Santa Barbara threatened of death !
By Joan Mac Trevor, Ciné Télé Revue, 1989	Home   Cette page en Français

"Millions of people are impassioned for Santa Barbara. For them, it is a formidable success, and nobody can convince them of the opposite", summarizes Bridget Dobson, the creator of the show, today isolated from the production. On the whole, Santa Barbara is indeed a success without precedent among the American daytime soaps. It is the one which knows, and the most, the greatest success out of the United States. It is the only one to have ever collected thirteen nominations at the Emmy awards this year. All that moreover, obviously, of its unconditional legions of fans, evoked by Bridget Dobson. However, honnesty obliges to inform of the threat which currently lays stress on Santa Barbara in the United States, where the last surveys are not excellent ! However, it is them which decide over there of the life or the death of a show...

"How to understand the American public ?", jokes the veteran of soap-operas, Jed Allan (C.C. Capwell in Santa Barbara). "It is simple. You already tasted beers from the United States ? For a market of 200 million customers, we find four or five big marks, not more. And they have all the same taste. But, there are Americans who will not pretend to drink other thing than Budweiser, others who swears only by Miller... In television, it is the same !"

Televiewers of the United States (who receive sometimes several dozen of channels !) are generally satisfied to do their choice between three great private networks : ABC, CBS and NBC. In the afternoon, all three air soap-operas the ones following the others. At the moment when, on NBC, aires Santa Barbara , the concurrent networks propose General Hospital and Guiding Light. The results of the Nielsen institute surveys give about eight millions televiewers to General Hospital, six millions to Guiding Light and "only" four millions to Santa Barbara... The show, it should be specified, is very young on an American ladder, five years, whereas General Hospital occupies the air since a quarter century and Guiding Light since 1952 !

"The American public resists to innovation", explains Nancy Grahn (Julia in Santa Barbara). "It does not like change. For it, to watch its favorite soap-opera, it is alittle as to string a pair of old slippers, hot, comfortable... It is really necessary that they are used for it only plans to change of. The schedule belongs since forever to General Hospital. As regards to habits, the result of Santa Barbara already constitutes a triumph ! All the other programs launched until there by NBC had lamentably ran aground..."

In spite of that, the popularity of Santa Barbara is real. The last survey of the popular magazine Star on the sexiest stars of the small screen classified in the third first places Nancy Grahn and A Martinez (Cruz Castillo). Without counting the nominations and the trophies won since five years at the Emmy awards. An inquiry among all the television actors indicated that Santa Barbara was classified second among their favorite soaps. Some of them become to question the value of the surveys themselves. "It is not possible. We receive tons of letters. More mail than any other soap !", reveals Robin Mattson (Gina). "I recently went to visit a hospitalized friend. Everywhere in the hospital, the televisions were all connected on Santa Barbara. In schools, we are incontestably number one... The problem, it is that the Nielsen surveys do not count televisions installed in dormitories, hospitals, convalescent homes, etc. Anymore than they take account of people who program their VCR to watch at the programm later."

"Santa Barbara has a very faithful public", explains Bridget Dobson, "but also very particular, different from the one of the others soap-operas. Televiewers of Santa Barbara are often people who work, they are on average younger, followed longer studies... The soap is weakest where the others soaps are strongest : in the big towns of the South, where the majority of the population is black, poor and unemployed."

According to A Martinez, Santa Barbara should however not reject all its responsibilities in the bad surveys : "It is necessary to sweep in front of its gate. We also made errors. When Bridget Dobson decided to fire Harley Kozak and to make disappear her character, Mary DuVall, the audience dramatically fell. It was necessary for us to row during one year and a half to find the same level. To my opinion, too many actors appeared and prematurely disappeared without having really been given their chance."

For Jed Allan, Santa Barbara either did not took any profit from the brawl between the creators of the show, Jerome and Bridget Dobson, and the production society, New World. Since the ousting of the Dobsons, it is a succession of lawsuits... "The atmosphere had reflected on scenarios. Nobody really knew towards what we were going any more."

In spite of the threats which weigh on the future of Santa Barbara, panic does not reign today in the team. "If to impose a new soap-opera to the American public is a very difficult and very slow process", explains A Martinez, "it is quite as hard to replace it. If NBC wanted to introduce a new program in our place, it would again start from zero. That would make five years of lost." "I do not think that Santa Barbara can stop soon", reassures Robin Mattson. "Our success abroad brings in in any event as much to the producers that if we were number one in the United States. Our savers, they are the Spanish, Swedish, Italian, French televiewers..."