Jamie Luner in Savannah... oh my god!

Carrie Fairchild

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I’ve just rewatched Savannah in its entirety for the first time since it originally aired. I’ve rewatched season one a few times and have spoken here about how much I like it but after a couple of attempts at rewatching season two, this is the first time I’ve stuck with it. And I’ve a few thoughts on it. At the time of its cancellation, WB president Garth Ancier stated that the show “had a rough season creatively” and you can see that onscreen. The first season was a good, tightly plotted drama but they fail to keep that momentum when the second season begins. For the first third of the season, everything seemed to be driven by coincidence. Peyton just happened to spot the stolen emerald in the fish tank while hiding behind it, Charles just happened to drop a piece of paper under the desk & spot the salacious cassette that Peyton had sellotaped to the bottom of a drawer, Nick just happened to remember a throwaway comment about Travis’ goldfish & guessed that the emerald was in the fish tank. And so on. There was also quite a bit of people overhearing conversations. It all felt a bit lazy in terms of plotting, in comparison to the writing in season one.

While she was only recurring in season one, I definitely missed Lucille when she disappeared off the canvas after a couple of episodes in season two. I know that Wendy Phillips would’ve been full time on CBS drama Promised Land at this point and wouldn’t be able to commit to Savannah but they could’ve explained her absence rather than have her just not appear (she was last seen on the phone to Peyton, after delivering fake pearls to the Alexander house, so she was presumably still living in Savannah). Her season one jailhouse appearances where she acted as a sounding board for Peyton’s schemes and doled out orders about how Edward should be dealt with, added something of a Gothic quality to proceedings that was missed (by me at least) in season two.

By episodes 8 and 9, you can see a change in direction in the show. Cassie arrives in town, to fulfil the fourth friend role that had been wiped from the original pilot (apparently they wanted Garcelle Beauvais for the role of Cassie but she’d already signed to do The Jamie Foxx Show). And while lust and romance remain at the forefront, big business becomes a driver in the storylines. The previously mentioned, but unseen, Burton Industries becomes a focal point, with Reese belatedly inheriting a stake in it, going head to head with her father in the process. Nick is revealed to be an oil heir, who uses his trust fund to buy into the riverboat and Eleanor Alexander, previously just “Brian’s mother” is revealed to be a powerful businesswoman whose interests include the newspaper where Lane works and some dodgy Honduran factory that Edward is involved in. Throw in the corporate espionage plot that Cassie is tangled up in and the show suddenly has quite a Knots Landing feel to it. Which isn’t surprising as Peter Dunne (who produced Knots’ 4th - 6th seasons) had joined as supervising producer at this point.

There’s a notable change in the show’s style from this point too. While some of the lush piano score remains, we start hearing a lot more wailing saxophones, akin to Spelling’s other soaps like Melrose Place, Models Inc and (later) Pacific Palisades. It’s a shame because the original score is one of the unique elements that set Savannah apart from the other soaps of the time. The fashion also becomes a little more contemporary. The original look of Savannah overall, felt a lot more “classic” and “formal” for want of a better description. Suits and jackets were the order of the day for both the men & women. In the latter part of the season, most of the cast got new haircuts and the fashion became a bit more casual. The opening titles got an upgrade too. Gone were the bulk of the establishing shots of the city, replaced by clips of the cast, particularly the newly formed quartet of leading ladies. It was the show was hammering home that they were the focus of the show. Them, and sex, as the rest of the credit clips are mainly made up of naked cast members or sex scenes. It’s seems they were trying to make the show look and sound as similar to Melrose Place as possible, in order to entice MP viewers to switch over to Savannah at 9pm after MP had ended (both were airing on Monday nights at this point).

The latter part of the season, starting with the change of direction mentioned above, is an enjoyable watch. Not quite the heights of season one but still good. It’s double cross central and the seemingly endless flow of con men and con women in and out of town, gets a bit repetitive but is still enjoyable. The unholy alliance of Edward and Eleanor is also good to watch. Ironically, after all of the drama surrounding Peyton’s parentage, Edward doesn’t have a great deal to do with his daughters in the latter part of the season, with him mostly crossing paths with Lane and Veronica. Looking at the other shows on the WB network at the time though, Savannah does feel a bit out of place. They obviously wanted a Spelling show to inaugurate the network but I’d have to wonder if Malibu Shores (Spelling’s other 1996 soap) would have been a better fit. Savannah is still a good watch and at only 34 episodes, a pretty easy one to get through. Check it out if you haven’t already. Of the 90’s soaps, it’s in my top three alongside Melrose Place and Central Park West.
 
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