Let's start at the very beginning. My favorite show of all time, hands down, is Santa Barbara. If you like you can scroll past this lengthy discussion of it but I strongly encourage you to stick around. This was a soap opera that aired on NBC from 1984-1993. Its most famous alumnus is probably Robin Wright (Kelly Capwell Perkins Conrad, 1984-88) but it also was a starting point for Ally Walker (Andrea Bedford, 1988), Tea Leoni (Lisa DiNapoli--understudy while Tawny Kitaen was on her honeymoon with Whitesnake's David Coverdale {!}, 1989), Kevin Sorbo (Lars, 1986), Stacy (In The Company of Men) Edwards (Hayley, 1986-88--she beat out Julia Roberts for this part) and, believe it or not, Leonardo DiCaprio (young Mason in flashback, 1990 {pre-Growing Pains}). There were other actors and actresses who went on to primetime & films where you might recognise their faces but not their names, such as Jane Sibbett, Harley Jane Kozak, Kyle Secor, John O'Hurley, Julia Campbell (the prom queen bitch in Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion--she played someone NICE here!), etc. In addition, Dame Judith Anderson was on the show from 1984-87 as Minx Lockridge, Janis Paige played Minx from 1990-1993, and Stella Stevens appeared as Phylliss Blake.
It was definitely not your typical soap opera. It was deliberately funny, bitchy, referential, and often featured dark humour. At one time or another, viewers were treated to such things as a singing corpse, a sperm bank robbery, Gina giving the entire town salmonella with her "Mrs. Capwell's Chocolate Chip Cookies", a blackout that forced the aforementioned singing corpse to be moved from a home freezer to a spare cryogenics cylinder where the deceased's sister promptly hijacked it & hung it in her meat locker, a beloved character being killed when a giant neon "C" fell on her, Cruz & Eden filling in for Kris Kringle and flying in his sleigh to deliver toys to all the children on Christmas Eve when Kris took ill, Gina, the scheming bitch of the show, going on Wheel of Fortune and winning when the bonus round phrase was "BLACKMAIL" (meanwhile her husband Keith was terrorizing Vanna White), Mason going to heaven only to discover that it was actually a broadcasting network called "GBC: Let's All Be There!" where God was the programming director, people were "cancelled" when their "approval ratings" on earth got too low, and Joan Crawford was the receptionist, and Augusta serving up her daughter Laken's pet homing pigeon to the family as hors d'oeuvres (the boyfriend who gave it to her was from a rival family.)
Yet, the show also did serious moments well. The actual dialogue writing was consistently top-notch, and most of the characters were intelligent, literate, and spoke in words of three syllables or more. Most of the women characters were strong and independent with distinct personalities as opposed to the weepy, clingy women who are lost without a man so common to most other soaps. Rather than the nauseating flat-out repetition of information found on most other soaps, each time something was repeated we gained new insight into character's feelings and actions. "Insightful" would also be a good word to describe the soap as a whole, as through the complex characters we were able to gain insights not just into their nature but into basic human nature as well. It was also hopeful, frequently pondering the existence of the afterlife and offering the comforting reassurance that our loved ones were indeed there watching over us. You could literally die laughing at one scene and well up with tears at the very next. I think a key to understanding the nature of this show is that one of the most important central relationships was not a romantic one but that of CC and Mason, a father and son who shared such a complex love/hate relationship that try as they might, and they did, they were simply destined never to get along.
Constant changing in the producers & writers in an effort to boost ratings (it won the Daytime Emmy for Best Show three years in a row but was never a ratings success) led to an inevitable loss of focus, decline in quality, and the inevitable cancellation. I have a feeling it may have been ahead of its time, as the success of Seinfeld, The Simpsons, and South Park shows that people are now open to sarcastic, referential shows that don't take themselves or anything else seriously. It was also probably promoted incorrectly, as the promotion for the most part stayed within the soap opera community while the people who would have probably really gotten into it were not typical soap watchers. In any event, now it's gone and all I have left are 3/4 of the episodes on tape in a huge bookcase in my bedroom.
My favorite character was Nancy Lee Grahn's Julia. She was an intelligent, outspoken, cynical, strong, independent woman lawyer who was a good friend to all but had utterly hopeless luck in the romance department. Yet she never lost her biting sense of humour. (TED: Oh, come on Julia--haven't you ever been in love? JULIA: Yes. I've also had scarlet fever and the measles. Ask me which one I liked best.) In many ways, she reminded me a lot of a female version of me. Another favorite was Robin Mattson's Gina, who could be outrageously bitchy, scheming, and evil one moment ("Don't worry. I only blackmail people who can afford it--I know what I'm doing!")and then vulnerable the next. Only Gina would blackmail an ex-husband into marriage by holding a videotape that would clear his daughter of a murder charge over his head and then be genuinely puzzled and hurt that he and his family didn't want to spend time with her. Other favorites included Harley Jane Kozak's Mary, Lane Davies' Mason, Louise Sorel's Augusta, Nicolas Coster's Lionel, Jed Allan's CC, Judith McConnell's Sophia, Robin Wright's Kelly, Justin Deas' Keith, and Marcy Walker's Eden.
If you'd like to know more about this unique show, and I strongly encourage you to, there's a great Santa Barbara website that offers lots of detailed information such as cast lists, synopses, pics, and episode guides. Give it a try! I'll leave you with a favorite exchange of mine:
COURTNEY: Mason, you look wonderful in your tux!
MASON: But not as lovely as you two ladies. What'd
you do, Madeleine...mug a chandelier on the way in?
Lionel and Augusta (Nicolas Coster & Louise Sorel)
Gina & Keith (Robin Mattson & Justin Deas)
Mason & Mary (Lane Davies & Harley Jane Kozak)
I also like soaps in general, although none inspire me with the same loyalty as Santa Barbara. (I swear I will talk about other kinds of shows so don't bail on me yet!!!) I basically switch which soaps I watch according to how interesting they are at the time. Currently, for seriousness or camp value, I follow Guiding Light (I miss Annie but I especially miss Amanda {one of the greatest soap bitches of all time}!!! My favorite character, though, is Harley, because she also reminds me a lot of me.), Days of Our Lives (Eileen Davidson and her virtual clown car of wonderful characters are gone but that self-righteous Marlena's still there being holier than thou. Sigh. And why is everyone CONSTANTLY talking to themselves? Are we witnessing a monologue convention?), The Young & the Restless (I only watch the last half hour because let's face it--this show is so obnoxiously repetitious it's like a bad game of "telephone"), and The Bold & the Beautiful (See Ridge hop on the ever-revolving Brooke/Taylor merry-go-round YET AGAIN!!! He should be with Brooke, @#&* it!!! I also like Amber, Sally, & Macy a good deal. And El Nino has NOTHING on Stephanie Forrester when she's worked up a head of steam!) but at one time or another I have watched As The World Turns, General Hospital, Sunset Beach (Virginia's a laugh riot), Another World (like there's anyone left there anymore), One Life to Live (NOBODY HURTS TOMMY!!! NOBODY HURTS VIKI!!!), Generations, All My Children (LOVE Liza!!!) and Loving/The City ("The Loving Murders" was one of the best murder mysteries EVER, even including Santa Barbara), and know what's going on with all of them by reading the mags. I will now tell you where to go. Oops--for more soap info.
TV GUIDE's Soaps section is one of the best resources. It features a new soap star interview every Tuesday, a new "Ask The Experts" column every Wednesday, and the latest behind-the-scenes news every Friday, as well as info on soap-related chats and their transcripts. Definitely check it out!!!
Soap Opera Digest's site is also a pretty good place to go for late-breaking info before it even comes out in the magazine. There's also an interesting archive on what was going on 20 years ago both in general & on the soaps.
Delphi's Soap Opera Community has lots of message boards, chat rooms, and links for all the current soaps & is a good general starting place.
My favorite current show is South Park. Where else are you gonna find Sally Struthers on a spit and a 50-foot Barbra Streisand attemping to take over the world (only to be thwarted by the Cure's Robert Smith)? Mega-Streisand is probably my fave episode to date but I also love the Christmas, Halloween, and Thanksgiving shows as well as Wendy vs. Miss Ellen. There's not really much more that I can say on this show that hasn't already been said, and there are TONS of sites out there & I have not had a chance to look them all over ,so I'm going to start you out with the official Comedy Central South Park site. Another cool site is BlackBart's South Park Page.
I used to be a rabid Melrose Place fan but I admit I gave up around the beginning of the 1997-98 season. I mean, my fave characters, Sydney & Kimberley (Marcia Cross is BRILLIANT!!!) are dead, practically everyone else left or is leaving, Amanda's just not as interesting without Alison to battle, and the new characters just don't grab me (although I do like Kelly Rutherford, formerly of Generations, as Megan). Therefore, although I never could see myself doing this even as of last year, I've thrown in the towel and am not going to provide you with a site link as I just don't care anymore. Same goes for Beverly Hills, 90210, which I gave up on around 1996. And before you can ask, I like what I've seen of Party of Five but not enough to watch on a regular basis.
One show I would LOVE to give you a link for is the late great SQUARE PEGS but unfortunately it doesn't have a site. (JOEY HEATHERTON has a site, for Chrissakes, but not Square Pegs. What is this world coming to?!?) Originally running from 1982-83, it was very topical, very bitchy, had the early 80s high school stereotypes down TO A T, and best of all had no happy "Awwww" understanding endings--the geeks were still geeks and the popular people were still above them (LaDonna: GIRL, we're only doing this for Mr. Doberman. After this is over, we're gonna start looking at you funny again!!!). In some ways, even though it was deliberately over the top, this is precisely what made it, in my opinion, one of the more honest glimpses of high school on TV until My So-Called Life came along. (Liked it but not enough to discuss.) It's also probably the one and only time you'll ever find Sarah Jessica Parker, Jami Gertz, and Tracy Nelson in the same project together. If you ever notice it listed in reruns, definitely check it out! It also had GREAT then-current new wave background music such as Berlin, Billy Idol, the Flirts, and of course, the Waitresses, who sang the theme song (One two three...Square pegs, square pegs, square, square...PEGS!)
Some of my other favorite shows of all time include The Simpsons (fave episode--Blanche starring in "Oh Streetcar!"), All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Brady Bunch (talk about CAMP!!!--but I must admit I'm somewhat burnt out on it), and I Love Lucy, but not enough to really go into here and you can easily look up their sites on your browser anyway.
Well, there you have it--my views on TV. I realise
this turned into a novel so thanx for sticking
around! Feel free to e-mail me with
your thoughts, comments, & questions. And like I
said, look more into Santa
Barbara!
© 1998 laken44@yahoo.com
Get your own Free Home
Page
