My Exclusive Interview with BRIDGET DOBSON - Part Two

We’re coming to the second part of my interview with Bridget Dobson. If you have missed the first part, you can read it by clicking here. Today Ms. Dobson tells us in what way she left General Hospital to write Guiding Light. This step was not without obstacles. We will see in what way Jerome Dobson helped his wife and how one of the biggest writers’ pair was born. Bridget Dobson also recalls the famous sequence of Holly’s rape by her husband Roger Thorpe (GL) and I tried to ask also about Augusta and the pigeon (SB). All this and much more in the second part of the interview that Bridget Dobson granted to Santa Barbara Blog.

You and your husband worked together as a writing team for many years. When and how did you decide to work together?

One day toward the end of my promised run on GH, I called the man who had walked by the Cadillac my parents borrowed and placed in their garage to get hired onto their first soap, Search for Tomorrow. He was still head of Procter and Gamble productions.  I said, "Do you remember the girl who passed hors d' oeuvres  at the Search story conferences?"  He said, "Of course, Bridget.  We've been following your work on GH and think it's wonderful.  Do you want to be a headwriter?  Or do you prefer to stay an associate writer?"

I was utterly stunned, almost confused by the praise.   I mumbled something about not being sure I could be a headwriter.  He suggested he would fly me to New York and we would talk about both positions.  Long story short:  I was hired as headwriter on Guiding Light.

The dragon inside me did a secret cha cha dance.  I told my father he was mistaken.  I had gotten a writing job for someone other than my parents. 

My new contract was set the next week.  And then, at the end of that same week, I received a phone call:  My mother had terrible cancer and was to be hospitalized for an indefinite length of time.  And then another phone call from the Vice President in Charge of Daytime Television at ABC-TV: "Bridget, you can't leave the show.  If you leave the show, I'm going to walk into that hospital and fire your mother and your father. I swear to you I will do it."  I had to stay on GH.  It would kill my parents to be forcibly removed from the show, their creation, their baby.

I called and explained the situation to the people at Procter and Gamble.  They were upset but very professional.  A new contract would be written.  I would still "belong" to them, but I could stay with GH for another two years. Astoundingly, I received full pay from both ABC and P&G.

I remained for two more years with GH, this time as headwriter with no assistance from my parents.  At the end of this jail sentence, I went dancing off to NY to start writing for Guiding Light. They had a little surprise for me. Very shortly after starting, in a matter of days or weeks, the show would expand from a half hour a day to an hour a day.  My insides cried for help.  On the outside I was all smiles.  "Sure.  No problem.  As long as you double my salary."  They agreed in a second.  I went home to my husband and burst into tears.  How on earth could I handle an hour a day soap when it had nearly killed me to write half an hour a day?  Jerry had a solution:  he'd help me.  Of course, he'd never written anything in his life.  He was a Far Eastern History major at Stanford.  But he was half-crazy (a necessary qualification) and smart and creative and funny.  Thus, a new partnership was born.

“Craziness: a necessary qualification to write”. On GL one of your shocking storylines it was Holly Bauer' rape by her own husband Roger Thorpe. Generally, the rapist is a stranger. However, if the perpetrator is the husband, then more emotional implications are involved. Was the public reaction the same one that you expected to have, by proposing a so strong and unusual story?

To begin, "craziness", the term as I intended it, is a high compliment.  It is only unique individuals, who stand outside the norm, who have the distinction of exceptional wit or sophistication or knowledge, that qualify, in my lexicon, for this verbal honor.  It does not mean they have a natural ability to write, but, when accomplished as writers, they have a kind of perspective on the world, different from most, that makes them outstanding. But that was not your question.  I just wanted to clarify.

I don't want to comment on specific GL storylines.  However, I can say that whatever the storyline, it was not conceived or written for the audience.  We wrote to please ourselves. We were very selfish. We wrote what interested us.  There is too much work to be accomplished.  Time can't be spent gauging the audience's reaction.  Also, I think hoping to please an audience distracts from the passion of the writer.  "Group-think" does not work.  Writing by committee does not work.  The intensity of the writer's creative fervour can't be diluted.  (The networks and the sponsors might disagree, but that doesn't change the ferocity with which I hold this conviction.)

What you say has led my memory to a specific episode of SB. So if you agree, let's jump forward in the interview, as a sort of flash forward: in 1984 mobile phones were not yet widespread. So Ted and Laken communicated through a pigeon until Augusta, Laken’ mother, decided to cook and serve him to her daughter during an aperitif. I know that Louise Sorel tried to avoid that scene (in vain). But you liked it and I love it because it's irreverent, cruel and funny at the same time. What happened with Louise Sorel and why that was a key scene for you?

Augusta coocks Laken's pet pigeon

August 31, 1984: #Augusta (Louise Sorel) cooks #Laken's pigeon and she give her to eat it. Did you know that Louise Sorel wasn't happy at all with this? Here what she said about it: "I called Dame Judith at the Beverly Wilshire hotel, I didn’t even know her then. I said, “Hello, this is Louise Sorel, have you read the script for tomorrow?” And she said [in Dame Judith’s voice] “Oh My God, it’s disgusting! Oh My God, you can’t possibly do that.” And I said, “I have to, could you make a call for me?” She said, “Oh Darling, I’m too old and tired to get involved.” So I said, “Okay, thanks.” Then I called my agent. I said, “Michael! They’re making me kill my pet pigeon.” He thinks I’m nuts. He’s an agent, what does he care? “They’re killing my daughter’s pet pigeon, this is insane. I won’t do it.” He said, “Then quit the show, Louise, I don’t know what else to tell you.” So I go upstairs to Bridget and Jerry. I said, “Excuse me. Um, you’ve written that I kill my daughter’s pet pigeon. I will not do that. I’m an animal activist. I will call the ASPCA and tell them that you told me I had to this.” And they’re like ready to kill me [laughs]. I didn’t know what else to do! They said, “We wrote it and we think it’s funny.” I said, “It’s not funny.” They said, “Well, we’ll think about it.” So I go downstairs. Dame Judith comes in, she sits in her make-up chair. And I’m sitting in mine. And Jerry comes in. She says, [in an English accent] “Jerry, come here. That poor girl, you’re making her do such a terrible thing. I mean, she can’t do that.” And he said, “Well, we kind of liked it.” And I’m sitting in that chair thinking, “God bless her.” Finally what they let me do is just alter the lines slightly. My daughter says, “Is it pigeon?” And I say, “Maybe.” Which is the same thing as saying yes, but at least I didn’t say “yes.” There was just the slightest possibility that it didn’t happen.

Pubblicato da Santa Barbara Blog su Venerdì 31 agosto 2018

There are so many scenes over a career that involved writing (and in many cases producing) more than 6000 scripts, that it seems excessive to go into detail about any one scene or dramatic sequence.  In general, as I have already written, the writer's passion must prevail in an on-going drama.  That is not to say that the writer is always right.  Still, right or wrong, the drama will be less effective, over all, if others interrupt or intercept the writer's vision.  Many, many actors (and producers, and network executives, and sponsors, and members of the audience) have disagreed with what we writers wanted to do. It happened in a weekly, if not daily, way.  Some were more vociferous than others.  Some went to the press to try to gain support for their causes (and, perhaps, a little publicity for themselves).. Sometimes compromise was possible.  Sometimes it wasn't.  Usually the decision was made by the writer in the heat and frenzy of yet another day of storytelling.  It was certainly a subjective decision. I guess a successful writer had a good "batting average" when it came to all decisions.    

Further, the best characters are the complicated ones, not pure good, not pure bad, not always rational, sometimes jealous, sometimes bitter, sometimes generous and wise, sometimes gentle, sometimes harsh, sometimes revengeful, often witty or self-deprecating.  And of course, the id, the ego and the superego -and all the intricacies of personality that Freud described - play a part in every character at all times.  I embrace heroes with weaknesses and less than perfect inclinations, and anti-heroes who are understandable and even sympathetic.  I recognize these qualities in myself.

As far as a scene being a "key" scene, in an ideal world they would all be "key", otherwise they would be scrapped.

So when a character becomes unpredictable, maybe this can especially stimulate the audience’s imagination. When I was twelve years old, I imagined that the biggest amusement for Mary Duvall was to say to the poor orphan children that Santa Claus does not exist and then she felt happy for having given a Christian teaching…because Santa is not actually present in the Bible. Imagining this story, I felt able to give vent to my sadistic side. I’ll try to ask the question by using other words: Aristotle believed that through tragedy the author and audience could feel purified. Did the tragic stories of SB have a cathartic function for you? If so, how?

There is, I believe, without any scientific basis in fact, a very strong cathartic release for the writers of on-going dramas.  My own experience is that with every scene I've ever written (not just when writing tragedy) I've lived through each character's emotions. This happened many times a day, over and over again.  Seemingly, my psyche never tired of joy or sorrow or relief or whatever it was.  In a given scene - say, for example a two-person drama leading to rape in marriage (which you cited earlier) my psyche was jumping from person to person: the righteous husband and the wife afraid of sexual violence.  I am him.  I am her.  I am him.  I am her.  I am demanding.  I am scared.  I am insisting.  I am relenting.  I am determined.   I am afraid not to be feminine.  On and on.  Jump to the next scene: a doctor secretly in love with his patient who is married to an abusive man. He: this bruise is painful. (He knows what caused it.)  She: Not very. (She is protecting her husband)  I have one very inconvenient drawer in my kitchen. (She tries to laugh.)  He: I think that drawer is meant for kindling. (He's telling her to leave her husband.)  She: But where would I store my essentials?  (She's saying her husband's important, and hopes the doctor doesn't understand her weakness for him).  On to the next scene.  Every day.  Without exception.  I have been discovered weeping and laughing at my computer (earlier, at my typewriter).  I cover any personal cathartic needs I've had by saying I've had the privilege to live not just my own life but also the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of characters.  Some people think, after all that, I'm still sane.  Some think I'm sane because of all that.  Everybody agrees I'm still (mostly) here.

to be continued...

Soap Actor Peter Love enjoying lounge performances

- Ric Castillo on SANTA BARBARA -

Soap fans know Peter Love as an actor whose credits include stints on “Ryan's Hope” and “Santa Barbara” (ex Ric Castillo). Now, soap fans, and anybody else who enjoys hearing good music in nice surroundings, can get to know Love as a musician and singer who plays January 1, 2013 at Vinyl at the Hard Rock Hotel, 4455 Paradise Road with  his “Welcome to My Living Room” show, as Las Vegas Report-Journal reported.

Love's dad was a musician, and his mom was a flamenco artist. Not surprisingly, music was a key aspect of Love's childhood.

“My father was always buying a musical instrument of some sort or another, going to auctions and buying them,” Love says. “I just gravitated toward learning guitar and piano, mostly, but whatever instrument he'd bring home, in my spare time I'd learn to play.”

Love eventually would move to California to pursue a career in acting and music. Actually, he admits, “I was really interested in music but, somehow or another, by accident, I ended up a leading man on a soap opera. But my main focus, my main interest, was always on singing and performing.”

Love moved to Las Vegas in 2004 and began playing lounges along the Strip. Then, shortly after returning to L.A. in 2008, he received a call to return here to play Hank's, a venue that Love says he “had always wanted to play.”

There, Love plays music from the late '60s to today by artists ranging from Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones to Nirvana, Maroon 5 and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Whatever the era or the genre, “I love music that makes you sad or happy or that makes you laugh or cry,” Love says. “I just love music, so I don't really gravitate toward any one particular type of music.”

Love also enjoys playing music in a way that spans generations.

“If you want to have some fun, stop in and watch musicians play and jam when they're not being paid,” Love says. “It's like an old-style Las Vegas show. You get off of your show, meet up with friends, find someplace that has a piano and a guitar and just jam all night.”

pic #2 is from Capridge.com

My Exclusive & Unusual Interview with BRIDGET DOBSON - Part One

I'm starting this long interview, publishing the first two questions and their answers by Bridget Dobson. What you're about to read is a brief overview of the Ms. Dobson's beginnings. 

She talks about her family, the first meeting with her husband Jerome Dobson, the professional path that her parents had in mind for her, her subsequent rebellion and about the obstinacy of a woman who would later become one of  the most acclaimed and admired television's writers. 

This is first of all the story of a woman with a great personality. And an equally great sense of humor. Ladies and Gentlemen: Bridget Dobson and the Christmas gift from her to all of us.

Before we talk about Santa Barbara, I’d like to explore with you the path that led you to the show. I believe you started your career as a writer on General Hospital. Did the work come easily to you?

I spent my undergraduate years at Stanford University where my major focus was English.  I was lucky to be one of only twelve students selected to be in the Creative Writing program.  My personal advisor was Wallace Stegner, who was, at the time, a well-known American novelist.  I also was fortunate to be in a seminar taught by John Steinbeck's writing instructor - but I can't quite remember her name. (Was it Ms. Berry?)  I was, tangentially, the drama critic for the Stanford Daily.  After graduation, I went for year to the Harvard University Business School, which taught me to avoid columns of numbers and to stay as far away as possible from any banking or accounting institutions.  I learned my strength was in creativity and “business” was not my cup of tea.  Somehow, I survived that year with decent grades, and - best of all - the ratio of men to women was sublime.  Almost immediately after leaving Cambridge, I married my college sweetheart and went back to Stanford University where I got my Master's degree in Drama (specifically television) and a General Secondary Teaching Credential to please my father, who wanted me to teach. I taught high school English for three years or so.

Meanwhile, and most definitely to the point, my parents created General Hospital.  I was born in Wisconsin, where my mother was an attorney and my father was a professor of English.  They entered, as a lark, a Wrigley's chewing gum contest to write a show which Wrigley would sponsor. They won the contest...and began their writing career in Chicago, writing a radio program.  After that, Hollywood beckoned.  We moved to Los Angeles when I was seven years old.  My parents wrote for radio and then television.  It was a feast or famine existence.  Every time a show was cancelled, we became poor,  my parents had no income and no work.  Then they'd get another job, and we could hire a maid again.  They were hired to write a soap opera, Search for Tomorrow after my parents borrowed a fancy car, a Cadillac, from one of their “rich” friends, and placed the car in their garage so that the hiring agent (the head of Procter and Gamble productions) would see the car in the garage as he walked to the front door and, presumably, he would think: “These writers must be very successful since they have a very expensive car in their garage.”  It worked.  Everything in tinseltown is an illusion. They got the job. It was the first “regular” pay check they'd gotten since my father left his tenured position in Wisconsin.  Search led to General Hospital and to one of their two daughters (me) wanting a job working from her parents. I did not just want a job.  I was obsessed.  I was adamant.  I was furious.  I was outrageous.  I pleaded.  I begged.  I threatened.  I had trained for this.  They stonewalled me.  No.  No job.  We'll hire your sister.  Which they did.  Why not me?  “Because you're a party girl.”  Come on.  “Because you'll never meet the deadlines.”   What nonsense.  “Because Debby needs the money.”  And I didn't?  Did they know what public school teachers make?  We had an argument that made the sun and the earth seem small in comparison.  I won.  I threatened never to let them see their grandchildren.

In this nest of familial bliss, I began training and then writing as an associate writer for GH.

When did you realize that your parents were satisfied with your work?

I worked for my parents on GH for five years.  (Actually as headwriter an additional two years, I'll explain later.)  At first it was one script per week.  A year or so later my sister quit, hating the deadlines, and left to get her PH.D. in History.) When she left, I filled in for her.  I wrote all five scripts per week for three or more years.  The ratings were good on the show.  That was my reward.  My parents never liked my work, I think, they just liked the ratings the show was getting.  How do I know they didn't like my work? I never received one word of compliment.  (Because, in retrospect, this seems incredible to me, I checked with my husband.  “Was this really true?”  He confirmed.)  I was, usually, happy to be writing.  Sometimes I was proud of the work.  Sometimes I hoped nobody I wanted to impress was watching. But gradually, five scripts a week, half an hour a day,  52 weeks a year was quite a heavy grind.  At the beginning of year three, at lunch in my parents' house, I informed them that eventually I would leave the show.  I wanted to work for someone other than my parents.  I promised to stay on two more years, so they would have time to find my replacement(s).

My father said, furious, “No one else will ever pay you for your writing.”

“I can't keep working for you. I'd rather dig ditches for a living.” A dragon of anger had leaped out of my mouth. 

Now the familial nest was a bit more spattered, but I slogged on for two more years.  And somehow the show thrived.

to be continued...

Video Interview with GORDON THOMSON

- Mason #3 on SANTA BARBARA -

As reported by Placevine: online episodic content creator Michael Caruso gave viewers an advanced look at Season Three of his incredibly popular web TV soap “DeVanity” with this TERRIFIC interview with one of the DeVanity’s stars, Gordon Thomson (ex Mason on SANTA BARBARA). The show's third season trailer provided viewers some engaging insight into many of its story line segments that were left open in the wake of the second season's dramatic cliffhanger, one of its most shocking in the form of the apparent death of lead character, jewelry empire tycoon Jason DeVanity. With the continued demise of TV's once dominating pre primetime narrative all but gone from the time slots, the soap opera genre is seeing a rebirth of sorts in the web TV space, with viewers clicking in droves to sate their eye line's thirst for solidly produced melodramatic episodic programming, and Caruso is giving these daytime drama come web series fans all of the nail biting tension of a solidly crafted soap they can handle.

“DeVanity” Season Three premieres January 10th 2013.

And now look at this moving interview with Gordon Thomson. Today he is 67 years old. 

Exclusive Video Interview with Robin Wright about Kelly Capwell

When it occurred the last certified time that Robin Wright looked Kelly Capwell in her eyes? Well, we do not know if Robin Wright sometimes watch the Santa Barbara’s clips on Youtube. I propose to you an exclusive video with a rare, hard to find on the web, interview. This clip is from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 1996. The interview is long, but I propose to you a short clip in which Robin Wright see again Kelly Capwell. Which was her reaction? At the time she already was a successful actress. Two years before she starred on Forrest Gump. At the end of the video: the only award won by Robin Wright for Santa Barbara: a Soap Opera Digest Award for Best Heroine in Daytime Drama (1988). She explicitly thanked Jerome and Bridget Dobson who at the time had been locked out from the show that they created. Well, at least we know that Robin Wright was on their side.

(Thanks to my friend Candy for providing me the Ceremony’s video).

Exclusive Interview with Bridget Dobson: THE TEASER TRAILER

In Christmas 2011 me & Bridget Dobson started our chatting. We've been talking and we're still talking about Santa Barbara and much more, for example our travels. Then I asked her if it was possible to start an interview. Off we go, she said. She agreed. Just two conditions: the questions should not be too specific (much time has passed since SB) and they did not have to concern the legal problems with the network because she still can not answer for legal reasons. I totally agreed, also because what interested me was to tell the genesis of SB and its development, emphasizing the peculiarities of the show. I would like to celebrate in this way the greatness of the show and its creators. So if you expect shocking truth about the war between the Dobsons and NBC, you will be disappointed by this interview, because that subject has not been dealt. As for everything else, Bridget Dobson spoke freely, giving me many curious anecdotes. So, if you deeply love Santa Barbara and the imaginary world that was created by the Dobsons, I think you will explode with joy, reading this interview. I have to say one more thing: I'm not a journalist, but I deeply love Santa Barbara. This is my only strength. So this interview has not artistic pretensions. I can say that I have explained my thoughts and my feelings to Bridget Dobson and she did the same. A last thought: as the interview is not over yet and it is quite long, I will publish it in several parts. For now, here's a trailer about what you will read. During Christmas Eve: the first part of this interview. So, Off we go!

Paul Rauch dead at 78: Memories from the Past

- SANTA BARBARA's Executive Producer from 1991 to 1993 -

Producer Paul Rauch passed away on Monday, Dec. 10, at the age of 78, according to multiple reports. Rauch broke into the business with his heart set on being an actor but went on to become a daytime icon of another kind instead. The producer was there in the 1960s when Guiding Light went from 15 to 30 minutes and then broke ground again in 1972 by taking Another World to an hour. He kept AW at the top of the game until 1984, while also creating his own show, Texas, in 1980, and then continued to shape daytime as head honcho at One Life to Live, Santa Barbara, Guiding Light and Young and the Restless.  Unfortunately SANTA BARBARA’s fans remember him especially for the questionable decision to conclude the final episode of the soap while he was putting out a cigarette under his foot. A choice which I have never understood the meaning. Definitely a legendary soap, as Santa Barbara was, deserved a better ending.

Rauch is survived by his wife, Israela Margalit; two children; two stepchildren; three granddaughters.

As has become the norm when icons pass, soapsters have taken to Facebook and Twitter to share their condolences:

Josh Griffith (ex-SB script writer 1988-91) via Facebook:  “The Soap World mourns the loss of one of our giants, Paul Rauch. R.I.P., my friend. Go produce the hell out of Heaven now.”

Michele Val Jean (ex-SB script writer/editor 1991-93) via Facebook: “So sorry to hear this. Worked with him on Santa Barbara. He was always very kind and generous to me. In fact, after the Dobsons got fired, he promoted me to full time editor on Santa Barbara (up till then, I'd been doing it part time, when Bridget & Jerry would go off on one of their many vacations). Always been grateful for that. RIP, Paul.”

I have decided to remember Paul Rauch through the words of those who worked with him. This is taken from my interviews with them:

Michael Brainard (Ted Capwell #2 on SB): “Paul is a serious man. I think back in '92 he once cracked a smile!! I remember he had a couple of original Frederick Remington paintings in his office. Remington is the quintessential artist of the American west. I have always been an admirer of American western artists, I am still to this day, and when I identified those paintings to him he was much impressed. I think it went a long way in establishing a good relationship with him. He wasn't one for small talk, if you started talking about the weather he would turn heal and leave, but if you could engage him on a loftier level, you could have an amazing conversation.”

Terri Garber (Suzanne Collier on SB): “I was asked to test for the part of Suzanne for Paul Rauch who was the producer. It was a very complex scene with many emotions and it was with Cruz. So A Martinez and I did it together. I remember we had to kiss and that was fun! I had very short hair at the time and Paul wanted long hair but he hired me anyway, thus the wig.”

Timothy Gibbs (Dashell Nichols on SB): “I enjoyed playng Dashell right up to the point where the then Executive Producer, Paul Rauch, decided it would be a good idea to try to redeem a rapist. At that point they lost me.”

Thom Racina (SB script writer 1991/93): “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.  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. […] 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. […] 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.”  

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS: How I found Bridget Dobson - part two

I am pleased to announce to you that Bridget Dobson's Interview will come for Christmas, here on Santa Barbara Blog. And since there are still a few weeks to Christmas, I will use this time to tell you some things about the interview you are about to read. If you have missed the first part, you can find it here. 

Most of the Mary Dobson has never responded to my message and all others told me that I had contacted the wrong person. But something has happened with this insane idea. I decided to tell about it to a person who many years ago was a close friend of Bridget Dobson. A person to whom I owe everything. I will not reveal his name even under torture because an aura of mystery makes it more juicy. This person, moved by pity, I think, has decided to help me, and dusting off an old phone number. After five rings, he heard again Bridget Dobson’s voice. He talked with Bridget Dobson about me and asked if she was willing to get in touch with me. The answer was yes. When I heard this, I went into a trance for about a day. I felt all the emotions present in the emotional spectrum: disbelief, joy, wonder, happiness, impatience and fear. Yes, fear. I was afraid to fail, to look stupid, not being able to get an interview with her. So, at that point I impulsively wrote an email to her. Here are some excerpts:

 “Dear Miss Bridget Dobson”…

…these four words are the dream of my life. I'm looking for you and your husband Jerome for many years. I am not an agent of the IRS, but a very strong feeling leads me to look for you. My name is Pierpaolo, I’m 32 years old and I live in Turin, Italy. I love Hitchcock, Truffaut, Chabrol, Chaplin, Welles and others almost as much as I love SB, but not more than SB. SB is the closest thing to my worldview. [..]

I wanted to slap the perpetrators of your departure from SB. I watch over and over again the moment you took the first Emmy in 1988. [..]

You won, Miss Dobson. You won because you and your husband got your creature back in 1991. You won because SB was a worldwide success. You won because SB still lives in my heart and in the heart of millions of people. The period without you was the dark for SB, but then the light came back to shine with you. The Dobson are back! And this is also evident in the show: Pamela is back in town to disrupt the lives of all the Capwells with her “madness”, in the wonderful episode written by Patrick Mulcahey. And as Pamela, the Dobson also are back with their "madness" to unsettle SB and give new life to it. The Pandora's box has been open. And you opened my Pandora’s box: you free my positive and negative feelings and this has allowed me to experience them when I was just a child. [..]

I have no news about you for several years, then a few months ago my heart has had a shake when unexpectedly I read on the web that you and your sisters sued ABC for the rights of GH. (I do not know this issue very well). But my heart swelled with joy: "Bridget Dobson is well and she is more combative than ever." And then I smiled. Sorry if I dare, but for me you are my Bridget "Tiger" Dobson.

 Thank you for reading my declaration of love for you.

 All the Best, Pierpaolo

And, as you wait for the response of your lover, I waited for the answer to my crazy e mail. And then, after about a week, here comes the name "Bridget Dobson" in my mail box. She said:

Dear Pierpaolo - I am late in responding to this love letter [..]

[..] Then, when I had a few minutes to respond, I found I had lost your ardent missive somewhere in the vastness of cyberspace, and I couldn't remember your name.  I googled  “loony lover” and “passionate nutcase” but your name didn't appear on my PC screen. So I gave up and decided that it was a shame, but your love would just have to go seemingly unappreciated.  Then, days later,  I accidentally found notes I had taken when I spoke to XXXX and voila!  Your name.

[..] Thank you for everything you said.  I am impressed and inundated by your passion.  I am terrified that you sniffed too much of the SB glue and it has addled your brain forever.  Still, how can I help but be complimented?  As your mentor, your lover, your mother, your companion and your best friend I have a suggestion for you:  get a life. However, we aren't simple creatures, and in all my complexity I also think you are wonderful.  Bridget

Maybe I'm crazy, but this was for me a very nice compliment. I only had to explain to Ms. Dobson that I already have a life and that Santa Barbara is just my fun and escape. So I started talking to her about me and my life.

to be continued...

ROBIN WRIGHT completely naked in the movie TWO MOTHERS

I follow Robin Wright’s career from its beginning on Santa Barbara. I remember that she often said not to be in favor of the nudity in her movies. So I was surprised to see this photo from the movie TWO MOTHERS with Naomi Watts. She appears completely naked. In fact, throughout her film career she showed her breasts only once, in 1990. The film was State of Grace, where she met Sean Penn. Actually this is not a relevant news, but I think this is one of the signals that Robin Wright is finally ready to fully live her second cinematographic youth. She looks magnificent. I can not wait to see all her new productions. New life and new sap for Robin Wright, more wonderful than ever.

Two Mothers is a gripping tale of love, lust and the power of friendship, that charts the unconventional and passionate affairs embarked on by two lifelong friends, LIL and ROZ, who fall in love with each other's sons.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: How I found Bridget Dobson - part One

Dear friends, I am not afraid to say that this is one of the best moments of my life. The long awaited moment is coming. I am pleased to announce to you that Bridget Dobson' Interview will come for Christmas, here on Santa Barbara Blog. And since there are still a few weeks to Christmas, I will use this time to tell you some things about the interview you are about to read.
Of course, each of us lives a life filled with concrete daily relationships. Here, happiness, pain and all the emotions that color our lives, are born. Then each of us has his own way of escape, his imaginative world. Someone falls in love with a painting, someone else falls in love with a director, and others with a singer. I felt in love with Santa Barbara and its creators, Bridget & Jerome Dobson. I use the word “love” in a conscious way. This love was born when I was 10 years old. Today I'm 33 years old and that love is still burning. But you already know it. When I created my site - a tribute to SB - I began to interview some of the actors and writers of the show and I thought that my biggest dream would be to find the Dobsons to tell them how much I admire them ... and maybe have the possibility of asking an interview. I was dreaming with my open eyes. Because the Dobsons were…God knew where. Many have tried to find them and none have succeeded. But someone or something inside me said not to give up this dream. Until one day I came up with a brilliant strategy (thanks to the strength that comes from desperation): I thought that Mary, the daughter of the Dobsons, could be on Facebook. So I typed MARY DOBSON on Facebook. The results were hundreds and hundreds of Mary Dobson, one for each episode of Santa Barbara. I have not lost hope and I sent a message to each of them. The same message to all of them, something like, “Are you the daughter of Bridget and Jerome Dobson?”. Probably in the next few months I will be arrested for multiple and aggravated stalking. You really have no idea how much Mary Dobson are on facebook, I beg you to try. I had one chance in ten million to find THAT Mary Dobson (besides I had not considered that even if I had found her, she could choose not to respond to me and trashing my madness). Well it seems unbelievable, but this crazy, insane, mad, at the edge of psychosis method IT WORKED! Well, not directly, because I never found that Mary Dobson, but...this is  just the background. Our story begins from there. Stay tuned.

to be continued...

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO FOR A SB EMMY NOMINATION

Today I present to you an exclusive video given to me by the generous Ms. Diana Eden. She was Costume Designer during the last season of Santa Barbara (you can find here my interview with her). This is a group of clips that she did in 1993 for Emmy consideration. Before Ms. Eden, Richard Bloore brilliantly held this role. So Ms. Eden gave me a lot of exclusive sketchs and pics taken on the set of SB. There are many photos, so I will publish them in some other posts. For now you can see a pic taken during the shooting of the episode # 2000. During this daring episode Gina and Lionel were married. In the picture beside you see Robin Mattson in wedding dress with Diana Eden. Instead in the video below, you can listen to the wonderful SB opening theme and watch some of the funniest moments of the show, colored by the captivating creativity of Diana Eden. Which dress is your favorite?

THUMBS DOWN: Adriana's kidnapping Storyline

- Soap Opera Digest, May 1989 - 

SANTA BARBARA is a soap that knows how to keep us fishies on the hook. But in the case of baby Adriana Castillo’s disappearance, the truly Byzantine plot machinations have left me feeling nothing but confusion and frustration. I haven’t missed an episode since Cruz and Eden’s baby was kidnapped. I raged against the fates with them and, like Cruz, refused to believe the infant was dead. At this point, however, I’m so hopelessly confused that I’m losing patience. Does SB really expect me to believe that rapist Zack Kelton just happened to kidnap Adriana before cop Ramon Ramirez – who was originally hired by someone else to do the dastardly deed – was able to? And how did Zack hook up with nanny Katherine, who was part of the other conspiracy (I think)? I’m still fuzzy as to why Ramon killed Katherine – or even if he really did kill her. What was that blackmail scam all about anyway? And Kirk Cranston’s involvement, while plausible, only added to the confusion.

Instead of feeling anxious about whether or not the Castillo baby will be returned safely to the sheltering arms of her parents – which is what viewers should be concerned about – I’m feeling anxious about whether or not I’m going to be able to follow the story. Watching a soap should never be this much work. 

In this video we can see the end of this controversial storyline: after Adriana was found, she was baptized in Paris. Listen to the bells' melody  at the end of the clip: does it reminds you something?