Shark Bytes

Debhay, the song is "Little Bit of Heaven" by Natalie Cole. At the time, I was looking everywhere for that song, never found it back then.

This show jumped the shark when Lane Davies left the show. No one could replace him, no one did.... actually Mason died then and there were no reason to continue watching it.

I loved this show...I started watching it from the begining...I was 9 years old and loved it. But missed the last few seasons. I am surprised however that not many have commented on Jed Allan and Judith McConnell's romance. To me CC and Sophia were the best couple on the show. They had a chemistry that is hard to come by in television these days. they were just so good together I can't believe they didn't have a romance off camera.

I first watched SB in '85 when I was 8 and it was the only soap I ever watched because it was so campy and funny. Melrose ripped up SO MUCH of this show!!

I agree with everyone about daytimes hot supper couple, Eden and Cruz. I use to always thought that, both Marcy and A had crushes on each others behind the cameras. Their on screen chemistry seemed so real, Marcy use to gaze at him with so much passion in her eyes as did A. They both had a look in their eyes that makes you (I) beleive that it was much more than Just a onscreen romance they were having. During their onscreen passion, love making, booty shaking, ramping in bed, there was a song that played in the back ground . If I am not mistaken, it was a song by Natalie Cole. Can some one give me the song title. The first line of the song is ..........(Sing) The last guest is gone, I can tell you are thankful as I. Not sure if that was any help.

Another classic soap that was cut short before it's time !!! This one had it all romance,sexy characters,intrigue and great story lines !!! SB was very sexy without being crass or vampy which is not what can be said about the trash NBC puts on as soaps these days !!!

I left watching Santa Barbara when Lane Davis Left. Don't know what happened to teh series after that!!

Santa Barbara is a very pretentious city with stuffy, entitled residents who pay way to much for very average houses. For that reason, the show sucks. Not that I ever watched.

I started watching during the time Eden fell off the mountain in Utah, after being pushed out of the car by Elena Nicholoas, (god I loved her), and was saved by Cain.

I stopped watching after the serial rapist thing, the lamest damned plotline ever.

It started as a wonderful plotline. A single episode, traumatically shot, devoted to the horror of such an abominable crime. This wasn't the titillating date rate scenario that many soap operas show, with the victim and aggressor being acquainted, and a raunchy fight scene occurs, with several well placed rips in the actresses clothing, and her blouse pulled down fetchingly, and her makeup still perfect, and her hair messed in a way that is seductive in her grief.
It started with a warning against younger viewers watching (appropriately, as it was horrifying to watch). There was no nudity, and there was nothing provocative. Eden got the hell beat out of her until she was barely conscious, and looked like she had been hit by a Mack truck. Which is the closest to realism I have ever seen on ANY show.

Not long after that plot started, there was a huge writer's strike and EVERY show suffered, not just SB. I remember the insanity on Days of Our Lives and Another World as well, but that's not what we are discussing right now. The writer's strike completely destroyed the show. One of the more popular characters, Andrea Bedford (Ally Walker) was killed off unforgiveably by the same rapist. This was a character that was a secret agent, knew several types of martial arts, was fluent in several languages, trained in weapons, and could kick your ass while wiping the sleep out of her eyes.
The actress had decided to broaden her horizons, according to industry rumors, but killing off her character, and turning her character into a serial rapist was totally unnecessary. Prior to that, the scab writers completely screwed up the Major Hamilton/Ming Li/Cain storyline. Originally she was his daughter from Vietnam that Cain never knew about. Enter the strike: Then it turns out she isn't, and is trying to seduce him (stupid as hell, he was a normal guy, not some perv lusting after his teen daughter, even if they just met!), and the whole thing fell apart.

Withing a matter of a couple of weeks, the strike destroyed months worth of carefully constructed plots that I had become addicted to. Yes, I was a teenager, but videotaped the show faithfully every day while I was in school, and ran home. It made me sick to see my favorite show just destroyed, and I stopped watching after that.

Wow I remember SB all too well loved this soap. I recall getting out of high school each day around 2:45pm and getting home by 3pm just in time to see Santa Barbara. I really loved the theme song I used always whistle to it. I miss it!! I would assume it must available on dvd.

For me the Robert Barr situation took away more than it gave. I have to agree with the other poster, and I thought that having Eden with such an earlier romance somehow took away from the Cruz and Eden thing.

SB made shark jumping an art form. Aside from the internal stuff (the Dobsons) the show pretty much imploded. Terry Lester couldn't replace Lane Davies, no one could. Justin Deas's leaving hurt a lot, his replacement was about a foot taller than him.

The Kelly's didn't help. I did like Carrington Garland but Robin Wright's first replacement was in there at a critical time--and the role was never the same.

I won't even go beyond that for now. The other Ted, Suzanne Collier--too much BS.

SB jumped when Joel Crothers was written out.

I was addicted to SB when I was in high school and taped it every single day. I idolised Marcy Walker and A Martinez (as Eden and Cruz). When Marcy Walker left SB (and A Martinez) behind, it was the end for me. But TPTB had screwed things up before then... Eden wanting revenge on her mother Sophia?! No way!!! Eden - one of the strongest women on daytime (remember the rape storyline) suffering from mental illness?!?!? Puh-lease!! Eden leaving behind Cruz, her children and SB, moving to Europe, then divorcing Cruz by mail?! What were the writers smoking?! Had they not seen the history of Cruz and Eden?! The ULTIMATE BETRAYAL? Cruz hooking up with Kelly, Eden's sister - ewwww! What a travesty to the best supercouple ever! The way they ended still makes my blood boil!

When Marcy Walker (Eden) left the show. Eden and Cruz were the greatest couple ever in soaps.

SANTA BARBARA was one of the most original and innovative daytime dramas ever produced. This show often displayed flashes of brilliance and was never less than watchable. Charismatic actors, inspired storylines, and probably the finest writing on a soap ever. This was also the only soap that made me laugh out loud on a regular basis. This soap went where other soaps feared to tread and always did it in an imaginative way. Marcy Walker and A Martinez redefined the super couple as Cruz and Eden. Lane Davies and Nancy Lee Grahan were brilliant as Mason and Julia (they tried to recreate this magic years later on GH, but failed. Jed Allen had the best role of his long show biz career as CC Capwell and I believe Gina is my favorite character Robin Mattson created in her years of soap-hopping. Loved Robin Wright as Kelly and was disappointed when she left to make THE PRINCESS BRIDE but this one of the realities of daytime. Actors come and go and we are powerless to do anything about it. I'd also like to mention that, in addition to making me laugh, this show could get serious too. Eden's rape was the best rape story ever done on daytime and the Cruz/Eden/Robert triangle was gut-wrenching. This was serial television at its finest. SANTA BARBARA was a daytime classic that I still miss and IMO never jumped the shark.