R.I.P.: Bridget Dobson another brutal loss of one of daytime's finest

[Contessa Donatella]

Well, they actually were. Jan.1993 they were headed to Brooklyn to HW AW. They were excited & P&G was ecstatic but when NBC learned of the deal, they blocked it. For some unknown reason they had veto power over hires. I'm still furious over the loss of that Renaissance they could have had!

 

Edited January 7, 2024 by Donna L. Bridges

[BetterForgotten]

Not much can be said that hasn’t already been said. Bridget was such a complicated woman whose personality was never unnoticed. Eccentric, troubled, yet deeply fascinating. So much of that channeled into her writing and the characters she created and had a hand in developing.

Bridget and Jerome’s GL work still holds up incredibly well and I’ve been so grateful to discover some of it over the years. Though the good and the bad, you always know and feel when you’re watching material penned by the Donson’s. There’s a certain vibrancy they had that always trickled into their work. RIP and thank you for the hours of entertainment, Bridget! 

[All My Shadows]

I feel like it’s been a while since we’ve had a TPTB loss of this magnitude in daytime. I’ve never watched a full episode of Santa Barbara, but any and all that I’ve seen of their GL is great soap. It really was the perfect mix of old and new - character-wise but also in style, story content, dialogue, etc. I wish their ATWT could have gelled as well.

It hurts my heart to watch our legends leave without ever getting the widespread respect they deserve. I hope BD knew that her work was/is still remembered, discussed, and enjoyed to this day.

[Vee]

I would argue losing Michael Malone not long ago was up there, but that's me.

[Contessa Donatella]

Just the other day I was discussing their "lightning in a bottle" period with Gottlieb & if he were alive today, would they be writing together as we speak!!!

[Liberty City]

Michael Logan posting it feels so special, since he is still the only soap journalist that would ask the questions that needed to be asked. And while the Dobsons were very flawed in how they executed Santa Barbara, it is still very clear their vision for that soap was the only vision it needed.

[Contessa Donatella]

I know! I was so pleased when, suddenly out of nowhere, Logan speaks up!!! 

[1974mdp]

I remember reading somewhere that post-SB NBC considered them for AW. I would have loved to see what they would have done with that show.

Even though the Capwells dominated through the years, I always preferred the quirkiness of the Lockridges. I thought they were fascinating. Lionel, Augusta, Minx, and even, once she went all nutty, Cassie, were some of my faves during the show's run.

As a gay teen coming out in the early 90's, Michael Malone's period on OLTL meant so much to me with the Billy Douglas story.

Edited January 7, 2024 by 1974mdp

[Contessa Donatella]

RIP Bridget Dobson ➡ Santa Barbara Creator Dead At 85

Kelly Capwell Robin Wright

1.09K subscribers

 

238 views Jan 6, 2024

3 days ago, Bridget Dobson passed away at the age of 85. She and her husband Jerry Dobson were the creative forces behind our beloved ‘Santa Barbara’. Thank you for creating the best soap opera.

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Pinned by Kelly Capwell Robin Wright

@KellyCapwellRobinWright

13 hours ago

If you want to WATCH full EPISODES of SANTA BARBARA, I have these 4 CHANNELS: Kelly Eden Capwell https://www.youtube.com/c/KellyEdenCapwell The Capwell Sisters https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCapwellSisters Santa Barbara Soap Opera https://www.youtube.com/c/SantaBarbaraSoapOpera santabarbara8493 https://www.youtube.com/c/santabarbara8493

Very close! It was P&G who wanted them & had it arranged with them but somehow NBC blocked the move. You know NBC and P&G had this weird arrangement where they took turns choosing the show leadership, like JFP was a P&G chosen EP so then the next one, Charlotte Savitz was NBC's choice. So, apparently it was NBC's turn & we lost out on having a Dobson Renaissance!  

[BetterForgotten]

Perhaps it was for the best after their experience with NBC on SaBa and what the P&G soaps were bring reduced to by the mid 90’s. I just don’t see them thriving in that atmosphere very well.

I do know they still kept tabs with the daytime community into the 00’s. Bridget and Jerry visited the Y&R set, toured the set, and met with Lee Phillip Bell not long after WJB passed in 2005, I believe. 

[Contessa Donatella]

This appears to be the homesite of a 4 channel SB YT hosted by Robin Wright. Appears to be hundreds & hundreds of episodes. 

https://www.youtube.com/c/SantaBarbaraSoapOpera

Also you may want to know when the LOCKOUT was:

Sept 1988-early Dec 1990. 

You bring up an excellent point. They settled with NEW WORLD out of court Nov. 1988 but they did not settle, also out of court, with NBC until Nov. 1990! 

[Contessa Donatella]

One thing that I am sure many know but some might not, ... that first year when they won the first of 3 consecutive Best Show Emmys, one reel was produced by Bridget & one reel was produced by Jill! Which is probably the very best outcome it could ever have been. 

[BetterForgotten]

In honor of Bridget Dobson, it’s “that thing with the dead leaves!” they would try to write compelling material around! 

Any excuse to hear the “Ritoutnelle” theme is a good one IMHO though! 

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But seriously, Bridget and Jerry’s GL stint should be studied as a masterclass on how to “revive and reinvent” an old soap while still maintaining its original integrity and heart. 

[All My Shadows]

Oh, absolutely. I didn't realize it's only been a year and a half since he passed.

I love that thing with the dead leaves, and as much as Bridget hated it, I think it tied their show together perfectly. A new era for an old show, but it's still afternoon soap.

[Khan]

ICAM.  But maybe that's because so much of their work is unavailable today.  If not for the stuff that shows up from time-to-time on YT, hardly anyone born after a certain year would know about or remember the Dobsons' work on GL, for example.  And we all know how the folks at YT just looooove to take [!@#$%^&*] down for no damn reason.

I do, too.  On the one hand, there's no doubt that the Dobsons would have breathed new energy into AW, giving the show a direction or purpose that it never really had after 1979/1980.  But, on the other hand, unless NBCD and P&G were willing to give the Dobsons creative leeway, as well as invest heavily in promoting the show again, I question whether their writing would have increased AW's ratings all that much.  As I said in another thread, I think there came a point when no one outside of AW's most diehard, core audience really cared anymore about the show, regardless of how well it might have been doing at any given time creatively.

Moreover, I just can't see NBCD willing to work with the Dobsons again after everything they went through on SaBa.  CBS and ABC might have taken a chance on working with them - I, for one, would've loved to see what they could've done with OLTL or GL again - but not NBC.  Given the time and money they had spent litigating, along with the fact that SaBa ultimately failed, I think NBCD would've kept the two far, far away.

TBH, I have mixed feelings about SaBa.  There was a lot about the show that I loved, particularly some of its' cast (Marcy Walker, Judith McConnell, Louise Sorel, Nicolas Coster, Nancy Lee Grahn and Lane Davies, etc.) as well as the family dynamics among the many Capwells and Lockridges.  In the end, though, SaBa was more about great moments - dialogue, scenes, even whole episodes - than about great storylines - at least for me.  For example, I thought the Channing Capwell murder mystery, which opened the show, was pretty good, but Eden's rape, although violent and graphic, turned out to be a very distasteful and insensitive storyline.  It's like, most of the time, whenever they actually had something good going, they'd always find some way to sabotage it.