Contessa Donatella

I once described it as if she was chewing on glass. You know, broken glass. The other notable thing is just how crazy the cast goes!

There is also someone who posts all soaps daily to DailyMotion. I would bet they do not have end credits. And, people say the ratio is off, or something.

This week, the beginning of a new year, in Atlanta, GA, the beautiful, brilliant, iconic, Creator, Writer & Producer Bridget Dobson, at the age of 85 passed on to that great afternoon timeslot in the sky. We will be diminished by the loss. She gave us so many characters. She gave us so many hours of entertainment on GH, GL, ATWT & Santa Barbara. She was the daughter of Frank & Doris Hursley. Her long-time partner, co-creator, co-writer, co-producer & husband Jerome Dobson has our many condolences. https://soaphub.com/days-of-our-lives/news-days/santa-barbara-creator-bridget-dobson-dead-at-85

I wonder if that's not disingenuous. ... Well, if Agnes said that it's interesting, of course, but in point of fact, the reason she created OLTL for ABC is because they invited to do a soap for them. Previously she had attempted to sell her AMC bible to P&G & they declined. They also did not solicit her to do a brand new soap for them. But this sense of freedom to write is an excellent point, I think. When the Dobsons went to GL they had a new sense of freedom because that was out from under the thumbs of the Hursleys. Then, of course, the NBC offer was another several degrees of "more freedom" and it may well have gone to their heads. But, I also believe it tapped into their most creative impulses.

I've just learned 2 new things for my character creation file. At GL, add Rita Stapleton. At ATWT they were the first to pair Tom & Margo as a romantic couple. 1. They really really wanted to be at GL. The Hursleys, especially Frank, had told Bridget over & over that no one would pay her to write a soap for them. That was while she was writing GH for them. Later, Bridget had enough confidence to take that for what bunk it was. But not then. She was quite surprised to learn that people at P&G had noticed her (#1) and were just waiting for her to be ready for her own show to helm (#2) and were more than ready to pay her, handsomely. (#3) She spoke of getting good advice from P&G company men, like Bob Short, maybe. 2. They did not want to be at ATWT. 3. When NBC called them out of the blue & offered them total creative control for a new show, blank slate, blank check, etc. I think it really moved them in a way that nothing else ever had, or ever would. I think their state of mind was different about SB. I'd love to know what Michele Val Jean or Patrick Mulcahey would say about them at SB.

Fantastic! Thanks again for great DAYS info, Jason!!!

12-6-91 It is the anniversary of Tanner & Brian's mother's death. Something is up. How did she die? TIA.

From my personal notes:

OH NO. NO. It's too much. Earlier Michele Val Jean had posted to me around the time of the Daytime Emmys IM segment that it was just brutal, the kind of loss we've experienced in soap fandom. I thought her word choice was so excellent. These 6 interviews are my very favorites of Bridget. I have saved so many quotes from them. I am now so sad that I am going to go away.

I had you on Ignore for weeks on end. I just opened you up this week. But, I will tell you one thing that it's possible you do not know. Even thought all of this is off-topic. YouTube has a current, complete PSSN channel where you can re-watch everything & be surrounded by only fans.

Absurd. He was a human being & therefore possibly a creature who had bad habits. And he certainly did! Besides constructive criticism is not an insult. He had everyone walking around talking to themselves, relying far too much on "interior monologues". He had days last for weeks. If he decided he wanted a story to last longer he would just use repetitive dialogue & repeat & repeat & repeat instead of writing new material to stretch out his time frame. Anyway, they are widely known. I have a list of 15 writers who are my favorites. I do not even flinch when someone points out a weakness or criticism.

I've not been posting about the days shows for a few days. As one of the few real big fans of Tripp, of Wendy & of the couple, their scenes were both wonderful & horrible. I don't like the show losing her as an actress, or a character. But, their dialog, their emotions, their acting, it was magnificent. The best we've seen out of each of them. For the last 2 days I have sorely missed Nicole. I'm still blown away by her singing & crying at the same time. It is really rare that you ever see that! I'm worried about Tate & if anything will happen to him being treated as an adult in county lock-up. I want to strangle EJ. But the writing is still good. The days make sense. The narrative is strong. I dread losing the scab writers!

Well, he gets both praise & criticism & he provokes strong feelings, both ways. But, it's your problem if you truly cannot tolerate it. I had one fan leave my forum because he couldn't stand thinking that I believe JFP killed Frankie Frame when he thinks she did not. I thought that was crazy but that he had to make his decisions for himself. I live in an 'agree to disagree' world. Soap fans are noted for their many agreements and their disagreements. And, as far as JER & power go, arguably he was a better writer when he was part of a team or the co-HW triumvirate with Curlee & Demorest at GL. His bad habits show up when he doesn't have to answer to anyone else from the writer's perspective.

But, it is such a real, relatable issue because as a teen Tate's 1st thought was how he could best handle things to keep her from getting into a whole lotta trouble. Obviously a way of thinking that is not the best decision making process but yet it definitely is very human & teenagerish!

Today I typed the words, "the brainchild of Agnes Nixon, her baby, dazzling in its combination of social realism, romantic fantasy & high satire."

Too much Stamos! Too much Brick! Nothing really about the hospital. Even too much LW!

The fact that Jill killed Alan off is part of what rankles the fans. What Y&R did for Kristoff/Neil is an example of amazingly getting it right! I think GH missed the boat with the last Roger Howarth character. He should have been Alan's long lost son & have gotten to know his father with Monica & photo albums & the like. IOW, a memorial tribute hidden in the writing & character history. As far as a plaque goes Alan is in that alcove off of the hospital chapel. I know there's a picture of him. I imagine there may be a plaque. Oops I typed plague. Fixed it! Nobody cared about Jimmy Lee Holt.

Well, of course he had more lines than Jason. Jason is monosyllabic. He grunts. He flexes.

It is true that P&G ideally wanted to have #1, #2 & #3. The explanation that ATWT was not doing well makes so much more sense. That brief period with ATWT 1, AW 2 & GL 3 they were in hog heaven. Yep, this is what I think happened. So, Marland was happy but the show wasn't doing well enough. The Dobsons were happy & their show was. They played around with things & no one was happy. Ugh.

I agree. Yes, I concur. Yet all over people are talking about this as if it's a realistic possibility. After all this time the golden boy has a wishing & hoping fanbase. Hey, I'd be all for it & Keesha could return with a 24 year old son in tow. If I recall correctly, all they did was an end of show In Loving Memory screen. I never thought that was enough.

Do you? Because I do & I don't think Harris had a lot of lines by any means. Was McAvoy his role on Y&R? Because they do talk a lot.

Another good example of the problem "putting that theory into practice"!

I'm one of those people who believe any role can be recast but not every role should be. So, I believe in total "recastability" in theory. In practice I think you couldn't recast Stefano, Roger, Marlena.

Yeah, that was a scam, dadgummit.