Eileen and Robert Mason Pollock
Eileen "Mike" Pollock (1926–2012) and Robert Mason Pollock were married American television screenwriters and producers best known for their work on the long-running 1980s series Dynasty, its spin-off series The Colbys (the latter of which the Pollocks co-created with Dynasty creators, Richard and Esther Shapiro).[1]
The second-season additions of the Pollocks and actress Joan Collins (in the role of Alexis) are generally credited with Dynasty's subsequent rise in the ratings;[2] it became the number one series in 1985.[3] According to The Soap Opera Encyclopedia written by Christopher Schemering, the Pollocks "soft-pedaled the business angle" of the show and "bombarded viewers with every soap opera staple in the book, presented at such a fast clip that a new tragedy seemed to befall the Carrington family every five minutes."[2] However, the show's rapid fall resulting from dizzying, increasingly discombobulated storytelling is also generally attributed to the Pollocks.
The Pollocks brought the daytime series The Doctors its highest ratings in the early 1970s.[2] They also wrote for General Hospital from 1976 to 1977. In 1997, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to them.[4]
On December 5, 2012, six months after Eileen Pollock "suffered a massive stroke", her obituary was published in The Desert Sun of Coachella Valley.[5]
References
- ↑ Frenzel, Gerhard G. (1999). Portrait of the Stars. Palm Springs, CA: Palm Springs Walk of Stars. pp. 122, 185. ASIN B0006FBSG4. LCCN 98093956.
- 1 2 3 Schemering, Christopher (September 1985). The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. pp. 80–81. ISBN 0-345-32459-5.
- ↑ 1984-1985 Ratings - ClassicTVhits.com
- ↑ Palm Springs Walk of Stars webpage
- ↑ "Eileen (Mike) Pollock (1926 – 2012)". The Desert Sun (Gannett; archived at Legacy.com). December 5–7, 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-05.