It's no surprise to Loughlin that "Summerland" is back. "I don't think anybody expected us to debut with such high numbers, especially in the summer," she reflects. "I actually thought summer was a good time to go on, because there isn't that much happening on television. I thought that being set at the beach, it might just be one of those shows that would catch on. I had watched 'The O.C.,' which premiered the summer before, and got hooked on that myself.
"I didn't see it as necessarily a bad thing, then, and I just felt we might have the right elements. It's a drama, but it isn't too heavy. The characters are all fun, in my opinion, and a group of people I would like to hang out with."
Loughlin had a lot of say about those characters from the start, having created the show with Stephen Tolkin. "I pitched it to The WB, which liked the idea, then they sent me to Aaron Spelling. I felt really fortunate that he also liked the idea and was willing to jump on board."
Since "Summerland" already has fans, with the hope for more, the show has the capital to take some chances now. "I thought we had a good show last summer," Loughlin says, "but I'm just so happy with the new episodes." Carmen Electra has joined the cast this season as Johnny's new business partner, who seems to have more than business in mind.
For any and all newcomers, Loughlin remains proud of the original casting of "Summerland." "I don't mean this in a bad way, but there's certainly a formula to The WB and some of Aaron Spelling's shows. What I thought was great about casting someone like Kay was that we went against the formula. She's getting more beautiful by the day, but we went for the 'smart' actress. It's the Alex P. Keaton character from 'Family Ties,' someone who's proud of being bright, and you don't see a lot of characters like that on television. We wanted something a little different all the way around."
"Summerland" also is likely to benefit from co-star McCartney's growing fame as a teen music idol. His single "Beautiful Soul" recently cracked the top 20 of Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart, but he's known more for surfing than for singing on the show. "We didn't know when we cast him that he was a singer," Loughlin maintains. "That was pure luck. His tape came from New York, and everyone said, 'Wow, this kid is really good.' We found out later that he was in a boy band at one time. It's funny; every time I start my car, his song is on! It's everywhere, and good for him. He has quite a nice career going now."
Loughlin knows about career longevity, having been acting steadily since her days on the now-defunct daytime serial "The Edge of Night" in the early 1980s. "They just couldn't run me out of town," she muses. "I think they tried many times, but I said, 'I'm staying.' It's just pure perseverance, being tenacious. There's that old expression, 'If you throw enough against the wall, something's bound to stick.' I certainly have done my share of series pilots that went nowhere.
"I've always believed that work begets work, though. I had done a pilot for FOX with Marcia Cross, a TV version of 'The Witches of Eastwick' that didn't get picked up. After FOX passed on it, the studio shopped it around and executives at The WB watched it; they had no room for it because of 'Charmed,' but they saw me in it and decided they should have a meeting with me. That pilot wasn't done in vain, then."
Strongly associated with family programming through her years on the sitcom "Full House," Loughlin tries to keep her work friendly to all ages, also because she and her husband have two children themselves. "Believe me," she says, "they have to sit me down with a paper bag sometimes because I'm hyperventilating over a plot that might involve sex or drugs. As a parent, though, I'm overly cautious. Television is a very powerful medium, and we have the ability to send messages to kids. I don't want there to be any wrong or mixed messages."
That said, Loughlin thinks "Summerland" gets the job done. "It's nice to have a show that can bring people and families together to watch television. I think 'Full House' did that, and I think 'Summerland' does, too. My dermatologist has a 15-year-old daughter, and he says he watches the show with her since it gives him a chance to spend that hour with her, then talk about what they've seen. I think that's really important."
