Santa Barbara Discussion Thread

[Soaplovers]

When during the shows run would everyone agree that Ceuz/Eden dominated the show?

 

Watching alot of the 1985 episodes...the show is working like a true ensemble with an equal focus on Lional/Augusta, Ted/Christy story, Mary/Mason, Amy/Brick, and Kelly/Nick/Dylan...and Sophia coming back from the dead...along with Santana/Gina....as well as Julia working as the crusading lawyer that tries to be Augusta's conscious.

[juniorz1]

 

1987 would be the most egregious year IMO- this was during the Elena storyline.  Eden's paralysis with Cain, they reunite, Eden in the wheelchair, Elena killed, Cruz arrested and tried for her murder, Cruz convicted, Cruz escapes, Cruz & Eden reunite to try to prove his innocence- even Pamela's return (during the trial) was overshadowed by Cruz & Eden.  Most all of the characters became a part of this storyline and little to none of them had much story of their own.  The only other major story that year with some traction was Julia/Mason/Tori.  Even Kelly's wedding to Jeffrey was all about Cruz & Eden.  They were and are my favorite couple ever but even I could see that they were dominating the show that year.  It didn't help that the Lockridges were phased out that year and the entire supporting cast, including Keith & Gina, were directly involved in this dominating story.

 

1988 was Eden's rape and while it was a major story I never felt like it ate the show.

 

1989 started with the whole Adriana kidnapping mess which did dominate the show but once Robert Barr was brought in, everything shifted gears.  Story was being written for Kelly and Mason & Julia as well as the DiNapoli sisters.  CC had another illegitimate son in Greg- so other things were happening and they didn't dominate.

 

1990 they were actually somewhat backburnered, with the return of the Lockridges and the Flame/Quinn/Kelly/Robert storyline.  Say what you will about John Conboy but I actually really enjoyed the stories being done at the time as well as the characters he chose to feature.  He brought back Nicolas Coster and Louise Sorel and featured them heavily, which also gave story to CC & Sophia.  He brought back the Keith Timmons character, even if they did have to miscast John Novak when they couldn't get Justin Deas back.  He saw the writing on the wall with Marcy (she filmed her first pilot in 1990, "Bar Girls" which didn't get picked up) and made the conscious decision to shift the focus back to Kelly, with Carrington Garland carrying much of the show.  Julia's rape by Dash wasn't the cleanest story but it was the first major storyline given to Nancy Lee Grahn that was solely ABOUT her.  Bringing back Minx was long overdue.  Cassandra Benedict was a character that worked played by the formidable Karen Moncrief.  Recasting Terry Lester's Mason with Gordon Thomson was brilliant and saved that character.  IMO, 1990 was the last REALLY GOOD year of Santa Barbara

[Sapounopera]

I will never forgive Conboy for messing with the Capwell set.

 

You are right about him though, there are a lot of things he did right during his time on SB. The show stopped being sad, violent and dark and he gave the canvas some much needed structure. I didn't care for the Cassandra actress, I thought she was not as interesting as her stories.

 

Julia's rape should never have happened. Let's not talk about Augusta's fantasies about her sister's rapist. 

 

The story with the boys thinking that they killed Cassie, Conboy did that years later on GL. He must have been a fan of the 1984 GL story. 

[GSGfan2017]

Um, will Santa Barbara ever be legitimately available for viewing via streaming?  Stuff said in this article doesn't sound particularly encouraging.

 

BTW, who was a particularly big fan of the Amanda Lockridge storyline?

Edited June 7, 2017 by GSGfan2017
Wanted to bring up Amanda Lockridge storyline

[GSGfan2017]

I think that Marcy also worked on Babies in 1990.  The TV movie certainly premiered in 1990.

[cassadine1991]

Was Eden's rape a part of the "Video Rapist" story?

[victoria foxton]

Yes Eden's rapist was Dr. Zach Kelton the Video Rapist. Zach raped and murdered Andrea Bedford.

[sungrey]

Haven't posted in a while but had to come out for this... lol

 

BIG mistake on so many levels. Not only was Stacy an excellent actress (and easy on the eyes in a girl-next-door kind of way... lol), Hayley had so many connections to the Capwells. As Bridget Dobson once put it, Hayley made Gina vulnerable. And Hayley's death all but ended Todd McKee's run on the show. He drifted along for another year but Ted never really had a good storyline after Hayley passed. I still remember January 11, 1988 vividly. I still get goose bumps with those scenes and they are so hard to watch. Thankfully, Stacy's gone on to have a pretty damn good career in TV and movies and also teaches acting.

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But that was part of SB's problem through its run. A lot of times five or six characters would be introduced, get storylines, fit into the show... and within six to nine months they would be gone. Another group would come in. Lather, rinse, repeat. There was no continuity outside of the Capwells.

 

Then the Capwells got back-burnered under Pam Long and, while SB was still a whole lot better than what's on daytime today, it wasn't the same.

 

Oh, and 1985 was a very good year for the show. The period of 1985-89 was really SB's heyday, I'd say.

Edited June 9, 2017 by sungrey
Adding more text

[NothinButAttitude]

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[GSGfan2017]

How have Eileen Davidson and Marcy Walker differed in terms of acting styles?

[Sapounopera]

Amy Perkins was so sweet and normal, why did they have to kill her too? Since SB never had an older go-to-character (the parents were as crazy as the kids) Brick and Amy should have stayed around as the normal middle class couple.

[NothinButAttitude]

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[GSGfan2017]

No offense, but why couldn't Cain have been killed by Dr. Zach Kelton at the same time that Dr. Zach raped and murdered Andrea?

[cassadine1991]

That actually happened? 

[NothinButAttitude]

 

I'm beginning to notice that this show didn't care for simple, normal characters. I think those type of characters were part of the canon of the show in the beginning, but when they saw that the perils of the Capwell clan was more endearing, they were expendable. Through watching these clips though, it would've been a nice contrast to see a stable, pillar couple on the show b/c not even Sophia and CC filled that role. 

 

 

But to be honest, Ted didn't really have any great stories to begin with. Outside of the Hayley arc, Christy was the character's other standout story. Thinking about it, all of Ted's best stories consisted of someone getting brutally raped. 

 

I've said this before in here, but it is so odd how Ted was the one Capwell that didn't get developed like Eden, Kelly, and Mason did. They just kind of threw him off to the side immediately and gave him scrap stories from the start. It didn't help either that all his counterparts were interchangeable since the start of the show. The Dobsons should've done better in keeping Laken, Danny, and Jade alongside Ted. He just seemed to flounder after they all left.