Notorious

The Walkers? I've seen clips. They were horrible, especially compared to the Capwells. I wish we could get a reboot online.

I've seen a few clips with Katrina. I didn't realize they were trying to set her up with Mason. I don't get why the writers were so fascinated with trying to recreate the Mason/Mary dynamic over and over again. Isn't that how Mason/Victoria started out as well? And I remember reading that the writers wanted to bring on a nun for Mason but that was nixed b/c of the writers' strike of '88 and Sister Sara was brought in instead. It's easy to understand why those attempts failed. Fans of Mason/Mary weren't going to easily accept a replacement and Mason/Julia had really taken off. Replacing CG w/ ED was the Dobsons' idea? Yikes. Was it also their idea to pair Cruz/Kelly? While I really love their friendship, I think it would've made more sense to pair Cruz/Julia. They had chemistry and could've been good. But, I get them not wanting to mess up the friendship. Santa Barbara had wonderful actors and writing much of the time but it seems like it was in constant upheaval behind the scenes. It seemed like characters/actors were rotated and replaced regularly. And the writers were in and out as well.

Really? That is frustrating. I did wonder how Mason would still want to marry Cassie after knowing what she did. But, it makes sense now .. he didn't know. Thank you for answering. I know the Dobsons were forced out in 1987 but later returned. Do you know when they returned and for how long? I'm curious as to what their vision was for Mason/Julia. I know they were responsible for Mason/Mary, and later Mary being squashed by the big "C" (which was necessary IMO), but Julia seemed to flounder under them without any real purpose. From what I understand the baby contract was NLG and Chuck Pratt's idea and that Patrick Mulcahey was also responsible for a lot of Julia eventually became. Thanks again for answering :)

Hi Everyone! Mason and Julia are my absolute faves. I've found some clips of the Gordon Thompson era and have some questions regarding Julia's rape story. 1) The clips I've seen (and they're far and few between on YT) have Augusta questioning Julia's protestations of rape and she uses her history with men to do so. It's pretty unfathomable for me that she would do that to Julia and, while I haven't watched clips of their entire relationship, they did seem very close. My question is did she continue to not only question Julia's veracity but conspire with Dash against her? Or did she eventually realize the errors of her way. 2) My second question is about Cassie, who I immediately disliked. I don't know how she thought she was able to control Mason ... the plane proposal with her making demands on Mason just seemed so out of character for Mason ... but, I digress. Anyway, Cassie was the one who anonymously gave Dash's attorney a tip about Michael and Julia, sabotaging Julia's case and ultimately exonerating Dash of the rape charges. Did Mason/Julia ever find out? And if they did, did they have a reaction? I don't know if it's only b/c I'm seeing bits and pieces of it, but Julia's rape is terribly written. NLG acts the hell out of it but it just doesn't seem to work the way it was written. Julia was portrayed as this cold, bitter man-hater and Dash, the charming, handsome victim, who's only mistake was falling for Julia. It's disgusting. And don't get me started on everybody doubting Julia's word. She was NOT the character that was going to falsely accuse anyone. I mean, she spent years fighting for the underdog and defending the presumption of innocence. And she was also not one to misinterpret rape. I'm glad at least Mason never wavered in his belief in her (and oh, while I like GT, I wish Lane Davies was playing Mason then .. I'm curious to see how he would've played some of those scenes). But, end rant ... I just had to get that out there. It just seems ridiculous that they would choose Julia out of all the female characters to play that type of rape scenario.

Hi! I used to lurk at TWOP (well, mostly ... posted a few times), but just wanted to introduce myself. Just got into Santa Barbara recently and am still trying to string everything together, which is difficult to do on YT. I f'love Mason & Julia .. they are now my favorite soap couple ever! LD/NLG were magic! Pure and simple. I also enjoyed TL/GT in the roles as they were good actors and had chemistry with NLG, though not nearly as much as LD. Also, love Lionel/Augusta; CC/Sofia; and Keith/Gina (even though I couldn't stand her during the Sonny Sprocket storyline). I like Cruz and Eden as well, but not as much as the others. I tend to like them more with other characters than each other. I also really like Ted's good guy persona, especially in contrast to Mason's broodiness . Such a great show overall. Well-written, acted, and directed, even when some of the story lines seemed a little "silly." The Capwell Zone episode springs to mind. Weird, cheesy premise, but the writers and actors make it work. In fact, I kinda loved it. While I'm happy to have discovered the awesomeness that is Santa Barbara (and, of course, Mason and Julia), I'm disappointed that I'm a little late to the party so to speak. It's difficult to find many people who want discuss the show anymore. Hopefully, I've finally found the right place :) Any chance they'll release the entire series on DVD? ETA: So sad about Phyllis French. I loved her as Sister Sarah. Such a wonderful actress. May she rest in peace.