Santa Barbara Discussion Thread

[j swift]

The one John Conboy signature move that I always associate with his production style is the way that at the beginning of an episode the camera would sneak around the room from behind a pillar or through a railing to observe the characters as if the audience was peering into the action.

You see it on SB, as well as in the Clegg living room on Capitol.  So, I wonder if that was part of his motive to change the Capwell Villa?

I preferred the lighting on the old set, but I also enjoyed the shots through the archways that provided a meta-commentary on the voyeuristic nature of being a soap fan.

Also, the Megan/Greg retcon took away from one of CC's only redeeming qualities which was his devotion to his kids and grandchildren.  Why would he have gone through so much trouble to find a home for Brandon, but ignore Greg?  It made no sense.

[Wendy]

Eh, Greg was a drip. Even "The Capwell Zone" episode with Aliens Mason and Julia (brilliantly written by Patrick Mulcahey!) couldn't make him interesting. He was such a non-entity, maybe CC forgot him.

Please register in order to view this content

 

[j swift]

Totally agreed, but it's Greg and Cassie erasure for me, at least kill 'em off

[Marissa Gallant]

Supposedly, he didn't even remember Megan. So, he wasn't ignoring Greg, he didn't know about him. 

I'm having a difficult time remembering this is even the same show. 

[j swift]

I apologize if I was unclear, I meant CC forgot about Greg after Greg left Santa Barbara

[Xanthe]

 If you had asked me to name characters on Santa Barbara, I would never have come up with Megan and Greg. But as soon as the discussion started here I could vividly picture Paul Johansson (whom I clearly remember as the least interesting character in Soapdish) and Meg Bennett.

[j swift]

I think Ted is the most underwritten of the Capwell kids.  We know Eden's motive is to be CC's favorite and how that causes problems in her romantic relationships.  We know Kelly is constantly treated like a princess who isn't considered as strong willed as Eden and the conflicts that ensue from that dynamic.  We know Mason is constantly angry about feeling neglected in favor of his father's second family.

But, Ted is just Ted.

Greg could have been an excellent foil for Ted.  A young man with more in common with CC and therefore able to establish closer bonds.  There are hints of that direction in the summer that Greg lived in the mansion.  But then Greg disappears and Ted is recast, but there's still so little to the characterization that he is just used as placeholder for stories that serve Warren and Sawyer.  And, most importantly, there's never any resolution with either CC or Sophia for whatever feelings he had about being the youngest kid to be abandoned by his mother.

For the record, Paul Johansonn demonstrated that he was capable of playing more complex characters on One Tree Hill, and I recall a completely unhinged podcast interview that he once gave where he attempted to charm the hosts by admitting to not wearing underwear.  So, there may have been potential that was not well served by the production.

Edited August 5, 2022 by j swift

[Marissa Gallant]

I agree. I like Paul Johansson. But Greg is a ppfffttt. He was trapped in a stupid storyline that is against the grain for CC. Therefore he had an unsurmountable obstacle from the get go. Megan was so obviously a way to keep CC and Sophia apart. The whole thing was not popular. 

Sometimes, I think the problem wasn't that the audience only cared about the Capwells. But that the writers didn't give us storylines to draw us into the other characters. Who were we supposed to root for? Angry and yelling ALL the time Scott? I don't think so. People liked the Capwells because they were the only ones with any depth. 

Megan and Greg as a new family and a love  interest for CC, conflict with Ted somehow, could have been fine. CC banging a 17 year old and forgetting about it- not fine. It's too out of character. 

[Marissa Gallant]

I'm just finished Mason and Julia's first wedding. Milk, butter, meat. Still cracks me up. On to their honeymoon. Can I just say that if my groom had shoved me out of a plane, I would have been single again! I love Mason so much, but my line in the sand is being shoved out of a perfectly good airplane!

[Beach Climber]

Lol I found that so random. Mason/Julia were not the type of couple I could ever picture skydiving and landing on a remote island for their honeymoon and they did it twice if I recall. Whatever adventures they ended up on were always more on the unplanned or unwilling side. 

[Forever8]

A few months ago, I ran across this segment on "Sexy Soap Stars" from Entertainment Tonight from 1991 that features Robin Mattson, Melody Thomas Scott, Katherine Kelly Lang, and Charlotte Ross.

 

 

[Marissa Gallant]

And Mason, I took lessons. Good for you, but the woman you just pushed did not. Anyway, I can see Mason taking a boat to someplace. Remember the AWESOME tent in the middle of nowhere with Mary? Talk about Glamping. With a capital G. But skydiving? No. That's Cruz and Eden. 

[Marissa Gallant]

So THAT Was the Capwell Zone. Huh. Bizarre

[Beach Climber]

I’ve heard people rave over that ep but it wasn’t my cup of tea. I didn’t get the whole thing with Mason and Julia as aliens and I never warmed up to Greg so seeing his reactions to the various Capwells was meh. I only enjoyed the actual scenes that they were actually observing because they were a slightly exaggerated version of each character. 

[Marissa Gallant]

I had to watch it twice to make sure I caught everything. I do get the dream Greg thinks of all the Santa Barbs as weird alien creatures because they are so different than he is. Loved the line: "Babies are born, adults are decided." Because that is SO true. We do get a choice in what we become.

Sad to see CC as an off screen Sophia is dying since we now know Judith outlives Jed. Sniff

Mason losing his whole everything to the bottle is a sad thought but within the realm of possibility. 

All of that said, it was a strange way to make fun of itself. Which the show does often. 

And I'm still not buying CC and Megan.