Late breaking news
Soap Opera Digest, 1984	Home   Cette page en Français

March 27
Production will begin on a new soap for NBC this summer tentatively titled Santa Barbara. The Dobsons (who wrote several Procter and Gamble soaps) will be creators, head writers and co-executive producers. The series will be shot in and around Santa Barbara (one of the richest areas of the country) and in Burbank. Hollywood personalities will weave in and out of the storyline. At the moment, the show is slated to be a one-hour series.

June 05
Santa Barbara, the new NBC soap set to premiere on Monday, July 30 at 3 p.m., will first debut as a one-hour prime-time special the night before the series airs. Casting for the 13 main characters is currently underway. The soap will consist of two large families, one wealthy, one poor and, in a first for a daytime drama, Santa Barbara has a Hispanic family in the main storyline as well.

July 31
Marcy Walker (Liza, All My Children) has chosen not to renew her contract and instead has signed on to NBC's new west coast soap, Santa Barbara. Marcy should be on All My Children through September, however. Others actors set to join the serial are Nicolas Coster (Anthony Makana, One Life to Live), Lloyd Bochner best know as Cecil Colby on Dynasty and Jane Elliot (ex-Carrie, Guiding Light and Tracy, General Hospital).

July
Walker : still the vixen - By Mary Alice Kellogg
After three years as the conniving Liza Colby on All My Children, Marcy Walker has joined Santa Barbara - playing a character who just might make Liza look like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. That character is Eden Capwell, a spirited university student who can't help but compare every man she meets with her wealthy charismatic daddy (Lloyd Bochner).
"The Santa Barbara producers," says Walker, "assured me that (Eden) would be 10 times more interesting than Liza." Now we'll see if they keep that promise.

August 14
Contrary to what was printed in our last issue, Jane Elliot (ex- Tracy, General Hospital, ex-Carrie, Guiding Light) has not signed with Santa Barbara. The role that was offered to Ms. Elliot - Augusta, wife of Lionel Lockridge, played by Nicolas Coster (ex- Anthony, One Life to Live) - has gone to actress Louise Sorel instead. Coster's character is the son of Minx Lockridge, played by Dame Judith Anderson. And Marcy Walker (ex-Liza, All My Children) will be portraying Eden Capwell on the new soap. The 20-year-old character is described as "a spirited, independent young woman who yearns for a lover as powerful and charismatic as her father, wealthy businessman C.C. Capwell" (portrayed by Lloyd Bochner). Also signed on the show as Eden's half-brother, Mason Capwell, is Lane Davies (ex-Woody, Days of Our Lives).

August 28
Jane Eliott, who was so popular as Tracy Quatermaine on General Hospital then Carrie Marler on Guiding Light, is back - this time on All My Children. Ms Elliot, who will portray Cynthia Prescott, Ross Chandler's ex-wife, makes her first appearance September 25th. The actress was also offered the role of Augusta Lockridge on Santa Barbara and sources tell us that Gloria Monty wanted her to return to the role of Tracy. Supposedly, one of the reasons Ms. Elliot chose All My Children was that she wanted to raise her baby in New York.

September 11
Due to illness, Lloyd Bochner has been replaced in the role of C.C. Capwell on Santa Barbara by Peter Mark Richman. Richman should be familiar to Dynasty viewers, since for the past few seasons, he's portrayed Blake's attorney, Andrew Laird. In addition, he starred in the NBC series Cain's Hundred, was a regular on Longstreet and also portrayed Chrissy's father on Three's Company. Although nothing is definite at this point, plans call for Bochner to rejoin the show as a new character as soon as he's able.

October 09
Santa Barbara's mysterious Dominic is not what appears to be. When Dominic's identity is revealed, daytime fans should recognize a familiar face from another West Coast soap.

November 06
Newcomers to Santa Barbara include Linda Gibboney as widow Gina LeMott, who gets involved with Mason, and Jonna Leigh Stack, who falls for Warren. Ms. Gibboney was previously seen as Sybil Thorne on All My Children and Jenny Deacon on Search For Tomorrow. Ms. Stack recently portrayed Julia Shearer (prior to Faith Ford) on Another World.

December 04
Shakeups at Santa Barbara include the departure of Dane Witherspoon (Joe) and Rosemary Forsyth (Dominic). They have been replaced by Mark Arnold (ex-Gavin, Edge of Night) and Judith McConnell, a veteran of many soaps. Also expected to leave shortly, if they haven't already, are Robert Alan Brown (John) and Ismael Carlo (Ruben).

December 18
Robin Mattson's (Delia, Ryan's Hope) contract is up this month and as we go to press, it is uncertain she'll re-sign with the show. Robin has made California her home for the past few years and is eager to return.