Reverend Ruthledge

Oh. Ok. I just looked at the article. Thanks. Perhaps they changed Jack's name to Stuart, added a daughter and had them all have different hair colors.

Thank you. That's what I thought because of the year but who was "Jack with the three blonde daughters"?

Well, she just said "ladies" on the show but she didn't specify they were fellow actresses. It could have been some of the women behind the scenes of the show. There was a lot in the interview that wasn't clear to me.

Thanks for that. It was great to see her in an interview. She's very likable. Although it was somewhat confusing. What new soap is she talking about going on audition for in 1973. Was it The Young and the Restless? Is it just me or did they never even say the name of this soap opera? Days wasn't new in 1973 and there was no "Jack" with three daughters on The Young and the Restless. What soap are they talking about? The editing around that part was weird and choppy. I felt like there was a chunk missing or something. And I'm not sure why she was saying she got colorectal cancer from HPV and said it's because she never got the HPV vaccine but then said she's never had anal sex. I'm not a doctor but that didn't seem to make any medical sense. I don't know. Maybe I'm tired. It just seemed like some of this interview didn't make sense.

I'm currently up to a February, 1940 script and Rev. Rutledge is visiting Mrs. Kransky in Garden Heights. The Kranskys haven't been in the TGL story for a while. Maybe an odd episode here or there with Rose or the Cunninghams. I'm not sure if the Cumminghams were on Right to Happiness. Anyway, it's basically just an expository episode. Garden Heights is established to be five miles away from Five Points. Mrs. Kransky is catching Rev. Rutlhledge up with what, I guess, was going on on RtH. Mrs. Kransky is apparently managing an apartment building and the Burkes (Terry, his dad, his siblings Donny and Kathie and his Aunt Emily) are tenants. Mrs. Kransky talks about how she hopes something will happen with Terry and Rose but she fears that Rose will never love anybody other than Charles. It seems like the Kranskys are already starting to come back into GL. There was talk of something that I know soon turns into a TGL Charles/Rose storyline. It doesn't seem like the Kranskys stayed around RtH very long at all. The Burkes might have left RtH when the Kranskys left and the show became all about Doris and her daughter.

Heather was more or less a confidante of Frannie's and was strangled, but survived, during the Douglas Cummings storyline. I think she knew too much or something. She was romantically involved with Roy.

I've met all of them except Hays and I concur with your observations.

Thanks for posting this. I may just be tired right now or maybe it was the editing, but it seemed like she jumped suddenly from talking about Rose being killed off to her leaving the show. It felt like something important was missing. Like why Goutman seemed to want Byrne off the show.

You're welcome

I'm probably going to piss some people off, but, being from Texas and now living in the Deep South, I'm aware that a lot of Oklahomans speak with a twang similar to the Texas twang. Which is very different from the Southern Drawl. Khan, if you are from Oklahoma, you can address this topic better than I can. I don't remember Wanda's accent very well but I kind of remember it being twangy. I don't distinguish Texas and Oklahoma from each other too much but I definitely distinguish Texas and Oklahoma from "the South" and the twang from the drawl.

Yes, I believe that's right. Thank you, Paul.

Thank you. It looks like 1980.

Do you know what year that was?

You're welcome. I didn't know where else to post it. Most of the people in the Guiding Light thread seem to be mostly interested in the latter years of the show and I didn't know if they warranted a separate thread.

The Guiding Light -2/15/37. Episode #16. First available episode. Reverend Ruthledge, Ellen, Ned and Mary discuss current events. Ned is jealous of the attention Ellis Smith is giving Mary. -2/16/37 thru 12/30/37. Episodes #17-239. First year of story. Everyone is trying to figure out the mysterious Ellis Smith. Rose is restless and wants better things in life. Reverend Ruthledge tries to help Ellis but Ellis is antagonistic and not wanting help. Both Peter Manno and Ellis Smith start work at the paint factory and Peter is suspicious of Ellis’ motives for working there. Ellis is hiding the fact that he is from the wealthy Gordon family. Ned is suspicious of Ellis and is investigating him. Ned tells Rev. Rutledge that he wants to be a serious writer and wants to be with Mary even though they were raised in the same house. Ellis tells a hurt and confused Cynthia, his girlfriend, that he needs to be alone to find himself in his new life in Five Points. Rose spends time with Ellis, much to the disapproval of Abe and Bessie Kransky, her parents. Reverend Ruthledge thinks Mary is falling in love with Ellis. Ned tells Mary that he’s in love with her but Mary says she thinks of him only as a brother. Mary says she’s in love with someone else and Ned knows it’s Ellis. Phyllis Gordon, Ellis’ cousin, is interested in Pete Manno but her father, Phillip Gordon disapproves because of the class difference. Rose wants to become an actress and goes to Reverend Ruthledge to borrow money from him for drama classes. Ned, Mary, Ellen, the Kranskys, the O’Hearns, the Pasqualis, the Swensons, the Mannos and Alderman Ross gather to surprise Reverend Ruthledge with a party to celebrate his 16th anniversary in Five Points. Ellis, still feeling like an outsider, doesn’t attend. At the party, Louis Pasquali presents Rev. Rutledge with a lamp he made himself that Rev. Ruthledge quickly names “The Friendship Lamp”. Rose tells her parents she’s taking drama lessons but doesn’t tell them where she got the money. Mrs. O’Hearne comes over later to tell the Kranskys that Rose is at Ellis’ apartment and that people have been gossiping about Rose and Ellis. An angry Abe thinks Ellis gave Rose the money and sets out to Ellis’ apartment down the hall to confront Ellis and Rose. Ellis encourages to go for what she wants as long as she’s willing to pay the price. Mrs. Kransky goes over to Ellis’ and tells him she doesn’t want her daughter to be talked about by the neighbors, embarrassing Rose. Ruth, an old friend of Rose’s, stops by the old neighborhood and angers Rose when she insinuates that Rose has feelings for Ellis. Abe confronts Rose about the rumors about her and Ellis and Rose confesses that it was Rev. Rutledge who loaned her the money for drama school, not Ellis. Abe orders her to give the money back. A mysterious, down-and-out lady sells a beautiful brooch to Mr. Kransky and makes him promise not to sell it to anyone until she can come back to reclaim it in sixty days. Rev. Ruthledge asks Abe to sell the brooch to him, not Ellis, if the woman doesn’t come back. Phyllis tries to get Pete to consider marriage but Pete wants just a friendship as he is too concerned with becoming a lawyer. Reverend Ruthledge finds a place to keep his friendship lamp, next to a window to the outside. Ellis changes his tune and tells an angry Rose that he agrees with her parents that they shouldn’t spend time together. Mary implores Rev. Ruthledge to go check in on Ellis and hopefully help him find his way. Reverend Ruthledge and Ellis debate realism vs. perspective. Pete seeks the reverend’s advice on his ambivalent feelings toward Phyllis. A mysterious woman stops by the parsonage and leaves an envelope with Reverend Ruthledge. Mrs. Kransky and Mrs. O’Hearn have another gossip session. Rev. Ruthledge throws a birthday party for Ned at the parsonage which Phyllis crashes looking for Pete. Ellis has dinner with the Kranskys and repeats his interest in bidding for the brooch if the mysterious woman doesn’t come back. Abe says he’s promised it to Rev. Ruthledge. The church puts on a Mother’s Day special. Jane and Grandfather Ellis argue about Gordon (Ellis) and Jane tries to get Grandfather Ellis to give her Ellis’ number. John, Mary, Ned and Ellen discuss the coronation of George VI after listening to it on the radio. Phyllis wants to marry Pete but he thinks it wouldn’t work because of their class differences. Rose thinks her boss at the publishing company, Charles Cunningham, can help her advance her acting career. With growing determination to be more free and independent, Rose decides to apply as Charles’ personal secretary after his old secretary, Helen Ryder, becomes emotionally unable to continue in her job after Charles marries another woman. Ellis runs into his cousin Phyllis in Five Points and Phyllis realizes Gordon Ellis and Ellis Smith are one and the same. Ellis tells Phyllis not to pursue Pete and leave Five Points alone. Reverend Ruthledge recounts that Mary’s mother was from the side of the tracks which his parents disapproved of. John broke off communication with his parents and later learned they died in an earthquake. Charles gets Rose to encourage Helen to take a leave of absence. Helen later attempts suicide which makes Rose feel guilty. Rose gets the secretarial job for Charles Cunningham which makes her want to leave home. Ellis and Rose converse about their mutual struggle of breaking free of family and the ties that bind and becoming their own individual. Reverend Ruthledge’s niece, Ethel Foster, comes for a visit and surprises John with news that his sister is divorcing Ethel’s Foster and is in love with another man. Abe tells John that the “lady with the sad face” bought the brooch back from him. Phyllis tells her parents that she is engaged to Pete and her father tells her if she marries a foreigner from Five Points that he will cut off her money. Luigi is sick and doesn’t know what’s wrong. Mrs. Kransky can’t understand why Rose wants to live on her own and Abe takes it further by saying that if Rose moves away from the family, she can’t come back. Helen and Rose have dinner and a regretful Helen warns Rose not to turn out like her. Rose thinks she’ll be different. Rose moves out and Abe sticks to his guns, shunning her. A mysterious woman named Frederika moves in across from Ellis and Ellis is inspired to paint her portrait. Pete thinks Luigi’s mystery illness is being caused by a new tool used in the paint factory. Charles decides to publish Ned’s first novel. Ellis learns from Abe that the owner of the brooch he wanted to buy from him was Fredrika and that she bought the brooch back. John helps to reconcile his sister Grace with her husband Edward. Phillip uses his power and influence with the superintendent at the paint factory to try and get Pete fired. Rose returns home for Rosh Hashana but there’s still tension between her and Abe. Pete quits his job. John has an outside doctor examine Luigi which confirms that his illness was caused by the equipment at the paint factory. After the paint factory tries to buy off Luigi, Reverend Ruthledge confronts the superintendent of the factory. Paul Holden, Fredrika’s husband, surprises Fredrika by returning to Five Points and Fredrika doesn’t want to have anything more to do with him. John pushes Luigi to sue the paint factory and Ned warns John about getting involved with a powerful company like the paint factory. John and Pete team up to help Luigi sue the paint factory. Luigi dies. The annual masquerade charity ball is held but Ellis leaves before they all unmask at midnight. Pete tells Phyllis that her father’s going to be sued and he will be a witness against him as well as the fact that he’s the one behind Pete getting run out of his job. Paul introduces himself to Ellis as Paul Holden, the husband of Fredrika. Phyllis confronts Phillip with the suspicion that he got Pete fired. Phyllis doesn’t believe Phillip’s denial and says she’s leaving Grand Drive and doesn’t want any more of his money. Jane tries to stir things up with Celeste by insinuating there could be something going on between Charles and Rose. Against her determination not to be an office wife, Rose accepts Charles' invitation to dinner and a play, The Women, when Celeste is too busy to go with him. Ned proposes to Mary again and she tentatively agrees to a trial, secret engagement. Reverend Ruthledge gives an Armistice Day sermon, encouraging the parishioners to learn from World War 1 and not get involved in the threats of another war starting in Europe and Asia. The trial of Angelina Pasquali vs. the paint factory begins and an emotional Pete blurts out that Phillip Gordon is responsible. Pete and Phyllis discuss the trouble Pete’s outburst has caused and Pete suggests that the class differences are too much and perhaps they should forget about marrying or even seeing each other. The Ruthledges prepare for Thanksgiving as Ellen starts baking. The first Thanksgiving for The Guiding Light is celebrated as Reverend Ruthledge gives a Thanksgiving Day sermon. Angelina Pasquli wins her court case against the paint factory due to documents that Ellis Smith secretly obtained. Rose’s parents are concerned about the rumors going around about her and Charles Cunningham. Rose tries to assure Mrs. Kransky that it’s just professional. Celeste refuses Charles’ suggestion of a separation but hints that she would be ok with an open marriage. Mary confesses her indecisiveness of marrying Ned to her father. Frederika files for divorce but Paul said he will fight it and he will also tell Ned that they’re his parents if she doesn’t. John counsels Phyllis that she must choose between Pete or the Gordons. Reverend Ruthledge tries to reason with Phillip but Phillip tells him to mind his own business. Mary decides she really wants to marry Ned and that they can go public with their engagement. Reverend Ruthledge gives a Christmas sermon. John, Mary, Ned, Ellen, Ethel, Jack, Rose, Ellis and Pete gather at the Ruthledges to celebrate the story’s first Christmas Eve. Ned and Mary use the occasion to go public with their engagement. Frederika watches the festivities longingly through the window. Abe confronts Rose with the neighborhood gossip of Rose spending time with her married boss outside of the office. Rose says she doesn’t care what others think and that she’s through with Five Points. Ellis finds spies snooping in his apartment. -1/3/38 thru 4/28/38. Ned meets Fredrika, not realizing it’s his mother. Fredrika tells John the story of why she had to leave Ned with him and why she couldn’t come back. John counsels Fredrika to tell Ned the truth but Fredrika doesn’t want Ned to know the truth about his parents. Fredrika pleads with Paul to leave Five Points but he refuses unless she can give him the money to leave on. Ellis figures out that Fredrika is Ned’s mother. Ned uses the first of his royalty money for his novel and writes a check to Fredrika purchasing her brooch as a gift to Mary. Fredrika endorses Ned’s check to her over to Paul so that he’ll leave Five Points. Paul raises the check from 100 dollars to 1,000 dollars. When Ned finds out, his famous hotheadedness goes off and he sets out to get Fredrika arrested as soon as possible despite John jumping to her defense and pleading with him to get the whole story first. An angry Ned confronts Fredrika about raising the check he gave her but Fredrika is too frightened to tell Ned the truth that Paul did it because she doesn’t want Ned to know that she and Paul are her parents. Reverend Ruthledge tries to get Fredrika to stay in Five Points but Fredrika, terrified of Ned learning the truth, is determined to leave town. Ellis tries to convince Fredrika to go out with him and Rose. Paul tells Fredrika that he’s going to stay in Five Points and tell Ned that they are his parents. Fredrika shoots and kills Paul. After the shooting, Ellis and Rose enter Fredrika’s apartment and see her standing over Paul’s lifeless body. The police soon arrive and Fredrika claims she shot an unknown intruder. She is taken into custody. The inquest into the shooting death of Paul Holden is held. Fredrika’s claims that Paul was an unknown stranger trying to rape her falls apart quickly. Fredrika is indicted for murder. Reverend Ruthledge and Ellis find themselves unexpected allies in their help and support of Fredrika. Ned, however, is eager to see her crucified as is using his journalist’s typewriter as a weapon unaware that it’s his mother he is crucifying. Fredrika tells John that she killed Paul to protect Ned and she’s willing to sacrifice herself on a flimsy, false defense than for Ned to learn the truth. Ellis and John hire a lawyer for Fredrika who tells her that she could get the electric chair if she doesn’t tell him the truth but she sticks to her story. John starts getting pressure to drop his support of Fredrika from Ned, Mary and the biggest financial contributors to his ministry. Fredrika’s murder trial begins. In spite of Fredrika’s persistent lying, the truth comes out during the trial that she was married to Paul. Ned and Mary move their wedding date to May 4th instead of June as they don’t want to wait any longer. Ned gets a summons to be a witness against Fredrika and John begs him not to do it. Fredrika snaps watching Ned testify against her and blurts out that she was married to Paul and intended to kill him. Frederika is ruled guilty by the jury and sentenced to die in the electric chair on May 2nd. Reverend Ruthledge gives his Good Friday sermon to an almost empty church as his parishioners have largely abandoned him due to their disapproval of him supporting a murderer. Surprisingly, Ellis attends the Good Friday service and also puts a group of denouncers outside the church in their place, telling them they owe it to John not to abandon him. Ned pushes John to tell him what he once wanted to tell him. Rev. Ruthledge becomes a pariah in Five Points. John leaves Five Points for a while. When he returns, Fredrika gets a last-minute pardon from the governor. -5/2/38 thru 5/31/38. Ned overhears John and Frederika talking about Frederika being Ned’s mother. A shocked and angry Ned denounces Frederika and runs away from Five Points on the day before his wedding to Mary. A hurt Mary lashes into her father and Frederika saying she hates them both. Mary is worried that Ned will kill himself. Ned ends up in San Francisco where he meets an ex-singer with the Follies, Torchy. Torchy tries to get Ned out of his depression and self-pity but he’s not having any of it. Ellis gets a hunch based on something Mary says that Ned may be in San Francisco and, in spite of his dislike of Ned and belief that Frederika is better off without him, insinuates to Frederika that that is where she might locate him. Mary forgives her father and returns to the parsonage. Rose tells Ellis that she and Charles are having an affair and that she intends to be the new Mrs. Charles Cunningham. -6/1/38 thru 6/30/38. Rose confesses to her mother that she’s in love with her boss, a married man. Mrs. Kransky begs Rose to quit her job and leave Charles Cunningham alone but Rose says it’s too late. Ned apologizes to Torchy for slapping her and the two begin a friendship. Helen Ryder warns Rose that Charles will break her heart like he did hers. Charles asks Celeste for a divorce but denies there’s another woman. Mrs. Kransky turns to Rev. Ruthledge for counsel and help for Rose’s situation. He goes to Rose to convince her to stop seeing Charles but Rose doesn’t listen to him either. Reverend Ruthledge gives the commencement speech to the class of 1938. Tom Bannion, the newly ordained reverend from a wealthy neighborhood, introduces himself to Rev. Ruthledge, and says he wants to come to Five Points to live, get to know the community and be mentored by John. -7/1/38-7/29/38. Ned begins a life of crime and takes Torchy out on a swanky date. Reverend Ruthledge expresses his concern to Rose about her having an affair with a married man. Reverend Ruthledge goes to see Charles Cunningham about Ned, who has run away from Five Points, and to find out what kind of man he is. The conversation turns to morality and Charles gets defensive as the men realize they don’t like each other. Tom is eager to become a member of the Five Points community and both he and John hope he can become John’s assistant. Ellis tries to dissuade Rose from continuing her affair with Charles. Charles comes over to Rose’s apartment and meets Ellis who claims they know each other but Charles denies it. Celeste is filing for a divorce from Charles and hires a detective to find out if he’s having an affair. Charles and Rose make plans for the evening unaware that they’re going to be followed. Ned struggles to get a job and get his self-respect back, inspired by the pride Reverend Ruthledge had in him at one time. Ellis tries to get Rose to see that Charles is stringing along and Rose starts to have doubts about Charles’ sincerity. Celeste gets the photographic evidence she was looking for. Torchy realizes she’s in love with Ned. Abe and Rose have a show-down. Abe demands she move home and Rose storms out saying they’ll never see her again. -8/1/38-8/31/38. Charles tells Rose that Celeste has pictures and is threatening to name a correspondent in the divorce case so they have to stop seeing each other away from the office. The story comes out in the newspaper and even though Rose isn’t named as correspondent it is obvious to those who know her. Ellis tries to wake Rose up to her situation and to Charles’ character but Rose’s love for Charles has her in denial. Abe and Bessie go to Rose to try to make amends and implore her to come home but Rose refuses. Abe angrily points out Rose’s delusions about Charles, calling him a snake in the grass, but Rose defends him. Reverend Ruthledge pleads with both Charles and Celeste to drop their legal war for the sake of Rose and her family. Neither one will budge. Rose is determined to stand by Charles even if he decides to contest the divorce and she is outed as correspondent. The warnings against Charles that her family and friends gave her, however, cause her to have doubts. Ned is grateful to Torchy for helping him get back on his feet but she withholds the fact that she’s in love with him. Abe confronts Charles over Rose. John tries to reason again with Rose but she tells him to mind his own familial problems. Charles contests the divorce, not caring about the scandal it will bring to Rose to have her named as the correspondent. The story breaks in the newspapers, bringing shame to the Kranskys and devastating Rose. -9/1/38-9/30/38. Mrs. Kransky tells a tearful Rose that she believes in her. The trial of Cunningham vs. Cunningham begins. Ellis tries to get Rose to move back home to her parents’ house. Rose is starting to wake up to Charles based on what he’s putting her through in court. Ellis implores Rev. Ruthledge to be a character witness for Rose but the reverend can’t go against his principles and condone adultery even though he supports Rose. Ellis, of course, can’t understand the reverend’s viewpoint and decides to take matters into his own hands to help Rose. Charles outs Celeste’s affair with another man in his countersuit. Rose, under the stress of lying for Charles, faints on the witness stand. A recording of Charles and Rose having an intimate conversation is presented in court much to the panic of Rose. -10/3/38-10/31/38. The recording of Charles and Rose’s intimate recording is played in court which brings Rose to the breaking point. On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Rose breaks and asks God for forgiveness for her sins. Reverend Ruthledge reminisces in his study late at night about the events that have transpired since Ellis Smith wandered into the church. Ellis takes the witness stand and lies that he and Rose have been engaged for a year. Ellis is exposed as really being Gordon Ellis in court. When Charles takes the stand and says he never had any affection for Rose, Rose breaks down and yells out in court that she was never engaged to Ellis and the truth that she and Charles were romantically involved. The trial ends and Celeste wins. Rose calls Charles later and he tells her that their relationship is over. Ellis proposes to a pregnant Rose out of friendship to try to salvage her ruined reputation and they get married. With sadness and bitterness, Rose leaves her apartment and her past behind to join Ellis in their new home. Tom gets the job as Reverend Ruthledge’s assistant and moves into his parsonage. Ned gets a job writing for a San Francisco newspaper. -11/1/38-11/30/38. As Ned rebuilds his life, he enthusiastically insists that Torchy is there by his side. She is reluctant, however, because she’s in love with him and fears that he might mistake his feelings of gratitude towards her for love. Rose, bitter about men, tries to encourage Mary to get over Ned. Ellis goes to see Abe, sick with a cold, to urge him to talk to Rose but Abe has disowned her. Ellis, concerned that Abe’s cold is more serious, encourages Bessie to call a doctor. The doctor thinks Abe has a viral infection similar to influenza that’s been going around and is more worried about how Abe’s weak heart will withstand it. Rev. Ruthledge introduces Rev. Bannion, his new assistant, to the church congregation. Torcy admits to Ned that she’s fallen in love with him. Abe admits to Bessie that he’s known he has a weak heart but kept it from everybody and is determined not to see Rose even though he could die. Abe, sensing his death is near, asks Jacob to look after his mother and calls for Reverend Ruthledge to tell him he knows that John isn’t to blame for what happened with Rose. John implores Abe to make amends with Rose. Rev. Ruthledge gives a Thanksgiving sermon and calls on the need for world peace as war rumblings are in the air. He hints at how the English and French leaders were humbling themselves and preventing another big war by giving Germany the Sudentenland portion of Czechoslovakia in the Munich Agreement. Ned and Torchy have Thanksgiving dinner together and Ned asks Torchy to marry him. Abe Kransky dies, but not before reconciling with Rose and giving her his blessing. Ned’s column is syndicated and it reaches Five Points. Although Ned has chosen to make his column anonymous, John and Mary both recognize the writing style as Ned’s. -12/5/38-12/30/38. Ned and Torchy marry and Ned’s editor lets Ned know that someone named Mary Ruthledge has written to him looking for Ned. Tom tells Mary that he’s in love with her but Mary says she’s still in love with Ned. Ned tells her that Ned’s not worth it and that he, Tom, will be waiting for her when she realizes that. The church board wants John to get rid of Tom but John defends him. Ned is already annoyed by Torchy’s lack of social graces as well as her possessiveness. He also refuses to talk about Mary and the past with her. Tom tries to help the young delinquent Joe Swenson but Joe just wants to take advantage of Tom’s kindness. John and Tom race to the store they’ve learned Joe is going to rob to try and stop him and Joe pulls out a gun. John steps in to protect Tom and is shot. Torchy convinces Ned to go back to Five Points to see John when Ned learns of John’s condition. Ned, John and Mary are reunited after seven months. The prodigal is remorseful and the father is forgiving. The tearful reunion is marred by the shock that Ned is accompanied by his new wife. Mary is tortured seeing Ned and Torchy and wants to leave Five Points. John encourages her not to make the same mistake Ned made. Ellen doesn’t like Torchy and both Ellen and Fredrika think Ned and Torchy aren’t suited for each other. Fredrika and Torchy bond and Torchy admits her fear that Ned isn’t in love with her. The residents of Five Points say goodbye to 1938 and hello to 1939 as they make their resolutions. -1/2/39-1/31/39. John, Mary and Torchy all know that Ned is still in love with Mary. John tells Ned he has to forget about Mary now that he’s married, Mary is torn, and Torchy selflessly offers to step aside. Ned denies his true feelings and wants to rush back to San Francisco with Torchy. Ned finally sees Mary alone and breaks down, admitting to her that he still loves her and never loved Torchy. Mary tells him he must stay with Torchy. Rose and Ellis separate after Rose tells him she’s got to do things on her own. Ellis leaves Five Points. Rose returns to the Kransky home to wait out the birth of her baby. Torchy convinces Ned to stay in Five Points because going back to San Francisco would be just an escape for him. She wants him to prove to himself that he’s over Mary. Ned is secretly relieved not to have to leave Mary. Torchy finds a friend in Fredrika who advises her to leave Five Points with Ned. Ned angrily forbids Torchy to see Fredrika after he learns of their visit. Rose learns, via the newspaper, that Charles has married a young socialite named Helene Barrett. On the second anniversary of The Guiding Light, Reverend Ruthledge is gifted with bells for his church. The reverend gives a sermon to commemorate the anniversary and mentions that his book, The Guiding Light, is now available. Rose gives birth to a baby boy but is not happy that she’s bringing a child into this world that she hates. -2/1/39-2/27/39. Rose is depressed as she is sucked back into Five Points, the place she tried to escape from, and now is bringing someone with her. She shocks the other new mothers in the maternity ward by her hatred for her baby and saying she wishes he would have been born dead. John chastises Ned for his bitterness and for blaming everyone else for his actions. Ned feels trapped in his marriage and irritated by Torchy but John encourages him to be sympathetic to her. Mrs. Kransky is appalled when Rose states, as soon as she and the baby are home from the hospital, that she wants to go to work and put the baby in a day nursery. Fredrika confronts an angry, condemning Ned with a warning that he needs to start treating Torchy and Mary right or he’s headed for a fall. Tom gets the support of the church board to build the community clubhouse he and John have been dreaming of for the underprivileged youth of Five Points. Torchy sacrificially starts to pull away from Ned and pushes him toward Mary and the parsonage as she senses that’s where he belongs. Ned asks Mary about Ethel, who has moved back to the West Coast, and Mary lets him know that she’s getting married. Rose is discouraged to learn nobody will hire her because of the scarlet A she has on her chest now. -3/1/39-3/31/39. Torchy changes her mind and tries to get Ned to go back to San Francisco. She says they need to go back for the World’s Fair that is in honor of the newly built Golden Gate Bridge. Tom asks Mary if she can let him in after the heartache she had with Ned caused her to shut everything out. Ned suggests Torchy go back to San Francisco alone on vacation while he stays in Five Points. A disappointed Torchy resolves that if she goes alone, she won’t come back. At the urging of his new wife, Helene, Charles gives a recommendation for Rose which secures her a job with an insurance company. In order to be able to put her baby into child care, Rose lies to the social worker and says that Ellis abandoned her. Mrs. Kransky is disappointed when Rose decides to name her baby John instead of after Abe. As Ned sees Torchy off on the streamliner to San Francisco, she drops the bomb that she knows he loves Mary, not her, and that she won’t be using the return ticket. Ned panics as he watches the train pull away. After a letter from Mrs. Kransky, Ellis returns to Five Points and tries to convince Rose not to go through with her plans. Rose sends him back to Cleveland, where he has been staying, declining any help from him. Mrs. Kransky warns Rose that her selfish attitude toward Johnny will come back to haunt her. Ned is stunned when Mary lays into him about his disrespectful treatment of Torchy. -4/3/39-4/28/39. Ned becomes a radio commentator. John and Ned become at loggerheads philosophically as Ned uses his writing platform to push individualism. Torchy’s friend, Daisybelle, helps get Torchy a singing gig at the World’s Fair. Ned and Rose have a reunion that turns into an argument as both sit in judgment of the other. Charles and Helene start off on a road trip of the South but don’t make it very far until they are involved in a bad car accident. Since Torchy has left the decision of whether to get a divorce in Ned’s hands, Rev. Ruthledge urges Ned to get off the fence and make a decision. For the second time, John calls Ned a “spineless jellyfish”. As Helene’s life hangs in the balance, Mrs. Kransky prays that she will recover because she fears that, if she doesn’t, Charles may try to get back with Rose. Helene will live but she needs an operation that will render her infertile. Having left Cleveland and now passing through San Francisco in his travels, Ellis, going by his real name of Gordon, goes to the World’s Fair and meets Torchy, who is going by her stage (and birth) name of Myrna Reynolds. Ellis and Torchy get to know each other and when Ellis learns Myrna’s nickname is Torchy, wonders if she’s the same Torchy he’s heard about but she is evasive. Daisybelle counters Torchy’s belief that she’s not good enough for Ned by telling her that Ned’s not good enough for her and that she should divorce him and pursue Ellis. Ellen thinks Ned should divorce Torchy and get back with Mary as she feels it should be but John says if Ned divorces Torchy that he would be fervently against Ned getting back with Mary. John, wanting Tom and Mary together, pushes Tom to ask Mary where he stands with her. Ellis wants to paint Torchy’s portrait and, in exchange, Torchy wants to be taught refinement in her attempt to make Ned fall in love with her instead of with Mary. -5/1/39-5/31/39. Tom asks Mary to marry him but she asks him to wait for an answer. Torchy is excited to finally get a letter from Ned, only to have her hopes dashed and hurt by his condemning, hateful accusations and suggestion of a divorce. Helene, depressed that she can no longer have a biological child, considers adoption. Ironically, Rose simultaneously considers giving up Johnny, the biological child that she doesn’t want, for adoption. John takes a break from preparing his Mother’s Day sermon to ask Ned to help his mother financially since the church has been supporting her and the money could be used to help someone else. The reverend is appalled at Ned’s continued hatred and bitterness towards Fredrika and refusal to help her. Dr. Jim Brent, from Road of Life, makes an appearance. Mary tells Ned that he’s killed her love for him but Ned can’t believe it. Torchy gets a letter from Ned saying that he’s going to pursue a divorce. Ellis figures out for sure that Torchy is Ned’s wife but doesn’t let her know he knows. John accepts an offer to run an opposing view to Ned’s in his own radio broadcast. -6/1/39-6/30/39. Ned blasts John and Fredrika and cuts all ties with the Reverend after John gives his on-air counterpoint to Ned’s individualism commentary. Dave Hermnn, an old boyfriend of Rose’s, tries to talk Mrs. Kransky into convincing Rose to marry him so he can take care of her and her baby. Rose doesn’t think they’d be a match because of Dave being Orthodox and she being more worldly. Stirred up by the commentary war by John and Ned, a reporter starts snooping around about Ned’s past. Fredrika tries to warn Ned but he won’t talk to her. Helene inquires at Johnny’s daycare about a potential child to adopt and the supervisor tells her about Johnny possibly needing adoption. Fredrika moves out of Five Points suddenly and nobody knows where she went. Mary tells Tom the truth that she can’t marry him because she really is still in love with Ned. John is disappointed in Mary when she says that she wants to tell Ned, who is still married to Torchy, that she is in love with him. -7/3/39-7/31/39. Ned and Mary reunite when Mary tells him she still loves him and Ned says he feels the same about her and that he never should have married Torchy. Mary is seen visiting married Ned, alone, which starts gossip in Five Points. The scandal affects Rev. Ruthledge. Ned writes Torchy asking her to divorce him so he can be with Mary but a more feisty, indignant Torchy has decided not to give him what he wants. John asks Ned not to see Mary while he’s still married to save her reputation. Mary is nervous because it’s taking Torchy so long to reply to Ned’s letter and she vows that she won’t give up Ned, divorce or no divorce. Ellis implores Torchy, who has grown a bitter and more confident side, not to stoop to Ned’s level by being petty and withholding the divorce from him. Newspaper man Spike Wilson does some investigating and digs up the fact that Fredrika Lang, who killed Paul Holden, is really Frances Ellis who married Paul and then later changed her identity. He discovers this by visiting Grandfather Ellis on Grand Drive. Now that she herself is the object of scandal, Mary empathizes more with Rose and their friendship becomes closer. Reverend Ruthledge, heartbroken and disappointed in Mary and Ned, can’t accept Ellen’s suggestion that Mary and Ned might get together even if Ned is not divorced. John says if that happens he couldn’t consider Mary his daughter. Rose answers a want ad to be private secretary to a famous writer and lecturer, Doris Cameron. The position would require her to travel and live with Miss Cameron, making Rose lean more in the direction of putting Johnny up for adoption. Ned flies out to San Francisco to talk face to face with Torchy since she won’t respond to his letters. He is shocked to find the new Torchy, molded by Ellis and shaped by heartbreak, who is poised, well-spoken, attractive and bitter. A vindictive Torchy tells Ned that she won’t divorce him and, if he tries to divorce her, she will go to the newspapers and tell them about his parents and about Ned’s own personal crime spree. -8/1/39-8/31/39. Ellis warns Torchy of trying to get revenge on Ned for hurting her and shares his belief that life has a way of evening the score. Rose gets the job with Doris Cameron. Mrs. Kransky wants to sell the second-hand store so that Rose won’t go through with her plans to give Johnny up for adoption. Torchy plans on taking a singing gig back in Five Points and using the fact that she’s Ned’s wife as publicity in order to get to him and Mary. Jacob’s girlfriend, Eileen, meets Mrs. Kransky. Mrs. Kransky wants Jacob to become a lawyer like Pete Manno has done but Jacob thinks it will take too much time and wants to start making money now so that he can take care of his mother and nephew. Ellis reads in the newspaper that his grandfather, George Ellis, is dying and makes plans to go back to Chicago. Fredrika, who is George’s estranged daughter, reads the same article and heads back home as well. Ellis visits a dying Grandfather Ellis who requests from Ellis that he finds his daughter who ran away from home thirty years ago. By telling him the name of the man Frances Ellis married, Paul Holden, Ellis realizes that Frances Ellis is Fredrika Lang. He didn’t know her as his aunt because she left home when Ellis was a baby. Ellis is shocked to learn that Fredrika is his aunt and that Ned, who he hates, is his cousin. Helen is pushing to adopt Johnny as she has figured out he is Charles’ son. Rose, unaware of who wants to adopt Johnny, is having second thoughts about giving him up. Torchy returns to Five Points and threatens Ned that, if he doesn’t stop seeing Mary, that she will name her in an alienation suit. Ellis places an ad in the paper looking for Frances Ellis which Fredrika sees upon her return to Five Points. George Ellis dies before Fredrika makes it to him. Back at the tenement building, Ellis sees the light on in Fredrika’s room and catches up with her but doesn’t tell her about their familial relationship or that he placed the ad looking for her. Mrs. Kransky sells the family store to Mr. Greenman. Rose learns that there has been an investigation started against her to see if she’s a fit mother but doesn’t know it was started by the Cunninghams to try and force Rose to give up Johnny. -9/1/39-9/29/39. The pressure of the investigation makes Rose decide to give up Johnny for adoption. Rose guesses that the Cunninghams are the ones who are trying to get Johnny taken away from Rose so Rose gives Johnny up for adoption before that can happen. She doesn’t realize that the people adopting Johnny are, ironically, the Cunninghams. Ned and Mary go to the nightclub where Torchy is performing and have a confrontation with her and Ellis. Rose comes home from her new live-in job for Rosh Hashanah and is distraught because she regrets giving up her baby. To save her father the heartache of another scandal, Mary decides to stop seeing Ned so that Torchy doesn’t go public with their relationship. Barraged with memories, Mrs. Kransky sadly hands over the family store to the new owner and goes to look at a duplex that Reverend Ruthledge has helped find for her as a new home in a place called Garden Heights. Unfamiliar with the feeling of love, Ellis is unaware of its growing toward Torchy. Torchy, blinded by everything but her bitterness towards Ned, is oblivious to the potential good that’s right in front of her with Ellis. Jacob learns that the Cunninghams adopted a baby boy and believes it’s Johnny. Rose gets wind of the news and, feeling duped and angry, vows to get her son back. -10/2/39-10/31/39. Rose confronts Charles about taking Johnny and contemplates legal action. Johnny comes down with polio. A conscience-stricken Charles tells Rev. Ruthledge to tell Rose about Johnny’s sickness. A panicked Rose rushes over to the Cunninghams to see Johnny in case he dies and Charles tells her that if the baby recovers, he will give him back to her. Johnny survives his illness. Newspaper reporter Spike Wilson continues to snoop around trying to prove his theory that Ned Holden is Fredrika Lang’s son. Ellis thinks that Torchy’s inability to let things go with Ned is because she is still in love with him and not just sheer vindictiveness. Fredrika points out to Torchy that she could be having feelings for Ellis. A mysterious young single woman moves into the old Kransky apartment. Torchy spends more time with Spike and Ellis warns her that he might just be out for information. -11/1/39-11/30/39. The Cunninghams give Johnny back to Rose and Rose hopes his limb will straighten. Iris March, the young girl who has moved into the old Kransky apartment, stops into the church when she hears Mary playing the organ just like Ellis did three years ago. When Mary asks her who she is, Iris says “Nobody” just as Ellis had done when he called himself “Mr. Nobody from Nowhere”. Mary can’t help recognize the similarities. Iris meets Ellis as she volunteers to get subscriptions to the Red Cross in the tenement building. Reverend Ruthledge joyfully feels that Ned has finally come home when Ned tells him that he wants to start supporting his mother financially. Ellis doesn’t like or trust Spike and Torchy starts to become suspicious of him too, but erroneously thinks that he’s spying for Ned. Ned makes plans to leave Five Points alone again. -12/1/39-12/29/39. Iris tries to fit into the Five Points community but is looked at with suspicion by the residents, much like it was with Ellis. Fredrika is pleased when Ellis and Torchy open themselves up to something more than friendship even without her efforts to make it happen. Ellis and Iris come over to celebrate Christmas Eve with the Ruthledges. Fredrika spends the evening alone, yearning for her son. Ellis and Iris, Ned and Mary, Mrs. Kransky and Rose, Reverend Ruthledge and Fredrika all say goodbye to the 30s and welcome in the 40s together on New Year’s Eve.

Hey Paul, I wrote a summary of the first three years of The Guiding Light if you're interested.

Hey there. I'm sorry I can't answer your questions. I'm only up to 1969 in my reading. I'll have to get back to you on that when I get around to the early 70s.

Yes, Johnny adopted Billy. Johnny had a nervous breakdown, left Springfield and deserted Peggy and Billy (never to be heard from again).

Hey P.J. Yes, Peggy Scott became Peggy Fletcher after marrying Johnny Fletcher and then eventually married Roger Thorpe.

Peggy Scott was still a teenager when she got knocked up by the sleazy Marty Dillman.

I didn't get that Don was talking about the later years at all. I think he was saying that she could have been a movie star but was mishandled in the beginning of her career. That was just my take on it. I'm sure he would have said that she was mishandled at the end because that was evident to everybody. But I think he was just talking about how she should have been a movie star.

Ok. That would make the most sense. Thank you.

Well, I wasn't watching when Bill Bauer came back from the dead so I don't know for sure but I've read history books that said that Bill also had a son, Paul, who was his other child with Simone. However, I've also read that there wasn't a Paul. So, I don't know if Paul really existed and if he was Bill's son. If he did and was, they could have brought that character into the show. But, for whatever reason, they didn't. Instead, they chose to kill a childless Hillary. I tell you, it was very clear that they were out do decimate the Bauer family around 1983/1984.

I think the reason Johnny and his family were introduced was because they had the last name Bauer. They wouldn't have been introduced if they were distant relatives who didn't have the last name Bauer. This way, the writers could create their own characters, give them the last name Bauer and say they were bringing on more "Bauers" without bringing back the real Bauers.

Having read Schemering's 50th Anniversary book for GL and having read the actual scripts for GL, I would take anything Schemering wrote with a grain of salt. He was not averse to historical revisionism.