News
Robin Wright’s ‘Santa Barbara’ Beginnings Recalled by Former Co-Star, A Martinez and Series Co-Creator, Jerome Dobson
When motion picture star, Robin Wright first came on to the scene, it was Santa Barbara’s co-creators and co-head writers, Jerome and Bridget Dobson, who cast the very ‘green’ actress when she was only 18 in the role of Kelly Capwell on the NBC soap opera.
Wright appeared as Kelly from 1984 to 1988, and became famous for her role as Princess Buttercup in The Princess Bride. Since that time, she has earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Jenny in Forest Gump, and starred as Claire Underwood in Netflix’s drama House of Cards for which she won a Golden Globe. Robin has also appeared in the films: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Wonder Woman, Blade Runner 2049, and Justice League, to name a few.
In 2019, Robin added director credits to her impressive resume with her first feature, Land, and later directed a couple of episodes of the hit Netflix drama, Ozark.
Photo: NBC
Santa Barbara’s Jerome Dobson and Daytime Emmy-winning star, A Martinez (ex-Cruz Castillo) recently chatted live on the Michael Fairman Channel were they offered up many behind the scenes stories of the beloved the soap opera. When the question came up of what was Jerry and A’s experience working with Robin Wright, both TV legends (and now Daytime Emmy Gold Circle Inductees) had some very interesting and complimentary things to say.
Dobson began, “When we tested her to come on the show, we weren’t sure of ourselves because she was basically a model, and hadn’t done any acting, but she had an interesting, very gorgeous look, but there was more to her than that.”
Photo: NBC
With her stunning looks and raw talent, Dobson added about Wright, “We thought, this may be a gold mine. We hired an acting coach for. She would have trouble some with some of the scripts, and she would come up to my office and we’d talk over the script. It’s like she had learned from Dame Judith Anderson (ex-Minx Lockridge), ‘I need to know why I’m saying this line, and why am I flirting with this person and where am I going?’ Robin was incisive, interested and involved, and she took off.”
A, who shared numerous scenes with Robin, recalled, “One of the things that I sort of reduce it to is the two words, ‘b*s detector.’ I think that as you go through the the journey of doing this (acting), you have to have a ‘b*s detector’ operating at all times, just to check yourself. I learned early on that if you think you have just transgressed on your intentions in terms of being truthful, you need to stop yourself immediately. You don’t want to finish up something that’s already broken because you had a false moment in it.”
“You want to have a detector working, and when something doesn’t go right, you just stop, and I just thought what Robin developed in that regard was just impeccable,” Martinez explained. “You look at the run she had on Santa Barbara and the depth and the truth that she found in that character. She went from starting so raw, but I just thought her sense of honesty was impeccable. Working with Robin was a great joy. It is so great to see all that has happened for her, and for all of us that we got to know her. Once in a while, I run into her still and it’s literally like Christmas. I just love her so much.”
You can watch the full chat with A Martinez and Jerome Dobson and their walk down Santa Barbara memory lane below, and then take a look at an early clip of Wright in a scenes with Louise Sorel from the series.
Now let us know, did you know Robin would become a huge success from her work on Santa Barbara? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Honestly Robin Wright was hands down the best Kelly Capwell her story with Dane Witherspoon was classic soap and robin really was in a class of her own ! For me her leaving was a game changer and I lost interest but Lane Davies Robin Mattson Justin Deas were amazing and sorry GH fans Nancy lees best moments were in Santa Barbara
I loved robin as Gina she was so damn funny
Omg, her and Justin Deas were a show, all on their own!
I watched SB occasionally when Carrington Garland played Kelly and she was great too. It was great fun to watch but I was too much into Guiding Light at the time and had to watch Reva’s adventures!
I really think that Robin has forgotten where she came from. She seems oblivious to the fact tat if it were not for SB she probably would not have the career that she has had.
Whenever SB comes up in an interview you can just see that she doesn’t want to talk about it.
In an interview with Gwynneth Paltrow she exclaimed that “it was such a cheesy show”!! in another interview she said she was hesitant to do House of cards because of her bad experience on SB where you had to memorize 30 pages of dialogue and say “really cheesy words”.
When she was still on the show she told Vanity fair that the show was “puke suck” and that she had made a vow to herself “to never make that kind of television show again and that she couldn’t wait to get out of her contract so that she could “act” again.She has also said that she hated it at the time and that it “was like being forced into the army”
I think all of this really speaks to her as a person and not in a good way. I loved her on the show but when she makes comments like this it is as if she is saying that her fans from the show were not important. I take it all as a real slap in the face!
I agree with you, what the hell does she think she was a Princess or something?
Greg…oh, I agree. I was never a fan of Robin Wright. At all. She always struck me as being a two-faced kind of person. And I think that she sets off negative vibes. Yuck.
Why is this site not reporting about the big Santa Barbara 40th anniversary reunion that’s supposed to be happening next month? I hope that you’ll have extensive coverage of it, Michael, for those of us that won’t be able to attend. It sounds like it’s going to be a great event for all of the fans who loved and still miss this show (myself definitely included).
I don’t think Robin Wright would even be acting still if she didn’t do Santa Barbara though I do like her I didn’t appreciate some of the rude comments she made about Marcy Walker and the nose comment especially since Marcy only has good things to say about Robin
Daytime Emmy winner and Gold Circle Honors Inductee, Suzanne Rogers will be on your screens this week on Days of Our Lives, when Maggie Kiriakis is back in action. Previously, Maggie was written-off the canvas in April of this year when she left Salem to visit her daughter, Melissa.
Back in October of 2025, it was revealed that Rogers was battling stage II colorectal cancer. Then in November 2025, Suzanne told PEOPLE that she was now in remission.
Suzanne shared, “I’m feeling so much better. I mean, my summer was rough. I had cancer removed, radiation, that was tough. But I didn’t lose my hair. I guess I got it early. I was stage two, and it was a certain kind of chemo that they gave me, it was pills and the radiation, and it didn’t affect it so that was good.”
Photo: JPI
SUZANNE ROGERS JOURNEY BACK TO DAYS OF OUR LIVES
Now, official Days of Our Lives spoilers indicate that Julie (Susan Seaforth Hayes) will reach out to Maggie on the Tuesday, September 1, 2026. Due to Days of Our Lives’ advance taping schedule of 10-11 months in advance of streaming new episodes on Peacock, Suzanne’s reintroduction to the story will play out this fall.
In a interview with TV Insider last year, Rogers shared that as of July 31 2025, she had completed cancer treatment and was headed back to work to continue the story of Maggie Horton.
Rogers explained, “I start back to work next week, so we’ll see how that goes. Now, I’m feeling anxious like I do any time I get scripts because I want to do my very best and you don’t want to hold up anybody.”
As Days of Our Lives fans know, Rogers has been with the soap opera as of last week for 53 years having debuted back on August 20, 1973. Then in 1979, Suzanne became the first actress ever to win the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Daytime Drama Series at the Daytime Emmy Awards.
In 2024, Rogers was honored with induction into the Emmys’ Gold Circle by The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. This award recognizes individuals who have made a significant and lasting impact on television for 50 years or more.
Before her recent health scare, Rogers has battled myasthenia gravis starting in 1984, which also has gone in remission.
So, happy to know Suzanne is back as Maggie this week on all-new episodes of Days of Our Lives? Have you missed seeing this Salem staple for the past many months? Let us know via the comment section.
News
RATINGS: ‘The Young and the Restless’ Loses Most Viewers Week-Over-Week; But All Soaps Up Year-Over-Year
The latest network television broadcast ratings are out for the week of August 10-14, 2026 and it revealed that while all four daytime dramas took a hit in viewers from the previous week, it was the top rated The Young and the Restless which saw the largest viewer decline.
According to Soap Opera Network, Y&R lost – 161,000 eyeballs from the previous week, even though it is still the most-watched soap opera in the U.S. with 3,041,000 tuning-in. The storylines for the week included: Nick’s (Joshua Morrow) nightmare after getting high and relapsing and checking into a seedy motel. He later crosses path with another addict, Marie Kirkland (Jade Harlow), with whom he has sex with, but then she OD’s.
In addition, Y&R also showcased that week, Billy (Jason Thompson) making a bold play to stake his claim on Chancellor, causing Jack (Peter Bergman) and others concern. Devon (Bryton James) and Nate (Sean Dominic) charting new career paths for themselves, and Victor (Eric Braeden) and Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) struggling to help their children, Nick and Victoria (Amelia Heinle), while after renewing their vows, still battling over Jack Abbott in their lives.
Photo: CBS
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
Y&R’s sister soap, The Bold and the Beautiful came in second again in overall viewers for the ratings period and lost the second most viewers of the week with – 59,000, but still came in with 2,676,000 in total audience.
The storyline involved Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood), Finn (Tanner Novlan) and Sheila (Kimberlin Brown) in Monaco, which led to Steffy leaving Finn due to his mother’s presence and lying to her that she was in the country, plus Daphne (Murielle Hilaire) walking away from Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) after she could not handle not being able to have his child.
Courtesy/ABC
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Over at General Hospital, the show was only down -22,000 week over week, tallying 1,848,000, which is still down and not back over the 2 million mark, which they had been in some previous weeks. In story, Michael (Rory Gibson) gets to Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) just in time after Jacinda (Paige Herschell) drugged her. As Willow was high, she was about to take Amelia and Wiley for a drive when Michael intervened.
Michael later had an emotional goodbye with Jacinda where he paid her off to start a new life somewhere else, so her actions did not come back to bite him in his effort to secure custody of his children from Willow.
Photo: CBS
BEYOND THE GATES
Finally, Beyond the Gates actually saw the smallest loss of viewers for the week only down -3,000 and coming in at 1,648,000. In addition, Beyond the Gates topped General Hospital in key demos for 3rd place in the women 18-49, and women 25-54 rating shares.
In story, Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett) is rushed to the hospital after he suddenly becomes ill as Hayley’s (Marquita Goings) plan to get him out of the country gets derailed and Andre Richardson (Sean Freeman) receiving ominous messages from someone from his past, which eventually turns out to be The Impaler herself, Heather Armstrong (Ashley Jones).
ALL SOAP OPERAS UP IN VIEWERSHIP YEAR-OVER-YEAR
The good news is that year over year, all four network daytime dramas are exceeding last August of 2025. According to the ratings report, The Young and the Restless is up year-over-year +82,000, The Bold and the Beautiful, which far and away has had the best season in 2026, is way ahead of last year at this time with + 234,000, General Hospital slightly up +54,000 and Beyond the Gates doing much better than last year with +144,000.
It should be noted: The ratings numbers reflected use the Live+Same Day Big Data+ Panel viewing and DVR playback, defined as 3:00 a.m.-3:00 a.m., and are courtesy of Nielsen. Ratings are the percentage of U.S. TV viewers who tuned in to a specific program.
So, what do you think about how your favorite soap opera performed in the latest ratings period? Which show is piquing your interest? Which is not at all? Share your thoughts via the comment section below and weigh-in.
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’s’ Sawandi Wilson Marks 2-Year Anniversary as Dr. Isaiah Gannon with Heartfelt ‘Thank You’ Video to ‘Best Fans in the Universe’
This week, Sawandi Wilson is celebrating his second year as Dr. Isaiah Gannon on General Hospital. Wilson made his on-screen debut back on August 26 when he was introduced onto the canvas as a good friend to Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson). At the time, both men were being held captive by Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota) in a refugee camp in East Africa.
Fast-forward two years and Isaiah is still on the GH canvas, Lucky has left Port Charles for parts unknown, and in real-life, since joining the cast of the legacy ABC daytime drama series, Wilson’s life has changed for the better!
Taking to his Instagram, with a very cute video acknowledging his two years as Dr. Gannon, during Sawandi’s first attempt to complete the video he is interrupted from afar in the GH parking lot by castmate, Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri).
Photo: ABC
THE ROAD TO PORT CHARLES
When Wilson does his second take for the video, here is what she shared: “Real quick. I want to say thank you to all the fans because I am celebrating two years on General Hospital.” He then added, “So, a couple things that have happened since I’ve been on the show is: I moved cross country from New York. I got married, and most recently we had a baby. I am so happy to share that personal journey with you guys.”
Sawandi concluded with, “But more than anything, this post is a ‘thank you’ to the fans, the fans who have been there supporting Isaiah from day one. I love you guys with all my heart. You guys are the best fans in the universe, and the most loyal, dedicated, best fans. I love you guys so much. We are a family out here and I’m happy to be part of the family. I love you guys.”
In the written post accompanying his video, Wilson also expressed, “GH family, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, I love you! 2 years ago, Dr. Isaiah Gannon landed in Port Charles for the first time. I had no idea how many people would be invested in every twist of every storyline along the way. But I’m grateful. Thank you for watching. Dominic Zamprogna, thank you for the cameo. #sawandiwilson #Gh #isaiahgannon #Blackscrubs #bts”
As viewers know, over the past few weeks, the GH star has been sharing updates on his newborn daughter Zelda’s battle from birth, when she was barely crying and landed in the NICU. Later, with good news to report, Sawandi praised the entire medical team at Cedars Sinai sharing, “You saved my baby’s life. You saved my wife’s life. And you saved my life. I love you guys.”
Photo: ABC
THE MYSTERY OF THE LLANVIEW GANNONS
One Life to Live fans are still hoping that the General Hospital writers connect the dots with Isaiah’s last name of “Gannon.” From 1992 on, the Gannon family was represented in Llanview. First, by Hank Gannon (Nathan Purdee), then RJ Gannon (Timothy D. Stickney) and Hank’s ex-wife, Nora Hanen Gannon Buchanan (Hilary B. Smith), and her daughter Rachel Gannon (at one time played by Beyond the Gates star, Daphnee Duplaix).
Currently in story, Isaiah is involved with Dr. Portia Robinson (Brook Kerr), who recently gave birth to her ex’s baby. That ex is Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) who was sent away to prison for assaulting Isaiah and injuring his hand which now makes him unable to perform surgery.
Take a look at Sawandi Wilson’s very special ‘thank you’ message to the fans on his 2nd year anniversary with General Hospital below.
Now weigh-in; do you hope GH closes the loop on the “Gannon” connection? Do you hope more of Isaiah’s family shows up in Port Charles? Have you enjoyed Sawandi Wilson’s 2-year and counting run on the ABC soap opera thus far? Let us know via the comment section.
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Suzanne Rogers Returns to ‘Days of Our Lives’ in All-New Episodes
BEYOND THE GATES Preview: Hayley’s Poisonous Plot Goes Awry; Heather’s Obsession with Andre Reaches New Heights
RATINGS: ‘The Young and the Restless’ Loses Most Viewers Week-Over-Week; But All Soaps Up Year-Over-Year
‘General Hospital’s’ Sawandi Wilson Marks 2-Year Anniversary as Dr. Isaiah Gannon with Heartfelt ‘Thank You’ Video to ‘Best Fans in the Universe’
How Much Longer Will ‘General Hospital’ Tease Viewers with a Chase and Willow Hookup?
‘General Hospital’ Alum Nicholas Alexander Chavez Lands Role in Action-Thriller ‘Supermax’
Dolly Parton Remembered: Y&R Alum Alyvia Alyn Lind Shares Heartfelt Tribute to the Legendary Singer and Songwriter
GH and OLTL Alum Patrick J. Gibbons Reveals the Story Behind Writing Trina’s Song on ‘General Hospital’ (Exclusive)
Brytni Sarpy Joins the Cast of ‘Days of Our Lives’
GENERAL HOSPITAL Preview: Is This the End for Brennan?
BEYOND THE GATES Preview: Hayley’s Poisonous Plot Goes Awry; Heather’s Obsession with Andre Reaches New Heights
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL Preview: Katie Gets an Eyeful When Darcy’s Mother Comes to Town
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Ava Spikes Brennan’s Drink as Drew’s Masterplan Begins to Unfolds
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: Victor’s Emotional Visit with Nick in Rehab Brings Touching Performances by Eric Braeden and Joshua Morrow
Dolly Parton Remembered: Y&R Alum Alyvia Alyn Lind Shares Heartfelt Tribute to the Legendary Singer and Songwriter
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