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This is taken from DaytimeTV's "Final Tribute to SB", here is the years of 1988-93:
Under the direction of producer Jill Farren Phelps, SB embarked on its most controversial storylines: the rape of Eden Capwell Castillo. Unlike other daytime shows, SB graphically portrayed the rape as the violent crime it is, and was very informative in dealing with its aftermath. However, the unveiling of Zack Kelton (Leigh McCloskey), Eden's gynocologist, as the rapist proved to be a bit too shocking. Fans were outraged! To further complicate Cruz and Eden's relationship, Zack kidnapped their newborn daughter, Adrianna and shortly before dying, told Cruz the baby was dead. Eden temporarly left town to morn her loss, which enabled Marcy Walker to take maternity leave and give birth to her real life child. SB continued with its tounge-in-cheek comedy effords, as Mason developed am alter-ego, Sonny Sprocket, and took a trip to heaven which was run by Joan Crawford (cross dresser Bunny Tagliatti, played by Joe Marinelli) and then-president of NBC daytime Brian Frons, who played the Almighty! Long-time fans were also treated to the brief return of Harley Kozak as Mason's guardian angel, before he returned to earth and ventured into holy matrimony with attorney, Julia. Marcy Walker won the Emmy for "Outstanding Lead Actress", Nancy Grahn won the Emmy for "Supporting Actress" and SB won its second Emmy for "Outstanding Daytime Drama".
The show continued to acquire big-name talent who previously make marks on other daytime and nighttime series. Lane Davies left the show, and was replaced by former Y&R star Terry Lester. Gina's TV family extended when movie actress Stella Stevens and former GH star Steve Bond joined as Gina's brother and sister. Roscoe Born joined SB as twins Robert/Quinn. Both brothers were involved in romances with Kelly, Eden, and Flame. When Marcy Walker returned from maternity leave, the show traveled to Paris for some on-location shooting to heighten the mystery of baby Adrianna, who later turned up alive and illegaly adopted by Cruz's sister-in-law. In a daring move, Leigh McCloskey was brought back to the show as district attorney Ethan Asher, along with nighttime star Christopher Norris (Trapper John) who played his wife Laura, She later tried to kill her husband but accidently killed Sasha Schmidt, whose body was temporarly hidden in Mason and Julia's freezer. A Martinez won Emmy for Outstaning Actor, and SB for the third year in a row won the Emmy for "Outstanding Daytime Drama"
As the show's ratings began to fall, John Conboy, who had worked wonders on Capitol, was named Senior Executive Producer, JFP worked under him as EP. His first order of business was to re-establish the Lockridge family by rehiring Nicolas Coster as Lionel and recasting the roles of Laken and Minx. The long-pending lawsuit between the Dobson's and New World Productions finally reached a settlement, and the Dobson's were reinstated as the show's headwriters. During a contract dispute Terry Lester quit, and was replaced by Gordon Thomson, who was on Dynasty for six years took over the role of Mason. The show tackled the issue of date-rape when Julia accused Dash Nichols of raping her. The alleged rape took place off-screen and dispite Julia's gut-wrenching testimony Dash was acquited of the crime. As a result of viewer backlash as this turn of events, the storyline took a surprising turn when Julia kidnapped Dash and has him admit his guilt. Producer Jill Farren Phelps was fired, but immediatly resurfaced to work her magic on GL.
With John Conboy as sole producer, the Dobson's assumed the duties of head writers in accordance with a settlement with NBC and New World. Upon their arrival, the Dobson's brought back the character of Pamela Capwell as the catalyst to resurrect the volitile relationship between C.C. and Mason. However they has no choice to continue the ill-fated storyline began by the previous writing team regarding Eden's mulitiple personalities. Marcy Walker then announced her departure from SB. Warren Lockridge returned to town in the guise of Jack Wagner, just as Louise Sorel's contract was not renewed. During the failed coup attempt in Russia, the show traveled there, where Warren interviewed real citizens. In an effort to boost ratings, John Conboy was replaced by OLTL producer Paul Rauch. The romance between Cruz and Suzanne could not replace the affection viewers had for supercouple Cruz and Eden, and slowly the ratings began to decline even further.
The Dobson's were ousted once again, as many NBC affiliates began dropping the low-rated, yet high quality, drama in favor of local programing. Rumors ran rampant that the show would be canceled in July, but at the last minute was given a six-month stay of execution. Former GL writer Pam Long assumed the role of head writer. Instead of focusing on the already established characters, a handful of new characters joined SB, including GL star Kim Zimmer. Cruz began on a controversial relationship with his sister-in-law. The relationship ended when A Martinez left the show. Shortly after NBC made it offical that SB is canceled. In an attempt to boost ratings several top stars joined the show, Thaao Penghlis (Tony DAYS), Charles Grant (Evan AW) and Stephen Nicols (Patch DAYS) but none could fill the void by A Martinez or save the show from cancelation. The most appealing storyline from Pam Long was the child molestation of B.J. Although January 15, 1993 was the date slated for SB's last original episode on NBC, there is some discussions that one major network and several cable stations are interested in picking up the series. DaytimeTV wishes all who were affilaited with Santa Barbara the best of luck in their future endeavors.
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