The soap opera writers' discussion

[BetterForgotten]

It seems they did at least keep up with the industry for a few years, even after retiring to Georgia. I remember hearing Bridget and Jerry visited the Y&R set shortly after Bill had died (when Jack Smith was HW/EP) and meeting with Lee Phillip Bell. It was just a casual visit, but nice to hear as they had been out of the industry for a decade by then. 

[Khan]

 

That IS nice to hear...but I wish I hadn't just read that.  Because, now, my mind has gone to thinking "What if the Dobsons had joined Y&R after Bill Bell's death?" and I really don't want to go there, lol.

[j swift]

The other mystery that remains is that New World sued the Dobsons for $25 million and The Dobsons countersued New World for $125 million.  The Dobsons won the lawsuit and returned to SB, but the financial resolution has never been disclosed.  It must have been a lot because they've been retired for 24 years with only passion-projects on their resume... 

 

The LA Times did a story on the lawsuit and noted how their prior relationship with P&G affected the way their contract was written with New World.  They were so displeased with the amount of perceived interference P&G had done at ATWT that they limited New World's ability to make changes at SB.  Which is why when the casting of Pamela became the straw that broke the camel's back they were able to sue and ultimately win.  One imagines nobody has had a similar contract since those two left daytime.   

Edited May 5, 2019 by j swift

[j swift]

After her parent's rejection of her work, then feeling constrained by P&G, and then being locked out of her own creation, returning and being fired again, but having the subsequent team using her content to submit for the Emmy, I think she would have taken the podium by any means necessary. 

 

BTW, I love the detail that in addition to trying to get on stage first, Bridget and JFP are sort of wearing the same black dress with white collar detail, which makes for an awesome "who wore it best" contest.

 

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Edited May 5, 2019 by j swift

[BetterForgotten]

Mary-Ellis Bunim became SB's first longterm EP (outside of Bridget and Jerry themselves),  and she met the Dobson's at ATWT (during the second of their two stints there). Talk about a group of eccentric people...

 

To me, it sounds like Bumin was the JFP of her time and obviously she later co-created The Real World and was a pioneer in reality television. 

Edited May 5, 2019 by BetterForgotten

[Khan]

 

She was, although I'd say that JFP had the better aesthetic sense.  The music, sets, wardrobe and even makeup during Bunim's tenure at ATWT often veered toward the garish.

[amybrickwallace]

 

I never knew all that. What a nice story.

[BetterForgotten]

It some ways, the Dobsons style seemed like the perfect mix of Bell and Nixon's - they could do dark and psychosexual stories like Bell, but they also excelled at comedic and community-centered storylines like Nixon. 

 

I forgot about this, but Sara A. Bibel talked about meeting Bridget and Jerry on the Y&R set in the interview she did with Toups a few years back:

 

The Dobsons. “Santa Barbara” was a huge influence on me as a writer. It was such a witty, original show that trusted its audience was intelligent enough to handle sophisticated dialogue and satire. It also was incredibly romantic, creating supercouples that fans still remember. I had the privilege of meeting them one day when they visited “Y&R.” They were smart but incredibly down to earth. It’s a memory I’ll always cherish.

 

Edited May 5, 2019 by BetterForgotten

[watson71]

 

At the end of 1984, when Allen Potter retired as executive producer of Another World, published reports had Mary-Ellis Bunim being transferred to AW by P&G and replaced at ATWT by Robert Calhoun.  Anyone know what happened that Bunim went to SB instead of AW, and Potter being replaced by Stephen Schenkel at AW.

 

 

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Edited May 5, 2019 by watson71

[Khan]

IIRC, SB's original EP, Jeffrey Hayden (?), quit around the same time, so it's possible the Dobsons, having worked with MEB at WT, seized an opportunity to bring her over to their show.

[chrisml]

I had no idea about this Laura Malone controversy. I wonder what really went on. I see JFP was not the only EP who liked to fire pregnant/new mothers.

[amybrickwallace]

 

There was a silver lining to Laura Malone's situation. After her firing from AW and some time off to be a full-time mom to her son, she went to law school. Laura has worked as an attorney in corporate law for quite a few years now, most recently for the Zulily and Getty Image branches in Seattle.

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[Paul Raven]

Laura Malone did get a raw deal at that time.

She was one of the few actors that survived that post Lemay era and all the comings and goings.

Blaine was always frontburner and given different leading men and varied stories which often sent the character in a million different directions but she made it work. To be dumped like that was awful.

Rich only signed on for another year I believe.

A few years later P&G put a stop to that as too many big names were hedging their  bets by only agreeing to one year contracts.

[amybrickwallace]

Was there a lot of fan backlash at the firing of Laura Malone? I think I read that Terry Davis (Stacey Winthrop; formerly of EDGE and who would go on to SB) was also fired around the same time for not losing pregnancy weight fast enough. What a crummy detail.

[juppiter]

 

The look on JFP's face is totally priceless, and I can't be totally anti-JFP here. We don't know what the heck happened in what must have been a truly toxic environment, and JFP is the heroine in her own narrative.

 

If only we could have an "I, Tonya" style movie of the SB BTS.

 

The Santa Barbara cast and crew celebrating really is great to watch though. They would have been the underdogs going against more established shows.... they had to be two times better to even be considered, and they know it. They were truly shocked and honored to have won.

Edited May 6, 2019 by juppiter