THE EXCLUSIVE AND UNUSUAL INTERVIEW WITH LYNDA MYLES (SB WRITER FROM 1984 TO 1992)

Lynda Myles is a two-time Emmy winning TV writer, an actress, playwright, memoirist, and short fiction writer. She has been nominated for six Daytime Emmy awards, winning twice, for writing for the long-running TV show Santa Barbara. She also won several Writers Guild of America awards for scriptwriting. She has written for General Hospital, Guiding Light, As the World Turns, Loving, and One Life to Live. Ms. Myles was the recipient of the John Gardner Memorial Prize for fiction in 2007 for her short story "The Blue Dress," and is an editor and contributor to TheMemoirGroup.com.  And now the interview that Miss Myles has granted exclusively to "Santa Barbara Blog".

If I tell you SB: What is the first image / memory that comes to your mind?

A scene in an early show with the Lockridges. Laken, the daughter, was whining that her mother, Augusta, had cooked her pet pigeon into an appetizer. "How could you, Mother...?!!!

You were part of SB from the very beginning: who hired you?

Actually I wasn't with the show from the beginning, but close to it. I’m going to digress a little here. I had worked with the Dobsons on my first show, As the World Turns, in the early 80's and liked them. But I wrote several months of scripts for them before I finally met them face to face. They lived in California and had an apartment in Manhattan on the East River, right across town from me. One day, when I knew they were in NYC, I told them I was going to drop off my completed script in person. I went up to their apartment and they took a break from work (I saw a bulletin board with index cards pinned to it) and were quite friendly. I remember Jerry was wearing a sweat band on his head and running clothes. They explained that their time was so limited between work and raising their two children, that they didn't have much time to socialize. Shortly after I started working with them on ATWT, Jerry phoned me about a script I'd written. He said, "You missed the boat in three places," meaning I didn't write three scenes as well as I should have. We discussed the scenes and Jerry explained where they could be improved. I was always grateful to him for making that call because I learned a lot from it.  (Writers have been fired in such cases without knowing why. The headwriter doesn't have or doesn't want to take the time to train someone) Jerry always said, "surprise me," to scriptwriters, meaning take a risk, do something different. When I was first writing, I found that a little scary -- what if I did something stupid, instead of exciting? You have to get yourself into the right frame of mind to take risks.  Jerry and Bridget gave writers the confidence to do that. The Dobsons left ATWT, and Mary Ellis Bunim, the producer, gave them a goodbye party at her Upper West Side apartment. I didn't know what their plans were, but Bridget said to me that evening that the headwriting job was so relentless and confining, that she wanted Jerry to be able  "to play like a dolphin again." I was charmed by that idea and sent them a goodbye present, a framed photo of a real dolphin jumping and twisting in the air. Some time later I got a call Jerry, I think it was, offering me a job on the new show they were writing, Santa Barbara. I considered it seriously, but decided to stay with ATWT, since I'd been writing for it for three years, it was my first show, and I felt a sense of loyalty. Then, a few months later, ATWT fired me! The reason was that I'd started to write what's called a "half-script," meaning a script every other week instead of every week. I wasn't a fast writer and I found producing 25 scenes in 75-80 pages every seven days didn't leave me time to do anything else. Back then we were still working on typewriters, using carbons to make copies, as incredible as that sounds. Then a new headwriter came on who didn't like my new arrangement and wanted me to do more scripts, so I was let go. Mary-Ellis Bunim was the one who called me to give me the news. I whispered to my husband when I got the phone call, "I'm being canned!" and then I started to cry. I heard Mary-Ellis whisper to someone on her end, “She’s crying!“. Soon after I had my agent call SB and ask if they still wanted me. Yes, they did. And not only that but they paid more and said my writing every other week was fine. It turned out to be the best writing job I ever had.

You worked closely with Dobsons. Can you tell us how relations were between the network and them? Was there a lot of tension? If so, did these tensions affect your work? How?

I once told the Dobsons that working with them was like dancing on clouds.  That thought occurred to me when I was in an airplane feeling good about work and looking down at the field of white clouds as far as the eye could see. Bridget and Jerry were fun and exhilarating, as well as extremely kind and supportive. They were generous and loyal. One time a new editor came on the show, a good writer we'd worked with on ATWT. I was upset when I saw that he’d marked up every page of the first script of mine he edited (everybody‘s else‘s, too, I found out). I let out my frustration over the phone to Debbie Bachtell, SB’s super-efficient, super-caring, super-in-every-way production manager. The new editor did surprisingly trivial things like dropping the "g" off the end of words -- "I was thinkin', CC..."  rather than leaving it up to the actors. I felt he was trying to dumb down characters that were smart -- like Cruz. The other scriptwriters were pretty unhappy, too.  An editor will often get away with that sort of thing, because there's a hierarchy, and the headwriter often doesn't interfere. Of course, the best of us produces scripts that need tracking and judicious editing, but some edits are capricious and just plain busywork. (One editor on a different show would prowl through scripts changing "anybody" to “anyone.“).  In this case, the Dobsons agreed with us. I got a message on my answering machine from Bridget (I saved it for years!) saying they were so sorry about the over-editing, they were having a talk with the editor and it wouldn't happen again.  Amazingly, the editor kept doing it his way, so after a while, Jerry started re-editing the scripts. I'd get copies with the editor's picky little changes and a big handwritten "STET" across the page, meaning, leave it the way it was. Soon,  the editor left the show. I don't think anything like that ever happened before or after in Daytime. The Dobsons made their scriptwriters feel treasured. As far as tension with the network went, I remember at some point difficulties arose and Bridget told me that a honcho from NBC had made a threat that they "were going to take their house away." But I don't know what the exact controversies were. The way the Dobsons handled the situation was to go out and make a deal to be partners with New World Productions. I don't recall the writers being affected by any of this. Of course, scriptwriters work at home and some of us are in New York or elsewhere, so we don't know what's happening in the offices or studios. I believe New World was responsible for selling SB to countries all over the world, which turned out to be a very good thing for those associated with the show. This is what I did know -- Bridget had decided she wanted to work in the studio and produce the show instead of writing it, so she replaced Mary-Ellis Bunim as producer. Jerry left the show altogether, and Ann Howard Bailey was brought in as the sole headwriter. After a few months, Bridget felt she didn't like the direction the stories were going; I believe she thought they were too violent and unromantic. She wanted to replace Ms. Bailey with another headwriter, but New World balked, probably because it meant paying off her contract. As I understood it, the Dobsons and their representatives saw this refusal as a breach of contract on the part of New World, since the Dobsons were supposed to have artistic control of the show.  A notice was sent around that on the advice of their legal counsel, the Dobsons were taking over Santa Barbara again. New World mounted a counterattack, and the next thing I heard was that Bridget was either led off or barred from the set by armed guards! New World filed a lawsuit against the Dobsons for 25 million dollars (and The Dobsons countersued for nearly five times the amount). Their friends on the show -- which included many of the writers -- were asked to give depositions on their behalf. This was a strange situation, since we were still working for the people the Dobsons were now suing.  However, there was no intimidation from our new bosses that I knew of. I remember going into the offices of a law firm in New York City and sitting before a camera for an hour or two. I don't think I had much to offer that mattered legally; I simply said how much I liked working on the show and how great it was to work for the Dobsons. People took sides during that time. I know there were bad feelings, and certain work and personal relationships were severed. Eventually the suit was settled, and Bridget and Jerry came back to work as headwriters. One thing I remember about that time was Bridget calling  me one day from the studio to say the powers-that-be had tried to cut out a small acting role on a show to save money. But Bridget wanted the part in, so she told them she'd pay for it out of her own pocket. She was a little breathless when she told me, since that sort of thing wasn't done every day -- or maybe ever. But the Dobsons ended up getting fired when their contract option came up. I think that took them by surprise. I know I was sad to lose them again. I left SB myself not long after, but tuned in to see the very last show where the new producer walked off into the shadows after crushing a cigarette underfoot.

I especially  liked the Dobsons  because they were not afraid to take risks. But I obviously do not know them.  Can you make a professional and human portrait of the Dobsons for us? Do you have any anecdotes?

I guess I’ve already responded to this question before I got to it! I'll just add that the Dobsons were totally devoted to their family; their children meant to the world to them. Mary worked on SB for a while as a breakdown writer, I believe. She was talented and very, very nice. I met her future husband and liked him, too. Andrew, the son, managed various Dobson enterprises, and was a friendly, pleasant young man. It was a tragedy when he died suddenly at a very young age, around 30. Mary had children and Bridget and Jerry have had a lot of joy from their grandchildren. Bridget spent several years painting wonderful vibrant pictures. She had two shows of her work in New York that I attended. I loved her use of color. Jerry was working on a novel a few years ago. I read part of it and was knocked out. It reminded me of the author Larry McMurtry's best work, yet it was pure Jerry. I hope he finishes it and it gets published some day.

SB won three consecutive Emmy Awards as Outstandig Daytime Drama (1988-90). In 1988 Bridget Dobson took the stage ( see the video) , saying: “NBC locked me out the studios, but they can’t lock me out of the Emmys”. (Take a look at Jill F. Phelps’face!!). I admire Miss “Tiger” Dobson so much! Sometimes I  I wish I could give her a hug! What do you remember about that night?

That was great fun to watch! Of course, the writers were there and shared in the joy of winning best show. I can remember a few pointed remarks about Bridget "grabbing the Emmy away from Jill," but I didn't see any grabbing going on. There must've been some bad feelings since Bridget didn't even mention Jill's name or give her credit! Was this the 1987-88 season? The two Emmy's I have are for 1988-89 and 1990-91 for "outstanding drama series writing team" NBC, Santa Barbara.

Which storylines were your favorite? And which ones did you not love and would not have wanted to write?  

I loved the Mason/Mary romance and was very sorry when she was killed by the big "C" on the roof. Fans wrote in and were heartbroken and angry that she was gone. I loved writing anything with Mason in it, because Lane Davies was such a good actor and so marvelous with language. He could handle anything you threw at him -- a page-long speech, a quip, anger, sarcasm, hurt feelings-- his character was always great fun.  When Julia came on the show, I enjoyed writing for the two of them very much (our version of Nick and Nora). I fell in love with Cruz and Eden, of course. But also with Kelly, C.C.(as played by Jed Allen) and Sophia. She was always wonderful. Augusta and Lionel were a hoot. I don't recall any storyline I hated writing.  (Thank God for selective memory.) The Dobsons bought us tickets for the Emmys the first year we were on the air, even though the show and writers weren’t nominated. The table we were given was so far away from the stage that we were practically in the kitchen. It was great fun to work our way closer and closer to the stage year by year as people noticed that the show was different from most other soaps (for better or worse! Our ratings were never very high.). Then one year we were right below the stage and I knew we were going to win -- and we did!

The first big plot of SB was Channing  jr ’s murder. The intrigue lasted nine months before coming to the shocking truth. Did you know from the beginning that the murderess was Sophia? Or did you think the story might change during construction? The final revelation was exceptional: Sophia kills her own son. Classical Greek tragedy!

No, I didn’t know in advance that Sophia was the murderer. This will shock you, Pierpaolo, but I'd forgotten all about the Channing Jr. murder plot! So much happened after that. As far as the story possibly changing, the headwriters of every show would write a "long term" (a bible, I think some called it) including characters and stories for the next 6 months or year. I'm sure you already know a lot about this, but it had to be approved by the producers and the network and in SB’s case, New World, and by P&G for their shows (and sometimes by the elevator operator and the janitor, as well. Okay, I’m kidding, sort of. But there were always a lot of cooks in the soap broth.). The long-term rarely stayed the same. A story might not play as well on air as on paper, so they scrap it, or an actor leaves the show unexpectedly, or the headwriters are fired, new ones come in and toss the whole long-term, or the the producer gets fired and the new one hates the current stories...

In the beginning  there were four families protagonists: the rich Capwells, the eccentric Lockridges, the poor Perkins, and the Mexican Andrades. A wonderful and representative microcosm. After two years, the Perkins were gone, the Andrades and Lockridges were decimated. Why? Do You think it was a right choice?

I only vaguely remember the Perkins! I know "Minx" left the show, partly because she cost so much;  she required a limo to pick her up and bring her back to the town of Santa Barbara where she lived. I had to call her once about the show and she was pretty grumpy and ungracious -- after all, she was Dame Judith Anderson! Basically, I think the characters that became popular were kept on and built up, and the ones that didn't were written out (except for Mary, I'm not sure why she was killed off). Lionel and Augusta were great fun, Laken and Minx not so much. Rosa was powerful, but the Santana I saw in the tribute to Frank scenes was not very interesting. As long as they kept the characters I liked to write for, I was happy!

After SB had been on the air about three months, the ratings were low and so the earthquake came. It was a real drama, but it also showed the comic side: Minx is hidden in a sarcophagus and she is saved; Danny Andrade sleeps right through the whole thing and he doesn’t notice anything. How was the idea of the earthquake born?  

The Dobsons used what they knew about the town of Santa Barbara where they had lived, and about California in general. They have earthquakes and fires and mudslides out there from time to time! They have the Santa Ana winds that we wrote about early on (see wikipedia description), strong, dry, hot winds that fan fires and come at the end of the summer. The earthquake was plausible and exciting. We had to learn about quakes to write the scenes, just the way we had to research medical conditions, operations, court cases, etc for other stories. Around the time we wrote about the quake, someone at the studio asked us to write something funny about the show, and I can't remember now who asked and what it was for, but I wrote a satiric fake entry for what I called "The Santa Barbara Disaster of the Week Contest" about Cruz jumping out of a helicopter to rescue Eden, getting his parachute caught on the propellers and whipping around and around -- silly nonsense like that, but it was fun to write. If I ever find it,  I'll send it to you. (Miss Myles did find it, she send it to me and she gave me permission to publish it in the next post! Stay tuned!!)

When you wrote a character, did you feel inspired by real people? 

I'm inspired by real people in my life when I write a play or a short story, but the characters on a soap are created by the headwriters and given to us to flesh out. Especially on SB, I was always influenced by the actors I was writing for, not anyone I knew personally. It felt like a fine collaboration between actors and writers.

You worked on SB from 1984 to 1991.You saw 5 Executive Producers (the Dobsons, Jeffrey Hayden, Mary Ellis-Bunim, Jill Farren Phelps and John Conboy) coming and then leaving SB, 4 Head Writers (The Dobsons, Charles Pratt jr, Anne Bailey Howard, Sheri Anderson, Maralyn Thoma) coming and then leaving. Which of them gave you more freedom to create, and which did not?

I was actually with the show until at least ‘92. I had the most fun with the Dobsons, of course, but except for that one experience with the editor who was so hard on the writers, I always felt a lot of freedom to be creative on the show and was grateful for that.

When John Conboy came on board, many writers left SB. What really happened? Do you think that J. Conboy understood SB soul? What kind of changes did he introduce and what did you think about them? 

I remember meeting John Conboy in New York after he came on the show. He took some of the writers to lunch to introduce himself, and he was friendly and nice. But I didn’t work for him very long, and don’t have a strong opinion.

Why did you leave SB?

I decided to take some time off to finish a play I was working on. I felt it was time to take a break, and this was a good reason. It was a comedy/drama about a soap opera actress who volunteers in a soup kitchen, and Courtney (Sherman) Simon took the part of the actress in a staged reading and was wonderful. (She's also one of the very best writers I ever worked with). Unfortunately, it wasn’t a very successful play, I was never able to really make it “work.” My next job was on Guiding Light and Patrick Mulcahey came to work there too. I LOVED working with him on SB. I was dazzled by his scripts and thought he was a wonderful writer (still is, I'm sure). We were friends, and I visited him when I was in California. The Dobsons loved Patrick's work because he always did what they wanted -- he surprised them. Jill Farren Phelps became the producer on GL and I believe brought Patrick on. I don't recall if he started as headwriter or took over the job. I remember writing a long monolog from one of his breakdowns for the character of Roger (Michael Zaslow) about his time in Viet Nam. But Patrick had a falling out with some of the team regarding changes to his story projection and left the show. I was very sorry about that.

What do you do now?

When I left my last job (on OLTL) I started to write short stories and three of them have been published. I was the featured writer in the first edition of the anthology, The Creative Writer and won the John Gardner Memorial Prize for Fiction in 2007 for my short story, "The Blue Dress." I also started a website called thememoirgroup.com, presenting original pieces by a variety of writers, myself included. I led a writing group at Rivington House, a nursing home in Manhattan for AIDs patients and am currently leading two writing groups in the Adult Literacy Program sponsored by the New York Public Library.