Bridget and Jerome Dobson
Encyclopedia
Bridget and Jerome Dobson were writers for American soap operas best known as creators of the NBC
soap opera Santa Barbara
.
Bridget Dobson is the daughter of General Hospital
creators Frank and Doris Hursley
. Bridget and Jerome married in 1961. Bridget began writing for General Hospital in the early 1970s and Jerome joined her soon after.
In 1975 the Dobsons were hired as the head writer
s for the long-running CBS Daytime
soap opera Guiding Light
. They spent the rest of the 1970s at Guiding Light where they created alluring nurse Rita Stapleton
(who became the show's heronie for the remainder of the 1970s), the rich, upper class Spaulding family in 1977 (who would remain one of the show's core families until the show's cancellation in 2009), and wrote the infamous storyline of Holly Norris Bauer
's rape by her own husband Roger Thorpe in 1979. The Dobsons would later go on to become the head writers of another Procter and Gamble soap opera, As the World Turns
where they created the infamous character of James Stenbeck and also paired the characters of Tom and Margo
.
In 1984, NBC
debuted Santa Barbara where Bridget and Jerome Dobson had creative control of the show's storylines until they were locked out of Santa Barbara's NBC offices in 1988 after the Dobson's repeated attempts to fire then head writer, Anne Howard Bailey. The Dobson's filed a $53 million lawsuit against NBC and New World Television
(the company that owned SB). That same year, when claiming Santa Barbara's Outstanding Daytime Drama Emmy, a bittersweet Bridget Dobson taunted, "Though New World Television locked me out of the studio, they couldn't lock me out of the Emmys!" By 1991 the case was settled out of court and the Dobsons returned to the show they created.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
soap opera Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara (TV series)
Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on July 30, 1984, and last aired on January 15, 1993. The show revolved around the eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California...
.
Bridget Dobson is the daughter of General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
creators Frank and Doris Hursley
Frank and Doris Hursley
Frank M. Hursley and Doris Hursley were a husband-and-wife team who wrote American serials....
. Bridget and Jerome married in 1961. Bridget began writing for General Hospital in the early 1970s and Jerome joined her soon after.
In 1975 the Dobsons were hired as the head writer
Head writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits, but in prime time series this function is generally performed by an...
s for the long-running CBS Daytime
CBS Daytime
CBS Daytime is a television programming block on CBS. It's the branding for the CBS Television Network's late morning and early afternoon programming. The block has historically encompassed soap operas, game shows, and talk shows...
soap opera Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
. They spent the rest of the 1970s at Guiding Light where they created alluring nurse Rita Stapleton
Rita Stapleton
Rita Stapleton Bauer was a fictional character on the CBS soap Guiding Light. The character was played by Lenore Kasdorf, and was created by Bridget and Jerome Dobson, shortly after they became Guiding Light's head writers in 1975. Rita was written out in 1981, when Kasdorf announced she was...
(who became the show's heronie for the remainder of the 1970s), the rich, upper class Spaulding family in 1977 (who would remain one of the show's core families until the show's cancellation in 2009), and wrote the infamous storyline of Holly Norris Bauer
Roger and Holly
Roger Thorpe and Holly Norris are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American CBS daytime drama Guiding Light.-Actors:...
's rape by her own husband Roger Thorpe in 1979. The Dobsons would later go on to become the head writers of another Procter and Gamble soap opera, As the World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
where they created the infamous character of James Stenbeck and also paired the characters of Tom and Margo
Tom and Margo Hughes
Thomas "Tom" Hughes and Margo Montgomery Hughes are fictional characters and a supercouple on the American CBS daytme drama As The World Turns. Currently, Tom is played by Scott Holmes and Margo is played by Ellen Dolan...
.
In 1984, NBC
NBC Daytime
NBC Daytime is the schedule for the NBC television network's daytime television programming which consists of morning news program Today and soap opera Days of our Lives...
debuted Santa Barbara where Bridget and Jerome Dobson had creative control of the show's storylines until they were locked out of Santa Barbara's NBC offices in 1988 after the Dobson's repeated attempts to fire then head writer, Anne Howard Bailey. The Dobson's filed a $53 million lawsuit against NBC and New World Television
New World Communications
New World Pictures was an independent motion picture and television production company, and later television station owner in the United States from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s...
(the company that owned SB). That same year, when claiming Santa Barbara's Outstanding Daytime Drama Emmy, a bittersweet Bridget Dobson taunted, "Though New World Television locked me out of the studio, they couldn't lock me out of the Emmys!" By 1991 the case was settled out of court and the Dobsons returned to the show they created.