Daytime's lowest-rated soap was in dire need of a serious shake-up -- and boy, did they deliver the ultimate shake, rattle and roll. In the midst of a summer movie season dominated by blockbuster disaster epics such as Deep Impact, Godzilla and Armageddon, we were hit with a small-screen Irwin Allen-esque extravaganza. It was, to say the least, a savvy marketing move.

The grainy, surreal teaser ads that ran throughout the day and evening for weeks prior to the show's July 17 "Shockwave" kickoff primed us for something spectacular. But the best teaser came the day before the big quake, when, following a portentous tremor, Annie one-upped Olivia and whispered, "That little victory was 10.0 on the Annie Richards scale."

Shots of each of the victims lying motionless in the post-quake rubble echoed scenes in Aaron Spellings' classic 1985 Dynasty Moldavian massacre cliffhanger. (Imitation is allowed here -- Spelling, of course, is executive producer of Sunset Beach.) We did find it disappointing that (like the Moldavia stunt), everyone survived the first tremor, with the sole casualty being Nurse Helen, a character we'd seen on only a half-dozen occasions. But every quake has its cracks. What was clever was the pairing of adversaries (Olivia/Annie, Gregory/A.J., Vanessa/Virginia, Tim/Ben and potential rivals Meg and the mystery woman) in a life-or-death drama requiring teamwork to survive.

Annie's taunting of a pinned Olivia while a chandelier dangled precariously above, was wicked fun. We half-expected Annie to grab a 2-by-4 for an impromptu game of chandelier piņata. Anc Virginia's discovery of her son's bloodied baseball cap gave us a rare glimpse into this nasty nut's compassionate side.

But with lines like Midwestern Meg's post-quake utterance, "God, that was almost as bad as a Kansas twister," the debate is finally over -- Sunset Beach is strictly camp. And as far as we're concerned, this summer camp is one worth signing up for.

Sources: Soap Opera Digest, NBC