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Suave, mysterious Robert Barr came to Santa Barbara last June. Viewers were intrigued. He wanted to rekindle a lost love with Eden. Viewers hated him. He lost Eden and took up with Kelly. Viewers liked him. He left town early in 1990. Viewers were confused.
In a nutshell, that’s the story of a character who created quite a stir during his brief sojourn at SANTA BARBARA. Why did it happen that way? We asked Charles Pratt Jr., who recently resigned as the show’s head writer.
“When we got Roscoe Born for the part of Robert Barr, we made our story choices,” recalls Pratt. “Our understanding was that he was only signing on until pilot season [which begins around February]. We didn’t know if we would have him past the original nine months. All along, we knew we had to tell the Robert/Eden/Cruz triangle within this period of time.”
In a risky manoeuvre, the writers chose to split up the show’s centrepiece – super couple Cruz and Eden Castillo. “The triangle was so dangerous, but we decided, ‘Let’s go for it,’ “ Pratt remembers, adding, “We did it knowing they [the viewers] would be angry, but when you have good actors, they can pull it off and make the audience see another point of view.”
For the plot to succeed, Robert had to be carefully presented so the audience would be simultaneously attracted/repelled by him. “We always played him sexy and mysterious. We purposely went back and forth between making him look like a good guy and a bad guy,” observes Pratt. “And we kept him likeable; he had many layers. Robert was initially perceived as a villain, yet an understandable one. He did everything for the love of Eden. The fantasy we were trying to keep going was that of a first love. It was an intense – not obsessive – love that made him sympathetic to the audience. You start to feel for a character like that; he was a terrible underdog.”
When Eden and Cruz separated, there were differences of opinion as to how to portray Eden and Robert’s deepening relationship. How far should they go? Ultimately, the couple never did have sex. “We had Robert and Eden sleep together and it was cut out [of the script] about eleven times,” Pratt reveals. “There’s always that line to cross. I love to cross it, but there are times when you can go too far and destroy a characters.”
Eventually, Cruz and Eden reconciled. “Fan reaction made the choice for the network and us. There were so many Cruz and Eden fans that it was easy to put them back together,” notes Pratt. By this time, Robert Barr had become a popular character on the show, so he was romantically paired off with Eden’s sister, Kelly, a situation that ignited animosity and sibling rivalry between the Capwell women. “When we introduced Kelly into the quadrangle, that’s when the audience started to like him more,” says Pratt. “That’s the way we would have kept going if he had stayed. Robert and Kelly probably would have had their own story.” But they didn’t. To the dismay of many viewers who were smitten with the character, Robert Barr was off to Las Sirenas and off SANTA BARBARA.
Why? Because ultimately, the fate of the character was out of the writers’ hands. “The decision to leave ended up being Roscoe’s; he made our decision for us. We always knew we’d probably have to write him off. It’s when you don’t know a character is leaving that it’s the worst,” says Pratt with a laug
In a nutshell, that’s the story of a character who created quite a stir during his brief sojourn at SANTA BARBARA. Why did it happen that way? We asked Charles Pratt Jr., who recently resigned as the show’s head writer.
“When we got Roscoe Born for the part of Robert Barr, we made our story choices,” recalls Pratt. “Our understanding was that he was only signing on until pilot season [which begins around February]. We didn’t know if we would have him past the original nine months. All along, we knew we had to tell the Robert/Eden/Cruz triangle within this period of time.”
In a risky manoeuvre, the writers chose to split up the show’s centrepiece – super couple Cruz and Eden Castillo. “The triangle was so dangerous, but we decided, ‘Let’s go for it,’ “ Pratt remembers, adding, “We did it knowing they [the viewers] would be angry, but when you have good actors, they can pull it off and make the audience see another point of view.”
For the plot to succeed, Robert had to be carefully presented so the audience would be simultaneously attracted/repelled by him. “We always played him sexy and mysterious. We purposely went back and forth between making him look like a good guy and a bad guy,” observes Pratt. “And we kept him likeable; he had many layers. Robert was initially perceived as a villain, yet an understandable one. He did everything for the love of Eden. The fantasy we were trying to keep going was that of a first love. It was an intense – not obsessive – love that made him sympathetic to the audience. You start to feel for a character like that; he was a terrible underdog.”
When Eden and Cruz separated, there were differences of opinion as to how to portray Eden and Robert’s deepening relationship. How far should they go? Ultimately, the couple never did have sex. “We had Robert and Eden sleep together and it was cut out [of the script] about eleven times,” Pratt reveals. “There’s always that line to cross. I love to cross it, but there are times when you can go too far and destroy a characters.”
Eventually, Cruz and Eden reconciled. “Fan reaction made the choice for the network and us. There were so many Cruz and Eden fans that it was easy to put them back together,” notes Pratt. By this time, Robert Barr had become a popular character on the show, so he was romantically paired off with Eden’s sister, Kelly, a situation that ignited animosity and sibling rivalry between the Capwell women. “When we introduced Kelly into the quadrangle, that’s when the audience started to like him more,” says Pratt. “That’s the way we would have kept going if he had stayed. Robert and Kelly probably would have had their own story.” But they didn’t. To the dismay of many viewers who were smitten with the character, Robert Barr was off to Las Sirenas and off SANTA BARBARA.
Why? Because ultimately, the fate of the character was out of the writers’ hands. “The decision to leave ended up being Roscoe’s; he made our decision for us. We always knew we’d probably have to write him off. It’s when you don’t know a character is leaving that it’s the worst,” says Pratt with a laug