Santa Barbara Character Analysis

The longevity of television shows almost always hinges on the pilot episode. The job of a pilot, or the first episode, is to build up an audience and a fanbase of a show. A pilot will tell you about simple things, like the who, what when, where and why. It can also delve into deeper aspects of the show, like character relationships, conflicts, backstories and so much more. This does bring up many questions, most of them being, how do these different aspects contribute to the pilot episode of any TV show? By examining the pilot episode of Santa Barbara (1984), we can break down how at least three different aspects can contribute to a successful pilot and it’s ultimate goal of building a viewership. One of the most important aspects of almost any narrative is the characters, and a great character almost always requires a conflict. Characters require conflicts that will provide character arcs and ultimately progress the story forward. The main conflict of Santa Barbara revolves around the character of Joe Perkins returning home after …show more content…
A TV show rarely starts at the beginning of the story, it usually jumps right in the middle of the characters lives. This is why exposition is practically a requirement of pilot episodes, knowing more about a character's history will allow for audience to become invested in them. A scene from Santa Barbara that uses exposition to the extreme comes about when Channing’s father meets with his son’s old flame Santana. In the scene she has found out that Joe is returning and states that she is disgusted with the fact that he is being released from prison. She tells Channing’s father that she loved his son so much, and he even tells her that he knows that, and there is no way to bring his dead son back. The characters already know this information, but it’s a great way to introduce the backstory and relationship between the