OK everyone, I thought that this week I would talk about a topic that I came up with all on my own - rather than talking about something that you guys suggested. But don't worry, I will probably get back to some of your suggestions next week.

So here we have the 2 Cummings girls; Sara and Meg. Let's start with Sara shall we? She's pretty, smart, spunky, and extremely insecure (we wonder why?) She used to work in Washington D.C. with politicians, had an illicit affair with a married congressman, worked with extremely influential and powerful people creating and shaping our country. Yet when it comes to her sister Meg, she feels like she is a complete nothing. Why is it that she thinks (and believes) that her boyfriend Casey and her sister are secretly in love with each other? Now let's face it, between Casey and Ben, I think that Casey is way more good looking, and ooh what a body on him. But how can Sara honestly think that after he makes love to her, tells her over and over again how much he loves her, that he is going to run off with her sister?

It is pretty ridiculous because Meg is completely and totally in love with Ben, she doesn't even notice when another man walks into the room. Meg only sees Casey as a true and honest friend who has helped her and supported her and even saved her life more than once. We have been given small little tidbits of what things were like for them growing up in Kansas, but the show needs to start delving into this story a little more. All families have sibling rivalry, and believe me, mine is no exception. But there had to have been something really big or traumatic to happen to Sara all those years ago to make her still have these severe bouts of jealousy.

Now onto Miss Meg. She has a great job (when she actually works), a great man (when he's not with his son), and a beautiful home - the only thing left for her to have is some peace and quiet in her life, and an uninterrupted wedding day! She has quite a few female friends in town, so why does she always run to Casey? Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that they can show a guy and a girl in a purely platonic relationship with no sexual strings attached.

But enough is enough already. It does seem kind of weird to have Meg always looking for Casey when she needs a shoulder to lean on. Why doesn't she go to Vanessa or Gabi, or even her own mother? Granted, Joan is her mom, and we all don't tell our mothers everything, but Joan has a very good way of giving advice without making one particular person involved feel like they are wrong or out of place. The one thing Sara is right about is that every time she and Casey are together, somehow Meg manages to mess up their plans (completely unintentionally). Meg needs to start confiding in Ben if she wants to share her feelings with a man, and also start talking with her girlfriends more, and let Casey and Sara be together.

As I said before, what happened between Sara and Meg while they were growing up in Kansas all those years ago, to make these 2 sisters be at each others throats? This should make for a very interesting summer if things keep going to the way they have been with these two people. Will Sara really flip out the next time Meg goes running to Casey for comfort? (which should be any day now) Will Meg finally realize that what she is doing is threatening her relationship with her sister? Will Casey find another damsel in distress to befriend? Will Ben stop using so much hair gel?

Let's keep watching and see if I am made to be a liar or the new Madame Moe!

I really haven't talked about these 4 little people yet, and I was asked to do so for this week's column. Basically what we have here are 2 guys and 2 girls, all in there early 20's - doing absolutely nothing! That's right, nothing. Sean and Emily don't even have a job, so God only knows how they are getting by. Sean refuses to accept this father's money, and he is supposed to be going to college. Emily hasn't worked a single day since she came to town last summer (and she is supposed to be a junior lifeguard) - so I really don't understand what is happening. Brad is a lifeguard, but why I don't know. Every time he has the chance to actually do some lifeguarding - he complains about this or that, and only cares about the "babes on the beach". Amy is now working as a waitress at The ShockWave and hates every minute of it. The only reason she is even there is being used to live in the apartment upstairs and Amy thought she would be closer to him by taking the job.

Unfortunately this storyline does absolutely nothing for me. Amy is a spoiled little brat, who is not even convincing enough to be a "female bitch" on the show. She is not in the same league as Annie or Virginia or Francesca. If the writers are trying to make put her characters through some hoops as a type of bitch in training, it is not working. She wants Sean all to herself and I really have to ask why? Sean cannot be anymore forthcoming with her when he tells her that he only wants Emily. But she keeps trying and trying and gets absolutely nowhere. Does she decide to give up and set her sights on other pastures? Nope. She continues to try and wriggle her way into Sean's life and she looks completely retarded doing so. Now she is living in Sean's house - because he feels bad for her. Her father died from the Rosario Jewels incident and left her completely penniless. These silly stunts that she is trying to pull off are only making her look sillier, because as we have seen, a grown woman (i.e., Annie) wouldn't do these types of tricks to get her man. It appears that she is still in "high-school" as a snobby cheerleader who is pissed off that the quarterback hasn't asked her out yet. If they really want Amy to advance to a grown-up type of role, then they need to start changing her trickery. Maybe they should have her hang out with Annie a little bit, and learn from the queen.

Sean and Emily also have no appeal to me. When Emily first came to town, she was a little closed-mouth about her life. Then we found out that Bette is her mother, and we had to watch them build their relationship back up. At the same time, she is making goo-goo eyes at Sean and he is loving it every step of the way. After the Rosario craziness, she becomes even clingier with Sean, wanting to know why his feelings have changed towards her and she keeps crying on her mothers' shoulder about him. Now we are awaiting this Extreme Sports competition that they are all supposed to be apart of. Let me tell you right now, I have a feeling that this too will not be that interesting. Even though the other shows have done it all before, why not get one of these young adults involved in either drugs, or alcohol, or something that reflects what a lot of kids today have to deal with. Sean would be the perfect candidate to tackle a drinking problem on the show. His mother is a recovering alcoholic so like they say ? the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Also add on the fact that he is on the outs with his father Gregory, it would make for some very interesting stuff to see what Sean would go through if he were to have a substance abuse problem, for both the Richards' family and for Emily and Bette.

Brad - what can I say about him other than he is just a big waste of space. There is no point to have him on the show at all; he doesn't contribute anything worth while. If this show is to jump in the ratings race, then we need to start to see some casting changes for the better. Brad annoys everyone around him - both young and old, so if someone can give me 5 good reasons for him to stay in the storyline - please let me here 'em.

I don't think that Sean and Emily are ready for the "love making" that they alluded to several months ago. It is clearly obvious that they are not ready, and also I don't think that their "love" is believable to the viewing audience yet. They haven't been together all that long and we haven't seen them be romantic in any way yet. If they really love each other as much as they say they do, why not show it once in a while on the show. This is where the younger crowd should take tips from Ben Evans (the king of romance). I was very glad to see Bette step up to the plate as a concerned mother when Emily told her of her intentions to sleep with Sean. That was not only the right thing to do but it sends another message that most people probably didn't catch. No matter what is happening between a child and a parent, they will ALWAYS be there to guide and support you, and give you advice (whether you wanted it or not).

So now that I have ragged all over these characters (It's been a while since I've done this - and boy it sure feels good!), I'm sure I will get quite a bit of feedback telling me that I was either a Hit or Miss. And that is totally cool by me, I want you guys to let me know who I'm doing!

Several months ago, I received a request to discuss the lack of Asian and African-American characters on the show. So, this one is for Chris (Brandon7o9) and thanks for the suggestion.

Now, when the show first started, we had a small, yet diverse cast of actors. Some were Caucasian, African-American and Asian-American. Since Rae Chang (Kelly Hu) left the show after only 6 months, there have been no other Asian actors on the beach and we need to ask why?

Now let me say that SB does have a diverse cast, but after Rae and Wei-Li left, they added Tyus Robinson and Virginia Harrison. OK, so 2 ethnic actors leave and they are replaced with 2 other ethnic actors. Great! Dominique Jennings was absolutely fabulous as the scheming, backstabbing Virginia. She was one of the "we love to hate" people on the show, and was also the only black vileness on daytime television. Well, she's gone now, and Dr. Tyus is only on the show once in a blue. So that only leaves Michael and Vanessa as the only two African-American actors. I think the show needs to add one or two more characters that are of different race or origin. We use to hear a lot about Vanessa's father, the famous journalist who is always globetrotting around the world looking for that next Pulitzer Prize story. Why not have him come to town for a nice visit (say 4 months or so?). Or maybe a few characters who are, shall we say "seedy", but in a not-so-obvious way. Like maybe the new next door neighbors to the Richards' could be a family by the name of Luciano (sorry about the stereotyping, but I wanted you to understand where I was going here). Call them whatever name you want, but very slowly have it come out that they are a very rich, but dirty family (i.e., organized crime). And for good measure, have Casey get mixed up in the "family business". Let's see his nice shinny suit of armor get a little tarnished for once.

But back to my original thought. All of the families on the show, except one (the Torres/Martinez clan), are Caucasian. It feels like sometimes Michael and Vanessa don't belong (in a way) because they do not have any family members in town. Bring back Vanessa's mother Lena for a little while and see how she's doing with her Martin's Syndrome. Was she only good to us when she looked like a really bad science experiment? Or how about introducing a younger brother or sister for Michael, or even a cousin ? somebody from his family. We know he is originally from South Central, LA, and at one point belonged to a gang, but since he resolved his feelings over accidentally killing Virginia's husband, Jackson, in a gang war - nothing has ever been said about his past. And speaking of the Torres/Martinez family, I'm glad to see that these characters are, for the most part, very well rounded in their lives. But more importantly, 3 of the 5 actors portraying these latin characters are really latin themselves. That is very rate in show business today, and we say Thank You to the producers for casting Hispanics as Hispanics characters.

Hey, here's an idea. Let's make the new neighbors who are a little "seedy" be an Asian-American family. Hire 2 or 3 actors of Asian heritage to portray them. I can picture their faces now (the actors) but unfortunately I do not remember their names. I think that would be a great idea and while I'm at it, have them buy out the new resort project from Gregory, Ben and AJ. With Gregory now being "presumed" dead, that could leave the Liberty Corporation a little unsteady, thereby making Ben and AJ sell off the project to re-coup some of their lost moneys. Once this new family has partial or complete ownership in the Resort, have it come out about their business practices and see where that takes things. Not bad, huh?

Hello ? Is Anybody at NBC Reading This?

I guess we will just have to wait and see what is going to happen with Michael and Vanessa, but I have a feeling it is not going to be as exciting or thrilling as it was last year with them unless they make a few cast additions.