[2] Charles Pratt, Jr. (who would also serve as an executive consultant), Robert Guza, Jr. and Josh Griffith were hired to develop the concept for the new series.

By the end of the year, when Meg Bennett took over as a new head writer, Taylor-Young and Harring also left the series, followed by the exit of Nick Stabile, whose character Mark Wolper was written out in a serial killer storyline.

The role of Cole Deschanel a male jewel thief, initially played by Ashley Hamilton, was recast to Eddie Cibrian.

[10] In mid-1998, Vanessa Dorman vacated the role of Cole's partner Caitlin Deschanel due to a change in storyline direction, and Kam Heskin was cast.

Carol Potter and John H. Martin, who had been recurring during the show's first year, were promoted to contract status, and the expansion of Meg's family also included the arrival of her sister Sara Cummings.

The teen scene was revived in 1998, when Bette's daughter Emily Davis (Cristi Harris) arrived in town and fell in love with Sean, prompting Amy (Krissy Carlson) and Brad (Michael Strickland) to intervene.

[13] In 1999, the show cast only three contract roles, the first two being in March, when Tracy Lindsey Melchior and Chasen Parker stunned the soap with their sudden arrival in town.

And after catching Tim with her maid of honor, Meg fled to Sunset Beach in search of SB, who turned out to be wealthy, widowed businessman Ben Evans.

When the moon rises early, just as the Santa Ana winds kicks up out of nowhere, and the sun is just dropping out of sight, whoever you meet at the far side of the pier, is who you're destined to be with.

Elaine Stevens (the legend of Sunset Beach)[15]The first year of the show revolved around Meg's pursuit of Ben (including her briefly breaking into his house, stealing a journal she found there, and dressing up in his late wife's clothes), who was initially not interested in her, and the gradual development of a romance between them.

Meg's ex-fiancé Tim Truman followed her to Sunset Beach to win her back, and ended up becoming Annie's ally and almost love interest.

Maria Torres, who had wed Ben when she was still a teenager and he was barely in his twenties, had disappeared and been presumed drowned after a boating accident that took place some years prior to the start of the show.

After a positive paternity test they raised the child, Benjy, together, causing even more problems for Meg, who left Ben and briefly started dating her sister's boyfriend, Casey Mitchum.

Another outrageous storyline was the earthquake/tsunami story, in which Sunset Beach was struck by a massive earthquake, trapping many characters – most of them each other's rival – together in life and death situations.

The tsunami storyline proved so popular that two weeks' worth of episodes were compiled and turned into an hour-long show that was included on NBC's lineup for one night in August 1998.

The story culminated on Christmas Eve with the return of the jewels to the Madonna just in time to prevent the deaths of several key characters.

Derek was accidentally shot and killed by Ben; his accomplice Tess went to jail, as did Gregory Richards (Francesca's real killer).

Virginia remained in a mental hospital of the criminally insane, while reformed Annie also got a happy ending, finding love with relatively new character Jude.

Upon its premiere, Sunset Beach was made part of NBC's daytime programming block; the show began airing on January 6, 1997.

NBC reclaimed the 12:00 pm hour from its affiliates in order to air the series in a more optimal timeslot, in exchange for giving them back the 10:00 am hour; in turn, the low-rated daytime newsmagazine Real Life with Jane Pauley (which occupied the earlier 10:00 timeslot) was cancelled to make room for Sunset Beach on the lineup.

The show's cancellation marked the last time that NBC would feature three serials on its daytime schedule: before the series' debut, the long-running Days of Our Lives and Another World (the latter replaced by Passions in June 1999) were the only soaps on the network following the 1993 cancellation of Santa Barbara, while the remainder of its daytime lineup was filled solely by unscripted talk and lifestyle programs until Today was expanded to a third hour in September 2000.

The show, however, gained a cult following in the UK, doing especially well in the ratings for Channel 5, with some universities holding Sunset Beach parties where students would go dressed as their favorite character.

Channel 5 tried to save the show when its cancellation was announced, offering partially to fund it and trying to get other networks involved, as had happened previously with Baywatch, but NBC was not interested.

In Canada, Sunset Beach aired at 3:00PM on independent station CHCH-DT in Hamilton, Ontario; the show was broadcast the same day as NBC.

Promoting the series as Baywatch meets Beverly Hills, 90210 with a lot of Santa Barbara (the latter having been a massive hit for the channel many years earlier and the only big US daytime soap to have aired in Spain), the series continued with its regular screenings every weeknight in the much coveted 8:00pm Access Primetime slot, the slot previously occupied by Baywatch.

Sunset Beach, however, failed to attract any attention, and the series was promptly axed after one week and six episodes, never to return to Spanish TV again.

They continued repeats in double-bills in the early hours of Saturday and Sunday mornings until they had shown all the episodes they had bought the rights for (approx.

Fantasies involving the character Annie Douglas Richards[28] included take offs of Leeza and The Jerry Springer Show (titled "Murderer of the Day"), which guest-starred their respective hosts.

Sara went on to develop a relationship with local lifeguard Casey Mitchum, and their relationship and her sibling rivalry with her sister (who at one point started an affair with Casey) made up the bulk of Sara's storylines, although she was also famous for her TV show-inspired fantasy sequences, which included spoofs of the opening titles for Friends and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Other notable guest appearances include Finola Hughes as Cole's ex-fiancée Helena, Christopher Darden as Les Gordon, John O'Hurley as the host of Wheel of Misfortune, Kim Alexis as a hotel maid, Jack Wagner as a thief named Jacques Dumont, and Barbara Mandrell as Casey's ill mother Alex Mitchum.