TV & VIDEO - Sept. 26, 1990

Soap Ends Story Line: NBC has acknowledged “unfortunate and misleading stereotypical portrayals” and abruptly ended a “Santa Barbara” story line that featured two warring Arab rulers, both of whom were holding Americans hostage. The acknowledgement came in response to a letter from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, which demanded an end to that plot line and asked to meet with NBC producers. Amal Benedict, a spokeswoman for the Arab group, said that since the Persian Gulf crisis, “there is definitely more focus on Arabs in network drama, and they’re being portrayed as villains. . . . The stereotyping that has gone on is just not factual.”