SECOND PART: AN UNUSUAL AND EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH COURTNEY SIMON (SB SCRIPT WRITER FROM 1985 TO 1991)

After having presented the first part of the interview with Courtney Simon, here is the conclusion. Happy reading!

Eden & Cruz: the Super Cuple! Their chemistry is unmatched. You've written for them? SB was accused of being almost totally focused on this pair (mostly during Jill Farren Phelps tenure). Was this a conscious choice or not? DoYou think it was a right choice?

Eden and Cruz were one of the most compelling couples I’ve ever written for.  There were times when I agreed that they dominated the canvas too much, at the expense of other stories, but their work was always so committed and professional that no screen time was ever wasted on them.  I think the extreme focus on those two characters, for better and for worse, was very much a conscious choice by Jill Phelps.

And now… Eden’s rape! Rape is an act of violence, and that's exactly how Santa Barbara depicted Eden's devastating experience. Never on daytime has the brutality of the attack been so graphically portrayed. Eden found herself defenseless, terrorized and overpowered. The usual constraints and tentativeness that mark daytime-television fight scenes were absent. Originally, the script had more violence in it, but they made some cuts. On Oct. 5, 1979, General Hospital did a rape story line that has since gone down as a controversial classic among soap plots. It involved the characters of Luke and Laura, and it was termed a "seduction" rape, an oxymoron if there ever was one, since seduction and rape have nothing to do with each other. But, because the characters fell in love and eventually married, GH had to call it something. Santa Barbara, a soap known for taking risks, presented viewers with a realistic rape story line when the character of Eden (played by Marcy Walker) was brutally attacked. In the aftermath, she appeared on a talk show to describe the horror of what she had been through. On the show with her were two soap stars, "Link" and "Laurie," who had acted out a rape scene on General Clinic. An appalled Eden told these actors that they didn't have any idea what it was really like to be raped. The irony of this statement was not lost on me, nor was the thinly veiled reference to GH's rape story. Can you tell us how this idea was born and then developed?

I’ve commented on the rape story above.  You’d have to ask a headwriter about the birth of the “Link and Laurie” reference.  Scriptwriters come in towards the end of the writing process, not the beginning.

Why you left?

I left because there was a new producer and the show was veering in a direction that seemed entirely opposed to the  Dobsons’ original vision.   The show that had been such a joy to write, just didn’t feel like fun anymore.

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

I can’t really pick a favorite soap.  They all have their glory days.  Though I thought I’d never top my experience at Santa Barbara, I followed up by writing for Guiding Light in the early 90’s, which turned out to be a wonderful, fertile period for the show.  During that time I got to write for one of the best casts ever assembled, one of whom was my husband, Peter Simon.  That was a special collaboration I’ll never forget.


And the best soap ever?

 I haven’t watched every soap, so I can’t possibly pick the best soap ever. 

The worst?

But—and I may get in terrible trouble for saying this --  I think “Passions” might be the worst.  I’m sure a lot of people enjoyed its strangeness but I prefer a little more realism in my daytime drama.

The most overrated soap?

I have tremendous respect for The Young and the Restless but I have never quite understood its consistent number-one status in the ratings.

The most underrated?

There was a show called “How to Survive a Marriage” in the 70’s that I felt was canceled much too soon.  I think if it had been given more of a chance to find its identity, it would have found a bigger audience.

Which are your professional plans for the future?

I am actually on the verge of retiring.  It’s been a wonderful career but I’m ready to give up the weekly deadline that’s ruled my life since 1980!

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’m curious to know when Santa Barbara aired in Italy.  I knew it was popular in France, but hadn’t realized the show was picked up in Italy as well.  I love your country with all my heart.  I lived in Rome for three years when I was in high school because my father was working in the American Embassy there.  At that time, there were only a couple of TV channels and one of the programming highlights was “Carosello”, which I used to watch with my younger brothers!  Soap operas were unheard of.  But of course, in later years, that changed.   Recently Guiding Light played in Italy, retitled “Sentieri”, and when my husband was on the show and we were traveling on the Amalfi coast, people would call out, “Ciao, Dottore!”  (Hello, Doctor) as if he were an old friend.  (The character he played was Dr. Ed Bauer).  The last time we were in Rome was 2009 and it was as beautiful as ever.  But we’re longing to return, and I’m sure we will soon.  Have you ever been to the U.S.?

Thanks, Pierpaolo, for the opportunity to revisit one of the happiest phases of my writing career.  I’ve really enjoyed answering your questions.

Ciao!

 Thank you, Miss Simon, for your willingness and generosity. I would like to greet you with a small gift. I have for you a little video-tribute to your childhood: