Santa Barbara Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

Bad acting from Greg - he reminds me of John Davidson.

This stuff with Greg and Meg is all just sort of overly histrionic and absurd. Meg Bennett doesn't seem entirely right for the role.

Who were those people at the pool party? That woman's couch cover overalls are hideous.

[Wendy]

Actually it's Greg and Megan. (But, yeah, close, right? Maybe you are confused because Meg Bennett, a.k.a. Mrs. Bob Guza, played her?) Don't really blame you, though, since the characters were just that forgettable.

Once Greg left town, the entire family - and audience - forgot he existed, too.

Edited May 8, 2013 by Wendy

[robbwolff]

Not sure who the surfer dude is, but the two women are Emily and Lisa DiNapoli. Emily was played by Julia Condra and she married the equally bland Greg Hughes. Lisa was played by Tawny Kitaen in this scene. I think Tea Leoni also played the role for a bit. They had another sister, Celeste, played by Signy Coleman. And, yes, Greg was horrible. It was around this time that I tuned out of SB. Paul Johannson, who played Greg, later appeared on One Tree Hill for many seasons.

[Sapounopera]

What a horrible time for SB.

[juniorz1]

Tea Leoni only briefly subbed for Tawny Kitaen while she was sick. I actually was and am pleasantly surprised at how good Tawny was. Lisa was always my favorite DiNapoli sister (Both Celeste and Emily were SNOOZE-VILLE) but Tawny really brought some energy to that part. Kind of funny that she out-acts Signy Coleman, who I despised on SB but fell in love with on Y&R.

Also, that's Meg Bennett who plays Megan Richardson. She later wrote for SB, SUN, and GH.

[DRW50]

I asked this at TWOP but don't know if anyone there saw it. Why was Lisa betraying Mason?

Robert seems like a real sleaze.

It's kind of sad seeing Mason at a relatively happy place in his life, as you know it's just there to be torn down. He really was trying here.

[juniorz1]

I'm pretty sure she was spying for Robert from the beginning. But after getting to know both Mason & Julia, she started feeling guilty and had second thoughts, as you can see from the clip. I can't remember exactly how far she went with it, if she ended up admitting what she did, or Mason found out secondhand. I know it came out but the details are foggy for me. LOVED this storyline though. Roscoe Born brought a different kind of energy to SB, a sophistication. For him to be a real threat to Eden & Cruz's marriage, he would have to be and pulled it off marvelously. I've read and heard A Martinez praise Roscoe Born often- he even expressed his disappointment on Regis & Kathy Lee (or Vicki or Joan Rivers- can't remember which) that Roscoe wasn't nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 1990. Everything I've read says that A, Marcy, Roscoe, and Carrington had a symbiotic working relationship, In fact, Carrington Garland says that when Roscoe came on and they started working together, he'd work with her between takes to help her with the material. She credits him for making her a stronger actress and elevating her performances. You really can see the difference in her work after he joined the show. It's probably what led to her becoming the most featured SB performer in 1990- she was on more than Marcy & A even.

[sungrey]

I LOVED the Robert/Quinn story. I was disappointed they shipped Roscoe off so quickly in the fall of 1991 after a couple years. Roscoe worked so well with A, Marcy and Carrington, you're right.

The DiNapolis, Greg and Megan were symbolic of something I mentioned on this board before about SB's tendency to switch out supporting characters at a dizzying pace. They were all introduced in the late spring of 1989, I believe, and weren't they all gone by the start of 1990?

[juniorz1]

Greg and Megan were, yes. Actually, Emily stayed on longer than the rest of the DiNapolis- but she left with Greg I think.

Celeste, however, was introduced before the others- I believe she came on in 1988 and started out as "Crystal," a hooker. She was later revealed to be Scott Clark's high school sweetheart and they got together. It was too bad because I preferred Scott with Heather and I actually think Scott & Heather could have remained on longer as supporting players had they not paired him off with the impossibly boring Celeste.

Lisa was introduced next, in 1989, and then Emily was last.

I, too, was disappointed that they shipped Roscoe off in May 1991, though I thought it was a mistake to make him "Quinn" instead of Robert. I really liked Robert Barr and he could have been a viable character for years to come had he stayed. Not only that, but I seriously doubt the Dobsons would have fired Carrington Garland had Roscoe Born still been around. It's too bad because they could have taken over as the leads of the show after Marcy left and it would have been interesting to see how Robert would have handled Eden's death. John Conboy was clearly grooming them to take over in 1990, when Marcy almost left for the first pilot she got, "Bar Girls" on NBC. Again, though I wouldn't have wanted her to leave, I wish it had been for "Bar Girls" instead of "Palace Guard" because I liked that show far better and think it could have done well.

[sungrey]

I thought the twist of Robert getting killed instead of Quinn was great because it reminded me of something Edge might have done... but as long-term story potential it stunk. Robert could have been a fearsome business villain of CC's for years and a constant thorn in Cruz and Eden's side... the Quinn character wasn't as interesting as Robert for the long run.

[juniorz1]

Right, that was exactly my problem with it- I wish they thought that Robert had been killed and Robert was the one impersonating Quinn instead. It would have been a far more interesting angle. Plus, when you re-watch the sequence of him getting killed, Robert was in prison clothing and Quinn was in dress clothes. Were we to believe that Quinn talked Robert into switching clothes before he was murdered?

Again, you're right- Robert was a FAR more interesting character than Quinn. I could have watched Roscoe play him for years to come. Yeah, it was an interesting twist and all but story-wise, I fail to see what long-term purpose it served to do it.

[sungrey]

Speaking of favorite SB actresses... Stacy Edwards on Castle Monday night playing an attorney. I think that's three times now she's played one. (Not that I'm counting... lol) I wish some show would take a chance on her as a regular.

Kyle Secor (Brian) was also in the same show. Mini-soap reunion!!

[Paul Raven]

[DRW50]

You have to laugh at promos where all the actors are recast less than a year later.

I never knew Amy and Brick had their own promo.

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnGY2OC319c