Santa Barbara dumped !
TV Week, 1992	Home   Cette page en Français

Shockwaves are still being felt throughout the world following the news that the 23-time Emmy-award winning soap, Santa Barbara, has been cancelled Stateside.

The show which premiered on NBC in July, 1984, is currently seen in 48 countries - including Italy, Spain, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, Finland, Taiwan, China and Japan - making it the world's most widely-watched soap, according to the soap's producers, New World Entertainment. The Daytime drama will air for the last time in January next year and has been given just six weeks to find a backer from another network before the sets are torn down.

Rumours are running rife about the shows replacement, and as the network struggles to win ratings, industry insiders are also predicting that Days Of Our Lives (NBC 's highest rating soap) could be the next soap on the chopping block. Already it seems likely that the Days
spin-off, Manhattan Days which was to star Deidre Hall, will not go ahead.

The cast and crew of Santa Barbara had been worrying about the show's demise for months. Things came to a head, however, the weekend before the official announcement. "We got the word Friday night from the executive producer (Paul Rauch)," says Jed Allan, who has played Santa Barbara patriarch C.C. Capwell for the past seven years. Allan describes his reaction to the show's cancellation simply by saying, "Hey, you go onward and upward. Some people may change their lifestyles a little bit, some won't. Since I myself am an oil magnate, it doesn't matter to me," he jokes. "I will probably continue to spend the way I spend. Nothing's going to change. I'll continue to live my life the way I've been living it. I'm going to miss (the role) if, in fact, something doesn't come across," adds Allan, referring to rumours that the show may be picked up. "I'll go onto something else. There are not a whole lot of guys in my age bracket who are as familiar with this business as I am. I've been in this business for 35 years. I'd also like to produce one of these things. I'd enjoy that. That's where the control lies."

Long-time cast-member Nancy Grahn (Julia Wainwright), who's been with the show for seven-and-a-half years, and recently signed a brand new two-year pact with the show, found out that Santa Barbara was cancelled while she was on vacation. Grahn appears to be taking the news in stride. "I know that it's sad when people lose their jobs, no matter who they are, no matter what they are, no matter where they are, especially today. But I also know that all good things end. There are endings, and there are beginnings. That's what life is all about."

But what went wrong with the show ? Grahn cites two things : "Timing and changes. I think the show was really cursed with things happening at the wrong time. Whenever there was a problem or something wasn't working, there would be a change at the network or company. Then there were legal problems," she says, referring to the long-running dispute over creative control of the show between Santa Barbara creators, Bridget and Jerome Dobson, and New World Television. "There was always this feeling of the carpet being pulled out from under you. It was rough dealing with that. Whenever things started to come together and everyone was dancing to the same music, the carpet would be pulled out again and everyone would go, "What's going on ?" There were always new writers, new actors, lots of changes... That was the pattern. A lot of times that was because the ratings were never high, and there was always this attempt to try and get them higher, which is understandable. But in an attempt to do that, very often they would fix what wasn't broken and break what didn't need to be fixed."

Jed Allan believes that nothing went wrong with the content of Santa Barbara. "Absolutely nothing went wrong with the show," he says adamantly. "It's a superb show... superb ! New World was very fair to us," Allan maintains. "Even the vice-president of NBC Daytime admits we have a great show and has been fighting like crazy to keep it on the air. I have no qualms with either of them. I've had a good run... a great run. I've been very happy here. C.C. Capwell was a great part, maybe one of the best around," says Allan, noting that, ironically, his pact with the show would have been up when Santa Barbara closes productions the end of the year.