Jump to content

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


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 93
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Members

I was looking at my list of favorite writers: 

Lemay, Labine, Curlee, Swajeski, Hurst, Mulcahey, the Dobsons, Marland, Val Jean, CCulliton, Falken Smith, Bell, Nixon & Phillips. 15. I like writers. 15 is probably a lot. So sue me. 

Since Bridget has died, now I count only 7 among the living. And only one of them is currently employed as a soap writer! 

Truly it is the end of an era. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Thanks...I think that PG was not happy with what they were doing...which was recycling (poorly) their GL storylines...John/Dee/Brad vs. Roger/Holly/Ed marital rape storyline...James/Barbara vs. Alan/Hope powerful amoral outsider with core family daughter.  Helen Wagner quit at this time...etc... they did not do what they did with GL, preserve the core family while giving the show a shot in the arm with new families and "contemporary" topics. Unfortunately the replacement writers were even worse.  I would like to know how MEB got the prickly Bridget (who, God love her..seemed to be a pain in the a** sometimes.) to agree to come back. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Stumbled upon this article from April of last year. I had no idea Jerry Dobson was still so creatively active. The play was also directed by and starred Lane Davies.

The subject matter is close to home for Jerry, lol.

Hollywood writer taps into soap-opera experience in Prague drama premiere

 

 

Edited by BetterForgotten
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

https://soaphub.com/days-of-our-lives/news-days/nancy-lee-grahn-a-martinez-and-more-pay-tribute-to-santa-barbara-creator-bridget-dobson/

Lane Davies played Mason Capwell, firstborn son to C.C. Capwell (Jed Allan) and leading man to Nancy Lee Grahn on-screen. “Bridget was possessed of an indomitable spirit, irrepressible creativity, and a truly wicked sense of humor,” Davies shared on Instagram. “Together with her husband of 60-plus years, Jerry, she gave us some of the most memorable moments and characters in the history of Daytime Television. She will be sorely missed by all who were lucky enough to have known her.”

The Dobsons cast A Martinez as Cruz Castillo, the show’s leading man who was paired opposite Marcy Walker’s Eden Capwell. “Bridget and her husband Jerry eventually ascended into the realm of legend,” Martinez, who won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1990, wrote on Facebook. “As is always the case with great writers who will not be denied, their obsession to build their own world –– and share it ––delivered emotional medicine for years to millions of people around the world, and the power of that medicine lingers to this day. Thank you, Bridget. May a warm wind carry you always.”

 

“Bridget Dobson and her husband Jerry hired me to play the most curious, absorbing, complex, inspiring, character of my career,” Grahn posted on Instagram referring to the part of Julia Wainwright Capwell. (Grahn won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1989 for playing Julia.)

“Realizing the role of Julia Wainwright, having the privilege of feeling my way through this beautifully constructed character’s relationship with herself and others was life-altering for me,” Grahn continued. “It advanced me as an actress and a woman. It introduced 140 some countries to me and me to them and it set the path to a career that has so far lasted 38 yrs. The effect just one person can have on your life is quite extraordinary. Rest in greatness, Bridget and thank you.”

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I just recently started rewatching the first months of the show and hadn't seen any of these episodes since I was a kid. While a lot of the show is rough around the edges these first few months(the silly teen story, Sophia not at all convincingly dressing as a man, the Perkins parents, actors not working out as CC, etc.) the spark that made some characters so unique and interesting with the writing and their portrayers is already there. Mason's sharp-tongued dialogue, Lionel and Augusta's marriage, and Cruz are already standouts in the first couple of months. I'm so looking forward to Julia's introduction.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • I know some of y'all really like Brooke Kerr, and so I've tried to give her a shot, despite her frequent flat line readings and distracted "did I leave the front door unlocked?" facial expressions. But lord, she is so bad at playing a tough-talking badass that I was actually rooting for Brad today to spill the beans to Drew. 
    • Googling does tend to ruin it.  For those of us who were teens in the late 1970s and early 1980s, you can't imagine how much fun it was to watch the show in the afternoons.  (It came on right after school.)  There weren't any "spoilers" at the time.  We would always try to anticipate how each crime and each mystery would be resolved, and we were ALWAYS wrong, because the stories are filled with so many weird twists and turns.   The head writer (Henry Slesar) and his dialogue writer (Steve Lehrman) invariably toss genuine clues directly into your face in the most unlikely ways, but then they provide a host of "red herrings" to completely confuse you and send you off on the wrong path.  Once the story reaches its conclusion, all you can think is Why didn't I figure that out weeks ago?  lol
    • Does the vault have the original scene and not the short flashback?
    • I appreciate that you are using AI with the knowledge of it's limitations. Some posters take everything it produces as fact.
    • And of course Mama Ru herself appeared on All My Children.
    • The Saturday 8pm slot usually had the lowest rating of the NBC 4 sitcom lineup for some reason. NBC let Saturday night fizzle, They used 9.30 pm to launch 227 and Amen, both of which moved to earlier in the evening but they  kept Empty Nest following GG for several seasons.  Empty Nest should have moved to 8pm with their strongest new sitcom at 9.30, anticipating that GG would eventually falter. Instead they left them there and stretching the sitcom pool too thinly on other nights. When Grand talk over at 9.30 Thurs maybe Night Court and Wings could have been used on Saturday.
    • @Maxim Great to see your mini-reviews again. There are a number of clips on Youtube of Janice's slow mental breakdown, especially as we go into January 1980. Christine Jones is just superb. She played the hell out of that role. Something which isn't referenced as much later on is how Mitch pushed Janice's doubts and mental instability for his own ends...until suddenly he didn't want to anymore (I guess he caught on with the audience and the show became wary). I don't want to post a bunch of clips, but this one has a very good confrontation between Rachel and Janice.

      Please register in order to view this content

      This has a good scene around 7 minutes in where you can see Janice struggling internally with her need to identify herself so much by the men around her, all of which helps lead to her crackup.  
    • It really made Oscar the Doorman seem like an imbecile.   I think the show's unusual format & subject manner is what makes EON often seem less "dated" and "old-fashioned" than other shows from that time period.  It never attempted to be especially "trendy" or "modern" -- and its film noir style is pretty timeless.  
    • Dallas, Dynasty, Knots and Falcon Crest all had good runs but by 85 they had seen better days. I think they were a victim of the format. After several seasons seeing the same characters front and center viewers were bored. What was once fascinating grew predictable. JR, Alexis etc had to be front and center and after a while their schemes and shtick grew repetitive. JR remarrying Sue Ellen, Alexis constantly trying to get he better of Blake etc Unlike daytime, there wasn't the flexibility to bring in other stories and characters and maybe let the likes JR go backburner. That same mentality also invaded daytime with characters like  Sonny and Victor still peddling the same stuff after decades. I guess the same could be said for MSW eg every week Jessica encounters a crime and solves it,but I think viewers come to that format with a different mindset.
    • Daphnee and Trisha did a live stream on Instagram and confirmed they find out if the show gets picked up in May. This pretty much confirms they're on the primetime schedule like the Bell soaps. Fingers crossed we get a multi-year renewal announcement soon!  https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJSsYb7PDv8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==        
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy