Santa Barbara : money, passion and intrigue
By Nicoletta Brambilla, Beautiful, 1989	Home   Cette page en Français

A new television series replaces (in Italy) the show hosted by Giancarlo Magalli. It is an American series that has been aired continuously in the United States since July 1984. The story revolves around the patriarch of a wealthy family, the Capwells, and Minx, head of the elderly but energetic Lockridge family. At the origin of the hatred between the two clans is the murder of the Capwell heir, which occurred in mysterious circumstances. The story, based on hundreds of situations and with the contribution of numerous characters played mostly by newcomers, has fascinated publics around the world. The show is now coming to Italy and will be broadcast until next year. And maybe by then the murderer will have a name.

Joe Perkins, after five years in prison, accused of the murder of C.C. Capwell Jr., descendant of a powerful Californian family, his friend and brother of his ex-girlfriend, returns home to Santa Barbara. The young man, who has always declared himself innocent, now intends to shed light on this murder. But it is a difficult step as Joe finds hostility and incomprehension among his former friends. The only door that opens to him is that of the Lockridges, another important family, which holds a significant part of the power in Santa Barbara.

Barely mentioned, these are the first moments of Santa Barbara, a new television series which replaces from Monday April 3 the game hosted by Giancarlo Magalli, Domani Sposi. The show, aired continuously in the United States since July 30, 1984 with more than 1,000 episodes to its credit, has captivated and still fascinates half the world : Australia, Canada, South Africa and a large part of Europe.

For the moment, 500 episodes of 22 minutes each will be broadcast in Italy, episodes which are in reality the first 250 of 44 minutes, of the American series. In this first part, there will be no shortage of intrigues, passions, loves and separations which characterize Santa Barbara (and television series made in the United States in general).

The creators are Jerome and Bridget Dobson, a close-knit couple who have 27 years of experience to their credit, having notably created General Hospital, aired on Retequattra. Before retiring to their splendid Bel Air villa, located in the hills outside Los Angeles, the Dobsons lived for a long time on a ranch built in the Santa Barbara hills. And, although they know the industry very well, to make the TV séries, the Dobsons had recourse to the collaboration of three other writers and eight screenwriters who still produce today around eighty pages illustrating situations and places. “We work frenetically on set : at 7:30 a.m., rehearsals begin. From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. we shoot and immediately afterward the actors receive the new lines they have to play the next day.” Production also lets it be known that they work non-stop 50 weeks a year.

Of the many actors who play in the series, the majority are newcomers. The women in particular were almost all models, such as Robin Wright who plays the beautiful and vulnerable Kelly, Joe's ex-girlfriend. Many, however, have had the opportunity to previously work as guest stars in other television series, such as Julie Ronnie whom we have already seen in Hotel and Dallas or Valorie Armstrong, guest star in Heartbeat. A true star of the TV series is Peter Mark Richman, former star of Dynasty and Longstreet, who we will see in future episodes when he replaces Paul Burke, the patriarch of the Capwell family.

As in all self-respecting series, even in Santa Barbara, replacements of performers are the order of the day. In addition to Burke and Richman, replaced in turn, it will be Ava Lazar (Santana Andrade) to make way for Margaret Michaels, and Dane Witherspoon (Joe Perkins), who will leave in favor of Mark Arnold. The show, which in addition to public affection has received eight Emmy awards, was filmed on location in Santa Barbara, taking advantage of the beauty of the landscape, while for interiors, the team moved to Los Angeles to a studio at the NBC television network.