Paul Raven

ATWT Kim- Hubby #1 Jason Reynolds and #3 Dan Stewart and #4 Nick Andropoulos Claire- all 3 husbands Jim Lowell, Doug Cassen, Michael Shea. Lisa- Whit McColl, Eduardo Grimaldi.

The San Francisco Examiner May 23 1971 Three Sisters Who Sob, Long Distance By Dwight Newton Television Critic IN A GREAT, BIG, gorgeous bedroom overlooking scenic Bidwell Park at Chico, young and beautiful Mrs. Jerome Dobson, wife of an almond farmer, is wont to talk, laugh, sob and cry out loud in the middle of the night. It is not the sound of sobbing, that occasionally disturbs Farmer Dobson's sleep. It is the sound of Mrs. Dobson's typewriter in the wee small hours. "I sometimes dream there is a machine gun in the house," confided Dobson last week. "I shall have to invent a typewriter with felt keys." Meanwhile, Mrs. Dobson-nee Bridget Hursley, creative writing major, Stanford University, class of '60 goes happily and/or emotionally about her network commitment: the midnight writing of three episodes per week of one of America's most watched soap operas. '"General Hospital" (3 p.m.weekdays, ABC-TV). Bridget Dobson has been writing about the interlocking lives, loves, problems and pregnancies of "General Hospital" people, putting words into their mouths, for six years. She inherited the job. HER CO-HEIRESS and co-writer (usually two episodes a week) is her sister. Dr. Deborah Hardy, history professor, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyo. When the turbulent affairs of Dr. Steve Hardy (John Beradio),Nurse Jessie Brewer and all the others-Nurse Meg. Nurse Lucille, Dr. Peter, Dr.Tom, Audrey, Sharon, Jane, Phil, Howie, Lee Baldwin become too tangled to readily unravel, they could even put in an SOS call to a third sister. Polly Keusink, who with husband Richard owns and publishes a weekly newspaper,The Brookings Harbor (Oregon) Pilot. ' Though "General Hospital" is jammed to the gurneys with big city sin and suspense, the plots are firmly planted in grass roots America - Northern California, Wyoming and Oregon. No other soap opera can make that claim. The plot-planting process is unique to television. Every Sunday like religion,. Bridget in Chico and Deborah in Laramie receive a phone call from their parents, Frank and Doris Hursley, down in Beverly Hills. The senior Hursleys outline the next five episodes; a paragraph per episode does it: "Diana wishes Jessie would choose between Peter and Phil"... "Brooke confesses to Lee that she loves him" . . . "Sharon shows cheesecake photos of herself to Lucille and Henry." Then the daughters hit the typewriters to fill in the action and the dialog. Their deadline is always the following Thursday. They write six weeks in advance of airdate. The senior Hursleys are seasoned hands at writing and creating broadcast entertainment. They wrote "Search for Tomorrow" for years. They created "Bright Promise" and subsequently sold it to Bing Crosby Productions. "General Hospital" has been their baby from birth. , They have been at it since 1941 when Doris, then a Wisconsin lawyer, and Frank, a University of Wisconsin professor, wrote their first script and parlayed it into a radio series called "Aunt Jenny." Came the deluge: "Those Websters," "Trouble With the Truitts," "Light of the World," "That's Rich." And then on to Hollywood, television, and the second generation of Hursley writers. Bridget went lo Stanford because, "I never thought of going anyplace else; it was thing to do."For every hour of study she expected a bonus barrel of fun, and collected. She became a wheel with the Institute of International Relations, and supervised its Stanford Sidewalk Cafe. During her four-year tenure, Bridget variously lived at the Eranner, Olivo, Union Court and Alondra houses and fell passionately in love with a tall, lean, handsome, Alpha Sigma Phi who was studying to be a farmer. One Jerome Dobson from Chico. And then they were married. They have two children, Andy and Mary. THEIR CHICO HOME is big enough to house the entire "General Hospital" cast and then some. But Bridget won't use one of the spare rooms to write in. She is set in her ways, as most writers are. Like the horse that headed for the barn, I head for the kitchen table when I write at home. Bridget heads for the bedroom. "Because It's big and comfortable and I like it." he told me. "Besides, It's a multi-purpose bedroom. Everything happens here. Why not write here?" She writes mostly at night so she can concentrate better, so her days can be free. She laughs, moans, mumbles, sobs and cries because she does her best writing when she talks her dialog out loud. She lives all the roles, often with anguish. But it's not the anguish that disturbs the tranquility of Farmer Dobson dreams. It's that "machine gun in the house."

Ada might hold the record. Some others that come to mind ATWT Ellen - both husbands Tim Cole and David Stewart Nancy - both husbands Chris and Mac SFT Stephanie - Clay Collins and John Wyatt both died Liza - lost her first and second husbands Steve Kaslo and Travis Sentell

Gwyda Donhowe Secret Storm ??? 1972 actress Gwyda Donhowe paused to hear Kay Ballard at Mister Kelly's. Gwyda is nightclub impresario Norman Kean's wife and appeared in "Applause" with Miss Bacall on Broadway. But right now, she's got a role In the CBS-TV soap opera, "Secret Storm."

What Stafford is bringing I'm not buying. I agree the writing is not there but Phyllis should be in jail. And what is left to do with Sharon? Another short lived marriage? If Faith/Mariah had more story Sharon could still be seen in a strong supporting role, which after nearly 30 years is probably the best place for her. Give romance a rest for a while.

Which of the many multiple married characters on soaps have managed to have spouses die on them repeatedly? Poor Jo on SFT lost Keith, Arthur and Tony. Penny on ATWT was widowed twice in the space of 5 years- Jeff and Neil. Who else can you recall had such bad luck?

Ada probably holds the record for most dead husbands-Ernie, Gil and Charlie. They probably sacked him because he was old, not really important to the story and the money could be used for young newbies.His contract was up and they didn't see Charley being necessary for 3 more years. He married Ada in Jan 80 and died in December that year. And he wasn't alone. Almost 20 characters departed that year for Texas or parts unknown.

AMC Didn't Myrtle take the place of Mona in Erica's life as the wise older woman she could turn to for advice and support?

Y&R #1 of course would be to dump Josh The 'business' stories need to go. Musical chairs or takeovers, promotions etc that never lead anywhere . Have a business element but something relatable. How is Jabot fairing with on line? The rise of influencers? We have no idea where Jabot sits in the market or what there product line is. Have them sell Marchetti and focus on their core business. All the other businesses need to go or be modified. Find away to be creative with budget so we can see more sets, extras and day players. All these wealthy characters need staff. Time to take a good hard look at some of these vets . There are just too many long running characters who have burned through so much story and need to be rested. Wonder if Stafford, Egan, Case and a few others would take recurring and be used when needed . If only Eric Braeden would retire!! Stop telling the same stories-Victor manipulating, Adam being the black sheep etc. Invest in proper long term stories for the younger generation that involve their parents/grandparents Fen, Noah, Ally,Faith, Reed etc

To me he looks gaunt. i'd recommend fillers! The wardrobe choices for most of the cast are generally poor,Jess is no exception.

Maybe fewer characters from Loving should have crossed over at first. 4 at most.Then we could see "The City' from their point of view-they being the newbies along with the viewers. And for all the talk of 'found family' things would have been more cohesive and relatable if there had have been a new wealthy family full of secrets that the Loving characters became enmeshed with.

Elizabeth was the adopted daughter of the Nazi doctor Kenneth Wanberg. After he was arrested Elizabeth stayed on and was living with Van and Bruce. She was a Pickard/Provo character and involved with Jimmy Stanhope and Tony Vento. Not sure how long that all played out. Maybe late 65 /early 66? OTTOMH I think Robert Shaw was next headwriter and he probably dropped a lot of those characters.

@soapfan770 Thanks for your kind wishes. To you and all of the SON gang have a great Xmas!

@DRW50 Xmas treat. thank you. Close to 50 years after it's first broadcast !

The Lamonts were another set of characters that had an extended run. About 10 years I think. Yes, it was amazing that Rick survived so long, even after Barbara was written out. And Van was given various surrogate children along the way. Elizabeth after her father was arrested, later Stacy Corby and then Lynn Henderson. However Van's mothering skills may have been questionable as none of these women ever bothered with a return visit once they left Rosehill.

Donna Mills Got her start in Secret Storm amd Love Is A Many Splendored Thing. Then Play Misty For Me , flop sitcom The Good Life, a slew of guest spots and pilots throughout the 70's before Knots Landing, TV movies etc before landing back on soaps with GH in 2014.

Christine- 'This is the robe Brian Ferry was wearing when he first banged Jerry Hall-and it's never been washed! It's from Lauren's 'Hookers and Hoes' vintage collection-that's where she get all her own outfits...'

'Best Use of History' needs to be retitled 'Most Crappy Retcon by Hack Writer'

Richard Hatch made his mark as Phillip on AMC. He left for primetime and scored two series 'Streets of San Francisco' and 'Battlestar Galactica' before going the primetime guest shot route thru the 80's and then returning to soaps on Santa Barbara. After that it was pretty much low budget stuff-movies,direct to video etc

FTR Drucilla fell off a cliff, not into a volcano.

Marcy Walker After AMC and SB there was Palace Guard a short lived CBS series, a few TV movies then back to daytime with GL and AMC again.

Completely different scenario. With the intro of the Bradys and Di Meras that shift away from the Hortons took place. But there was (is) no reason not to nurture the Hortons at the same time so they can continue to be a strong presence on the show. Who's left of the Bradys now-Roman and Kayla, plus some children. They're almost in the same boat as the Hortons.

Seriously, didn't Danny have something(anything) else to do? -unknotting a chain? testing out those old pens sitting in the junk drawer? 41 seconds gone forever...

I remember when the Dobsons took over at GL and introduced Emmet Scott and daughter Jackie Scott Marler and it was raised if she was related to Peggy Thorpe (still on the show) and they had no idea that 10 years before Peggy and her parents Ben and Maggie Scott were major characters.

Our House was a minor success, if anything and the fact that Deidre tried to do both shows points to the fact that she knew the value of Marlena to the public. And the TV movie traded on her 'fame' from Days/Marlena. I wonder about the contractual situation? Was she free to leave if she landed a primetime show and was it part of that contract she had to fulfill some obligation to Days? By 91 Our House was over and she was just another lady trying to find a decent gig along with scores of others. She was probably more than ready to resume as a daytime queen and they sweetened the deal with $$$ and that vague promise of a spin off. As for Susan, she was savvy enough to know that her USP was Erica. If she had have split from AMC she might have been lucky enough to land a pilot, which might have been picked up and maybe lasted a season etc . Pretty sure she negotiated those TV movies as a condition to staying on AMC.