NEWS: Marilyn Manson Joins ONCE UPON A TIME; Bridget Dobson on Successful TV Writers; DOCTOR WHO 50th Teaser Image

Marilyn Manson Joining ONCE UPON A TIME Cast
Rolling Stone is reporting that rocker Marilyn Manson will be joining the cast of the show in November. Manson will voice Shadow, a character whose voice will give life to the very essence of Neverland.

SANTA BARBARA co-creator Bridget Dobson on what makes a successful writer
"The writers who are emotionally tuned to the progress of the show, and who are most willing to adjust when the emotions are even slightly off kilter, are the most successful writers; they are the ones who learn as they go along. Adjustments are normal; without them, a show will falter and fail."

"Having said that, television writers are in a business, and sometimes politics seem to transcend the drama of the moment. For example, a network executive may plead for, even insist on, a character or a storyline being included. This situation is also normal, and it can become a kind of wrestling match. If the writer has enough experience to know that a 'trial run' of the character or the story won't 'kill' the show and will placate the executive, then it may be included, for a short period of time. If it works, hooray. If it doesn't, with luck, the executive will learn from his errors. I have yet to live long enough to see that happen. But I advance it to you as a hypothetical theory."

DOCTOR WHO 50th anniversary teaser image released ahead of new ‘celebratory’ trailer
The BBC has released a new publicity image featuring every Doctor since the show began in 1963, from William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton up to David Tennant and Matt Smith.

Nicollette Sheridan Denied Effort to Revive DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Trial
The judge sides with ABC as the three-year battle over the star's dismissal from the hit show is ended by a summary judgement in favor of the network.

BREAKING BAD Creator Vince Gilligan: Piracy Boosted Show’s Popularity
“In some ways the illegal downloading has helped us, certainly, in terms of brand awareness,” he said. “The downside is a lot of folks who worked on the show would have made more money, myself included, if all those downloads had been legal.”

JUDGE JUDY files lawsuit against man who uploaded a 2006 episode to YouTube
The company that produces the show -- Big Ticket Television -- gets an enormous amount of money for the show, so the idea that someone is stealing it and not paying a dime has them royally pissed off.

As for the culprit -- his name is Ignacio De Los Angeles. Ignacio dared to post an episode from 2006 on YouTube. Big Ticket told him to take it down, but Ignacio ignored.

Bridget Dobson: Parents Frank & Doris Hursley 'Never Accepted That I Was A Success On My Own'

Jerome & Bridget Dobson

There are some fascinating quotes from longtime soap opera writer Bridget Dobson in the latest installment of her interview with the Santa Barbara Blog. Dobson talks about the years she and her husband spent working on P&G soaps GUIDING LIGHT and AS THE WORLD TURN, as well as the negative reaction her parents, GENERAL HOSPITAL creators Frank and Doris Hursley, had to her success.

On P&G: "When our bosses, Bob Short and Ed Trach, and we didn't agree about a character or a storyline, we had long and healthy (informative and productive) arguments, There was a climate of mutual respect and affection. We were always told we could do it our way (not theirs), and risk being fired if the ratings didn’t hold up. So, in accordance with our philosophy that the writers’ will must prevail, we took that risk, and we were never fired. It was all very up front and forthright. Unlike Hollywood, there was never the feeling that if we turned around we would be stabbed in the back."

Bridget Dobson: 'Writing By Committee Does Not Work'

Jerome & Bridget Dobson in 2008

The SANTA BARBARA Blog is currently running an interview with longtime soap opera writer Bridget Dobson, who wrote for GENERAL HOSPITAL, GUIDING LIGHT and AS THE WORLD TURNS before creating SANTA BARBARA (with her husband, Jerome). She had quite an interesting perspective on soaps.

There are so many scenes over a career that involved writing (and in many cases producing) more than 6000 scripts, that it seems excessive to go into detail about any one scene or dramatic sequence.

NEWS ROUNDUP: Did Indonesia Soap Shoot Contribute To Little Girl's Death? Bridget Dobson Revisits Her Start

Indonesia: Parents of a nine-year-old girl say a soap opera's hospital shoot contributed to their daughter's demise
Soap opera-crazed Indonesia is watching a tragically ironic drama play out in the death of a 9-year-old, whose parents blame a hit soap for playing a role in their daughter’s death.

LOVE IN PARIS is a romance starring a young starlet, actress Michelle Zudith, whose character suffers from leukemia and is expected to die before 20 — a plot device that affects her search for love.

INTERVIEW: Denise Pence Reminisces About Her Time At GUIDING LIGHT (Part 2)

In the latest installment of our series highlighting the many special performances preserved in the various Soap Classics DVD collections, We Love Soaps visits with Denise Pence, still fondly remembered for her eight year run as Nurse Katie Parker on GUIDING LIGHT, which started 35 years ago.

(continued from Part 1)

When the Dobsons left GUIDING LIGHT to write AS THE WORLD TURNS, Pence almost switched soaps as well.

"When the Dobsons were leaving and Doug Marland was coming in," Pence explains, "there was talk of this character that was a 'Denise Pence type' on AS THE WORLD TURNS and they asked if I would be interested in going over.  My comment was, 'I'd love to see how a new writer would write for me.' I had such a great track record on GUIDING LIGHT and I'd had so much fun up until that point. I thought, 'A new writer, let's see where I go with this.' "

INTERVIEW: Denise Pence Reminisces About Her Time At GUIDING LIGHT (Part 1)

In the latest installment of our series highlighting the many special performances preserved in the various Soap Classics DVD collections, We Love Soaps visits with Denise Pence, still fondly remembered for her eight year run as Nurse Katie Parker on GUIDING LIGHT, which started 35 years ago.

Denise Pence joined the cast of GUIDING LIGHT in 1977 when the show's head writers, Bridget and Jerome Dobson, created the character of Katie.