History Series / SunsetBeach

* TheBeard:
** Gregory admits he keeps Annie around because back-to-back divorces would ruin his family-man image.
--->"I care more about Spike, and I'm allergic to the little mongrel."
** In his paranoia, [[spoiler:Wheelchair-bound Ricardo hisses that Gabi]] is waiting for him to die. He thinks he's just The Beard for her to carry on with his brother.

The third plotline involves a lifeguard, Michael Bourne (Jason Winston-George), who later became a sports physician. He strikes up a romance with Vanessa Hart (Sherri Saum), a journalist at the newspaper. Their relationship is jeopardized by Virginia Harrison (Dominique Jennings), who defies soap convention by being both black and a single mom. Virginia's plan rests on an exotic, disfiguring disease which was supposedly passed down to Vanessa by her estranged mother.

** Annie pinning [[spoiler:Gregory]] dead to rights on murder, then kicking him [[GroinKick right in the junk]]!

* SaltAndPepper: Casey and Micheal, lifeguards on patrol.

* HollywoodDateless:
** Casey is a Herculean swimmer who is still considered poor trash by the affluent people in town. Rae ends up dumping him for an extremely rich Japanese businessman.
** Sara suffers from being in her sister's shadow. Her love life in Washington was front-page news but as soon as she moves to Sunset Beach, no one gives her the time of day.

SB [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff had a large fandom in the United Kingdom]] during its heyday, a surprise considering how daytime (as opposed to prime time) TV historically has a hard time in the UK. Such was its popularity over there that petitions were sent to the UK broadcaster (Creator/ChannelFive) begging them to have it {{uncancelled}}.

Another plotline revolves around the Richards family. The patriarch, Gregory Richards (Sam Behrens), is a white-collar criminal who owns much of the town. His wife Olivia (Lesley-Anne Down) is a secret drunk who is rarely allowed out in public. Their daughter Caitlin (Vanessa Dorman, [[TheOtherDarrin later]] Kam Heskin) is involved with Cole Deschanel (Eddie Cibrian), an ex-jewel thief whom Gregory hates, and who sleeps with Olivia without realizing her connection to Caitlin. The Richards storyline was more compelling and had better acting, so it grew to dominate the show.

Redneck [[TheIngenue ingenue]] Meg Cummings (Susan Ward) discovers that her fiancé is sleeping with a bridesmaid, packs her bags and moves west. Meg is not entirely guiltless, as she's in an online relationship with another man. The mystery man turns out to be Ben Evans (Clive Robertson), a mover and shaker in Sunset Beach, {{UsefulNotes/California}}. At first, Meg finds Ben to be withdrawn and unsociable--which she later discovers is due to his wife's death in a sailing accident. Meg has a rival in Ben's childhood friend, Annie Douglas (Sarah G. Buxton), who teams up with Meg's ex to split the spoils.

The third plotline involves a lifeguard, Michael (Jason Winston-George), who later became a sports physician. He strikes up a romance with Vanessa (Sherri Saum), a journalist at the newspaper. Their relationship is jeopardized by Virginia (Dominique Jennings), who defies soap convention by being both black and a single mom. Virginia's plan rests on an exotic, disfiguring disease which was supposedly passed down to Vanessa by her estranged mother.

Other notable characters include: Olivia's friend Bette (Kathleen Noone), dispenser of town gossip; Ben's brother-in-law, Detective Ricardo Torres (Hank Cheyne), who suspects his sister's drowning was no accident; Madame Carmen (Margarita Cordova), she of the Tarot cards; Francesca (Lisa Guerrero), who figures into a year-long "Who Shot ''X''" storyline; and Casey, a nondescript muscle-man.

* NotSoDifferent:
** Annie grumbles something to this effect to Meg before her wedding. Then she walks over to the next room and says the same to Olivia.
** She and Olivia started out from the same state of play: as nurses. Olivia was the one who stole Cole from his bassinet and handed him off to Del Douglas; Annie took Trey fresh from the womb and handed him off to Caitlin. Annie home-wrecks her way into the Richard house; Olivia slept with Annie's father. Annie openly covets Olivia's fortune; Olivia smugly anticipateS her rival descending into loneliness and drink just as she did. Neither one is entirely good or bad, and they make a good tag team in the end.

''Sunset Beach'' was an American SoapOpera produced by Aaron Spelling. It ran just shy of 3 years on {{Creator/NBC}}, airing from January 6, 1997 to December 31, 1999. Woeful acting, wobbly scenery, and dreadful dialog abound.

** "J. Peterman" himself, John O'Hurley, as the smarmy host of ''Wheel of Misfortune'', a [[CondemnedContestant death panel]] dressed up as a quiz show in Annie's dream.

* YourCheatingHeart: Tim with Meg's maid of honor; Meg with her anonymous friend "S.B."; Ricardo with Gabi; Olivia with Del, A.J, Cole and Officer Eddie. Busy, busy lady.

** Francesca's watermark reads: [[AC:FRANCESCA VARGAS -- Cat Burglar & Murder Victim]]
** ''[[Series/ThreesCompany Five's Company]]'': The byline for the Evans house.
** [[AC:MEG CUMMINGS -- Lame Duck Fiancee]]
** The newcast is later revealed to be a Bette dream sequence... though it's doubtful she witnessed all of that, such as [[spoiler:Gregory]] surviving his near-deadly fall.

** DistressedDude: Anyone else want to kidnapp Ben? Hurry up reserve your place on the list, it's getting long.

--->'''Greg:''' Oh great there we go again. Why is that Olivia and her don juan always have to find a way to eat at the same places I do?

* AssassinOutclassin: The dude hired to kill Cole. Hope you got a good deal on that guy, Gregory.An assassin who lunges at his target, when they are both standing on the edge of a cliff but doesn't realize that even if he does hit the target, they'll both crash on the rocks below? It's flattery calling him stupid. When he hears of a cliffside murder, and assuming it's Cole: "A male... how horrible... ''how'' did he die?" Once more with feeling, Gregory.

* SlaveToPR: The Richards family, or at least Gregory, take great pains to pose as pillars of the community. Annie, accuses Olivia of talking in a "fake British accent" to sound posh and make everyone forget about her low-rent origins.

[[folder:A-B]]

[[folder:C-D]]

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[[folder:E-F]]

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[[folder:G-J]]

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[[folder:K-M]]

[[folder:N-R]]

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[[folder:S-Y]]

* AndNowYouMustMarryMe:
** In order to throw Ricardo off his scent, Eddie arranges Paula's kidnapping and hires a hillbilly ex-con to help [[EngineeredHeroics engineer her rescue]]. Too bad the kidnapper had other plans. Plans that include organ music and a ratty VW bus with ''JUST MARRIED'' painted on it.
** Upon being rescued and re-imprisoned in a second dungeon by Diana Wood, Ben finds himself dressed in a tux and laid out in a coffin while Diane twirls around in a black wedding dress to the ''Series/JonathanCreek'' theme ("Dance Macabre").

* CantGetAwayWithNuthin:
** Paul was a old flame of Annie's during her six week stint in law school. Seems she spent more time banging Paul than studying. She gets a rude awakening when Paul, now a successful attorney, informs her that she is ''still'' an accessory to kidnapping--even if she uncovered the truth about the fake paternity test--because she didn't speak out about it sooner.
--->"I must have missed that chapter."

** Greg says that he and Olivia used to dance outside her balcony, every night, before Cait (their second child) was born. "Everything changed" when Olivia miscarried. He kept waiting every night under the balcony, but "she never came." (Adultery? Depression?) That's when it all started. Trivia: Gregory Jr. came after Caitlin and before Sean.

** Virginia's evil is hinted to have caused the quake. Imagine what will happen if Ben commits polygamy? Probably the city will sink into the ocean.

* {{Chessmaster}}:
** Viewers will often spot Gregory fuzzy and in the background, silently observing events play out.
** The way he [[BriarPatching sold the polygraph to Gabi]] was amazing -- What a master manipulator.
** At the hospital, Annie immediately tries to insinuate that A.J. shot Francesca, hoping to throw suspicion off herself. Greg smiles like a crocodile. He [[spoiler:pretends he only just learned about the shooting himself,]] and cuddles Catilin while alone. Very eerie in hindsight.

** [[spoiler:Derek]]'s revenge. Maria was estranged from Ben and fled to Seattle to deliver Benjy, according to Tess. When Maria left to reunite with Ben, Tess took care of Benji and had faith that one day Maria would return for her son. She learned about Maria's coma (caused by a car accident at Dana Point) and later recovers in a psychiatric journal. She guilt-trips Maria that Benji needs his mother AND father. Tim stumbles onto the truth but foolishly tries to blackmail Tess ''and'' keep the money from himself...just as she predicted he would.

** Annie, a teen sleuth in the body of an adult film star.
** Annie lampshades it when Francesca is shot: This is just like one of those novels where everyone gathers in the conservatory. She struts around the hospital, chirping "It's elementary" and "where where you on the night in question?"
** Gabi demands Ricardo make her an undercover informant. (She's Paula) Ricardo might mention, "last time my honey went undercover I got blamed for her kidnapping and rape and was kicked off the force". AJ planted Gabi as an informant at the Liberty Corporation. Ricardo is her supervisor on this matter. She poses as AJ's secretary while cracking computers.
* DoesNotLikeMen: Elaine is a dedicated misandrist, and Bette is halfway there.

** Gregory is an extremely moral-free man, but he does love his family, Olivia included. Unfortunately he can't express it in anything approaching a healthy way.

Other notable characters include: Olivia's friend Bette (Kathleen Noone), dispenser of town gossip; Ben's brother-in-law, Detective Ricardo Torres (Hank Cheyne), whosuspects his sister's death was no accident; Madame Carmen (Margarita Cordova), she of the Tarot cards; Francesca (Lisa Guerrero), who figures into a year-long "Who Shot ''X''" storyline; and Casey, a nondescript muscle-man.

Redneck [[TheIngenue ingenue]] Meg Cummings (Susan Ward) discovers that her fiancé is sleeping with a bridesmaid, packs her bags and moves west. Meg is not entirely guiltless, as she's in an online relationship with another man. The mystery man turned out to be Ben Evans (Clive Robertson), a mover and shaker in Sunset Beach, {{UsefulNotes/California}}. At first, Meg finds Ben to be withdrawn and unsociable--which she later discovers is due to his wife's death in a sailing accident. Meg has a rival in Ben's childhood friend, Annie Douglas (Sarah G. Buxton), who teams up with Meg's ex to split the spoils.

** Sam Behrens as Gregory. He took that character and elevated it so high above the quality of the writing. Sam Behrens dials it down as Gregory, lending a degree of sanity to the proceedings that the more ''extroverted'' Richards don’t, i.e. he avoids making you laugh when you shouldn’t.

* VileVillainSaccharineShow: There is one character in particular who is actually disturbing. Sam Behrens, who played a jailbird ex-husbsnd on ''Series/KnotsLanding'', gets to be creepy again here, and he puts together a carefully crafted performance of [[MaskOfSanity a white collar psycho]]. Gregory's a bit too 'real' for daytime, and doubly so in ''Sunset Beach''. Del Douglas, on the other hand, fits in perfectly, which is probably why they bought him back as a spook. The producers apparently realized this and later turned Gregory into a cartoon, which doesn't really suit Behrens, either. (And he was outspoken in interviews about ''not'' wanting to play a pantomime villain.)

Another plotline revolves around the Richards family. The patriarch, Gregory Richards (Sam Behrens), is a white-collar criminal who owns much of the town. His wife Olivia (Lesley-Anne Down) is a secret drunk who is rarely allowed out in public. Their daughter Caitlin (Vanessa Dorman, [[TheOtherDarrin later]] Kam Heskin) is involved with Cole Deschanel (Eddie Cibrian), an ex-jewel thief whom Gregory hates, and who sleeps with Olivia without realizing her connection to Caitlin. The Richards storyline is more compelling and has better acting, so it grew to dominate the show.

''Sunset Beach'' is an American SoapOpera produced by Aaron Spelling. It ran just shy of 3 years on {{Creator/NBC}}, airing from January 6, 1997 to December 31, 1999.

** Sam Behrens as Gregory. He took that character and elevated it so high above the quality of the writing. He dials it down as Gregory, lending a degree of sanity to the proceedings that the more ''extroverted'' Richards don’t.l, i.e. he avoids making you laugh when you shouldn’t.

Another plotline revolvs around the Richards family. The patriarch, Gregory Richards (Sam Behrens), is a white-collar criminal who owns much of the town. His wife Olivia (Lesley-Anne Down) is a secret drunk who is rarely allowed out in public. Their daughter Caitlin (Vanessa Dorman, [[TheOtherDarrin later]] Kam Heskin) is involved with Cole Deschanel (Eddie Cibrian), an ex-jewel thief whom Gregory hates, and who sleeps with Olivia without realizing her connection to Caitlin. The Richards storyline is more compelling and has better acting, so it grew to dominate the show.

* VileVillainSaccharineShow: FmThere is one character in particular who is actually disturbing. Sam Behrens, who played a jailbird ex-husbsnd on ''Series/KnotsLanding'', gets to be creepy again here, and he puts together a carefully crafted performance of [[MaskOfSanity a white collar psycho]]. Gregory's a bit too 'real' for daytime, and doubly so in ''Sunset Beach''. Del Douglas, on the other hand, fits in perfectly, which is probably why they bought him back as a spook. The producers apparently realized this and later turned Gregory into a cartoon, which doesn't really suit Behrens, either. (And he was outspoken in interviews about ''not'' wanting to play a pantomime villain.)

* VileVillainSaccharineShow: Fhere is one character in particular who is actually disturbing. Sam Behrens, who played a jailbird ex-husbsnd on ''Series/KnotsLanding'', gets to be creepy again here, and he puts together a carefully crafted performance of [[MaskOfSanity a white collar psycho]]. Gregory's a bit too 'real' for daytime, and doubly so in ''Sunset Beach''. Del Douglas, on the other hand, fits in perfectly which is probably why they bought him back as a ghost. The producers apparently realized this and later turned Gregory into a cartoon, which doesn't really suit Behrens, either.