#But also I find it hilarious there are no Casey's in the deck.

[greatlyblessed]

I see your "mortifying ordeal of being known" and raise you a "My supervisor wants to know more about my ninja turtles fanfic and the head of my department gave me a present relating to my current fandom"

Its 03 ninja turtle playing cards. Which are actually very cool.

[doomonfilm]

Favorites : I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)

Over at the I Know What You Did podcast, where Millie and Danielle have spent the month of February focusing specifically on Black creators in honor of Black History Month, the films covered have been mostly serious, as compelling as they’ve been.  Imagine my surprise at the fact that, for the final episode of this stretch, the focus would turn to not only one of the most prolific Black families of creators out there, but quite possibly the current first-family of funny, the Wayans family.  While Don’t Be A Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood is not my jam, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka is and always will be, and with that DVD already positioned for a Black History Month viewing, it jumped from being on the list to a position at the top.

Jack Spade (Keenen Ivory Wayans) returns to Any Ghetto, U.S.A. after a tour of duty to find his brother Junebug has lost his life to a case of “overgold”.  Jack vows to care for his mother Belle Brown-Spade (Ja’net Dubois) and Junebug’s widow Cheryl Spade (Dawnn Lewis), but after the women are threatened by Leonard (Damon Wayans) and Willie (Kadeem Hardison), henchmen to the notorious Mr. Big (John Vernon), Jack makes the choice to eliminate the negative element from his neighborhood.  He reaches out to former hero John Slade (Bernie Casey) for assistance, and initially Slade refuses, but after Leonard and Willie make an attempt on Slade’s life, he decides to join the fight.  In hopes of evening the score, he enlists the help of some of his former vigilante friends : Hammer (Isaac Hayes), Slammer (Jim Brown), Flyguy (Antonio Fargas) and Kung Fu Joe (Steve James).  With both sides at full power and intent on removal of the opposition, tensions rise and bullets fly.

Outside of the Zucker/Abrams/Zucker camp, I haven’t seen anyone pull off trope-based humor the way that the Wayans family has been able to, and it all started with Keenen Ivory Wayans and his early Hollywood work.  I’m Gonna Git You Sucka embraced two different sets of tropes, shuffled them together like a deck of cards, and dealt them out to audiences in a manner where everyone got a winning hand.  First and foremost, the film is an ode to Blaxploitation classics, and all of the earmarks of the genre are present, up to and including ex-soldiers returning home, the impact of drug dealing on the Black community, the role of vigilantes stepping up to protect the ghetto when police are absent or corrupt, and so on.  Normally, this genre of film takes itself deadly serious, but Wayans pours heaps and heaps of comedy into the mix, with running jokes, physical comedy, tons of sight gags, hilarious subversions of expectation, and even extremely base-level seriousness making the film as memorable as it is funny.

The real power of the film, however, comes in its lasting legacy in terms of how it served as a stylistic and generational bridge between the stars of the past and the promise of the future.  Keenen Ivory Wayans pays direct homage to the past by including some of the biggest names from the Blaxploitation era in key roles, and he uses the rest of the casting as an opportunity to not only showcase the talents of his vast family, but also open doors for a wealth of hilarious up and comers (many of whom are still working to this day).  The issues that plagued the Blaxploitation era are given a modern day equivalent, with drugs and sexual exploitation replaced with the embracing of hip-hop and gangster culture, but this substitution does not cheapen the strength of the narrative, despite the film’s comedic intentions.  The film is even deceptively poignant in the way that it exposes systematic oppression and police corruption.

In terms of production value, everything is more than acceptable, but from what I can surmise, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka wasn’t created to be a cinematic masterpiece.  The main aim of the film is clearly humor, and Keenen Ivory Wayans obliterates the bullseye he targeted.  The music cues all work, even the ones that are direct references to films of the past, and even some of those cues are used for humorous sight gags.  Wardrobe-wise, the film is surprisingly strong, with the costuming providing memorable outfits from the modern era, Blaxploitation era, and even a few ridiculous over-the-top costumes (including those outrageous goldfish platforms).

Keenen Ivory Wayans definitely had a lot on his plate as the writer and director of the film, but all of those obligations didn’t take away from his ability to play a comically inept version of a leading man with pinpoint precision.  Ja’net Dubois takes the trope of protective mother to new and outrageous heights, while Dawnn Lewis plays the damsel and distress with incredibly comedic nuance.  Bernie Casey is too cool for school, which makes his sharp one-liners and punchlines even funnier due to their curveball-esque delivery.  Isaac Hayes, Jim Brown, Antonio Fargas and Steve James are all able to take character aspects that made their careers and flip them on their ears, turning them into jokes without them feeling like they are the butt of said jokes.  John Vernon brings a sense of gravitas to his antagonist position, but like everyone else in the film, he manages to keep it humorous without going too ridiculous... instead, he allows the ridiculousness to come from Damon Wayans and Kadeem Hardison as his henchmen.  The list of cameo appearances reads like its own solid comedy film, with the likes of Clarence Williams III, Clu Gulager, John Witherspoon, David Alan Grier, Eve Plumb, Robin Harris, Kim Wayans, Nadia Wayans, Hawthorne James, Gary Owens, Tony Cox and more popping up, and even Robert Townsend and Peggy Lipton providing uncredited roles.

While it’s true that the comedy films of the Wayans family can be divisive in terms of reception, it’s hard to argue against I’m Gonna Git You Sucka being a classic.  The film opened many doors for Keenen Ivory and the rest of his family, and with his next project being the culturally iconic In Living Color, it seemed like the sky was the limit for his family.  As we stand thirty-plus years removed from this declaration, it’s impressive to see that the Wayans family is still rising.

[boreothegoldfinch]

chapter 5 paragraph xx

Boris and I lay on the floor in front of the television at my house, eating potato chips and drinking vodka, watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. It was snowing in New York. A number of balloons had just passed— Snoopy, Ronald McDonald, SpongeBob, Mr. Peanut—and a troupe of Hawaiian dancers in loincloths and grass skirts was performing a number in Herald Square. “Glad that’s not me,” said Boris. “Bet they’re freezing their arses off.” “Yeah,” I said, though I had no eyes for the balloons or the dancers or any of it. To see Herald Square on television made me feel as if I were stranded millions of light-years from Earth and picking up signals from the early days of radio, announcer voices and audience applause from a vanished civilization. “Idiots. Can’t believe they dress like that. They’ll end up in hospital, those girls.” As fiercely as Boris complained about the heat in Las Vegas, he also had an unshakable belief that anything “cold” made people ill: unheated swimming pools, the air-conditioning at my house, and even ice in drinks. He rolled over on his back and passed me the bottle. “You and your mother, you went to this parade?” “Nah.” “Why not?” said Boris, feeding Popper a potato chip. “Nekulturny,” I said, a word I’d picked up from him. “And too many tourists.” He lit a cigarette, and offered me one. “Are you sad?” “A little,” I said, leaning in to light it from his match. I couldn’t stop thinking about the Thanksgiving before; it kept playing and re-playing like a movie I couldn’t stop: my mother padding around barefoot in old jeans with the knees sprung out, opening a bottle of wine, pouring me some ginger ale in a champagne glass, setting out some olives, turning up the stereo, putting on her holiday joke apron, and unwrapping the turkey breast she’d bought us in Chinatown, only to wrinkle her nose and start back at the smell—“Oh God, Theo, this thing’s gone off, open the door for me”—eyewatering ammonia reek, holding it out before her like an undetonated grenade as she ran with it down the fire stairs and out to the garbage can on the street while I—leaning out from the window—made gleeful retching noises from on high. We’d eaten an austere meal of canned green beans, canned cranberries, and brown rice with toasted almonds: “Our Vegetarian Socialist Thanksgiving,” she’d called it. We’d planned carelessly because she had a project due at work; next year, she promised (both of us tired from laughing; the spoiled turkey had for some reason put us in an hilarious mood), we were renting a car and driving to her friend Jed’s in Vermont, or else making reservations someplace great like Gramercy Tavern. Only that future had not happened; and I was celebrating my alcoholic potato-chip Thanksgiving with Boris in front of the television.

“What are we going to eat, Potter?” said Boris, scratching his stomach. “What? Are you hungry?” He waggled his hand sideways: comme ci, comme ça. “You?” “Not especially.” The roof of my mouth was scraped raw from eating so many chips, and the cigarettes had begun to make me feel ill. Suddenly Boris howled with laughter; he sat up. “Listen,” he said— kicking me, pointing to the television. “Did you hear that?” “What?” “The news man. He just wished happy holiday to his kids. ‘Bastard and Casey.’ ” “Oh, come on.” Boris was always mis-hearing English words like this, aural malaprops, sometimes amusing but often just irritating. “ ‘Bastard and Casey!’ That’s hard, eh? Casey, all right, but call his own kid ‘Bastard’ on holiday television?” “That’s not what he said.” “Fine, then, you know everything, what did he say?” “How should I know what the fuck?” “Then why do you argue with me? Why do you think you always know better? What is the problem with this country? How did so stupid nation get to be so arrogant and rich? Americans… movie stars… TV people… they name their kids like Apple and Blanket and Blue and Bastard and all kind of crazy things.” “And your point is—?” “My point is like, democracy is excuse for any fucking thing. Violence… greed… stupidity… anything is ok if Americans do it. Right? Am I right?” “You really can’t shut up, can you?” “I know what I heard, ha! Bastard! Tell you what. If I thought my kid was a bastard I would sure the fuck name him something else.” In the fridge, there were wings and taquitos and cocktail sausages that Xandra had brought home, as well as dumplings from the strip-mall Chinese where my father liked to eat, but by the time we actually got around to eating, the bottle of vodka (Boris’s contribution to Thanksgiving) was already half gone and we were well on our way to being sick. Boris—who sometimes had a serious streak when he was drunk, a Russianate bent for heavy topics and unanswerable questions—was sitting on the marble countertop waving around a fork with a cocktail sausage speared on it and talking a bit wildly about poverty and capitalism and climate change and how fucked up the world was.

At some disoriented point, I said: “Boris, shut up. I don’t want to hear this.” He’d gone back to my room for my school copy of Walden and was reading aloud a lengthy passage that bolstered some point he was trying to make. The thrown book—luckily a paperback—clipped me in the cheekbone. “Ischézni! Get out!” “This is my house, you ignorant fuck.” The cocktail sausage—still impaled on the fork—sailed past my head, missing me narrowly. But we were laughing. By mid-afternoon we were completely wrecked: rolling around on the carpet, tripping each other, laughing and swearing, crawling on hands and knees. A football game was on, and though it was an annoyance to both of us it was too much trouble to find the remote and change the channel. Boris was so hammered he kept trying to talk to me in Russian. “Speak English or shut up,” I said, trying to catch myself on the banister, and ducking his swing so clumsily I crashed and fell into the coffee table. “Ty menjá dostál! Poshël ty!” “Gobble gobble gobble,” I replied in a whiny girl voice, face down in the carpet. The floor was rocking and bucking like the deck of a ship. “Balalaika pattycake.” “Fucking télik,” said Boris, collapsing on the floor beside me, kicking out ridiculously at the television. “Don’t want to watch this shite.” “Well I mean, fuck”—rolling over, clutching my stomach—“I don’t either.” My eyes weren’t tracking right, objects had halos that shimmered out beyond their normal boundaries. “Let’s watch weathers,” said Boris, wading on his knees across the living room. “Want to see the weathers in New Guinea.” “You’ll have to find it, I don’t know what channel.” “Dubai!” exclaimed Boris, collapsing forward on all fours—and then, a mushy flow of Russian in which I caught a swear word or two. “Angliyski! Speak English.” “Is snowing there?” Shaking my shoulder. “Man says is snowing, crazy man, ty videsh?! Snowing in Dubai! A miracle, Potter! Look!” “That’s Dublin, you ass. Not Dubai.” “Valí otsyúda! Fuck off!” Then I must have blacked out (an all-too-typical occurrence when Boris brought a bottle over) because the next I knew, the light was completely different and I was kneeling by the sliding doors with a puddle of puke on the carpet beside me and my forehead pressed to the glass. Boris was fast asleep, face down and snoring happily, one arm dangling off the sofa. Popchik was sleeping too, chin resting contentedly on the back of Boris’s head. I felt rotten. Dead butterfly floating on the surface of the pool. Audible machine hum. Drowned crickets and beetles swirling in the plastic filter baskets. Above, the setting sun flared gaudy and inhuman, blood-red shelves of cloud that suggested end-times footage of catastrophe and ruin: detonations on Pacific atolls, wildlife running before sheets of flame.

I might have cried, if Boris wasn’t there. Instead, I went in the bathroom and vomited again and then after drinking some water from the tap came back with paper towels and cleaned up the mess I’d made even though my head hurt so much I could barely see. The vomit was an awful orange color from the barbecue chicken wings and hard to get up, it had left a stain, and while I scrubbed at it with dish detergent I tried hard to fasten on comforting thoughts of New York—the Barbours’ apartment with its Chinese porcelains and its friendly doormen, and also the timeless backwater of Hobie’s house, old books and loudly-ticking clocks, old furniture, velvet curtains, everywhere the sediment of the past, quiet rooms where things were calm and made sense. Often at night, when I was overwhelmed with the strangeness of where I was, I lulled myself to sleep by thinking of his workshop, rich smells of beeswax and rosewood shavings, and then the narrow stairs up to the parlor, where dusty sunbeams shone on oriental carpets. I’ll call, I thought. Why not? I was still just drunk enough to think it was a good idea. But the telephone rang and rang. Finally—after two or three tries, and then a bleak half hour or so in front of the television—sick and sweating, my stomach killing me, staring at the Weather Channel, icy road conditions, cold fronts sweeping in over Montana—I decided to call Andy, going into the kitchen so I wouldn’t wake Boris. It was Kitsey who picked up the phone.

[susanwardmegsunsetbeachfans]

BEST & WORST HOST: RAYNE ALBURQUERQUE

PLEASE READ: Due to the overwhelming response I get to this section, I need to make a few requests to cut down on time:

1. Please put the Title in all Caps! 2. Do NOT put the paragraph in all caps. 3. Watch your spelling! 4. Please do NOT swear or bash others posts! 5. Please make sure to pick whether it's a BEST/WORST/OTHER.

If any of these rules are not followed, your submission will NOT be posted.

NOTE:

The views expressed here are not

necessarily those of Sunset Central.

SUNSET BEACH BEST MEMORY

BEN...OR BEN??

WRITTEN BY: Megan Although practically every episode of Sunset Beach is fantastic, there is one that sticks out in my mind. It includes my favorite ending/beginning, as well as one of my favorite scenes ever. When Derek captured Meg and took her to the cabin impersonation Ben, Meg finally figured out that "Ben" wasn't Ben and that he was in fact, "dead". As Derek raised the knife over Meg's head, he said something to the effect of, "Now you can die too, and join your precious Ben". Just then, Ben walked in the cabin door. Derek and Meg stare at him in shock and Ben simply says, "Never say die, brother". This was my all time favorite ending I think. Then the next day, Ben and Derek both fought to the point where they both looked exactly the same, scratch for scratch. While they were n the cliff, standing together, Meg had to decide who was who. They both tried to convince her that they were the real Ben, and of course, because of her connection to him, she picked the right one. This was perhaps one of my favorite scenes. It showed the connection of Ben and Meg put to the test. I will always remember it.

ANNIE'S DREAMS

WRITTEN BY: Jen Annie's daydreams were so hilarious! I really loved them and i will miss them a lot. My favorite daydream she had was when she woke up in a bed with all those other people.. It was so funny!!

ANTONIO & GABI -- CAVE - IN

WRITTEN BY: Debz This was the sweetest! I was so upset Gabi left alone! They were the perfect couple and even though the show is over, they'll always be a super couple in my eyes. A & G 4eva

TERROR ISLAND

WRITTEN BY: Avril Raffan I loved the part when Ben escaped and tried to rescue meg especially when Ben and Derek were on the edge of the cliff and meg had to pick which one was Ben.

TERROR ISLAND

WRITTEN BY: SB Fan I really liked Terror Island (even though Mark died!) because the whole thing was a mystery and I liked seeing everybody scream from getting so scared.

ANTONIO & GABI

WRITTEN BY: Silva The best memory of Sunset Beach was when Gabi and Antonio made love in the rubble!

GREGORY & OLIVIA

WRITTEN BY: Elin The Best Time On The Show Was When Gregory & Olivia Were A Couple. Every Scene With Them Was A Lot Of Fun To Watch! Sam And Lesley-Anne Are The Best!

BEN AND MEG

WRITTEN BY: Rebecca Jones Need I say more? I live in the UK so I haven't seen the last episode but those two are destined to be together and we love 'em for it!

MY PERSONAL FAVE SB MOMENTS

WRITTEN BY: Denise Starting with... #10: Sara comes to town. #9: Maria and Annie finding happy endings. It's great to see them happy. #8: All of the fantasies. #7: Ben and Meg's wedding reception! That was cool! (Especially that cheesy bouquet throw! Hehehe...) #6: That pop-up thingy when Virginia handed Vanessa the turkey baster. That was comedy. #5: Shockwave! I think the writers loved it so much, they named a restaurant after it! (Hehe) #4: Casey and Sara hooking up. #3: Anything to do with Casey and Sara. #2: The final episode. And my number 1 fave Sunset Beach moment is (drumroll, please): #1: Casey and Sara getting engaged! (I bet you saw that coming! I am a HUGE Casey/Sara fanatic!) I still watch it like, 20 times a day! Oh and I have just a little something to say: I wrote a fanfic 2 years ago on Casey and Sara (that's when they were still friends!) and in the end there was a double wedding: Michael, Vanessa, Casey, and Sara. Just one question: HOW CLOSE WAS I IN PREDICTING THE ENDING????

MICHAEL AND VANESSA

WRITTEN BY: Kitty My all time favorite Sunset Beach scene was when Michael was getting ready to propose to Vanessa, (sometime within the last few months.) Vanessa opened the door in her robe & had some sort of gross face stuff on. She saw Michael, gasped, and quickly closed the door. Michael just kind of stood there like "what just happened??" They were so cute! :)

MARIA GETS EVEN

WRITTEN BY: Candy I loved it when Maria got to wallop Tess. After all she was put through by Tess and Derek, I thought it fitting Maria was the one who got to deck Tess.

"FANTASIES"!!!

WRITTEN BY: Kathy L. God, I MISS this Soap! The best parts in my opinion were the "fantasies". You remember, Sara as the "Pitiful Looser" in the "Friends" fantasy, her finding Casey and Meg in the shower together, and who could forget her stroll with Casey to the Theme of the "Mary Tyler Moore Show". Then of course there was Annie and her Daydreams. "Awesome Annie" to the rescue! Whether she was doned in whipped cream, Secratarial garb, Nurse's Uniform, or Cat Suit, she really new how to make me laugh. Just as the movie "Grease" was making its comeback to the theaters, SB came up with a similar fantasy involving Katlin, Cole, Trey, and Annie. The songs used made a big impact on the storylines. I loved every Ben/Meg Melodious Interlude. Now when I hear a song on the radio, nine times out of ten, it will remind me of SB. I loved the humor all of these actors put into their roles. I thank them for all their hard work, and joy they gave their viewers. SB FOREVER! :)

LEGEND OF SORTS

WRITTEN BY: Janice A wise woman once said (Elaine) that as the Santa Ana winds kick in and the sun begins to set and the first person you meet on the far side of the pier is the one you are destined to be with. At that moment. I had fallen in love with this couple. It was love at first site. Both Ben and Meg have withstand the test of love and overcome orchestrations of jealous minds, past, and the present. Which lead them to a place- Palm Springs. Although the intent of who was suppose to be there and why. I loved the way it turned out. Ben and Meg ended up in a romantic casita and true love was tested once again. Also, how can you forget the wedding. I loved the first one. Each words that were exchange were beautifully sang. These two are two star-crossed lovers that had rode to a place that most soap couples have never rode before. The rode to happy-endings. So if you believe in someting, believe in it. For dreams do come true like it did for Ben and Meg. They are a legend of all sorts.

COLE AND CAITLIN

WRITTEN BY: JC Fan I liked it when Caitlan confronted Cole about sleeping with her mother. I enjoyed watching her scream at him. Kam Heskin did a great job! It was an exciting scene to watch. It was one of my favorites. (Besides Terror Island!!)

JUDE AND ANNIE MAKE LOVE

WRITTEN BY: Amber Sukhdeo For a while , Sunset Beach wasn't that steamy, and then they showed these two cuties making love. That was great, it was soo steamy, and romantic, and I am happy they ended up together.

SB'S OUTDOOR SHOOTS

WRITTEN BY: SB Fanatic Sunset Beach, among a lot of other special attributes embodied one in specific that no other show in daytime will ever have again. And that is it's frequent outdoor location shoots at Seal Beach, etc. Even if it were just two characters talking as the waves crashed on the shore, or Gregory being chased by Cole on the pier, only to fall to his "doom" this show pulled out all the stops. And don't forget Madame Carmen killing the archbishop in her corvettet was it? I dunno, all I know is that scene was made all the more better with the actual usage of a real car and setting. Or what about Meg's fall off the pier on the very first episode? Or when Annie jumped off the lifeguard tower? Who can forget the surf central playing football on the beach on Thanksgiving of'97? *sigh* This is one of MANY other things I will sadly miss about this great show...

BEN & MEG

WRITTEN BY: Emma I'm a viewer in England and haven't yet seen the ending, but I've heard what happens. I love the story with Ben and Meg, it's what hooked me to the show and I'm releaved they get together in the end, even though I think Maria was great Ben and Meg were destined to be together, I'm a true romantic and glad it's a happy ending.

MARIA AND ROSS ENGLISH

WRITTEN BY: Rayne I will never forget the scene where Maria met Ross English and she realized that her mother's prediction was right. The look on her face is forever etched in my mind. For an actress to portray such emotion is a sure sign of talent and Christina Chambers went all out. You could see all of Maria's thoughts in that look. She knew that everything would be alright and that she would find love with someone else: Ross. It was so perfect, I watched that scene several times after the show finished. I just wish we could have seen their relationship develop.

ANNIE FINDS LOVE IN JUDE

WRITTEN BY: Christina Annie and Jude are the best couple ever! I always thought that Annie needed a love intrest that loved her back! And then Jude came to town and even saved her the first day she came to town. Not to mention that great twist, he's an FBI! That is so perfect. Annie has always been my favourite character and her fantasies were soooooo cool! Nothing can replace Sunset Beach ever! I just won't be able to feel the same about any other soap or show. I mean the Sunset Beach characters were so thrilling. Even when I hated their character, I still liked it. And the actor or actress. I learned that when Meg left. Nobody could replace her fully. I'm gonna help find a way to bring Sunset Beach back. SUNSET BEACH FOREVER!

BEST WEDDINGS

WRITTEN BY: Andrea On of my best memories on Sun were Caitlin and Coles wedding,and Ben & Meg's 1st wedding, I just loved the look on everyones face when Maria caught the bouquet and when Meg realized Dana was Maria.

GABI & ANTONIO

WRITTEN BY: D.L.Roberts-Jones I just couldn't stand it, the suspense was killing me. The look on Ricardo's face when he saw the video tape of Gabi and Antonio making love...OOOH!! I couldn't wait until he confronted them.

LAST EPISODE

WRITTEN BY: Emma I think that the last episode was one of the best, I saw it wen I was in Florida over New Year's, but I live in Sweden so we haven't seen it here yet, it is the Ben/Derek period, and Shawn Batten has just arrived as Sara...

ANNIE

WRITTEN BY: Holly I live in the UK so SB hasn't finished yet but when it does, i will never ever forget Annie. Her plotting and scheming, her lying and tormenting, but most of all her daydreams. Who can ever forget Six in a bed, The Wizard of Oz or her fantasies of Olivia being drunk. My personal favourites HAVE to be Search for Dignity and Awesome Annie. Sarah Buxton was the best actress on Sunset Beach and Annie was the beast character!

ANNIE

WRITTEN BY: Heather I will really miss Annie, i think her character was great! She really made me laugh, everything she done was soo enjoyable to watch. She's made me believe that nothing is impossible to do!! C'mon, she's done it all hasn't she :)

GREGORY AND OLIVIA

WRITTEN BY: Natalia All the times that Gregory's love for Olivia shone through everything else. Her and caitlin were the only people he ever really loved... bless his little heart. Loadsa Luv Natalia xxx

GABI AND ANTONIO

WRITTEN BY: Andrea My best memory is of gabi and antonio making love in the cave.that scene was so real and intense...

DEREK AND BEN

WRITTEN BY: Ona I live in Finland so I haven愒 seen all the episodes yet. In Finland Maria has just move in with Ben and Meg and I hate it because I hate Maria. My fav scene was when Meg realise that Derek wasn愒 Ben and thought that Ben was dead and then Derek tried to kill her and Ben walks in. It was so great scene!!!!! my worst was when Maria came to Ben and Meg愀 Wedding.

THE BEST TIMES OF SUNSET BEACH

WRITTEN BY: Sara 10. Gabi and Ricardo's wedding 9. Annie's fantasies 8. The girls sing karoke 7. Rosario Madonna 6. The cave in 5. Who Shot Francesca? 4. Maria catches the bouquet at Ben and Meg's wedding 3. Ricardo proposes to Gabi 2. Terror Island 1. Shockwave

ROSARIO JEWELS WORTH PENNIES

WRITTEN BY: Kevin It started out with potential. A guilty Francesca wanted to return jewels she had stolen from Antonio in Rosario. Then, it all went bust. First, Amy's dad turns into a mummy, and Brad, Emily, Sean and Amy sneak into the house as if they are in an episode of Scooby-Doo. Then Annie almost chokes wearing the necklace, Hiliary mummifies, characters prematurely age, then Caitlin turns "demonic" ala "days of our lives" Marlena. It just didn't work. Worse, it did not make sense. They claimed that ANYONE who touched the jewels would begin to age, and most did but others didn't. Why didn't Cole, Annie, Olivia, and others age?? It was inconsistent and ineffective.

THE FINAL EPISODE

WRITTEN BY: Kevin The final episode of SB was great. After all the chaos in the city, everyone ended on a happy note (well, except Gregory). I wasn't sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed the conclusion. My only disappointment was that I did not get to see the characters all huddled together for a goodbye before the credits rolled. Since it had such a short run, maybe a network like E! or USA will buy the rights for syndication!!

DEREK

WRITTEN BY: Hazel The best thing about Sunset Beach has got to be the Terror Island storyline and anything to do with Derek and although he was really evil he was so funny he made Ben look boring. To see everybody scared out of their wits on the Island was brilliant I will never forget Meg in the kitchen when Derek came through the door with the mask on and she screamed her head off. She has to be the best one at that apart from Maria when she remembered falling off the boat in the grotto with Ben that was classic. Sunset Beach has done many great things but the twin storyline will always be the greatest closely followed by B and M wedding when Maria caught the flowers. It's just a shame Derek had to die!!

BEN'S REACTION AT 1ST RECEPTION

WRITTEN BY: Andrew I thought it was so funny when Ben told Ricardo and Tyus to get the hell off him because Maria was his wife right in front of Meg. it was hilarious to see her reaction.

DEREK GETS IT!!

WRITTEN BY: Chris Shaw My best memory was when Ben finally got rid of Derek once and for all!

MEG VS ANNIE

WRITTEN BY: Scott The best scene ever in SB was when Annie and Meg had there first fight, over Marias diary. It was so funny when they started smashing things and trashing Bette's house.

REUNION AT THE CASITA (Ben & Meg)

WRITTEN BY: ForeverBenMeg What can I say but that's my all time best memory.Clive & Susan were never HOTTER than they were then.Ben was so in love with Meg and Meg was so in love with Ben.They set that little Castia on fire with their passionate love making.

KANSAS

WRITTEN BY: Pamela When Ben went to get Meg back in Kansas had to be one of my all time favourites.He looked so gorgeous when driving up to her house in those sunglasses!!!

BEN/MEG

WRITTEN BY: Annie I love them together! Their chemistry in front of the camera was fantastic! Good job Clive and Susan!!!!

BEST:WICKED MEMORY

WRITTEN BY: Sandra Dawes The best memorie of sunset beach was When Meg,Sean,K.C,and co were on that dangerous island and Derek was wearing a mask killing and scaring everyone.The best bit was when Tim heard Mathews last words"It was Ben".THAT WAS CLASSIC.It's not fair don't America know that the British LOVE Sunset Beach.

ANNIE AND JUDE

WRITTEN BY: Sam Out of all the romantic couples, Annie and Jude were unable to live out their romance to the extent Ben and Meg did. I was really upset that there were not more scences of them together. I also did not like it that the SB writers gave Annie a love interest when the show was ending... that was not fair and I will always view them as the best couple of Sunset Beach even though it was short. Their romance was the best memory I could ever recall from Sunset Beach.

BEN AND MEG MARRY

WRITTEN BY: Michelle I think that the best memory is the last episode when Ben and Meg married although every episode was great they deserved to be together at the end. After all that they have went through the were my favorite actors and the best couple.

MA' FAVOURITES

WRITTEN BY: Emma My Favourite memories from SB is(I live in sweden, so I have just seen until Maria screaming and wake up at Cedar Oaks, And Derek and Ben falled out from the cliffside. But I saw the last episode when I was in Florida over new year's)

#10 Meg finds out that ben is SB. #9 Gabi and Antonio are in jail and talking about eeeh...hair? #8 When Vanessa "pignose" Dorman was�'nt in the show anymore! #7 When everyone tried to speak with an kansasaccent in the last episode. #6 Ben's proposal to Meg #5 Maria sneaks in to Tims room at cedar oaks. #4 Meg has some flashbacks of her and ben, after she founded the ashes. #3 Meg finds out that "Ben" is Derek. #2 Annies dreams, of course! #1 well...the last episode???

My number 1 worst memory:Marks dead. Was it only me who cried back then?

Best storyline:Terrror Island! Of course!

THE WHOLE PACKAGE BABY!!

WRITTEN BY: Jennifer I agree with just about everyone here. I am 18 and have never been hooked on any soap opera in my life until the day I watched "Sunset Beach". This show has brought tears to my eyes and laughs from my heart. I love each and every character and actor/actress from the show. I only wish that Sunset Beach WAS a nominatee for "Best New Daytime Drama" or whatever. One reason why this was a wonderful soap is because most people I went to high school with always knew about it because it attracted a younger audience to it. I feel that Sunset Beach would have gotten higher ratings if they had moved it to 3pm. I started watching it when "Terror Island" had started in Dec 97. From then on all the scandals, scheming, and stories kicked a$$! I fell in love with Antonio (Nick Kiriazis). He has like the best personality that I'd ever look for in my "perfect man". Plus he's fine as hell- but that's a different story. Also, I'd like to mention that everytime I watched the show, I felt like I was actually in it which drew me deeper into the plots. I've always been an inspiring actress and I wanted to get a role on the show (Looks like my chances of that happening is slim to none.) I truely wish that it can be brought on the air again cuz a lot more people would watch it. (Like my friends and I that graduated) =) My favorite charcters are Antonio (of course), Francessca, Annie, Carmen, Ricardo, Maria, Sara, & Skip (the dog). My favorite storyline was The Shockwave and The Rasarro Jewels cuz that's when everyone was together. Now about that whole Antonio/Gaby thing. I feel like the story should have gone this way. Antonio started having feelings for Gaby but Gaby is already commited to Ricardo. BUT! In walks this beautiful 5'4, asain model Jennifer. (Yep, that's me). Antonio and Jennifer went to high school together and they were first loves. Jennifer went to Paris to pursue a modeling career which didn't take off as well as she had hoped so she returns home to Sunset Beach. They fall in love again, Antonio leaves the priesthood, they get married, and Gaby had Ricardo. Well, all's I gotta say is that I really fell for Sunset Beach and all the characters in it. If anyone wants to write me and talk about Sunset Beach then feel free to email me at Carla99@uswest.net Love, Jennifer

SUNSET BEACH WILL BE #1 FOREVER!!!!!!!

WRITTEN BY: Lea I still remeber how Ben and Meg fell in love, it was so sweet! They went through all these hardships but in the end they made it through and really got married. I will never forget this show and I will never ever dedicate myself to another soap. NBC and UPN20 should bring back Sunset Beach. We don't know if Gabby and Antonio will get back together, or how Annie and Jude will turn out. Come on you guys BRING BACK Sunset Beach, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MEG AND BEN FOREVER!!!!

WRITTEN BY: S.B fans We have been watching Sunset Beach for 2 years now, and we love it more than ever! We live in norway so it's still going..:) here are our Best memories: #1.Ben and Meg's wedding (except from the part where Maria showed up) #2.Meg punching Annie in the face. #3.The old caitlin #4.when Michael proposed to Vanessa #5.The horror island #6.Michael finds out the truth about Virginia #7.The earthquake and the tidlewave #8.when Ben was rescued from Derek and the whole truth came out #9.Ben finding Meg, and realizes that she's the one he loves #10.Before Caitlin forgave her horrible "daddy".. #11.Emily and sean getting together #12.when Meg and Ben finds out that Annie and Tim have been trying to break them up! #13.when the Richards family lived happely together #14.When everyone finds out that Dana really is Maria! #15.When Ben comes visiting Meg and her family in Kansas, and they dance "country-style" Ben and Meg rules, down with Maria!!!

EVERYTHING

WRITTEN BY: Anna I used to hate soaps a couple of years ago. I thought they were cheesy and just plain dumb. Then one day I was bored and was flipping through the channels and saw a blond girl looking at a baby's grave and say, "Nobody will ever know that there's no baby inside that coffin." Yikes! I continued watching that episode, and before you can say scandolous I was hooked. I continued watching Sunset Beach until they took it off my NBC affilates. Even though I didn't get to see the last month, that soap introduced me to a whole new kind of television. What wasn't there to love about Sunset Beach? There were sexy guys(and to a raging hormonal 14 year old girl, that's sweet!), nice clothes, beautiful houses, weddings (almost), the bitches you love to hate, and Kathleen Noone! The only bad thing I would have to say about Sunset Beach is that it got cancelled. Good luck to all of the former cast members, and thank you for entertaining me for 1 hour, 5 days a week, for a 1 1/2 year.

BEN AND MEG IN THE CAVE

WRITTEN BY: Sam I have to say the time I laughed a lot was when Ben called Meg, Maria in the cave after they made love. Sorry Ben and Meg fans but that was a very good storyline. That was my favorite moment of the Ben and Meg history.

ANNIE AND JUDE

WRITTEN BY: Sam I have to say Annie and Jude gave off the most chemistry in my eyes. Their wittty lines and stares towards each other were amazing. I wish SB would have brought the whole Annie and Jude storyline earlier. Their romance only appeared on screen for a very short while and the couple was only introduced for 5 months. I am really disappointed that I was unable to see them more. I sometimes wonder if the show was stilling running... what would it be like? Will they be together? So many questions that could have been answered if only NBC let SB stay on the air. ANNIE AND JUDE WERE THE BEST COUPLE OF DAYTIME TV. That is all I have to say.

EDDIE CONNORS

WRITTEN BY: James Who can forget Eddie comming back to Sunset Beach after stealing the Deschanel jewels, dressing up in drag looking a lot like Olivia, it was the funniest moment on the show ever. Long live Sunset Beach

SUNSET BEACH - A POST MODERN SOAP OPERA

WRITTEN BY: Robert Rimmer Well it finished this week in the UK, and my Saturday's will be emptier without the first soap I've ever seen that played around with every rule of soap opera. What made it stand alone was it's consistent use of fantasy sequences to explore characters inner turmoil/lives - the chess scene/Jerry Springer/ even the Kansas dream. Also the visual/verbal references to other shows - in particular all of Sarah's TV dreams - from FRIENDS to CHARLIE'S ANGELS. The BEACH had style, wit and irony, to some it was just a soap, to me it was something special in the history of TV.

EVERYTHING BUT CAITLIN, SEAN, EMILY, AJ AND OF COURSE VANESSA AND MICHAEL

WRITTEN: Yvonne I didn't start watchin till August 98 and before had all I thought about this show was what absolute trash.But that soon changed.One of my favs was when "Ben" and Meg were at the cabin and she found the real Ben's "ashes"- Classic. As well as that when Maria walked in on Ben and Meg's wedding, you've got to love the way they made those flowers fly. And of course who can forget Sara and Annie's fantastic fantasies. Oh SB you will be missed!!

BEN AND MEG

WRITTEN BY: Helen B Once upon a time there were three little girls.... - excellent dream sequence Sara, right up there with Annie's numerous fantasies. I loved the entire show, but my fav was the heart-wrenching scene after Ben and Megs first wedding where Meg crys her heart out to Casey - sooo sad! Also that Meg and Ben end up together and the whingy Maria with her intensely overused "deer caught in headlights" look doesn't get Ben. Also Ben in v-neck jumpers, and Father Antonio in anything. God, I'm going to miss this soap!!!

BEN AND MEG IN KANSAS

WRITTEN BY: Lynn My all time favorite SB moment, was when Ben went to Kansas to find Meg. The episode that showed him driving away without her, broke my heart. I kept thinking how can she let him go.

THOSE CHEESEY MOMENTS!

WRITTEN BY: Matthew Robinson Here's my top 3! #3 AJ full stop, he is a cheese! #2 The final episode, it was good, but it would have been better if Annie could find her true love, but still HATE olivia. #1 The rosario jewels ending! who could forget that final moment in the church, everyone's wrinkle (ha ha) fade and emily can see, topped off with a cast shoot lokking outside, it's snowing! what a miracle!

ANNIE

WRITTEN BY: Matthew Annie was just soooo funny.Who can forget her daydreams with Olivia dressed up as Cruella De Vill. I say bring her back.

WELL DONE HANK CHEYNE

WRITTEN BY: Naomi Miller The best moments of Sunset Beach were the very last few episodes when Ricardo confronted Gabi and Antonio, and then when he and Antonio made peace with each other it actually had my in tears, Hank Cheyene portrayed Ricardo in a way I've never seen before and I will never forget that I say well done to Hank !!!

SUNSET BEACH WORST MEMORY

AND IT JUST KEPT GOING...

WRITTEN BY: Claire My worst memory? The number of times someone would say, 'I have to tell you what's going on', at which point you just knew it wasn't going to be told. The way story lines were dragged out way past their sell-by dates was frustrating, but funny as well.

WHO SHOT FRANCESCA?

WRITTEN BY: SB Fanatic What started out as a promising murder mystery with a potential for countless of storyline plot twists went down the drain. From the shooting to Francesca in a cat suit outfit being dragged all over by drunks to being mistake for a stripper and popping out the cake, I was impressed and anticipated how this story would unfold. Then it fizzled. The story was lame, dry and did nothing but bored me to tears. It wasted months on nothing, put Caitlin in jail for weeks for nothing...and what's worse made Gregory a killer! UGH!

THE LAST SHOW-THE WEDDING OF BEN AND HIS PARAMOUR, MEG

WRITTEN BY: Louise Gebauer The writers chose to ignore the fact that the tide had changed, and the viewers chose Maria. Ben an Meg used and abused her constantly. The writers must be high school boys, because they changed Ben into a "dog". Meg slept in Maria's' house, in Maria's' Bedroom, in Maria's bed, with Maria's husband, AND MARIA SLEPT IN THE NEXT BEDROOM. Plus many more indignities, and we Maria fans never saw any paybacks. The whole thing became ridiculous, as they tried to please the teeny-bopper audience. That is why the show went down.

BYE-BYE FRANNY!!

WRITTEN BY: Bobo It's funny but this was also one of my favorite moments of Sunset Beach. That moment would be Francesca's murder. I watched SB on and off but really got hooked permanently the week of Francesca's murder. Now of course this was my worst memory because this meant the demise of good ole Franny. I always hoped that Lisa Guerro Cole was going to return but she didn't and in my opinion Sunset just was never the same without her. She really added something special to the show...fun.

THINKING OUT LOUD

WRITTEN BY: Anna Everyone's thinking out loud all the time, even if it is their darkest secrets. The worst was when Derek was planning to kill Meg, and he was at Ben's house with Meg and Joan. They were talking about the wedding to be, and Meg and Joan decided to rush out and do some shopping. Before they had closed the door, before they had gotten out, Derek said, real loud: "No Meg, there's not going to be a wedding!! - unless I can get those passwords from my brother Ben" It's just soooooo bad.

ROSARIO JEWELS

WRITTEN BY: Scott This was the most unrealistic storyline ever used in SB. The ending to this storyline was too happy, it would have been more fun if Cole and Francesca hadn't managed to return them in time.

BEN AND MARIA 4EVER

WRITTEN BY: Hazel Although here in Britain we still have a month to go. I know Ben and Meg get to together. I am so mad at the writers for doing this. They could have done so much with the storyline especially when Ben was remembering his life with Maria it was so stupid that him and Meg getting together at Palm Springs. After all the mucking around with this storyline the writers should have let Maria get with Ben. Has everyone forgotten that Maria was Ben's one true love miles before Meg. Although I will miss Sunset Beach I will be forever mad that two people who were so obviously meant to be never got together. BEN AND MARIA

RUN BEN RUN

WRITTEN BY: Amber My worst memory is after Ben ran into Meg, and they made love in that casita. It was disgusting to me, because Maria would have been worried sick about him, if she had not been distracted with the fact that he brother was in the hospital. It proved to me that Ben and Meg are both selfish, while Maria stands in a class by herself, and is truly amazing... :o)

THE TURKEY BASTER

WRITTEN BY: Johannes It was the worst Storyline. I wish it never happened! Everything in it was bad

MARIA

WRITTEN BY: Kay From the day she showed up, I have hated her. In my opinion, Maria was the downfall of SB. She was whiny and had no backbone. For all of you Meg-haters out there, who was the one who had the courage to walk away from a man who was not treating her right? Meg. Maria stayed around like a stray puppy waiting for a bone. If I was her I would never want to stay in the house with my husband who was obviously in love with someone else. It also annoyed me that she was constantly threatening Ben or Meg to get her way. She weaseled her way back into that house by telling Ben that she would take Benjy if he didn't let her stay there. She overdramatized everything and if there is one good thing about SB being cancelled, it is that I will never have to see her again. *Ben & Meg Forever!*

GABI & ANTONIO

WRITTEN BY: Elizabeth How many times did we hear "we can't let Ricardo find the tape of us making love" or see a "cave in" flashback? I was so glad to see that die down.

THE JEWELS WHICH LED TO A MURDER

WRITTEN BY: Jay What ran from Halloween with Annie choking on a necklace at a party to Christmas with wierd spiritual things happening in a rather bizzare re-union of characters from Amys father going from being dead to alive. It really took the soap to its lowest level. Ok so everyone knows its far fetched but lets have things that could potentially happen. I feel this marked the axe on the soap, it just took so long for producers, directors and other memebers of the cast to fight back, and finally they lost.

TOP 5 WORST MOMENTS

WRITTEN BY: Sara 5. Dominique Jennings left the show 4. Lisa Guerro Coles left the show 3. Eddie Cibrian left the show 2. Ricardo tell Gabi that she was a whore 1. Ricardo and Gabi not ending up together

(If you can't tell I'm a Ricardo and Gabi fan all the way!)

DEREK AND MARIA'S DISGUSTING ROLLS IN THE HAY!!!!

WRITTEN BY: ForeverBenMeg Well after her quickie with Ben which made me sick her rolls in the hay with Derek were just as bad made me sick to watch.I felt bad for Derek/Clive who looked pyhically ill.I would have rather seen Derek and UNMEG doing it then Derek and Maria.

WORST "LOVE SCENE" (IF YOU COULD EVEN CALL IT THAT) IN HISTORY

WRITTEN BY: Isis Maria and Ben at the deep hands down, I had to turn of the show for good while until Derek came on the scene again and made everything right again. Thank you Derek for showing everyone once and for all how deep Maria's love for Ben really was.

DAX GRIFFIN IS A "TOP OF THE LINE" THESPIAN

WRITTEN BY: Achee' Dax Griffin is one of the finest actors that I have ever seen on TV, Movies, or theatrical pieces. The show made a critical mistake for not ever making such an incredible thespian, like Dax Griffin, an intrical part of the day to day drama. It is typical of daytime television execs to hold back such an incredible talent. Dax Griffin, salut.

MARIA COMING BACK

WRITTEN BY: Paul Thats easy Maria, she spoiled Ben and Meg relationship. It was so ovious Ben loved Meg, and just hung around like a bad smell.

At least Ben and Meg ended together, there love for each other was amazing.

I really love Meg and i so happy, she found Ben again, and defeated that witch Maria.

THAT TERRIBLE VIRGINIA

WRITTEN BY: Carin I think that the worst thing in the whole story of sunset beach is virginia... I hate her so much:

1. trying to take michael away from Vanessa. 2. going to the witch putting the horrible desiese on Vanessa 3. lying to Michael so he can't keep on looking for her. She's just disgusting!

MEG

WRITTEN BY: Elissa I am sorry but since I have watched Sunset Beach I have disliked Meg immensely. Someone said Maria was whiny with no backbone. Excuse me but who was the one always whining and complaining about Ben and everything else and always saying I'm fine when it was obvious she wasn't. Maria and Ben belong together. Maria is the one with a backbone. She let Ben be with Meg even though she loved him with all her heart. In my opinion Tim and Meg were perfect for each other. And don't forget Ben and Meg would never have been together if Maria was still alive. No offense but you Ben and Meg fans need to realize that Maria is the one you should like not Meg. But in the end I'm glad she got happiness even if it wasn't with her soulmate Ben. I was overjoyed when she caught the bouquet at the wedding. Ben and Maria forever!!!!!

OTHER MEMORIES

THE REVELATION OF FRANCESCA'S MURDERER

WRITTEN BY: Kathryn I loved when Gregory was finally pinned for the murder of Francesca Vargas. It was pure genius the way Cole and Annie did it. I loved when Gregory forced Francesca to turn around only to reveal Annie in a wig. "Surprise Gregory." Was by far the best/most dramatic line ever used. Annie pulled off that scene wonderfully.

SUNSET BEACH

WRITTEN BY: Ivette Since the show went off air, I find myself at a complete loss. I miss Sunset Beach and wish that it would return on air. I found myself watching the new soap Passions, and feeling bitter and resentment towards that cast and crew. The acting skills on that show has a lot to be desired. I cannot believe that Passions ratings outnumbered Sunset Beach! I miss Sunset Beach and each and every character. The were alive and believable. They were able to suck us into their world and become one of them. Not many shows can do that. I am still in mourning over the fact it is no longer on. I refuse to dedicate myself to another soap unless the cast of Sunset Beach unite again. Thank you all for entertaining me for the short time on air. What a fantastic memory! Sunset Beach will never be topped in my book. Good luck to all. I miss you!!!

THE BEST SHOW

WRITTEN BY: Mikayla I've been watching the show from day 1 and I only got to miss about less than 10 episodes for the past 3 years of the show. How could NBC be so insensitive to the viewers of Sunset Beach! The show deserved more than the treatment they got from NBC-it is the best soap that ever existed! Sunset Beach had everything-crazy story lines, good love triangles and undoubtedly AMAZING actors. I still haven't seen the final episode nor do I think I will because the local station which airs sunset beach here has cancelled it when we should have still had 7 more months of watching it! But from what I've read, I also think that Olivia was given someone to love-that is Gregory. He shouldn't have been sent to jail, they should have just let him escape or something and just run away to a far off place with Olivia where they can start all over again!!! Another thing is that why didn't the Soap Opera Awards consider Sunset Beach as a nominee??? That moment of Olivia losing her children which from what I've read was really sad and a tearjerker would have stood a fight against all other actresses from those other age old soaps!!! NBC should have just given Sunset Beach time and I'm sure its audience share would increase. Sunset Beach is one show that only people with brains and correct thinking would watch and support. So the people who axed them are bird brained!

BEN AND MEG

WRITTEN BY: Therese Karlsen Since the first episode i have had Ben and Meg as my favourite couple in sunset beac. And i guess my worst memory was when Maria entered the reception in their wedding. It was horrible to see the look of everyones faces especially Meg. And i felt so sorry for her when Maria faited and Ben ran to her. Since i live in Norway i havent seen all the episodes yet(here in norway fransceska has just been killed) so it will probably come scenes that i will like more. But of all the scenes i have seen so fare my favourite is when Ben and Meg find each other in that left cabin. And finally Ben understands it is Meg he loves and not Maria. And it`s so fun to see the look of Marias face when she finds out.

MEG AND MEG

WRITTEN BY: Sarah My best part was when the real Meg had a break and another actress was playing her part for a couple of weeks. Then when the real meg returned she was told by her sister that she looked different somehow and had she changed her hair. Hhhhhmmmmmm.

MY FAVS...

WRITTEN BY: Alison #10. Maria catching Meg's flowers and finally being revealed to everybody after about 15 near misses with Ben. #9. Terror Island and the Derek Saga. #8. Cole and Caitlin's wedding. #7. The Cave in!!! CHEMISTRY. #6. The daydreams...Sara's and Annie's...so funny! #5. Maria's meeting Ross. A guy that will aprecaite her. #4. Last Episode. It was so sad. #3. Everybody, mostly Gabi trying to do a Kansas voice. #2. Shockwave #1. Casey proposial to Sara. I've never seen anything sweeter. #1 Hated Thing... Meg/Ben-Eewwwwwwwww

THE FIRST HOOK

WRITTEN BY: Jaqui Robertson I'll never forget the first time I watched Sunset Beach, when it hadn't long started here in Scotland. I thought it was so bad, that I had to watch it again the next day, just to see what would happen of course. I promised myself that I would not watch such a cheesy soap again, but aginst my better judgement, I did in fact become one of its many greatest fans, as well as getting all my friends to watch it. It wasn't too hard to find new recruits, and all my closest friends are SB fans. (I wouldn't have it any other way). SB hasn't finished here yet, but it will be a sad day when it does. Aaron Spelling, you are a genius!

EVERYTHING

WRITTEN BY: Morgan Sunset Beach is the first soap opera I ever watched. I had seen episodes of soaps here and there, but was one of those people who belive that they are a lower form of entertainment. A friend began watching and I wanted to know what she was talking about. I began watching sporadically while I was home on occassion. I enjoyed it, but refused to admity. I didn't watch again until August of 1998 and from then on I had not missed a day. Why Sunset? Well, every other soap opera I have seen looks the same to me. They may have the prestige, but I could not watch them and have fun. With Sunset I had fun watching these characters and their lives.I never actually saw Sunset as a good show, but that didn't matter to me, that's not why I was watching it. It's intent, for me, was to be an entertaining show. Sadly, as it ended, it started to become a good show. Had NBC promoted it correctly I am sure that it would have risen in the ratings and become a great show. While watching I always thought no matter what, everyone involved gave their best and them some. The acting improved, as did the writing. I love most things about it. The characters are interesting. But one of my favorite things about the show was doing A Week on the Beach for this site. I was not always consistent, which I regret, but I had fun doing it for you all. Lower points were the turkey baster and as I go through and watch old tapes I can't belive that the writers actually gave Virginia those horrid lines. The Rosario Jewels could have been much better. But I think towards the end Sunset understood this and were trying their damn hardest to make a good show, which they succeeded in. As I did in my final Week on the Beach, I want to thank each and every cast member and crew member for their dedication to our little show that we will always love and miss. Good luck to all of you, we'll be watching.

COLE AND CAITLIN

WRITTEN BY: Alice I live in Finland and we have still year to go until Sunset Beach end. In Finland Hillary has just died and Francesca has found out that one of the Rosario愀 jewels is missing. My favorite moment on SB is when Caitlin realise that Cole and Francesca has stold Annie愀 neclase. It was so great when Cole tried to explane it to Caitlin. Cole and Caitlin愀 wedding was one of the greatest momets too. The worst storyline was Martin syndrome. It was so borring when Vanessa lived in Tyus愀 house hiding from Michael!

BASTING CHICKEN WILL NEVER BE THE SAME

WRITTEN BY: Karen Virgina - oh Virginia. The scene where she had impregnated Vanessa with the turkey baster - what a hoot!!!! The scene where it came up in captions 'don't worry folks it's a new one' when she went to Michael and Vanessas for Thanksgiving and bought a turkey baster out of her bag! Also Olivias dream scene where every one in turn pops up in her bed ending with the maid also turning up was a scream! I'll miss you Sunset Beach!

MEMORIES

WRITTEN BY: Hannah For me I loved all the Annie drama and flashbacks, the way her character was so alive and mischevious was great! I hope they show re-runs coz I never did get to see the one with wipped cream, but I heard it was good. The worst part, apart from it being axed :( *sob* was the way the storylines dragged on forever, although it made going on holiday so much easier, lol. And I never did find out what happened to Francesca when she got to hell.....long live the memories of sunset beach, always and forever.

FUNNIEST

WRITTEN BY: Deborah - London I think some of the funniest scenes have been those supposedley set in England. The Policemen looking for Cole on the plane, soon after he and Annie landed in London were "oh so very polite", (Yeah right) And the scene with Cole (somewhere in England) in an old red phonebox surrounded by thick fog!! What a hoot! so very corny so Sunset Beachy!

THE SPEECH BUBBLES

WRITTEN BY: Sparks Does anyone remember those speech bubbles that appeared a couple of times? First time I saw them was when Maria was sketching Ben's picture, and then appeared this bubble that said something like "We know that doesn't look like Ben". And the second time was when Virginia went to Vanessa's and Michael's house for Thanksgiving. Vanessa asked "Did you bring the turkey baster?" and Virginia got it from her bag. Then came the bubble and said "Don't worry folks, this is brand new!". I wish there would have been more of these bubbles, although SB hasn't ended here in Finland yet, so I'll just keep on waiting for them to appear...

RECENT INDECENT EXPOSURE

WRITTEN BY: Erica I'm no puritan or anything, but I've to say that I'm a little upset with Susan Ward's recent "indecent" exposure (the new pics). Although she definitely looked hot in those pictures, I still think it was indecent. She's a beautiful and talented actor. She shouldn't pose for those skin-barring photos just to get publicity.

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN COOL IF...

WRITTEN BY: Sam If SB ended with Meg hugging Ben and Ben gives a look that implies he is really Derek... it would have been different.

OTHER MEMORY

WRITTEN BY: James Remember when Ben broke out of his chains after Dereck was continually taunting him, it showed the true power of his love for Meg and to an extent the weakness of the handcuffs. But that does not matter, the best show on Television is gone but I live in hope of re-runs, all the best from Irelands biggest Sunset Beach fan!

HOT MEN!!!

WRITTEN BY: Bianca The acting was hilarious (although no disrespect to the actors), the sets always the same and so extravigant, the fashion was out of this world and the story lines, well what can I say!! However, the men in Sunset were all gorgeous - starting off with Casey - what a body, Cole - those dimples, Antonio - if only priests were that hot we would all convert and believe!, and my personal favourite Jude - wow what a body and all his little karate antics were out of this world! Shame he came along in the end!! Never will Saturday afternoons (that's when I saw SB in the UK), be so eventful! I will truly miss these men in my life!!

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Click To Tweet What is a message architecture? A message architecture, sometimes called a messaging architecture or messaging framework, is a small set of words – terms, phrases, or statements – arranged hierarchically to convey an organization's messaging priorities, its communication goals. It helps people in all departments deliver consistent messages in all types of content. It's called an architecture because it acts as “scaffolding for your content, supporting and shaping the content you actually produce,” Erin Kissane says in her book, The Elements of Content Strategy. When marketers say “messages” or “messaging,” they aren't talking about customer-facing content; they're talking about the general impression they want customers to take away from the content. Messaging is not copy; it's subtext. So, while a message architecture consists of words, it doesn't tell content creators what words to use. It tells them what messages their words (and images, etc.) should convey and the order of importance of those messages. While a message architecture should align with the corporate vision, mission, and brand values, it's not the same as any of those things. It has three distinguishing qualities (as noted in Margot's book, Content Strategy at Work): It conveys levels of priority. It's actionable (in that it directly informs content decisions). It's specific to communication. HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: The One Brief Statement That Will Refine Your Content Marketing What does a message architecture look like? Message architectures can take various forms. Margot's takes the form of a set of “prioritized brand attributes that stem from a shared vocabulary.” Her typical message architecture is “a concise outline of … attributes, each with sub-bullets that clarify meaning and add color.” For example, her interpretation of Apple's message architecture looks something like this: Adapted from Margot Bloomstein's presentation Be a Greedy Bastard: Use Content Strategy to Get What You Want, Slide 26 This example resembles a description of a corporate voice. Unlike most voice descriptions, though, this list is hierarchical – the elements appear in order of importance. Here, the top item in the hierarchy – “confident but approachable” – takes priority. This type of list tells content creators which attributes to emphasize when brainstorming blog topics, choosing words, sketching images, creating videos, crafting emails … you name it. Margot gives a similarly structured example for a “stately financial institution”: Adapted from Margot Bloomstein, Term of the Week: Message Architecture This example does more than the previous one. It conveys not only characteristics but also purpose. It's a hybrid, telling us not just what this institution is like (respected, relevant, trusted – elements of voice, essentially) but also what it does: It focuses on large-cap funds and serves an exclusive class of investors. Message architectures can go all the way in this direction, becoming architectures not of attributes but of statements – of messages, in fact. This approach to message architecture would complement a definition of voice rather than double as one. Kristina Halvorson gives one such example: Adapted from Kristina Halvorson, Message and Medium: Better Content by Design If you used a two-tier architecture like this, you might want to further prioritize by putting secondary messages in order of importance. As Margot suggested to me in an email, prioritizing the secondary messages would make the architecture even more useful for resolving “conflicts of vision.” Who wouldn't love a tool that does that? Margot and Kristina's approaches aren't the only ones out there. For example, in her book, The Content Strategy Toolkit, Meghan Casey describes what she calls a messaging framework, which builds on a core content strategy statement. Her messaging framework has three parts: First impression: What you want people to feel when they first encounter any piece of your content Value statement: What you want people to feel after spending a few minutes with any piece of your content because of what they now understand about your company Proof: How any piece of your content demonstrates that your company provides just what people need Which form of message architecture should you choose? Here's how Meghan answers that question in her book: “It really doesn't matter, as long as you adhere to the following: Make sure everyone who needs it has it. Actually use it to make decisions about content. Keep in mind that the messages are for you and the people in your organization who work on content.” I especially like that middle bullet: Whichever form of message architecture you pick, it has to be one that your team will use. Whichever form of message architecture you pick, it has to be one your team will use, says @meghscase.Click To Tweet What's the value of a message architecture? A message architecture's value lies in its ability to clarify, for every content creator, the organization's most important messages. A message architecture scales beautifully, too, coming in as handy for a team of three as for a team of 3,000. As shown in the following two illustrations, a single message architecture can apply across all departments and all audiences. Adapted from Hilary Marsh, Managing the Politics of Content, Slides 37 and 38. When an organization has no message architecture, its content teams working in departmental silos may create “a semi-schizophrenic brand experience” (to borrow a phrase from an email from Intel's K. Scott Rosenberg). With a message architecture, organizations have a better chance of communicating consistently. #Content teams working in departmental silos may create “a semi-schizophrenic brand experience,” says @kscottr.Click To Tweet HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Are Organizational Silos Keeping Your Content Marketing Team From Success? How can my organization create a message architecture? There's no right process for creating a message architecture. Since I've heard Margot talk through the card-sorting exercise she uses with her clients, I'll describe that exercise here to give you one idea to try. I trust that you'll find it worthwhile. Take it from Elizabeth McGuane, who says, All in all, it was an incredibly useful exercise. It really gives clarity to something which can often be … fuzzy and subjective, and it gets [participants] involved – they loved it! Here's how the folks at Asana describe their experience with this type of exercise: We were convinced. There was energy around our brand like never before. Join the fun. Follow these seven steps. 1. Pick a leader. Someone needs to lead the exercise. You may want to hire a consultant to facilitate. Alternatively, someone in-house could take the role. The leader must be capable of keeping participants aligned on the exercise's purpose, which is not to select a handful of words but to reach agreement on the brand's most important messages. 2. Prepare a set of adjective cards. If your organization already settled on a set of adjectives that describe its corporate voice, you may want to simply write those adjectives on cards, have your stakeholders prioritize them, and skip to Step 5. If your organization hasn't defined its voice, or if you want to update your voice definition, follow all these steps. You'll end up defining your corporate voice and prioritizing its elements to boot. Create a set of cards, each with one adjective on it (a descriptive word or phrase) that might describe a brand – any brand: “innovative,” “traditional,” “edgy,” etc. The cards can be as simple as handwritten slips of paper. Margot's card deck includes about 100 adjectives. Her set of adjectives – which you can also find on Page 30 of Content Strategy at Work – comprises terms she has heard across a range of companies and industries, including these types: Paired terms (“strategic” and “tactical”) Relative opposites (“traditional” and “modern”) Terms on a continuum (“assertive” and “aggressive”) Photo courtesy of Margot Bloomstein Here are some tips on selecting your adjectives. Unless otherwise noted, these tips come from this conversation and this conversation in the Content Strategy Google group. “Start with what you hear a lot, and a thesaurus. In general, I include a lot of terms that could be opposites (e.g., traditional and modern, strategic and tactical) as well as terms that represent shades of nuance on the same continuum (e.g., leading edge, cutting edge, bleeding edge). See Krista Stevens' blog post for more details.” (Margot) Include words that the stakeholders have “already used in the past to describe their brand.” Also “cannibalize” your tone of voice and writing guidelines, and throw in “terms that have come up in user testing, design concepts, anything at all.” (Elizabeth McGuane) “We've been taking commonly used words like ‘funny,' and trying to break them down further into more specific terms, like ‘cheeky,' ‘witty,' ‘tongue-in-cheek,' for example.” (Aimee Cornell) If you use Margot's terms, “pre-cull” those you think are most relevant and conducive to discussion in your group. (Sadia Latifi) Exclude terms that might be “distracting” or “potentially inflammatory” for that group. (Margot, Content Strategy at Work) Include terms that are “intentionally ambiguous to invite discourse.” (Margot, Content Strategy at Work) HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Focus Your Marketing: Define Your 3(ish) Critical Words 3. Gather stakeholders in a room. An effective message architecture depends on a shared vocabulary grounded in conversation; no one can go off and create message architecture alone. Invite everyone who needs to be involved in the decisions and everyone whose support will be needed. 4. Sort the cards. Spread your cards on a table big enough that everyone can stand on the same side. Spend 45 to 60 minutes sorting the cards. Separate the cards into three groups: Who we are Who we're not Who we'd like to be Photo courtesy of Margot Bloomstein As you sort, encourage conversation, even friendly arguing. People need to “unpack their communication goals and dig into the buzzwords.” Explore why certain adjectives apply or don't. Dig deep and “debate the nuances of each word.” Discuss what the adjectives mean in your corporate culture. (This is where the “shared vocabulary” comes in.) Let me say all that in a different way: Treat the adjectives as springboards for conversation. The value of the terms on the cards doesn't come from their inherent meaning; it comes from what the participants say about them. Write down what people say as they move the cards around. “The pauses, hesitation, and snap decisions are all worth noting,” Margot writes in Content Strategy at Work. Eventually, your message architecture must do more than transcribe the cards; it must capture the spirit of the conversation. Say the group chooses “hip.” That choice in itself doesn't tell you much. But say you overhear someone saying this about the term: “Everyone thinks we're old and can't react as quickly as the competition” (Content Strategy at Work). Now there's an insight that could give content creators some guidance! You may eventually want to capture the gist of that comment – not just the adjective – in your message architecture. When the cards are sorted into the three groups, turn your focus to the future group (who we'd like to be). If you need multiple message architectures – maybe one for customer-facing content and another for internal communication – sort the future cards into natural groupings. For example, one group of terms might describe the way participants want potential customers to think about the company; another group of terms might describe the ideal corporate culture. Finally, place the future cards – within their groups if you have more than one group – in priority order. (This is where the “architecture” comes in.) Why? Companies can't communicate everything at once. Content creators need to know where to focus. 5. Document your message architecture. Draft your message architecture. Keep it tight. (The three examples above use fewer than 60 words each.) Capture not just the adjectives people chose during the exercise but also the spirit of the ongoing conversation. As Margot says, “Words are valuable, but meaningless without context and priority.” Words are valuable, but meaningless without context & priority, says @mbloomstein via @marciarjohnston.Click To Tweet As you shape your message architecture, keep your mind open. A bulleted list may suffice, but you may want to go further. Experiment. Turn your words into a picture. Carve them in clay. Let the message architecture itself be your guide. Is “whimsical” your company's top attribute? Stencil your message architecture's elements on helium balloons, letting the most important one literally float to the top. Send your message architecture to stakeholders for review. Revise it until people agree that you have your North Star. (Star-shaped balloons, anyone?) 6. Distribute your message architecture. Share the message architecture with all who create and maintain your company's content. 7. Keep communicating. Creating a message architecture doesn't ensure that people will use it. Follow up to keep the team in sync – a task that Carrie Hane Dennison calls strategic nagging. Even the most gung-ho professionals need reminders of what they're doing and why. For more on this card-sorting exercise, see these two books: Margot Bloomstein, Content Strategy at Work (Chapter 2) Meghan Casey, The Content Strategy Toolkit (pp. 195–197) Conclusion “I start nearly every engagement by helping my clients develop a message architecture,” Margot shared with me. “It's a simple deliverable that serves as the foundation for all our subsequent tactical decisions and activities.” Message architecture. Simple. Foundational. Useful. And – if approached with an open spirit – fun. What more can we ask of any tool? Give this one a try. Let us know how it works for you. HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Scaling Content Marketing: How CSC Put the Content Hub to Work Sign up for our weekly Content Strategy for Marketers e-newsletter, which features exclusive stories and insights from CMI Chief Content Adviser Robert Rose. If you're like many other marketers we meet, you'll come to look forward to reading his thoughts every Saturday. Visit our Teams and Process hub to get more insights and tools that will help you work more effectively as a team. Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute The post Use This Simple (& Fun) Tool to Design Your Content Marketing Message Architecture appeared first on Content Marketing Institute. http://bit.ly/2pMSg94

[hotspreadpage]

Use This Simple (& Fun) Tool to Design Your Content Marketing Message Architecture

Editor’s note: You may have missed this article when CMI published it last year. We’re sharing it now, with minor edits, because a solid message architecture makes all the difference when you’re planning your content.

What is your brand’s most distinctive trait?

What’s the most important thing your company does?

What’s the main reason people should do business with you?

Do you know? Does everyone in your company know? Do your organization’s blog posts, podcasts, videos, emails, and other communications convey the answers to these questions in one way or another day after day?

Consistency like that, believe it or not, is achievable. Maybe you think that your company is too big, too loosely structured, or too (fill in the blank). Don’t throw up your hands. Tools exist that can help you bring your organization’s messaging into alignment. One such tool favored by many content strategists – a surprisingly simple but powerful tool – is the message architecture.

Why should you read on?

If you don’t have a message architecture in place, you’re missing out on something of value. Creating content without a message architecture is like building a house without a floor plan. Katie Del Angel shared with me other metaphors:

A clearly articulated message architecture is my best friend. It’s a North Star that everyone on a project (internal and external) can work toward.

Margot Bloomstein says, “Content strategy is what makes content marketing effective,” and “driving that strategy is the message architecture.”

#Contentmarketing relies on #contentstrategy, which relies on message architecture via @mbloomstein. Click To Tweet

Kristina Halvorson puts it this way: Message architecture is “where your content really begins.”

Where does content begin? With a message architecture, says @halvorson via @marciarjohnston. Click To Tweet

What is a message architecture?

A message architecture, sometimes called a messaging architecture or messaging framework, is a small set of words – terms, phrases, or statements – arranged hierarchically to convey an organization’s messaging priorities, its communication goals. It helps people in all departments deliver consistent messages in all types of content.

It’s called an architecture because it acts as “scaffolding for your content, supporting and shaping the content you actually produce,” Erin Kissane says in her book, The Elements of Content Strategy. When marketers say “messages” or “messaging,” they aren’t talking about customer-facing content; they’re talking about the general impression they want customers to take away from the content.

Messaging is not copy; it’s subtext.

So, while a message architecture consists of words, it doesn’t tell content creators what words to use. It tells them what messages their words (and images, etc.) should convey and the order of importance of those messages.

While a message architecture should align with the corporate vision, mission, and brand values, it’s not the same as any of those things. It has three distinguishing qualities (as noted in Margot’s book, Content Strategy at Work):

It conveys levels of priority.

It’s actionable (in that it directly informs content decisions).

It’s specific to communication.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: The One Brief Statement That Will Refine Your Content Marketing

What does a message architecture look like?

Message architectures can take various forms. Margot’s takes the form of a set of “prioritized brand attributes that stem from a shared vocabulary.” Her typical message architecture is “a concise outline of … attributes, each with sub-bullets that clarify meaning and add color.”

For example, her interpretation of Apple’s message architecture looks something like this:

Adapted from Margot Bloomstein’s presentation Be a Greedy Bastard: Use Content Strategy to Get What You Want, Slide 26

This example resembles a description of a corporate voice. Unlike most voice descriptions, though, this list is hierarchical – the elements appear in order of importance. Here, the top item in the hierarchy – “confident but approachable” – takes priority. This type of list tells content creators which attributes to emphasize when brainstorming blog topics, choosing words, sketching images, creating videos, crafting emails … you name it.

Margot gives a similarly structured example for a “stately financial institution”:

Adapted from Margot Bloomstein, Term of the Week: Message Architecture

This example does more than the previous one. It conveys not only characteristics but also purpose. It’s a hybrid, telling us not just what this institution is like (respected, relevant, trusted – elements of voice, essentially) but also what it does: It focuses on large-cap funds and serves an exclusive class of investors.

Message architectures can go all the way in this direction, becoming architectures not of attributes but of statements – of messages, in fact. This approach to message architecture would complement a definition of voice rather than double as one. Kristina Halvorson gives one such example:

Adapted from Kristina Halvorson, Message and Medium: Better Content by Design

If you used a two-tier architecture like this, you might want to further prioritize by putting secondary messages in order of importance. As Margot suggested to me in an email, prioritizing the secondary messages would make the architecture even more useful for resolving “conflicts of vision.”

Who wouldn’t love a tool that does that?

Margot and Kristina’s approaches aren’t the only ones out there. For example, in her book, The Content Strategy Toolkit, Meghan Casey describes what she calls a messaging framework, which builds on a core content strategy statement. Her messaging framework has three parts:

First impression: What you want people to feel when they first encounter any piece of your content

Value statement: What you want people to feel after spending a few minutes with any piece of your content because of what they now understand about your company

Proof: How any piece of your content demonstrates that your company provides just what people need

Which form of message architecture should you choose? Here’s how Meghan answers that question in her book:

“It really doesn’t matter, as long as you adhere to the following:

Make sure everyone who needs it has it.

Actually use it to make decisions about content.

Keep in mind that the messages are for you and the people in your organization who work on content.”

I especially like that middle bullet: Whichever form of message architecture you pick, it has to be one that your team will use.

Whichever form of message architecture you pick, it has to be one your team will use, says @meghscase. Click To Tweet

What’s the value of a message architecture?

A message architecture’s value lies in its ability to clarify, for every content creator, the organization’s most important messages.

A message architecture scales beautifully, too, coming in as handy for a team of three as for a team of 3,000. As shown in the following two illustrations, a single message architecture can apply across all departments and all audiences.

Adapted from Hilary Marsh, Managing the Politics of Content, Slides 37 and 38.

When an organization has no message architecture, its content teams working in departmental silos may create “a semi-schizophrenic brand experience” (to borrow a phrase from an email from Intel’s K. Scott Rosenberg). With a message architecture, organizations have a better chance of communicating consistently.

#Content teams working in departmental silos may create “a semi-schizophrenic brand experience,” says @kscottr. Click To Tweet

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Are Organizational Silos Keeping Your Content Marketing Team From Success?

How can my organization create a message architecture?

There’s no right process for creating a message architecture. Since I’ve heard Margot talk through the card-sorting exercise she uses with her clients, I’ll describe that exercise here to give you one idea to try. I trust that you’ll find it worthwhile. Take it from Elizabeth McGuane, who says,

All in all, it was an incredibly useful exercise. It really gives clarity to something which can often be … fuzzy and subjective, and it gets [participants] involved – they loved it!

Here’s how the folks at Asana describe their experience with this type of exercise:

We were convinced. There was energy around our brand like never before.

Join the fun. Follow these seven steps.

1. Pick a leader.

Someone needs to lead the exercise. You may want to hire a consultant to facilitate. Alternatively, someone in-house could take the role. The leader must be capable of keeping participants aligned on the exercise’s purpose, which is not to select a handful of words but to reach agreement on the brand’s most important messages.

2. Prepare a set of adjective cards.

If your organization already settled on a set of adjectives that describe its corporate voice, you may want to simply write those adjectives on cards, have your stakeholders prioritize them, and skip to Step 5.

If your organization hasn’t defined its voice, or if you want to update your voice definition, follow all these steps. You’ll end up defining your corporate voice and prioritizing its elements to boot.

Create a set of cards, each with one adjective on it (a descriptive word or phrase) that might describe a brand – any brand: “innovative,” “traditional,” “edgy,” etc. The cards can be as simple as handwritten slips of paper. Margot’s card deck includes about 100 adjectives. Her set of adjectives – which you can also find on Page 30 of Content Strategy at Work – comprises terms she has heard across a range of companies and industries, including these types:

Paired terms (“strategic” and “tactical”)

Relative opposites (“traditional” and “modern”)

Terms on a continuum (“assertive” and “aggressive”)

Photo courtesy of Margot Bloomstein

Here are some tips on selecting your adjectives. Unless otherwise noted, these tips come from this conversation and this conversation in the Content Strategy Google group.

“Start with what you hear a lot, and a thesaurus. In general, I include a lot of terms that could be opposites (e.g., traditional and modern, strategic and tactical) as well as terms that represent shades of nuance on the same continuum (e.g., leading edge, cutting edge, bleeding edge). See Krista Stevens’ blog post for more details.” (Margot)

Include words that the stakeholders have “already used in the past to describe their brand.” Also “cannibalize” your tone of voice and writing guidelines, and throw in “terms that have come up in user testing, design concepts, anything at all.” (Elizabeth McGuane)

“We’ve been taking commonly used words like ‘funny,’ and trying to break them down further into more specific terms, like ‘cheeky,’ ‘witty,’ ‘tongue-in-cheek,’ for example.” (Aimee Cornell)

If you use Margot’s terms, “pre-cull” those you think are most relevant and conducive to discussion in your group. (Sadia Latifi)

Exclude terms that might be “distracting” or “potentially inflammatory” for that group. (Margot, Content Strategy at Work)

Include terms that are “intentionally ambiguous to invite discourse.” (Margot, Content Strategy at Work)

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Focus Your Marketing: Define Your 3(ish) Critical Words

3. Gather stakeholders in a room.

An effective message architecture depends on a shared vocabulary grounded in conversation; no one can go off and create message architecture alone. Invite everyone who needs to be involved in the decisions and everyone whose support will be needed.

4. Sort the cards.

Spread your cards on a table big enough that everyone can stand on the same side. Spend 45 to 60 minutes sorting the cards.

Separate the cards into three groups:

Who we are

Who we’re not

Who we’d like to be

Photo courtesy of Margot Bloomstein

As you sort, encourage conversation, even friendly arguing. People need to “unpack their communication goals and dig into the buzzwords.” Explore why certain adjectives apply or don’t. Dig deep and “debate the nuances of each word.” Discuss what the adjectives mean in your corporate culture. (This is where the “shared vocabulary” comes in.)

Let me say all that in a different way: Treat the adjectives as springboards for conversation. The value of the terms on the cards doesn’t come from their inherent meaning; it comes from what the participants say about them. Write down what people say as they move the cards around. “The pauses, hesitation, and snap decisions are all worth noting,” Margot writes in Content Strategy at Work.

Eventually, your message architecture must do more than transcribe the cards; it must capture the spirit of the conversation.

Say the group chooses “hip.” That choice in itself doesn’t tell you much. But say you overhear someone saying this about the term: “Everyone thinks we’re old and can’t react as quickly as the competition” (Content Strategy at Work). Now there’s an insight that could give content creators some guidance! You may eventually want to capture the gist of that comment – not just the adjective – in your message architecture.

When the cards are sorted into the three groups, turn your focus to the future group (who we’d like to be).

If you need multiple message architectures – maybe one for customer-facing content and another for internal communication – sort the future cards into natural groupings. For example, one group of terms might describe the way participants want potential customers to think about the company; another group of terms might describe the ideal corporate culture.

Finally, place the future cards – within their groups if you have more than one group – in priority order. (This is where the “architecture” comes in.) Why? Companies can’t communicate everything at once. Content creators need to know where to focus.

5. Document your message architecture.

Draft your message architecture. Keep it tight. (The three examples above use fewer than 60 words each.) Capture not just the adjectives people chose during the exercise but also the spirit of the ongoing conversation. As Margot says, “Words are valuable, but meaningless without context and priority.”

Words are valuable, but meaningless without context & priority, says @mbloomstein via @marciarjohnston. Click To Tweet

As you shape your message architecture, keep your mind open. A bulleted list may suffice, but you may want to go further. Experiment. Turn your words into a picture. Carve them in clay. Let the message architecture itself be your guide. Is “whimsical” your company’s top attribute? Stencil your message architecture’s elements on helium balloons, letting the most important one literally float to the top.

Send your message architecture to stakeholders for review. Revise it until people agree that you have your North Star. (Star-shaped balloons, anyone?)

6. Distribute your message architecture.

Share the message architecture with all who create and maintain your company’s content.

7. Keep communicating.

Creating a message architecture doesn’t ensure that people will use it. Follow up to keep the team in sync – a task that Carrie Hane Dennison calls strategic nagging. Even the most gung-ho professionals need reminders of what they’re doing and why.

For more on this card-sorting exercise, see these two books:

Margot Bloomstein, Content Strategy at Work (Chapter 2)

Meghan Casey, The Content Strategy Toolkit (pp. 195–197)

Conclusion

“I start nearly every engagement by helping my clients develop a message architecture,” Margot shared with me. “It’s a simple deliverable that serves as the foundation for all our subsequent tactical decisions and activities.”

Message architecture. Simple. Foundational. Useful. And – if approached with an open spirit – fun. What more can we ask of any tool? Give this one a try. Let us know how it works for you.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Scaling Content Marketing: How CSC Put the Content Hub to Work

Sign up for our weekly Content Strategy for Marketers e-newsletter, which features exclusive stories and insights from CMI Chief Content Adviser Robert Rose. If you’re like many other marketers we meet, you’ll come to look forward to reading his thoughts every Saturday.

Visit our Teams and Process hub to get more insights and tools that will help you work more effectively as a team.

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

The post Use This Simple (& Fun) Tool to Design Your Content Marketing Message Architecture appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.

Use This Simple (& Fun) Tool to Design Your Content Marketing Message Architecture syndicated from http://ift.tt/2maPRjm

[lucyariablog]

Use This Simple (& Fun) Tool to Design Your Content Marketing Message Architecture

Editor’s note: You may have missed this article when CMI published it last year. We’re sharing it now, with minor edits, because a solid message architecture makes all the difference when you’re planning your content.

What is your brand’s most distinctive trait?

What’s the most important thing your company does?

What’s the main reason people should do business with you?

Do you know? Does everyone in your company know? Do your organization’s blog posts, podcasts, videos, emails, and other communications convey the answers to these questions in one way or another day after day?

Consistency like that, believe it or not, is achievable. Maybe you think that your company is too big, too loosely structured, or too (fill in the blank). Don’t throw up your hands. Tools exist that can help you bring your organization’s messaging into alignment. One such tool favored by many content strategists – a surprisingly simple but powerful tool – is the message architecture.

Why should you read on?

If you don’t have a message architecture in place, you’re missing out on something of value. Creating content without a message architecture is like building a house without a floor plan. Katie Del Angel shared with me other metaphors:

A clearly articulated message architecture is my best friend. It’s a North Star that everyone on a project (internal and external) can work toward.

Margot Bloomstein says, “Content strategy is what makes content marketing effective,” and “driving that strategy is the message architecture.”

#Contentmarketing relies on #contentstrategy, which relies on message architecture via @mbloomstein. Click To Tweet

Kristina Halvorson puts it this way: Message architecture is “where your content really begins.”

Where does content begin? With a message architecture, says @halvorson via @marciarjohnston. Click To Tweet

What is a message architecture?

A message architecture, sometimes called a messaging architecture or messaging framework, is a small set of words – terms, phrases, or statements – arranged hierarchically to convey an organization’s messaging priorities, its communication goals. It helps people in all departments deliver consistent messages in all types of content.

It’s called an architecture because it acts as “scaffolding for your content, supporting and shaping the content you actually produce,” Erin Kissane says in her book, The Elements of Content Strategy. When marketers say “messages” or “messaging,” they aren’t talking about customer-facing content; they’re talking about the general impression they want customers to take away from the content.

Messaging is not copy; it’s subtext.

So, while a message architecture consists of words, it doesn’t tell content creators what words to use. It tells them what messages their words (and images, etc.) should convey and the order of importance of those messages.

While a message architecture should align with the corporate vision, mission, and brand values, it’s not the same as any of those things. It has three distinguishing qualities (as noted in Margot’s book, Content Strategy at Work):

It conveys levels of priority.

It’s actionable (in that it directly informs content decisions).

It’s specific to communication.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: The One Brief Statement That Will Refine Your Content Marketing

What does a message architecture look like?

Message architectures can take various forms. Margot’s takes the form of a set of “prioritized brand attributes that stem from a shared vocabulary.” Her typical message architecture is “a concise outline of … attributes, each with sub-bullets that clarify meaning and add color.”

For example, her interpretation of Apple’s message architecture looks something like this:

Adapted from Margot Bloomstein’s presentation Be a Greedy Bastard: Use Content Strategy to Get What You Want, Slide 26

This example resembles a description of a corporate voice. Unlike most voice descriptions, though, this list is hierarchical – the elements appear in order of importance. Here, the top item in the hierarchy – “confident but approachable” – takes priority. This type of list tells content creators which attributes to emphasize when brainstorming blog topics, choosing words, sketching images, creating videos, crafting emails … you name it.

Margot gives a similarly structured example for a “stately financial institution”:

Adapted from Margot Bloomstein, Term of the Week: Message Architecture

This example does more than the previous one. It conveys not only characteristics but also purpose. It’s a hybrid, telling us not just what this institution is like (respected, relevant, trusted – elements of voice, essentially) but also what it does: It focuses on large-cap funds and serves an exclusive class of investors.

Message architectures can go all the way in this direction, becoming architectures not of attributes but of statements – of messages, in fact. This approach to message architecture would complement a definition of voice rather than double as one. Kristina Halvorson gives one such example:

Adapted from Kristina Halvorson, Message and Medium: Better Content by Design

If you used a two-tier architecture like this, you might want to further prioritize by putting secondary messages in order of importance. As Margot suggested to me in an email, prioritizing the secondary messages would make the architecture even more useful for resolving “conflicts of vision.”

Who wouldn’t love a tool that does that?

Margot and Kristina’s approaches aren’t the only ones out there. For example, in her book, The Content Strategy Toolkit, Meghan Casey describes what she calls a messaging framework, which builds on a core content strategy statement. Her messaging framework has three parts:

First impression: What you want people to feel when they first encounter any piece of your content

Value statement: What you want people to feel after spending a few minutes with any piece of your content because of what they now understand about your company

Proof: How any piece of your content demonstrates that your company provides just what people need

Which form of message architecture should you choose? Here’s how Meghan answers that question in her book:

“It really doesn’t matter, as long as you adhere to the following:

Make sure everyone who needs it has it.

Actually use it to make decisions about content.

Keep in mind that the messages are for you and the people in your organization who work on content.”

I especially like that middle bullet: Whichever form of message architecture you pick, it has to be one that your team will use.

Whichever form of message architecture you pick, it has to be one your team will use, says @meghscase. Click To Tweet

What’s the value of a message architecture?

A message architecture’s value lies in its ability to clarify, for every content creator, the organization’s most important messages.

A message architecture scales beautifully, too, coming in as handy for a team of three as for a team of 3,000. As shown in the following two illustrations, a single message architecture can apply across all departments and all audiences.

Adapted from Hilary Marsh, Managing the Politics of Content, Slides 37 and 38.

When an organization has no message architecture, its content teams working in departmental silos may create “a semi-schizophrenic brand experience” (to borrow a phrase from an email from Intel’s K. Scott Rosenberg). With a message architecture, organizations have a better chance of communicating consistently.

#Content teams working in departmental silos may create “a semi-schizophrenic brand experience,” says @kscottr. Click To Tweet

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Are Organizational Silos Keeping Your Content Marketing Team From Success?

How can my organization create a message architecture?

There’s no right process for creating a message architecture. Since I’ve heard Margot talk through the card-sorting exercise she uses with her clients, I’ll describe that exercise here to give you one idea to try. I trust that you’ll find it worthwhile. Take it from Elizabeth McGuane, who says,

All in all, it was an incredibly useful exercise. It really gives clarity to something which can often be … fuzzy and subjective, and it gets [participants] involved – they loved it!

Here’s how the folks at Asana describe their experience with this type of exercise:

We were convinced. There was energy around our brand like never before.

Join the fun. Follow these seven steps.

1. Pick a leader.

Someone needs to lead the exercise. You may want to hire a consultant to facilitate. Alternatively, someone in-house could take the role. The leader must be capable of keeping participants aligned on the exercise’s purpose, which is not to select a handful of words but to reach agreement on the brand’s most important messages.

2. Prepare a set of adjective cards.

If your organization already settled on a set of adjectives that describe its corporate voice, you may want to simply write those adjectives on cards, have your stakeholders prioritize them, and skip to Step 5.

If your organization hasn’t defined its voice, or if you want to update your voice definition, follow all these steps. You’ll end up defining your corporate voice and prioritizing its elements to boot.

Create a set of cards, each with one adjective on it (a descriptive word or phrase) that might describe a brand – any brand: “innovative,” “traditional,” “edgy,” etc. The cards can be as simple as handwritten slips of paper. Margot’s card deck includes about 100 adjectives. Her set of adjectives – which you can also find on Page 30 of Content Strategy at Work – comprises terms she has heard across a range of companies and industries, including these types:

Paired terms (“strategic” and “tactical”)

Relative opposites (“traditional” and “modern”)

Terms on a continuum (“assertive” and “aggressive”)

Photo courtesy of Margot Bloomstein

Here are some tips on selecting your adjectives. Unless otherwise noted, these tips come from this conversation and this conversation in the Content Strategy Google group.

“Start with what you hear a lot, and a thesaurus. In general, I include a lot of terms that could be opposites (e.g., traditional and modern, strategic and tactical) as well as terms that represent shades of nuance on the same continuum (e.g., leading edge, cutting edge, bleeding edge). See Krista Stevens’ blog post for more details.” (Margot)

Include words that the stakeholders have “already used in the past to describe their brand.” Also “cannibalize” your tone of voice and writing guidelines, and throw in “terms that have come up in user testing, design concepts, anything at all.” (Elizabeth McGuane)

“We’ve been taking commonly used words like ‘funny,’ and trying to break them down further into more specific terms, like ‘cheeky,’ ‘witty,’ ‘tongue-in-cheek,’ for example.” (Aimee Cornell)

If you use Margot’s terms, “pre-cull” those you think are most relevant and conducive to discussion in your group. (Sadia Latifi)

Exclude terms that might be “distracting” or “potentially inflammatory” for that group. (Margot, Content Strategy at Work)

Include terms that are “intentionally ambiguous to invite discourse.” (Margot, Content Strategy at Work)

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Focus Your Marketing: Define Your 3(ish) Critical Words

3. Gather stakeholders in a room.

An effective message architecture depends on a shared vocabulary grounded in conversation; no one can go off and create message architecture alone. Invite everyone who needs to be involved in the decisions and everyone whose support will be needed.

4. Sort the cards.

Spread your cards on a table big enough that everyone can stand on the same side. Spend 45 to 60 minutes sorting the cards.

Separate the cards into three groups:

Who we are

Who we’re not

Who we’d like to be

Photo courtesy of Margot Bloomstein

As you sort, encourage conversation, even friendly arguing. People need to “unpack their communication goals and dig into the buzzwords.” Explore why certain adjectives apply or don’t. Dig deep and “debate the nuances of each word.” Discuss what the adjectives mean in your corporate culture. (This is where the “shared vocabulary” comes in.)

Let me say all that in a different way: Treat the adjectives as springboards for conversation. The value of the terms on the cards doesn’t come from their inherent meaning; it comes from what the participants say about them. Write down what people say as they move the cards around. “The pauses, hesitation, and snap decisions are all worth noting,” Margot writes in Content Strategy at Work.

Eventually, your message architecture must do more than transcribe the cards; it must capture the spirit of the conversation.

Say the group chooses “hip.” That choice in itself doesn’t tell you much. But say you overhear someone saying this about the term: “Everyone thinks we’re old and can’t react as quickly as the competition” (Content Strategy at Work). Now there’s an insight that could give content creators some guidance! You may eventually want to capture the gist of that comment – not just the adjective – in your message architecture.

When the cards are sorted into the three groups, turn your focus to the future group (who we’d like to be).

If you need multiple message architectures – maybe one for customer-facing content and another for internal communication – sort the future cards into natural groupings. For example, one group of terms might describe the way participants want potential customers to think about the company; another group of terms might describe the ideal corporate culture.

Finally, place the future cards – within their groups if you have more than one group – in priority order. (This is where the “architecture” comes in.) Why? Companies can’t communicate everything at once. Content creators need to know where to focus.

5. Document your message architecture.

Draft your message architecture. Keep it tight. (The three examples above use fewer than 60 words each.) Capture not just the adjectives people chose during the exercise but also the spirit of the ongoing conversation. As Margot says, “Words are valuable, but meaningless without context and priority.”

Words are valuable, but meaningless without context & priority, says @mbloomstein via @marciarjohnston. Click To Tweet

As you shape your message architecture, keep your mind open. A bulleted list may suffice, but you may want to go further. Experiment. Turn your words into a picture. Carve them in clay. Let the message architecture itself be your guide. Is “whimsical” your company’s top attribute? Stencil your message architecture’s elements on helium balloons, letting the most important one literally float to the top.

Send your message architecture to stakeholders for review. Revise it until people agree that you have your North Star. (Star-shaped balloons, anyone?)

6. Distribute your message architecture.

Share the message architecture with all who create and maintain your company’s content.

7. Keep communicating.

Creating a message architecture doesn’t ensure that people will use it. Follow up to keep the team in sync – a task that Carrie Hane Dennison calls strategic nagging. Even the most gung-ho professionals need reminders of what they’re doing and why.

For more on this card-sorting exercise, see these two books:

Margot Bloomstein, Content Strategy at Work (Chapter 2)

Meghan Casey, The Content Strategy Toolkit (pp. 195–197)

Conclusion

“I start nearly every engagement by helping my clients develop a message architecture,” Margot shared with me. “It’s a simple deliverable that serves as the foundation for all our subsequent tactical decisions and activities.”

Message architecture. Simple. Foundational. Useful. And – if approached with an open spirit – fun. What more can we ask of any tool? Give this one a try. Let us know how it works for you.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Scaling Content Marketing: How CSC Put the Content Hub to Work

Sign up for our weekly Content Strategy for Marketers e-newsletter, which features exclusive stories and insights from CMI Chief Content Adviser Robert Rose. If you’re like many other marketers we meet, you’ll come to look forward to reading his thoughts every Saturday.

Visit our Teams and Process hub to get more insights and tools that will help you work more effectively as a team.

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

The post Use This Simple (& Fun) Tool to Design Your Content Marketing Message Architecture appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.

from http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2017/05/message-architecture-tool/

[susanwardmegsunsetbeachfans]

SOD Editors' Choice

The Editor's of Soap Opera Digest Magazine salute the best in daytime!

Last Updated: December 1, 1999

Sizzling Storylines, SUNSET BEACH

Soap Opera Digest, August 24, 1998

When it debuted in 1997, SUNSET BEACH knew it had to do something to stand out from the pack and to attract those 18-39 year-olds that TV advertisers covet. It laid on the camp and played up pop culture references (the Scream-esque Terror Island storyline, Sara's FRIENDS fantasy, a guest stint by Jerry Springer).

BEACH set itself apart from other shows, all right. Almost too much so - the strategy drew younger viewers, but turned off soap fans who like their stories told the old-fashioned way. But the episodes that aired during the week of July 19 showed that if you like your soaps straight up, BEACH can serve 'em that way, too - with or without a twist.

There were no fewer than three storylines peaking that week. Ricardo was set to marry Gabi, when he saw a video of his intended making passionate love to his brother … a priest. Ricardo was rushed to the hospital with a stroke; during that week, he lay helpless in a hospital bed, haunted by visions of the horrifying videotape. To make matters worse, a clueless Antonio and Gabi (who don't know that Ricardo saw the tape), stayed faithfully by the patient's bedside, sending a seething Ricardo's vital signs through the roof. Then Gabi proposed that Antonio marry her and Ricardo right there in the hospital room! A weak and mute Ricardo could do nothing.

For those who prefer their drama over-the-top, there was the memorial service for a very-much-alive Gregory. A conniving Annie pondered revealing the truth that Gregory's son-in-law, Cole, is Trey's father (not Gregory), so that as Gregory's "widow" she would inherit his fortune. "You realize that would destroy a whole family," her lawyer warned. "That would be just a bonus," she replied a gleeful Annie. "It would also make me a very, very rich widow!" At the funeral, Gregory - disguised as a monk - watched in wonder as people genuinely grieved for him. "He was my life," sobbed Olivia, Gregory's ex. Caitlin cried "I loved my father, and I always will."

Then there was Ben and Meg's falling-out. "I don't have anything to say to you!" wailed Meg when she stumbled upon Ben and his ex, Maria, having sex. Who did she run to for sympathy? Casey - the man who Ben spotted Meg kissing, just before he fell into bed with Maria. Though Casey was Sara's boyfriend, he realized that her sister, Meg, is the one he loves.

A soap risks alienating fans if it strays too far outside the genre's traditional boundaries. Attention-grabbing gimmicks can backfire if viewers aren't also grabbed by the story. These days, BEACH is showing that you can be fresh, even cheeky, if you respect the audience enough to never lose sight of what makes people keep coming back for more.

Wedded Bliss-ters, SUNSET BEACH

Soap Opera Digest, 1998

It was the event that SUNSET BEACH had been building to almost since its premiere nearly two years ago: The wedding of country mouse Meg Cummings and city mouse Ben Evans - but this was no day as Disneyland. Mousetraps aplenty had been carefully laid, months in advance - all set to snap as the lovers journeyed down the aisle.

Except for a thunderstorm, the obstacles were not BEACH's usual fare. Instead of earthquakes and tidal waves, human relationships threatened the star-crossed lovers' bliss.

As the wedding approached, Carmen played by the deliciously hilarious Margarita Cordova, began to wig out. Plagued by the belief that her daughter, Maria (Ben'' drowned wife), was alive, she saw Ben and Meg's wedding as the apocalypse. As it turned out, the loony lady was dead on.

Things began to crumble the moment Carmen stormed into the Cummings house and pleaded with Meg to cancel the nuptials. This provoked an inspired performance from Susan Ward (Meg). "Why are you doing this to me?" the bride-to-be sobbed. Ward's ability to convey the compassion for and understanding of a mother's grief succeeded in gaining sympathy for both women.

When the action moved to the chapel, several subplots gained steam - all threatening to climax in a simultaneous eruption of licentious lava. A desperate Carmen slithered inside, as her son, Antonio, officiated the nuptials.

The padre was a little hot under the collar himself, unable to take his eyes off bridesmaid Gabi. Maid-of-honor Sara fantasized about marrying best man Casey. With all those lustful looks darting back and forth, we were caught off guard when Carmen rose from her pew, thrust her gun in the air and screamed, "You're going to listen to me - all of you!" And we did, as the eccentric psychic pushed Meg to the breaking point. "I am through listening to anything you have to say ever again!" the bride spat.

Carmen was promptly escorted out by her sons, who demonstrated just the right blend of shame and support for their hysterical mama. Another interruption arrived in the form of Annie and Tim, but they were quickly removed.

While all this was going down, the biggest bombshell was lurking in the wings, err, vestibule. Fans were pulling out their hair as amnesiac Maria's entry was delayed by one mishap after another. First, a broken heel forced her into the bathroom. Then, the doorknob fell off, trapping her inside. When Maria tried to escape through a window, she fell and was knocked unconscious. By the time she came to, Meg and Ben were married.

The newlyweds celebrated at the reception until Meg tossed her bouquet - rotating in super slow-mo - and it landed in wife No. 1's arms. Newcomer Christina Chambers skillfully conveyed the heartbreaking fear and confusion that Maria was feeling. When she fainted, we nearly did too.

Ben stared with disbelief and horror at his resurrected spouse as Meg realized the shocking identity of her new pal, Dana. It was a thrilling roller coaster ride for all three passengers - and it's far from over.

Sunset Beach's Kansas Connection

Soap Opera Digest, November 11, 1997

In any great fairy-tale romance, the man in white rides off with his lady love, promising to make all her dreams come true. Sunset Beach fans got their storybook ending when the dashing Ben Evans, dressed uncharacteristically in white, drove up to Meg's door in a convertible and swept her off her feet with a kiss.

The innocent far girl and the enigmatic businessman first found love on the Internet. Meg ditched her philandering fiancé in Kansas and cased her dream man all the way to California -- only to find that he was more Mr. Rochester than Prince Charming, haunted and glowering and ill-equipped for romance.

Meg finally did crake Ben's tough shell, only to face Annie and Tim's trickery. Courtesy of Annie's hypnosis, Ben called Meg by his late wife, Maria's, name once too often, sending her scampering home to Kansas with Tim. When Ben found out what Annie had done, he headed to Ludlow, Kansas, to reclaim his love.

Almost as sweet as the couple's reunion was their revenge. As Ben explained to Meg how Annie had manipulated them, the two realized that Tim must have been Annie's accomplice. Tim walked in on their conversation and our hero's fist sent Tim to the floor.

Of course, where Ben goes, Annie is sure to follow. After changing planes three times, Annie was carted to Ludlow in the back of a chicken truck. Stung by Ben's rejection of her apology, Annie shared a romp in the hay - quite literally - with Tim.

Meg has always been something of a misfit in the sophisticated, salty world of Sunset Beach, and it was fitting that Ben met her on her home turf to win her back. Beach took advantage of scenic middle America with exterior shots of Meg showing Ben around her hometown, including a romantic walk through the corn fields, Meg telling a touching tale of how she broke her arm as a child in the apple orchard by the bar, and a visit to the local country-and-western bar.

And what took place at that bar was as memorable a dance you'll ever see on daytime. Ben and Meg "battled" on the dance floor with Tim and a decked out Annie [shades of Cha Cha from Grease]. It was hilarious, refreshing and entirely within the context of the story.

Carol Potter returned as Meg's mom for the compelling heart-to-heart with her daughter. When Meg expressed her fears about giving herself to Ben, her mom pointed out, "you gave your heart to Ben a long time ago."

Meanwhile, Ben had his hands full with Meg's protective dad, Hank, played charmingly by daytime vet John Martin. Hank grilled Ben, questioning why he really came to Kansas. "Because I love your daughter," Ben replied, and Hank's wistful reaction betrayed regret as well as relief - he was no longer the most important man in his little girl's life, be he was leaving her in the hands of someone else who loved her.

Come to think of it, it was less a happy ending than a new beginning.