Santa Barbara Discussion Thread

[juniorz1]

That was the idea yes, but they cast Phyllis Frelich (the deaf actress) as Sister Sarah during the strike, which nixed the whole thing. The character was never intended to be deaf originally, so that was that.

[juniorz1]

http://pierin26santabarbara.blogspot.com/search/label/exclusive%20interview

For those of you who haven't checked out Pierin's Santa Barbara Blog, or who haven't recently, there's a great interview with former long-time SB script writer Frank Salisbury. Check it out- it's a great read.

[Khan]

Thanks for the link, junior!

Granted, I wish Salisbury had had the opportunity to talk more about other shows he's worked on (GUIDING LIGHT, in particular), but it's neat to "hear" him nevertheless.

[juniorz1]

I agree with you- I wish in some of the interviews the blogger would ask more (or at least some) questions about the interviewees' work on other soaps.

[juniorz1]

Wendy was nice enough to PM me a link to an interview with Marcy Walker Smith from a magazine in Edmond, Oklahoma, where she now lives. Even if you're not a fan, check it out. It tells a really interesting, sweet story that I didn't even know, as a lifelong fan of hers. Enjoy!

http://www.edmondoutlook.com/archives/m.blog/27/view/1082

[Khan]

I'll say this much: if finding God and working in children's ministries has brought a newfound sense of peace and purpose to Ms. Smith, then I wish her (and her family) all the best. "The church," as it were, needs more individuals who feel a genuine call to spread His gospel.

Now, about that chick who saw her face while she prayed....

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKvoKFUNBBw

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deJg2Y07BC8&feature=channel

[SFK]

Was Conboy EP at the time? Did he fire Shirley to bring on Marj? I'm pretty sure he was responsible for Janis, who'd also been on Capitol, as Minx. How did Dame Judith leave the show and how long was she off before they brought on Janis?

[DRW50]

I think that was JFP who brought in Marj. Or the Dobsons.

Apparently Judith just made less and less frequent appearances and was last seen in 1987 or 1988. Janis came in in 1991.

[Wendy]

Actually, if I recall from reading, the casting of Pamela was just one of the issues that started the Dobsons on the road to being locked out. They wanted Marj Dusay to begin with, but the writers wanted a British actress by the name of Samantha Eggar. From what I read, to allow for Pamela to be written for and for the writers to be enthused, the Dobsons acquiesced. However, Eggar quit before she even started taping as soap demands proved to be too much for her. That is when Shirley Ann Field was cast. I have no idea why she was let go, as she seemed fine to me. Maybe that was the issue, though? Maybe the show wanted a slightly insane Pamela from word go and felt Ms. Field was too "together". Because Marj Dusay certainly brought the OTT crazy angle. That said, it is ironic that the Dobsons' choice would remain in the role until Pamela was phased out for good in 1991. (While I loved that Capwell Dinner in '91 with her there, I was watching older clips of LD's Mason, and it seemed like after the Hal Clark mess, that Mason had washed his hands of his mother, so I don't get what caused the turn-around, mother or not.)

[ellabelle]

Ahhh... Santa Barbara. It was the first soap I ever watched - my dad got me hooked on it when I was 12. I started watching about a week after Julia was raped by Dash, but even I in my youth and naivete did not see it as he said/she said. I didn't buy for a second that Julia was someone who would lie about that, nor did I think she was incapable of knowing the difference between consensual sex and rape.

Despite the awfulness of the rape storyline, I loved NLG as Julia. I never saw Lane Davies as Mason so I have nothing to compare Gordon Thompson to, but I did love GT, and I adored Marj Dusay as Mason's mother - I was beyond thrilled when she came to All My Children years later as David Hayward's mother.

I loved MW as Eden, and it bothered me to no end that she just wasn't as good on AMC. She had some good moments, but I agree that she looked much better as Eden. I HATED the multiple personality storyline though. It just seemed too out there, and I hated what it did to Cruz and Eden.

[Wendy]

I'm one of the few who liked GT as Mason. (Most think Mason stopped with Lane Davies. And Terry Lester? Good actor, wrong role.) But I do think since he was the original, that Lane Davies best defined the character. There is a bunch of Lane Davies as Mason up on YT or at his web site - with the Mason Chronicles - if you are ever curious.

[DRW50]

This is from a November 1990 Weekly. Sorry about the bad scans. I just can't scan these well.

[juniorz1]

The Dobsons were still there with JFP. Dame Judith I'm pretty sure last aired in 1986. As much as everyone at the show loved & respected her,, they could never write full scenes with Minx because at that point, Dame Judith had trouble remembering her lines. They'd even leave little notes with her lines hidden around the set and that didn't always work either. Nicolas Coster often had to basically cover when she missed a line or feed her lines. But I do know that she forged a lovely friendship with Louise Sorel, who adored her.

As for all the Nina Arvesen stuff appearing on youtube of late, it IS actually her posting it. I've struck up a friendship with her on facebook and she has granted me an interview that will be coming out in my 'RTSB' blog in a few weeks. Additionally, she has started reading the blog, loves it, and has given me many more recent photographs of her and permission to use them in the blog.

She seems to be an absolutely lovely and personable woman, much like Brenda Epperson before her who I struck up a conversation with.

Anyhow, I'll post some tidbits from the conversation tomorrow, as we talked for about 4 hours so there's plenty of stuff I've learned. I tried to get some juice out of her and did get some, but the interview is going to be much harder hitting with questions I think all of you will be interested in hearing the answers to.

Incidentally, modest and humble as she is about it, it was actually the George Rawlins Murder/Paul & Cassandra Romance/Bermuda Triangle climax that shot Y&R to #1 and began it's reign as the #1 daytime soap for the past 23 years. People forget how fascinating that character really was and how much she did for Y&R at the time.