Santa Barbara

[Dr Neil Curtis]

I just looked at the final scene on youtube, most of those people I didnt even know. who did Thaao Penglis and Charles Grant play on there? I remember Kim Zimmer joining the cast and i read that Stephen Nicholas was a part of it as well, but who did he play. I heard Charles Grant call Eileen Davidson, "Kelly" just by looking I don't see her as Kelly. I have tape of a 1992 episode of Santa Barbara, I haven't watch it yet, but would Eileen Davidson be playing Kelly during that time? Where was Eden and Augusta during the finale?

[dm.]

Yes, Eileen Davidson played Kelly from 1991 to 1993.

Stephen Nichols played Dr. Skyler Gates in 1992. He was the doctor that helped B.J. try to remember what happened on the night her abuser Frank Goodman was killed.

Charles Grant played Connor McCabe, the investigator that came on during Cruz's final weeks and then took over as the main investigator. He was also investigating the Goodman case and was later involved with Kelly.

Thaao Penghlis played Micah DeAngelis, another doctor that was first heard of during the Ballymoor mansion storyline. Julia and Mason bought a haunted mansion .... then a lot of mystery things happened .... it all led to Samantha getting sick and Micah was the only one that had the cure for her. He was also the father of Aurora DeAngelis, a part of the teen scene at the time.

Kim Zimmer was Jodie DeWitt, Cruz's ex-love, B.J.'s mother. Her marriage to Reese Walker fell apart when he found out that B.J. was actually Cruz's child.

Augusta was written out during 1992. She was an alcohol addict and she had just revealed to Warren that Lionel wasn't his father, but the storyline was never finished because they wrote her out of the show.

Eden left in 1991. She fell off the pier and came back as Suzanne Collier after having that personality disorder. She later left and sent divorce papers to Cruz.

[Dr Neil Curtis]

OMG, I didnt watch those final 3 years, I never knew Augusta was written out. I mean I knew Louise Sorel had join Days, but I thought maybe Augusta was recasted or something. I just cant see Eileen as Kelly, but maybe she was good. who was that woman that Connor stop from shooting in the scene? The writing seem to have gotten horrible by then. Look to me they got alot of big names to save the show near the end: Thaao Penglis, Jack Wagner, Kim Zimmer, Stephen Nicholas, etc.

[dm.]

I wouldn't say it was so bad, the stories were okay---but they mostly revolved around all new characters and that was just bad.

Connor stopped Andie Klein. Andie joined the show in 1992 as Ken Mathis' lover. Ken Mathis also joined in 1992 as a man who married Sophia Capwell. Sophia had no idea he was a con man. Andie set her sights on Reese Walker.

[juniorz1]

Eileen was TERRIBLE as Kelly. She was completely miscast and IMO, was the worst soap recast of all time. Louise didn't join DAYS until after SB was cancelled. Augusta ended up institutionalized and while in there, she told Warren that Lionel was not his biological father......offscreen. That was one loose end that was never tied up.

The problem with all the big names they hired is that all of their characters sucked ass. Micah, Jodie, Reese, Skyler- they just weren't tried & true SB characters. It was like watching a completely different show- none of the characters were well-developed, let alone interesting. Pam Long had a hard on for her own creations, but didn't have the first clue about writing SB true to its identity. Therefore, the last year of SB was practically unrecognizable. The only semi-interesting storyline on the show was Ted Capwell's affair with Angela Cassidy- because both characters were entertaining and were played by talented, appropriately cast actors Michael Brainard & Nina Arveson. I swear Arveson was a revelation as Angela for the last two years of the show. Now THAT was a character that fit on the SB canvas.

The stories were awful and the characters were worse. I never gave two shits about BJ Walker, her molestation, her relationship with Warren, etc.... It was all garbage. Santana's affair with CC was convuluted and so out of character. Plus the recast Santana was played by the God-awful Wanda DeJesus. Horrible.

The new characters wouldn't have been so bad if they made sense in the framework of SB. But they didn't. So they tanked and Pam Long's awful storylines tanked.

And Paul Rauch can just kiss my arse- by far the WORST executive producer in SB history, closely followed by John Conboy. Those two guys back-to-back destroyed 6 years of fabulous characters and storylines, waved their magic wands around, and decimated everything that made Santa Barbara what it was. They completely took away SB's identity, much in the same way Lynn Latham took away Y&R's for her tenure. It saddens me that those two execs continued to be employed over the years after completely ruining the greatest soap opera of all-time. Pathetic.

[dm.]

I didn't mean for SB. It would have been okay for other soaps. But I must agree it was nothing like SB.

Santana and CC had nothing to do with Pam Long, it was either the Dobsons or Maralyn Thoma. Wanda DeJesus left before Long took over, I believe.

Conboy and Rauch definitely buried the show.

What person of a sound mind would think that introducing a dozen new characters would help an ailing show? Geez. But up to that point, SB was great.

[juniorz1]

Thanks for clarifying. You're right about DeJesus- Santana left shortly after Long's arrival. I enjoyed parts of the Dobsons' much maligned second tenure. They were certainly far and away better than Long. I really think if they had continued to work at it, the Dobsons would have restored SB to its former glory. Their problem was having weak EPs during their return (first Conboy, then Rauch).

[bellcurve]

I'll never forget reading Mulcahey's SoapTownUSA interview, where he blasted John Conboy and said that Conboy wanted to make Cruz a polo player.

Like WTF?! Really? Even I, having rarely watched SB(aside from vivid childhood memories and tape traders) know that that wouldn't fit his character. At all.

Not to mention the boring Walker clan. They were SO un-SB, so unglamorous, and so uninteresting.

[Mark]

I never watched this....But if some channel started airing it from the beginning in reruns, I would definitely start watching it. I remember the previews and it looked like a GREAT show.