Santa Barbara, a class act : poor ratings can't dampen this show's spirit
By Donna Hoke Kahwaty, Soap Opera Digest, 1992	Home   Cette page en Français

Santa Barbara is a mystery. The show has won more than a handful of Emmy awards in distinguished categories like Best Show and Best Writing. It features heavy-hitting talent such as A Martinez, Nancy Grahn, Gordon Thomson and Jack Wagner. The dialogue is witty, sharp and adult. But still, the show clings to its tenth-place spot in the ratings and lives under constant threat of cancellation. Why ?

Certainly there are things wrong with this show. It can be clichéd; Santa Barbara's dual-role mania reached the peak of ludicrousness with Eden's multiple-personality exit. Santa Barbara hasn't had more than one strong family for far too long - the Capwell domination gives too much story to too few characters. And the show is not multigenerational, as classic soaps are. More than half the cast is in the generic thirty-something age group, and those who are not act as though they are. Case in point : C.C. and Sophia are parents of thirty-something children, but they act like kids themselves. Twenty-something characters Lily and Katrina have adult problems. Missing are the lively younger characters who can create a cliff-hanger out of who will ask them out on a date the next day (All my Children has always excelled at this age group).

This may be indicative of a larger problem : in some ways, Santa Barbara isn't very effective at portraying real life. Instead of attempting to do it, the show has tended to steer clear of doing so, flaunting over-the-top situations. It was a strategy that often worked at the show's peak a few years ago, but the loss of certain characters makes that tactic less viable today. Without Justin Deas's Keith (or even Joe Marinelli's cross-dressing Bunny), Gina's theatrics seem unbalanced. Julia's neuroses can get heavy-handed without Augusta's (Louise Sorel) accompanying commentary, and while Gordon Thomson has grown into a magnificent Mason, without Lane Davies's sardonic wit, there's an element of levity missing from Julia and Mason's angst-ridden relationship. In fact, Santa Barbara seems to have all but given up on the Mason-in-heaven type of humor it was known for in its cult heyday.

Perhaps one of Santa Barbara's problems is that it no longer has a Cruz and Eden storybook romance, and every show needs one, clamors for one, would kill for one. Cruz and Eden drew the teen crowd - even though the actors weren't teens - because their star-crossed romance was fantasy-like, and the incomparable A Martinez and Marcy Walker had more chemistry than any couple in recent memory. No other pair has quite matched their stature.

Also, the fact that Santa Barbara has the smallest cast of any hour show on daytime isn't helping matters. There is no supporting cast on Santa Barbara; rather, characters revolve as in a repertory company. When a storyline has run its course or isn't working, the non-core actors involved are dumped like so much dirty laundry instead of lingering to lend depth to the show, or until there might be a story that is right for them. The problem : too often, Santa Barbara is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Because Dash Nichols (the charming Timothy Gibbs) wasn't working with Katrina, Santa Barbara dismissed him to a job in St. Louis; Flame (the sizzling Roberta Bizeau) and Michael (the sexy Frank Runyeon) were also sent out of town. If these characters had somehow been linked to core families, as Cassie (Karen Moncrieff) and Katrina (Maria Ellingsen) are, it would have been easier to keep them. As things stand, Santa Barbara doesn't allow itself the opportunity, as other shows do, to let different actors work together to test their chemistry. This leaves weak couples, and viewers end up feeling force fed. What's more, aborting too many stories leaves fans complaining that the show lacks the long-term story commitment that gives a show longevity and keeps viewers desperate for more. Whatever happened to the mystery of Marilyn's death ? Or David's relationship with Julia ? Both were dropped like hot potatoes, and the characters involved either dumped or pushed into new relationships. Blunders like these don't go over well with fans.

But despite its faults, Santa Barbara is still one of the best hours on television. Talented, real-looking people speak literately against beautiful backdrops. After just a few episodes, viewers have a feel for the characters they're watching. And some of those characters are very compelling. Jack Wagner is a shining example of how a show can hire a top name, someone who's playing a favorite character on a competing show, and use him to create (or re-create in this case) a character more intriguing than the one he portrayed previously. Wagner was certainly worth whatever it cost Santa Barbara to get him. Nancy Grahn's (Julia) honesty is a beacon in her emotional scenes - Julia's someone you'd want for a best friend. And enough can't be said about A Martinez (Cruz), whose extraordinary talent lends credibility to the most outlandish scenes. When Nicolas Coster (Lionel) makes his triumphant returns to Santa Barbara, it's always a comedic treat. Waiting in the wings is Michael Brainard (Ted), whose knack for humorous delivery is still untapped. Scenes on Santa Barbara burst with talented performers.

With these key elements already in place, Bridget and Jerome Dobson's succeeding head writers have their work cut out for them : leave the talent alone. Keep the dialogue sharp. Only the long-term story needs work. Santa Barbara is already one of the finest hours on daytime, and it has yet to reach its peak.

Pam Long and Susan Lee address Santa Barbara's future

"Santa Barbara's ratings need to come up in order for us to commit to the show for the future," says Susan Lee, NBC vice president of daytime. "We need to put Santa Barbara in profit-making position, and we've told affiliates we need to make a decision in 1992." Specifically, Santa Barbara will be notified in July if they've been picked up.

Primarily, NBC would like to see an increase in the ratings in the younger demographics - the 18-49 age group, says Lee. "We don't do badly in that area, but NBC really makes our money from advertising to women 18-49," she points out. "We'd like to see overall ratings improve as well. In the past six or seven years, Santa Barbara's gotten up to a sixteen or seventeen share; now it gels eleven. That's a pretty major (drop)."

Santa Barbara's time slot change isn't responsible for the show's ratings demise, according to Lee. The problem, she says, has been the show's constant backstage upheaval. "Any soap goes through peaks and valleys; sometimes, you have driving stories and, oftentimes, there are lulls," she says. "On Santa Barbara, there were lots of political changes - producers, head writers, work executives. When that happens, new people look at the show and say, "Let's send it in this direction." And a year later, someone else is saying, "Let's send it in this direction." When you start futzing around, the audience doesn't know what to do."

"If you did a track on this show of ratings and changes, you'd see that the ratings start to build and a major change takes place. They take a dip, the ratings start to build, and another change takes place," Lee observes. "In my heart, I feel that Santa Barbara has been the victim of several earthquakes, and they did not help to build the show. Successful shows have one vision."

As of January, Santa Barbara is a product of ex-Guiding Light Head Writer Pam Long's vision. With her work cut out for her, Long says that the groundwork for Santa Barbara is already in place. "All the good things simply need to be put in a fertilizer package and thrown all over the field," she explains. "I want Santa Barbara, but I want hyper Santa Barbara."

Long acknowledges, however, that the show needs younger storylines and aims to develop them. "You look at Santa Barbara and you've got these wonderful families like the Capwells, Lockridges and Castillos. Mason, Warren and Cruz are anchors, but they've grown up and gotten to be in their thirties. Lily, who's only nineteen, is a good place to start." Lily will be put with several new young characters, including Cruz's half-brother, Rafe.

As a general rule, Long says she plans to write the way she always has and hope that it's successful. "What I do is tell blood and guts, passionate, heartfelt, emotionally brave love stories. Whether they're between men and women, women and women, or men and men, that's always at the heart of it," Long observes. "People have told me that I'm not a typical daytime writer, that I take risks, so it sounds like I've come to the right place to ply my trade."