link with the past of Marcello could have been established with Katrina Ruyker.

There's some irony in Marcello hating CC his whole life, and then CC clears it up and everyone is like, oh OK, got it...

As for how Marcello got from the Netherlands to the Amalfi coast that I do not recall, but one assumes that the sites were specified so that nobody assumed Hans was a Nazi.

[amybrickwallace]

There were so many holes and discrepancies in this story that it felt like the Dobsons were writing it as they went along instead of having a cohesive plot already written out. Of course, most of their stories had that slapped-together feeling.

[Tyro]

I'm on duty in the topic

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As for the departure of Louise Sorel, several circumstances converged here.

1. She didn't want Augusta to have an affair with Dash Nichols, which caused her sister suffering.
2. Paul Rauch was her ex, and they didn't break up very well
3. Bridget Dobson also disliked her for some reason since 1986 (when Louise left for the first time)

Therefore, Louise couldn't discuss the lame storyline with either Rauch or Bridget. She tried to talk to Jerome, but to no avail. And then she jumped over the heads and met with the network manager. And this caused a terrible scandal and a quarrel personally with Bridget Dobson. She promised Louise unpleasant consequences (backfiring). And as a result, her contract was not renewed.

This information is taken from the interview that Louise gave at that time.

[Marissa Gallant]

That's what I've always thought. That isn't really a stretch.

I think that a lot of orphans were adopted after the war. I could be wrong though. And they never really say that the count was an old geezer. He could have only been 10-15 years older than Marcello and gone for Marcello as more of a friend because he was so smart.

Now, let's cast the Count. Who would have had chemistry with Judith McConnell?

So, it's really kind of an all of the above. She was fired, but it was because she stood up for the character. 

I thought she might have had storyline approval like Nicolas Coster. (BTW- has anyone else watched The Deep Ones on Amazon?)

[amybrickwallace]

I dunno. All the "dashing" actors from daytime then that I can think of were all on other soaps. Can we throw out non-daytime names?

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[Tyro]

 

Hurray!You're back! I definitely will never get tired of discussing Sophia. 

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And neutral viewers usually treat her well. She is definitely one of the most underrated and abandoned characters. I got a lot of pleasure reading in this topic the options for the development of her story.

And it always surprised me that every year the writers tried their best to come up with the characters' past, which they never had, but ignored the fact that Sophia's mysterious past in Europe was announced in the first season. No one ever tried to promote this theme, though the Italian mafia theme was brought up a couple of times.

*I also don't think Haley murdering Amy had long enough dramatic repercussions. The animosity that should have existed between Ted and Brick could have provided friction for the rest of the show! And it would have effected everyone. Which son does Sophia side with? Kelly, baby brother or older brother, who had her as his best man? Could have been a frickin GOLD MINE, but tptb were too short sighted.*

It's curious that Sophia didn't really know both of her boys well but she immediately sided with CC's son Ted. She helped to organize the wedding with Hayley so that she could avoid punishment. Brick was stunned by this. But here an interesting thing happened. Lionel came to the fore and became a real father to Brick, supporting him. In this drama, Sophia and Lionel solved their parental problems together for the first time. It was a difficult moment for CС. I'd like to look at it longer.

*There could have even been a recast Brick who comes back with a vendetta.*

Well, his little brother had strange habit of marrying Amy's murderers.  Johnny also could be brought back as an avenger.

*They could have had Count Armonti come back from the dead. That would have been interesting. Especially if they had landed a powerhouse actor to play him. Will Sophia choose CC, Lionel or  Rodolpho Armonti?*

Rodolpho? Is that the Count's real name? When did it sound?

By the way, maybe he was not so old? In the Armonti family, nothing is clear at all with their age and motivation. If the stepson is older than the stepmother, then maybe the foster father is a little older than the stepson. For example, CC could also adopt Marcello (as far as I remember, Marcello was offended that he didn't do this).

The Italian aristocracy is an incredible source of ideas for the plot! By the way, Marcello told Sophia that some people are waiting her back home in Italy. This means that there was someone else from the family who was not told about. The writers cast the bait, but didn''t develop the idea

As for Marcello. How could he devote half his life to Sophia without demanding anything in return? He wasn't a gay. He was a couple of years older than her. And he constantly gave her a massage (a typical reflex for those who liked Sophia as a woman - for example, CC and Stephen Slade did the same)! 

And she betrayed him in the end. So Marcello is nominated as the first candidate to return with revenge plans. Sophia must have her own personal maniac, like every decent resident of Santa Barbara. And I suppose, Katrina Ruyker was the first step to that.

Edited October 14, 2021 by Tyro

[j swift]

First of all, I agree that the Count was benevolent,  he adopted war orphans and left his money to Sophia,so he couldn't be that bad.  It must have been Marcello's PTSD delusions from the war that causes them to keep Sophia in Italy.

The obvious choice would be Joe Mascolo, given his history of being cast as both landed gentry on DAYS and an Italian on B&B.

However, give SB's tendency to cast former primetime TV stars, I have some other choices.

1. Tony Franciosa, suave, Italian, a little older than CC, and could definitely give him a run for his money

2.  Vince Edwards, Dr. Ben Casey from the 60s, heroic, strong, but could probably still be sexy into the 80s, I like the idea of having Sophia going for a more established man, while CC was still trying to sew his wild oats with younger gals

3.  A wild card, Jed Allen's former DAYS co-star Joseph Gallison, there was always a bit of suspicious mystery to Neil, that Joe could bring to The Count, his grey hair made him look older than he really was, and given that he was a former lead on AW, there had to be something charismatic about the actor that NBC execs liked

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Edited October 13, 2021 by j swift

[amybrickwallace]

I'm thinking somebody like Timothy Dalton.

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[Lex S]

Shorty after Kirk Cranston first came to town (as a last ditch effort to explain Jack Lee's sudden DC trip and the real actor's death? By the way, I always wondered why they didn't just recast Jack Lee). Anyway, there were quite a few scenes between Kirk and Julia, especially before Cruz let it slip that Kirk was Jack Lee's son. The scene where Julia poured a drink into Kirk's lap was the same thing she did to the faux-Jack Lee months prior. I enjoyed their conversations but Kirk was clearly after Eden already at that point

 

Timothy Dalton had a huge TV hit in the mid/late 80s playing Mr. Rochester on Jane Eyre miniseries

[Marissa Gallant]

Sure- why not? It's all pretend anyway.

[Tyro]

No chance in reality but... Michael Caine? At least we know how he and Judith look together.

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[amybrickwallace]

It was 1983. My mom loooooooved that miniseries. I think she wore out her VHS copy.

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