GH, GL, ATWT, SB- Brand NEW INTERVIEW with BRIDGET DOBSON!!!

[juniorz1]

PART 1: http://pierin26santabarbara.blogspot.it/2012/12/my-exclusive-unusual-interview-with.html

PART 2: http://pierin26santabarbara.blogspot.it/2012/12/my-exclusive-interview-with-bridget.html

[Dale]

Thanks for posting that! Very interesting.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

The questions and answers don't seem as interesting and in-depth as they should be. I'll await the next part, but so far, not too impressed.

Did Bridget say she didn't want to talk too much about specific GL stories they wrote? That was such a pivotal era in her and Jerry's career (and possibly, just by reading the synopses and seeing clips, their most consistent work).

[Khan]

No doubt about it: Bridget Dobson is a very complicated, frustrating woman. Genius, but frustrating.

[juniorz1]

Umm, yeah, I know you're a CBS soap fan, but it's common knowledge that the Dobsons' most consistent work was on 'Santa Barbara,' their baby which they created, writing characters they created, about a California city where they had lived. When people think of the Dobsons, most think 'Santa Barbara,' not 'Guiding Light' (or 'As The World Turns' for that matter).

Also, the interviewer is Italian, so I'm sure the language barrier and translation is playing a part in the questions and answers.

[DRW50]

It's the "I don't want to comment" that seems odd. Not even that she can't remember. She just won't comment.

I thought the interview was very interesting, as I hadn't heard most of that about her GH run before (although I thought that era of GH was seen as a downward slide in ratings and quality).

I think her GL run was probably some of the most mature and complex soap ever, so that's why some of us wanted more.

I also wish someone would ask her how she and her husband write for ingenues (as they did very well at this on GL, and well with Kelly and Hayley on SB). I guess that is probably not a common question though.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Even by most critics who adored the show, Santa Barbara was never considered a consistent show. Great single episodes, good dialogue, and fantastic characters played by some brilliant actors? Yeah. Patrick Mulcahey often talks about how the show had many great elements that made it great or unique, but in terms of long-term stories and lengthy periods of creativity, there weren't many in the 9 years the show was on. I'm inclined to agree with his assessment. Unlike other soaps, I don't think the stories themselves made Santa Barbara stand out or great - it was a combination of many other things that came into play.

A long period of consistent storytelling? No - not even when Bridget and Jerry were steering the ship. The show took a good year and half before it found its footing by most accounts, and lest we not forget that Bridget and Jerry were forced out during the era many think the show really hit its stride (the very late 80s).

[juniorz1]

Again, you're wrong. Most critics agree that the show was consistently excellent from 1985-early 1988, which was the Dobsons' original run. The inconsistencies began when the Dobsons were locked out of the studio.

[juniorz1]

Again, not true. The show came into its own in 1985, when the Who Murdered Channing Capwell? storyline hit its peak and was consistently excellent from then on. If you go back and watch the 1985 stuff with Lane Davies, Marcy Walker, Robin Wright, A Martinez, Nicolas Coster, Louise Sorel, and Judith McConnell leading the show, you'll find it to be consistently brilliant.

Sorry, but I get rather annoyed when people who didn't watch the show comment on its consistency. How the hell would you know if you were watching 'Guiding Light' at 3PM and not 'Santa Barbara'?

[Soapsuds]

The show was a joke amoung many at the time. If you watched SB at the time you were considered weird.....lol The show was a piece of trash IMO...not even a ratings winner.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Again, the reaction from the press was always mixed from various articles I've read. The show seemed deeply polarizing to many - I've never seen any of this consistent praise you speak of (other than from hardcore fans).

[Mr. Vixen]

Well, that escalated quickly.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I fail to see how a period of two and a half years or so (by your estimate) amongst a 9 year run somehow adds up to a consistent show overall. Again, I've never seen all this critical acclaim you've seen. I've seen very strong critics who loved the show, and others who just never "got" it from very early on, which gives me more of a polarizing feeling than anything else.

The 3 Emmy's for Outstanding Drama Series mean nothing, really, in terms of critical acclaim (and actually two of those were for work Bridget and Jerome had no part in anyway).

I've also seen cast members (like A and Grahn) comment that though they respected Jerome and Bridget and the foundation they built, they strangely preferred working for JFP's leadership and her "vision" of the show.

Most fans I've seen tend to claim that the show didn't really start to lose touch with itself until John Conboy (and later more aggressively with Rauch and Long) came on, not necessarily because Bridget and Jermone were no longer there.

[Soapsuds]

During Long's time is when Kim Zimmer joined correct?? I like the family she had there..it was less tedious than Reva had become.....I know many hated that time on SB but I thought it was better than what the Dobsons did. I still cant believe they are the same writers who wrote brilliant GL and ATWT stories.

[Khan]

Yep. Pamela K. Long created the character of Jodie Walker specifically for KZ.

Overall, I feel like that was a period when SANTA BARBARA -- and specifically, Long and Paul Rauch -- stopped trying to outdo GH and started to morph into another GUIDING LIGHT. For SB fans, then, you either ate it up like candy, or you hated it with the heat of a thousand suns. There was no in-between.