IL PRIMO EPISODIO

Il 30 Luglio 1984, esattamente 27 anni fa, veniva trasmesso negli USA il primo episodio della soap "Santa Barbara". Qui di seguito vi ripropongo un riassunto video creato da me con gli eventi salienti. Come potete vedere SB inizia davvero con il botto: l'omicidio del giovane rampollo di una delle più potenti famiglie della città, Channing Capwell jr.

Inaspettato e sconvolgente: ecco cosa pensai quando vidi quello che state per vedere anche voi.

Il caso sarà molto intricato e complesso e verrà risolto dopo quasi un anno nel corso del quale tutti verranno sospettati ed indagati. Innumerevoli i colpi di scena e spiazzante soprattutto la risoluzione dell'omicidio!

Ma ne parleremo in seguito.

Nel filmato potete vedere alcuni membri delle due famiglie rivali: i Capwell e i Lockridge.

La rivalità che lega questi due clan è centenaria e non è legata al potere, quanto a vecchi rancori e tradimenti che in un modo o nell'altro dividono le due famiglie.

La storia inizia con il ritorno a Santa Barbara di Joe Perkins, l'uomo accusato dell'omicidio nonchè ex fidanzato di Kelly Capwell, sorella della vittima.

E’ evidente che almeno nelle intenzioni iniziali dei creatori della soap, Bridget e Jerome Dobson, la protagonista principale della soap fosse il personaggio di Kelly e la sua tormentata storia d’amore con Joe, ma anche l’intrigo che vedeva Santana (Ava Lazar) alla ricerca del figlio che C.C. la costrinse a dare in adozione.

Poi però gli ascolti non furono entusiasmanti e con l’arrivo di Cruz (A Martinez) prima e di Eden (Marcy Walker) poi, la storia d’amore tra Joe e Kelly perse man mano di importanza.

Comunque fin dal primo episodio, SB si distingue per la sua classe e verve comica (evidente soprattutto nei duetti tra gli attori più giovani e nella pungente ironia di Minx), bilanciato da un’alta dose di thriller e mistero: in poche parole, alta tensione e humor (anche nero).

A parer mio un cocktail esplosivo che rende SB unica e diversa da qualunque altra soap.

Ah, la giovane Kelly Capwell è interpretata da un'esordiente Robin Wright (Forrest Gump, Le parole che non ti ho detto) che nelle immagini che vedrete tra poco aveva solo 18 anni.

L'attore che interpreta Joe Perkins è Dane Whiterspoon: pensate che lui e la Wright si innamorarono seriamente dopo essersi conosciuti sul set di SB.

Dane però resterà poche settimane nel ruolo di Joe: pare sia stato licenziato a causa di un carattere non proprio facile, mentre la Wright resterà nella soap fino al 1988.

Inoltre l'interprete di C.C. Capwell nella clip è Peter Mark Richman. Sarebbe dovuto essere Lloyd Bochner, ma pochi giorni prima delle riprese ebbe un infarto e dovette rinunciare alla parte.

In chiusura non possiamo che segnalare la perla del primo episodio: Minx Lockridge, la vecchina vestita di rosa che vorrebbe sbattere dietro le sbarre C.C. a causa del volume della musica troppo alto....nel corso del party di fidanzamento tra Kelly e Peter.

Fu interpretata da Dame Judith Anderson, un'attrice molto popolare: era lei la diabolica governante nel film di Alfred Hitchcock "Rebecca".

La sua Minx resta una delle cose migliori che SB mi abbia mai regalato: spregiudicata, noncurante, manipolatrice, senza peli sulla lingua, ma molto cara e protettiva con i suoi affetti.

Ragazzi, Joe Perkins sta per tornare a Santa Barbara e saranno in molti a rendergli la vita difficile, ma lui non si darà certo per vinto. E' determinato a trovare il vero colpevole dell'omicidio di Channing Capwell jr e a riconquistare l'amore di Kelly e la fiducia di suo padre.

Buona Visione!

"Santa Barbara" first episode aired on NBC

July 30, 1984: Channing Capwell jr (Robert Brian Wilson) is murdered. "Santa Barbara" first episode aired on NBC. Were you there watching?

Pubblicato da Santa Barbara Blog su Lunedì 30 luglio 2018

CHE LA FESTA ABBIA INIZIO!

Ci siamo.

E' tutto pronto per la festa di domani.

Sarà un party come nessun altro prima: pieno di glamour, belle donne e favolosi uomini.

Manca solo l'invito, ragazzi/e.

Eccolo, in esclusiva per voi.

Santa Barbara - I promo pubblicitari

Tutto inizia nel lontano 1989. Io avevo quasi 10 anni e a quell’epoca ero un bambino decisamente disadattato. Io andavo bene a scuola, non davo grandi problemi ai miei genitori, ma proprio non riuscivo a legare con i miei compagni di scuola. Loro erano spavaldi, giocavano a calcio e con i videogames. Io invece odiavo il calcio con tutto me stesso preferivo guardare la tv a casa di Assunta, la mia vicina napoletana. Mi sentivo profondamente diverso da tutti loro e quindi mi spaventavano perché non sapevo in che modo relazionarmi. Assunta era una fan sfegatata della soap opera “Quando si Ama” (Loving). Tutti i giorni la guardavamo insieme. A me piaceva molto Trisha (Noelle Beck) e la sua storia d’amore con Steve, che poi morirà ammazzato nel corso di una rapina in banca. Ma il mio personaggio preferito era senza dubbio Ava Rescott (Roya Megnot): era la tipica stronza della porta accanto e ne combinava di tutti i colori.

Sì, però proprio non riuscivo ad appassionarmi alla soap: molto spesso i dialoghi mi annoiavano profondamente, raramente succedeva qualcosa di divertente. L’atmosfera era sempre molto cupa e se non fosse stato per Ava, credo che avrei sviluppato una qualche forma di depressione dell’età evolutiva. Col senno di poi, posso dire che quella soap era decisamente stucchevole, piena zeppa di stereotipi e di luoghi comuni: il tripudio della banalità insomma. La classica soap. O per meglio dire “la soap classica”. E proprio mentre stavo per valutare seriamente di cominciare a giocare a calcio, accadde qualcosa. Qualcosa che avrebbe segnato la mia vita da quel momento in poi. Un giorno Assunta corre a casa mia per dirmi che la sera dopo sarebbe iniziata una nuova soap su RaiUno prima di cena. Lei aveva appena visto la pubblicità in televisione e ne era entusiasta: “Si chiama Santa Barbara. Mi raccomando, guarda la prima puntata perché dev’essere bellissima!”. E se ne va. Beh, mi aveva incuriosito il fatto che uno spot avesse colpito Assunta così tanto. Io non vidi mai quello spot, ma la sera dopo decisi di dare una possibilità a Santa Barbara…. Anche se avevo paura che fosse una soap che parlava di preti e di suore. Difficilmente me ne sarei appassionato. E se invece fosse accaduto, avrei avuto problemi nel seguirla perché mio padre era Testimone di Geova e all’epoca era molto intransigente o perlomeno io così lo vedevo. E così la sera dopo arrivò: posso solo dirvi che per me fu sconvolgente.

Ragazzi e ragazze, sta per iniziare la prima puntata di “Santa Barbara”, mi raccomando non perdetevela…ma prima ecco qualche spot promozionale.

AN UNUSUAL AND EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DIANA EDEN (COSTUME DESIGNER OF "SANTA BARBARA" FROM 1992 TO 1993)

Diana Eden has decided to release for you of "Santa Barbara Blog" an exclusive interview about  her experience in "Santa Barbara". During this interview, we will analyze her work on the soap and get to know some background unpublished. Miss Eden sent to me some pics that you can see below. Have Fun!

You are an icon in your work. You were nominated for Emmy Awards three times and you have won numerous awards. Your career is full of successes. And just think that as a child you wanted to become a ballerina! Selfishly I am glad that you had grown 2” taller…

“Mille Grazie! Quello mi ha reso il sorriso” (Thanks so much! You make me smile)

You came to SB in 1992 and you remained there until the end in 1993. How did you come to SB? Who hired you?

The head of the costume department at NBC, Jim Alvarez, recommended me to one of the producers, Francesca James. Then I was approved by the Executive Producer, Paul Rauch.

I'm not an insider. What was your job on SB? How many of the costumes did you actually design and build and how many came off the rack?

As Costume Designer, my job is to design, rent, or purchase every single item that any actor wears on the show. Much of the clothing is purchased, and only special gowns, bridal wear, or special costumes, like for Midsummer Night’s Dream are made from scratch. But I am responsible for every item you see on the screen, even jewelry and shoes. I have a staff of 5 or 6 costumers to help me.

When Julia (Nancy Grahn) re-wed Mason (Gordon Thomson), I felt as though I was in the 1940's. Did you design Julia’s off-white chiffon  gown to have that 1940s appeal? The gown had a sweetheart neckline, was trimmed with pearls and rhinestones and cost over $3,000. It took 150 hours of work to realize it. Is it true that, on Nancy’s suggestion, you chose an ivory-colored crepe de chine, decorated with spangles and pearls and a long train hanging from the shoulders? 150 hours of work? My God! The guests were all dressed in black since they thought they were attending a funeral. Can you talk about this wedding dress, please? Where is the dress now?

I had only been the Costume Designer for two days when I was told that “Julia” was going to re-wed “Mason” and that I had better get busy designing right away. Nancy had told me she liked the 1940’s silhouette, and I went with that idea. It came to me very quickly. I had read in the script that she would run through a field after the wedding, so I wanted something that would flow, I didn’t think a traditional veil would work, and I liked the idea of doing something different. That’s how the idea of the veil attaching at the shoulders came from. I’m not sure where the dress is now. Probably in storage at NBC.

When B.J (Sidney Penny) dressed like Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, her costume was a green leotard with chiffon leaves, gold thread and a skull cap with green and topaz stones. The outfit, designed by you, cost approximately $ 900. Why did you choose this particular costume for BJ? How was it working with Sidney Penny?

I adored Sydney. She is such a lovely girl and a joy to work with. I wanted a charming costume that showed off her figure and I had great fun watching my design develop from the sketch into the real costume. There are many talented seamstresses and tailors at NBC who do all the actual sewing and beading.

When SB's costume department learned Mason was going to give Julia a charm bracelet, they wanted to find the perfect one. It is true that you purchased Monet lockets from Robinson's in L.A. and attached them to a simple link bracelet?

I honestly don’t remember this item.

It isn't every day that a girl gets to rush a sorority. For her party, Lilly Blake ( Paula Irvine) donned a pale pink dress covered with lace and beading. A tulle stole completed the outfit. Did you interact much with the actors? Was your work place far away from them? Did you listen to their requests? Do You listen to their requests? Were the actors demanding or easygoing about what they wore on the show?

Yes, I interact with actors a lot, every day in fact. I am careful to ask for their requests, I know their favorite colors, and I make sure that when I am fitting their costumes or dresses that they are happy with the fit. It is very much of a collaboration, and I like it that way.

I really loved Gina's Geisha garb. Her gold satin outfit was rented for approximately $250. Tucked into her wig was an antique hair pin that the SB costume department designed for $50. How was it working with Robin Mattson (Gina)?

Robin Mattson is a very dynamic personality.

You also created the costumes for Episode 2000. Gina is hunted by the police and after a series of adventures, she disguises herself using the costumes of a theater company and she is married to Lionel. A Shakespearian episode of SB, very nice. Do you remember it? Can you tell me about those costumes?

This is one of my favorite costumes of all that I did for Santa Barbara. I had to come up with a costume that was 1) suitable for a Shakespeare play, and 2) suitable for a wedding. Women did not wear white for weddings until about a hundred years ago, but people think of white for a wdding, so I had to do something that would work for both. I loved designing this and watching it come to life. For a long time this costume was on display at NBC for tourists to see.


You created the costumes for the last episode -- the wedding of BJ and Warren (Jack Wagner). Can you tell us about BJ's dress? I love and I will always love Sophia’s (Judith McConnell) emerald green dress. In my opinion, it’s one of your best creations. Enchanting.

This was another favorite costume. You may notice, I never like to do the traditional wedding gown, I always want to make it more interesting. I actually wanted an authentic 1930’s wedding gown, but since I knew we were filming outdoors in December, Sydney would freeze to death, so I also designed the white velvet coat to go over it. I also designed and made the silk flowers in her hair, on a little “Juliet” cap. As it turned out, it was freezing cold the day we filmed, with an icy wind coming up off the ocean. All my actresses were huddled in winter coats inbetween takes.

Who decided what kind of dress she should wear?

For the most part, I decide those things, but I always get approval from the producer, especially if I am doing something unusual. The producer has to approve the sketch before I can start having the costume constructed.

Can you tell us about the phases of creating a costume on SB?

Yes, first I see what is required from the script, what the story is telling me. Then I talk to the actor or actress (especially if they are in a leading role, not the smaller parts) and sketch up my ideas. Once I get approval from the producer, the sketch is taken to the costume workroom, where I discuss it with the head cutter. I purchase the fabric and all the trim, and watch the costume at each stage of its construction. Then the actress comes in for a fitting, which I supervise. When I am happy with the look and the fit, I choose the shoes and jewelry and make sure it is ready in time for the shooting day.

How was it working on SB? A true fan is very curious about all the background. It may not add anything valuable, but it's fun! Are there any spicy anecdotes or secrets you're willing to share now after so many years? Antipathy between actors? Tension on the set?

I wish I could give you some “spicy” details, but I never will do that. I see the actors before makeup, in their underwear, on good days and bad days, and they need to trust me. That lasts forever. I will tell you that I LOVED going to work every day. There is a comraderie of working on a set with the same group of people day after day – they become like family. I was especially fond of Gordon Thomson (Mason), Sydney Penny (BJ), Judith McConnell (Sophia), A Martinez (Cruz) and Eileen Davidson (Kelly). They wew good fun, decent, kind people, and excellent at their jobs. Not everyone got on with everyone, just like in any family, but when the camera rolls, everyone pulls together.

In the USA “Santa Barbara”  always remained in the bottom of the rankings ratings. In the rest of the world and especially in Europe it has had excellent ratings. Furthermore, despite having low ratings, it has been the most award-winning soap and and still there are dozens and dozens of sites dedicated to this soap, unlike the others soaps cancelled. Do People still contact you to talk about Sb? What made SB so special? Please tell us what you liked about "Santa Barbara" and then what you didn't like about it.

One of my favorite stories about SB is about a girl who grew up in Belarus watching SB. She wrote me about it and a year later, after she had come to the USA on a tennis scholarship and also to study costumes, contacted me again. Once she graduated, she came to intern with me on the soap Passions, and now works full time in Hollywood on major Tv Shows such as Dexter, Dollhouse and more. This is the effect SB has had on people, and I am grateful that it has.

What are your professional plans for the future?

I want to help young people all over the world to learn about how to work in costumes for TV and film through my website and online training program. Through the internet and skype, I can interact with them personally and teach them about working in costumes in films, and help them with the start of their professional careers. I emphasize the practical aspects of being part of a film production, not just the design element, and I design the course for each individual who signs on according to their interests and needs.


This interview is designed primarily for the Italian public. In our country, “Santa Barbara” was very much loved and followed. You speak Italian very very well!! Have you ever been in Italy? What do you know about our country? Do You want to say something to the Italian public who loved your art and your work?

Sì, mi piace molto l’Italia e gli Italiani. Mio marito (Dominic Calandra) è Italiano-Americano. I suoi nonni sono nati in Santa Croce di Magliano e San Giuliano di Puglia nell’Abruzzo. Dominic ed io abbiamo visitato Italia molte volte, tutte le regioni. Ho studiato italiano ma non ho occasione parlare molto spesso la lingua. Parlo italiano soltanto quando viaggiamo in Italia.

Spero che i vostri seguaci godono delle mie storie su Santa Barbara e spero di avervi come allievi Italiani.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THOM RACINA (SB CO-HEAD WRITER AND SCRIPT WRITER 91-93) - PART TWO

In 1992 NBC decided to cancel SB. It 'true that at the last time NBC gives six months of life to the show and then they delete it on January 1993? 'Do this really happened or my sources are wrong? Can you tell us everything that you remember in the months before the cancellation?

I don’t know about NBC promising another 6 months, but I’ll say this: we knew were living on borrowed time from the day I joined the Dobsons on the show.  Jerry even said it to me that first day he came to my house, telling me he didn’t “know how long it will last.” 

Do you think that it was done everything possible to save SB?

In retrospect, we can say we should have done this or that, or we should have hired this person or that, or fired this person or that, but who really knows?  You do your best with what you have, your best at the time, on all levels, and you hope it works.  This is a quirky, odd business, television.  There are no rules, you can’t ever count on anything, and you thank your lucky stars you had a run like SB had, for most shows don’t ever come close.  Of course, the demise of a show as famous and popular as SB was simply the beginning of the end of all soaps, as so many others, so many with even better ratings than SB, have followed in its footsteps and are now gone. 

In the last three years four soaps have been canceled and since 1999 no new soap is produced. It 'obvious that the soap genre is in steep decline. I do not think the fault is the high production costs and the success of reality shows. The main fault in my opinion is that the soaps have not been able to reinvent itself. They are equal to themselves for decades. Following what circumstances it comes time to cancel a soap?

Yes, as I’m saying, the genre is in steep decline, there are only 4 left, and I will predict that they’ll all be gone in 5 years time.  I disagree with you that it isn’t productions costs and reality shows; television is about ratings, and that means money.  The costs are extraordinary, even after all the pay cuts and trimming of budgets.  If you owned NBC, wouldn’t you do a show that might cost a fraction of the expense of a soap and see what happens?  But there are other factors as well.  Soaps were pitched toward women in the Midwest who were standing in front of the TV ironing clothes, they were created by Proctor & Gamble to sell soap.  That audience, like the characters they were watching, eventually got up from the kitchen table and went out and got jobs, developed careers, opened up their world—and thus there is little audience left.  Plus today we have hundreds and hundreds of choices, whereas back in the heyday of soaps in America it was only NBC, CBS and ABC.  So often I’ve heard that fans started watching because their grandmothers or mother watched, and thus they got hooked.  Today that doesn’t happen, for Mom isn’t watching television, she’s working, and Granny, if she’s watching TV and not on the computer, is probably addicted to The Real Housewives of some such city.  One more thing: Paul Rauch has a memoir coming, which I’m helping him write, that will be published late next year, and in it he points to network interference as one of the main reasons the soaps lost their way.  So you are right that it isn’t only money and ratings and the competition of cheap reality shows.  Storytelling really has become stagnant, I think, because the network puts everything the capable writers suggest through the wash (a bad pun on soap here?) and it comes out too clean.  Meaning that the stains, which is what is interesting, are gone.  Stories are grey rather than black and white, the ups and down are leveled off, the colors muted, characters have no edge, so much of the humor is lost (a great SB trait back in the early days).  It’s writing by committee, when, as Paul says, the network should simply be encouraging the writers, not dictating what stories to tell and how to tell them. 

In the USA “Santa Barbara”  always remained in the bottom of the rankings ratings. In the rest of the world and especially in Europe it has had excellent ratings. Furthermore, despite having low ratings, it has been the most award-winning soap and and still there are dozens and dozens of sites dedicated to this soap, unlike the others soaps cancelled. People still contact you to talk about Sb? What made SB so special? Please tell us what you liked about "Santa Barbara" and then what you do not like about that show.

We forget that SB never had good ratings here, because it was so popular!  And I don’t mean popular as in people watching it, it just had a good vibe, everyone knew about it, everyone talked about it, it won Emmy after Emmy, and yet no one really ever watched it.  Yes, I get asked about it often.  Yes, the buzz still goes on.  But because I was writing other shows full time for all the years it was on, I seldom got to watch it, so I’m not familiar with it as a longtime fan might be, but when I did see, I liked it a lot.  I was attracted to the offbeat nature of the thing—something I didn’t think I’d find with it being called Santa Barbara, which is, actually, a kind of staid, solid, beautiful-but-dull city north of LA—and, as I said before, the humor.  Oh how I loved the humor.  On every show I wrote, I tried so hard to keep it funny, even in the midst of doom and gloom and reappearing dead people and the latest disease which has landed on our most loved diva.  SB did that well, and I think that’s a great credit to the Dobsons.

And now few quick questions: Which is your favorite soap of all time?

Favorite soap of all time?  Dark Shadows.  It was the last show done live, I raced home from school to be able to see a doorknob come off in poor Grayson Hall’s hand and then see how she’d use that moment to incorporate it into the action—it was a riot!  Plus I loved vampires and the whole idea of it, and I was at an age where high camp like that really turned me on.  In fact, it was the only soap I had ever watched before being hired to write General Hospital.

And the best soap ever?

That’s a tough question.  I’d say it’s a tossup between One Life to Live because it was so steady and consistent (and one I never did), and General Hospital, though I think it was the best show only during the 1980’s when it changed daytime forever, with Luke & Laura’s story topping all ratings for the rest of time.  Of course, I wrote that, so I’m prejudiced and not particularly objective.  So I’ll go with OLTL because of its staying power.

The worst?

Passions.  Ugh.

The most overrated soap?

Passions again.  I know that you’d think I’d be a fan of this one because it was so outrageous and crazy, but I just hated it.  Some things are too over the top.

The most underrated?

Generations.  Again, I was involved, but I thought we were never given a chance, not by the network nor the audience.  The show got a lot of spin that it was a “black soap,” but really only half the cast was black (and we actually thought we were going to attract a sizeable female black audience—but they wouldn’t leave All My Children) but the talk about color may even have hurt us.  It was a damn good show, however, and that’s why I believe it was completely underrated.

What are your professional plans for the future?

As I said, I’m writing Paul’s memoir.  I’ve got a new nighttime pilot being shopped that I’ve written with my dear friend Susie Bedsow Horgan, who wrote and executive produced OLTL, and is also my fellow martini drinker and wonderfully creative spirit.  I’ve got 3—don’t faint hearing this—reality show pitches that have gotten to the studio development point, and none of them have anything to do with soaps.  I also have another novel I’m itching to start, but where does the time go?

This interview is designed primarily for the Italian public. In our country, “Santa Barbara” was very much loved and followed. You've never been in Italy? What do you know about our country? You want to say something to the Italian public who loved SB?

I’ll tell you where the time goes, I travel.  I’m a junkie, probably was a pilot in another life.  I’m obsessed with airline miles, and use them for Business Class trips to Europe a couple of times every year.  I just returned from 3 weeks in England and France, and I’m off to Bruges and Paris in late September.  I have been to Italy about 9 times over the years, once took my parents to Rome, Naples and Positano for one of the most wonderful memories I have with them.  I was in Tuscany last May (oh how I love Siena!), and my heart has always been in Roma.  I’ve said many times, when I die, I want someone to scatter my ashes in the Piazza della Rotunda and I’ll be a happy guy.  Rome is, without a doubt, my Santa Barbara, my favorite city in the entire world.  It never ceases to amaze me with its incredible history at every turn and yet the passionate life brimming in the piazzas.  I mean, take a stroll through Trastevere at night!  Rome fills me with joy and wonder, I find the people fabulous and interesting, and dinner at Toscano off the Via Veneto is my idea of heaven.  I thank the Italian public for making Santa Barbara a success—I actually remember getting checks from the Writer’s Guild a few years later that were payment for “SB—Italy.”  Grazie!

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THOM RACINA (SB CO-HEAD WRITER AND SCRIPT WRITER 91-93) - PART ONE

Today I propose to you the first part of the interview that Thom Racina has released exclusively to "Santa Barbara Blog". Racina was Co-Head Writer of SB in 1991 season and later he became Script Writer from 1992 until the cancellation of SB. In addition to SB, Racina (Emmy nominee) also wrote numerous other soaps, including Another Wolrd, Days of our Lives, General Hospital, Search for Tomorrow, Generations and The Young and the Restless.

During this interview we will examine the daytime soap operas and especially "Santa Barbara". Your  soaps came in Italy in 80’s. The most successful it were Capitol, Loving, Santa Barbara, B & B and Guiding Light. In Italy all the others soaps have been resounding failures and it aired briefly. Capitol, Loving and SB aired until their last episode. B&B and GL still airing here. How can you explain these differences between our raiting and yours?

Well, to be honest, who the hell knows?  Why has Jerry Lewis been so overwhelmingly popular in France but is rather unloved in America where his career is based?  Why did Generations, a soap that struggled for the 2 years it was on NBC here, succeed brilliantly in Poland?  Local tastes, a different appeal, better competition?  I honestly don’t know, and I’m not sure anybody does.  I can understand the popularity (worldwide) of Santa Barbara.  The cast was magnificent, the stories classic, the setting alluring (the real city of SB is one of the most beautiful in California).  I understand that Guiding Light and Bold & Beautiful would both also do well in Italy, but Loving?  And Capitol?  Go figure.

You worked on SB in 1991 as co-Head Writer and in 1992 as a breakdown writer. 1991 was a very important year for Santa Barbara while Marcy Walker left the show, the Dobsons returned, after a legal battle that saw them winning against New World Television, the distributor of the show. The show was sailing in troubled waters and the cancellation was just around the corner. You came so in a very delicate moment. By whom were you hired? What was your mood?

Truth is, I didn’t want to work real hard.  I was winding down from a long long run starting in 1981, and I had agreed to do One Life to Live, but at the last minute, the deal fell through and I was not sure what I wanted to do.  I was considering leaving the business for a while and returning to writing novels (which I eventually did a few years later).  I was enjoying some time off, letting my brain recover.  Then the Dobsons called.  They’d followed my career and were interested in bringing me to Santa Barbara, they said, as part of their triumphant return package.  Jerome came to my house to interview me—never had that happen before—and we found that we shared a lot of common ground, like wanting to tell stories the way we believed in them (screw the network!), we wanted to be risky (as I’d proven I could be by doing basic science fiction years before on General Hospital with the snow in the summer on Port Charles from a weather machine), it felt like a good fit to me, even though I thought he was a bit of an odd duck (more on that later).  I planned to go to the studio the next day to meet Bridget, but Jerry called me that night and told me I was hired.  I did go to their mansion in Bel Air or Holmby Hills or wherever it was a few days later to meet her, and it seemed a good fit.  I rather liked her a lot.  So it was the Dobsons who brought me in, and the network and everyone else seemed glad to have me.

You worked closely with Dobsons. Can you tell us how were the relations between the network and them? There was a lot of tension? These tensions had an effect on your work? How?

The Dobsons

It was a battle.  I mean, in a way it always is—the network hires you, I’ve always said, because you’re a great storyteller, then they never let you tell a story.  Paul Rauch, a wonderful producer stated, “The network is not there to tell the writers what to do.  The network is there to encourage the writers.”  The Dobsons had returned to save the show, and what the network should have done was let them have free reign, let them do anything they wanted to do—why not?  What did they have to lose?  We were heading toward cancellation anyway.  But the network, acting out of fear, kept second guessing everything the Dobsons wanted to do, which made for even more tension.  On top of that, there was a strange kind of brittle tension between Bridget and Jerome at that time that you could cut with a knife.  The door to their office would suddenly close and we’d hear yelling and screaming, big arguments coming from behind it.  It wasn’t pretty.  And of course it had an effect on the work, how could it not have?  I think none of us did our best because there was such turmoil around us.

On your website you talk about Dobsons defining them"loony." Can you explain what you mean? I've always found them brilliant. Especially I liked them because they were not afraid to take risks. But I obviously do not know them.  Can you make for us a professional and human portrait of Dobsons? Do you have any anecdotes?

Yes, they were risk takers, and they were not afraid to tell a story that they believed in, they were true artists.  I had—and still have—a lot of respect for them.  But at the same time, I always found Jerry distant, a little “off,” though I don’t know how to really portray that in words—he just seemed a little loony, slightly spacey.  And because I was there at a time when the pressures probably were really getting to them (hence, all the fighting), I was perhaps not the best observer to judge them.  I honestly didn’t know them well; I wanted to do my work and stay removed to a certain extent, something I’d never done in my career.  Before SB, it was 24 hours a day, every day.  I lived and breathed every character, I ate with them, slept with them (not literally!), plotted their next moves, the next words coming out of their mouths.  I wanted not to have the responsibility I’d had before, and so I stayed a bit distant from the swamp in which the Dobsons were sinking.  I loved the show, loved the characters and wanted to write good story, but I didn’t much like the atmosphere of the workplace.

The story of multiple personalities of Eden was very controversial. Many people criticized. Marcy Walker was not too excited about this. Who had the idea and who developed it? What do you remember and what do you think?

I honestly don’t know the answer to this one, though I would guess the idea was something the Dobsons had had stuffed down their throats, perhaps by NBC.  Or was story done before they came back?  I remember that storyline and how negative the reception was, but I don’t remember writing it—did we do this while I was there?  I think not.  I can only say that I recall thinking the story of Eden having multiple personalities rather unbelievable for the character of Eden—after all she’d been through, this is something we are just discovering?  Things like don’t seem organic to me, they seem “writerish.”  Ugh.

Which storylines you're most proud of? And which ones you did not love and would not have wanted to write? There was a character you loved more than others?

I know that a lot of critics feel that Pam Long’s introduction of new characters helped sink the show (and that may well be true), but I loved working with her and loved the entire BJ storyline.  I thought it had depth and romance, and writing it was a delight.  Writing the Capwells, any of them, was fun, plus I’d write for Robin Mattson any day, no matter what part she’s playing.  And I liked Nancy Grahn’s character too, it was one I loved sinking my teeth into.

C.Garland

In 1991 the Dobsons  decided to replace Carrington Garland with an older actress (Eileen Davidson) in the role of Kelly Capwell. They thought so to attract the Davidson’s audience. In my opinion, It was a dramatic mistake. Eileen Davidson, although a great actress, had nothing to do with Kelly. What u think about it?

I agree with you completely!




Then the Dobsons once again left the show in 1992. What happened? Were they fired, or they decided to go and why? I do not understand: they did everything to get back. In 1992 you became breakdown writer . Why? What role do you prefer?

They were fired.  The end was near and NBC wanted to see if some new blood would save the show, so they dumped the Dobsons (yet again) because the tension between them and the network was overwhelmingly poisonous.  That’s when NBC brought Pam and Paul in.  Bridget.  She decided one day, after they had returned to SB, that she wanted to be the story editor.  Paul tried to talk her out of it, too much time and effort, let the capable person who had that job continue with it, Bridget should just head write along with Jerry.  But she demanded it, that they fire the editor and let her take on the responsibility.  So New World did.  A few weeks later, she demanded another $7500 a week for doing that, and they told her to shove it.  She went home and stayed there for 3 weeks, while Jerome came to the studio and never mentioned her.  Talk about oddballs!  She finally returned, but that incident possibly was the last straw for New World, for when the window of opportunity for them to fire her came up, they did it and hired Pam.  I remember how strange it was that she just didn't show up for 3 weeks.

The Walkers

In 1992 you became breakdown writer . Why? What role do you prefer?In the same year Pam Long was the new Head Writer. It was she who introduced the Walker family and it was she who decided to use less characters like Gina (Robin Mattson) and Lionel (Nicolas Coster). It was part of the pursuit of audience?

Pam, as delightful as she was, had a big ego, and I think I recall that if the show wanted her, she wouldn’t share the title of Head Writer.  It was fine by me because of the tension of the workplace; as I said before, I wanted to go home at night and sleep, not have nightmares about the show, which is something all head writers have (deservedly so; they are paid not to sleep well).  I gladly accepted the change in title (and it didn’t mean I’d make less money), and though I didn’t know Pam at first, we came to enjoy one another greatly, and she relied on me for the same kind of input I’d given the Dobsons.  So it was a joint venture, but she had the responsibility…and the pressure…and the eventual she had to take some blame for the end.  I don’t know why she chose to use Gina and Lionel less, but you’re right, it was a conscious decision, although I remember Pam being a big fan of Robin’s.  We loved the Walker family and really felt that some new blood would be good for the show, though in retrospect, we probably should have given equal or more time to the Capwells and characters who had been there from the start.  That’s why Y&R (which I wrote for a while 2 years ago) is doing so well in the ratings; it focuses on the beloved long term characters.

Sydney Penny

I think one of the best storylines of 1992 was the one about the sexual abuse suffered by BJ in her childhood by a family friend played by Nicholas Walker. That was a hot topic for daytime, but it was discussed in a very delicate way, thanks to the superb interpretation of Sydney Penny. What do you think about it?

I loved it, and I’m proud of it.  Sydney was utterly wonderful, and so was Eric.  I’d created the childhood abuse story for Kimberly on DAYS a few years before so this was very much up my alley.  Funny thing I just thought of: do you remember the scene where BJ was going to drown herself?  We shot that at my pool at my house in Los Feliz because the show was so low on money that we couldn’t afford to really do it on a location we had to pay for!  I remember I had to turn the pool heater on high so she wouldn’t freeze between all the takes (which made the water steam in the cool Los Angeles night), and because it was a huge black-bottom pool, 20 feet by 40 feet and 9 feet deep at the diving end, it cost me a week’s salary to pay the gas bill just for that shot!  I thought it worked wonderfully though.

to be continued