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Red-letter day: July 30, 1984

B

bpatrick

On this date NBC debuts the cult classic, but ratings-
challenged soap, "Santa Barbara." There was enough
action, along with traditional soap plots, to pull in an
audience not normally disposed to watching daytime
(I've even heard that some employees at WXIA Atlanta
used to stop what they were doing when it was on);
only problem was, it was on at 3 PM (Eastern) against
"General Hospital," then the number-one daytime show;
and "Guiding Light," which at the time ranked third or
fourth. "SB" did hang on until January 15, 1993, by which
time a number of affiliates had downgraded it to morning
slots (as some CBS stations have done with "GL" since then).

One of "SB"'s stars, A Martinez, appeared to be headed
for bigger things at the time. Anyone know what he's
doing now?
 
Could you post a schedule from North Carolina for July 30, 1984? I would like to see Santa Barbara's
first day on the air.
 
I thought the last time I heard anything from A. Martinez that he was on a soap opera (thought it was General Hospital) a few years back. He appeared on L.A. Law during the last couple of seasons of the show.
 
While Santa Barbara may not have set the ratings on fire here, I have heard that the show was a HUGE hit overseas. In France for example, Santa Barbara was so popular it aired in prime time. I have also heard it was just as popular in Spain, Greece, Italy and of course, The UK.

If Santa Barbara was so popular in France, I wonder if it was just as popular in Quebec?
 
Indeed Santa Barbara was a unique show. The show won three best show Emmys in a row and during its heyday had some of daytime's biggest stars amongst its cast, including Justin Deas, Robin Mattson, and later in the series even Kim Zimmer joined between her stints as Reva.

But as bpatrick mentioned the timeslot was against the hugely popular General Hospital at the time, and Guiding Light, which at the time was one of CBS' more highly rated soaps. Add to the fact NBC had all but stopped programming for 3PM at the point and many stations it displaced in the morning...or not on at all.

I think show also suffered the loss of A Martinez and Marcy Walker as the stars, Cruz and Eden. Bpatrick, to answer to your question as another posted did, Martinez joined LA Law in 1992 and stayed till it ended in '94. I think he also was on Profiler for awhile. I don't know if he was on General Hospital or not, but I have no clue as to where he is now. As for Marcy Walker, she joined Guiding Light in a second-tier role before reprising her All My Children character Liza in 1996 or so. A few years ago she quit, and I think I read somewhere she is now a nun(!).
 
A Martinez played a character on GH for a while that was a back-from-the-dead someone that was connected to Bobbie, named Roy DiLucca. I want to say he lasted there maybe 2 years (?). IMDb says he's filmed a TV movie (maybe a series pilot, doesn't say if it was picked up as a series) called Born in the USA about a Philadelphia blue-collar family. The site gives a September release date.

SB's creators were Bridget and Jerome Dobson; in another connection to GH, Bridget's parents were Frank and Doris Hursley, who created GH. There was some kind of blow-up involving the Dobsons and NBC at some point, and the network had them locked out of the building!

Cruz and Eden weren't in the finale episode, but after the cast that was left had said their goodbyes, in a weird and quite crass moment, SB's last executive producer Paul Rauch (ex-EP Another World, ex-EP/co-creator Texas, ex-EP One Life to Live, and later was EP for a while at Guiding Light) was shown walking through the studio smoking, and he stopped, took the ciggie out of his mouth, dropped it to the floor, and snuffed it out with his foot. Fade to black after he walked away. I definitely don't miss him being a part of daytime anymore...

Several SB fans have tried to petition SoapNet into showing reruns, but if SoapNet can't be bothered with showing Another World reruns anymore, it doesn't look like they'd be too interested in showing SB....this has been going on for a while and SN's not had anything constructive to say about the matter.
 
Rauch came perilously close to permanently
snuffing out the "Light." I keep thinking he's
the one who OK'd the cloning of Reva, as well
as the San Cristobel storyline.

Not that I'm all that taken with Ellen Wheeler's
emphasis on the young people of Springfield,
but I wasn't sorry to see Rauch go either.
 
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