mark.waltz
Considered the wittiest soap opera ever written, "Santa Barbara" was a combination of "The Thin Man" novels combined with a ton of the nighttime soap "Dynasty" thrown in. Even elements of "Capitol", an underrated soap on CBS at the same time, are obvious with its family feud set-up and the pairing of star-crossed lovers who couldn't get together, and when they did, their uniting was only meant to be brief. As well-written as "Santa Barbara" was (and exceptionally well acted), it lacked in a sold direction, often starting story lines then dropping them. In watching re-runs of this show, it is a show that had so much promise, made decisions both good and bad, yet created enough of a fan-following to bring it to cult status, winning several Emmys for Best Soap on the way and creating a super-couple in the beautiful Marcy Walker and the sexy A. Martinez.They didn't start off as the show's romantic leads. That was Robin Wright, the original Kelly Capwell, and Dane Witherspoon, the original Joe Perkins. Fickle writers saw the writing on the wall, and after re-casting Joe with "Edge of Night" veteran Mark Arnold, simply decided to kill him off! But "Santa Barbara" was daring, and had plots involving homosexuality, transvestism, male gigolos (serving female clients) and molestation. They also had the ultimate family feud, much like "Dallas", "Dynasty" and even "Capitol". The wealthy Capwells and Lockridges weren't out to kill each other like other wealthy rivals, simply just out-do each other in business. The first few years of the show gave a witty romantic storyline to the middle-aged Lionel and Augusta Lockridge (Nicolas Coaster and Louise Sorel) whose witty banter resembled William Powell and Myrna Loy's from the "Thin Man" series. Later on, Augusta's sister, Julia ("General Hospital's" Nancy Grahn) took over that part with her pairing with Lane Davies' Mason Capwell, the blacksheep of the family who was desperate to achieve his father's approval. Obviously, powerful C.C. Capwell (played the longest by the handsome Jed Allan) preferred his daughters, spoiling Eden and Kelly while chastising Mason (the son from his first marriage) and pretty much ignoring his youngest, Ted. The presence of Dame Judith Anderson on the show at the beginning created tons of publicity, but other than a few moments where Minx Lockridge revealed her secrets, she had little to do. However, when she was on, as she did in her film career as a supporting actor, she stole every scene she was in, even shooting C.C. in the butt with an old rifle filled with buckshot. This was obviously a salute to the film "Laura" in which Dame Judith was a major cast member. When Minx was re-cast later on when the Lockridges returned to the front burner for a short time, another familiar face from the movies and stage took over the part. Janis Paige brought new elements to Minx that explored her theatricality as well. While Dame Judith was known for her dramatic performances on stage, the much younger Paige was remembered for musicals, having gotten her start in musical films at Warner Brothers while Anderson was there as well, playing dramatic parts. Sadly, the fantastic Louise Sorel was never utilized as much as she should have been, but "Santa Barbara's" loss was "Days of Our Lives" gain. The comedy of words between Lionel and Augusta and Mason and Julia was combined with farce with the pairing of Justin Deas (D.A. Keith Simmons) and Robin Mattson (one of C.C. Capwell's ex-wives, Gina DeMott) who were allowed to cut up between their dramatic doings. "Santa Barbara" was probably the first soap to have some focus on a Hispanic family, the Andrades, but other than recurring appearances by matriarch Rosa and her daughter, the long-suffering Santana, they too were never utilized to their full advantage. Cruz Castillo's family also were seen on and off, but never made it past mid-burner, and that was only briefly.Still over the years, there were phenomenal performances by veterans of other soaps. Judith McConnell had been around for four soap appearances before joining as C.C.'s supposed late wife, Sophia, and "Capitol's" Marj Dusay was outstanding as C.C.'s first wife, Pamela. Sophia went from mystery lady to loving mother to used wealthy divorcée over her lengthy run on the show, but Pamela went from vengeful ex-wife to strong businesswoman to sudden psycho in a very short period of time. After divorcing Augusta, Lionel briefly found happiness with Caroline Wilson ("Guiding Light's" Lenore Karsdorf), while Mason found a brief angel in his life with former nun Mary Duvall ("Texas"/"GL" vet Harley Kozak). Late in the run, "SB" got two other "GL" stars, Kim Zimmer and Kristen Terseau, but by this time, the show was on its way down since both Marcy Walker and A. Martinez had departed the show. Recasts of Kelly were frequent, and the show ended its run with "Y&R" star Eileen Davidson playing that part.I think it will be the writing for which this soap will be remembered, classy and fun, with the casting exceptional. The show still lives on in re-runs somewhere, and fan fiction abound has kept the serial alive. I would like to think that C.C. and Sophia are completely happy now, that Kelly has found a new man in her life, Cruz and Eden have somehow reunited when she got her memory back, Lionel and Gina had an amicable divorce when both Augusta and Keith came back, and that a sane Pamela has made peace with her past and returned to town so she can be a loving grandmother to Mason's children.
DepartmentStoreLover
I have good memories of this daytime serial, which debuted in Australia in 1987, when I was in high school. Even though the later years of the show were unwatchable, when the head writers in the early years were Bridget and Jerome Dobson, it was simply magical. I remember well the beautiful romances of Kelly and Joe (Robin Wright and Dane Witherspoon), the high-camp aristocratic antics of Augusta and Lionel (Louise Sorel and Nicolas Coster) and, and best of all, the heavenly romance between ex-nun Mary and the hard-bitten, cynical Mason (Harley Kozak and Lane Davies). This storyline in particular was brilliantly acted, movingly written, and thoroughly touching. Mason's transformation into a more sympathetic character through his love affair with Mary was wonderfully handled.It is a shame that the programme is no longer on the air, but if it had firmer handling, it may have caught on and built a substantial audience. All it needed was more story consistency, and some more appealing love stories to hook the audience. SANTA BARBARA's penchant for the quick fix, and inability to give its actors stable storylines may have contributed to its undoing. Anyway, I hope that the show one day either turns up again on TV, if not in its full run, but even in 'best of' shows. I rate it as one of the best shows on TV, then, now, and everafter.
Gary M. James
If it wasn't for a chance meeting with a college roommate and his family on a Thanksgiving weekend in 1987, I probably wouldn't have paid too much attention to "Santa Barbara". I usually would've stayed with "General Hospital" or "Guiding Light" which was in the same time slot as SB.What made SB slightly better than other daytime (and some nighttime) shows was that the show was able to balance between comedy and drama effortlessly. When it was funny, the dialog was biting and when it was dramatic, it was heartbreaking. It kept me interested in what was going to happen to these characters. I was also impressed with the actors on the show. I started watching the show about 1987 after a number of cast members, including Robin Wright, left the show. As Cruz Castillo and Eden Capwell, the chemistry between A Martinez and Marcy Walker steamed up the TV screen. Prior to SB, Martinez seemed to always play the stereotypical Hispanic villain in many 1970s TV crime dramas. It was very nice to see Martinez playing a romantic lead. Eden and Cruz were not the only one that had great chemistry. There was Mason Capwell & Julia Wainwright (Lane Davies and Nancy Lee Grahn. Arguably, I thought Gordon Thompson did a good job playing as Mason as well.) also CC Capwell and Sophia Wayne (Jed Allen and Judith McConnell). There were characters on the show that were way over-the-top like Gina Blake (Robin Mattson) and Augusta Lockridge (Louise Sorel). But it didn't matter that they were over-the-top. They were lively, unpredictable and interesting people.With the number of daytime viewers dropping and fewer dramas in production right now, I don't know if there will ever be a more entertaining daytime drama like "Santa Barbara". As another user mentioned before, it certainly was ahead of it's time.
