Speed Racer

GL95 said: "The web of lies Nadine is living with may rival just about any web of lies anyone has had at this point. For someone as flaky as she is, it's fairly amazing what she is capable of pulling off." PJ said: "Objectively, Nadine's insecurities aren't unfounded, but she always just goes that step too far." soaplovers said: "It really is a shame that Nadine becomes isolated in the 2nd half of 1993 aside from an occasional interaction with Holly at the diner where Holly listened to Nadine talk about Buzz/Jenna while Nadine gave her two cents to Holly about Eve." Maybe 3-4 months ago, a poster by the moniker of MLN thought that having Nadine employed as a realtor would have been ideal. I agreed. All the bases discussed here (above) are easily accommodated if Nadine is a realtor. Nadine essentially is an innocent and is fairly naive. Nadine as realtor allows her to legitimately flit from storyline to storyline, getting the goods on people via both heresay and real, eyewitness experience. Does one believe what Nadine says, or is it folly to not believe her? (And that itself would be a great internal battle for Nadine to face. Lying/crying wolf/telling the truth/keeping one's mouth shut - which is it, Nadine?) Further, Nadine as realtor affords GL writers room to stir the pot.

"but it's insulting on levels that Vanessa has to continually prove herself. Meanwhile, all a Spaulding needs is the name." It certainly is, and it's how the world works. Phillip had no acumen either - he was a writer (and Beth a painter). In any event, not having the family name likely would cause problems for Vanessa in decision making and execution. Without having anything to do with acumen or intelligence. Rather than say, "I'm just going to do this", Vanessa might ask herself, "Would a Spaulding do this?" The board may ask the same questions. The pitfalls of working for a family-owned company. It's a card that Guiding Light could have played and played well.

Lillian would have plenty to do in a secondary role in the Springfield the two of us have carved out. Imagine Lillian's role in a scenario where AM and Maureen work for Roger, where Amanda has married Ed, where Lillian tries to console/control/advise a drunk Phillip, who is now a real threat to out-of-town Beth and Lizzie. Lillian appeals to Rick, who is hesitant to help. Rick and Phillip's friendship is on the rocks. Lillian is on her own (though her past dealings with ex-hubby Bradley certainly had instilled considerable wisdom). Does Lillian press charges against Phillip? Maybe Amanda and Lillian become co-heads of the Spaulding Foundation at Cedars. That would piss off Maureen. It would also provide Roger an opportunity to screw up Ed. Meanwhile, Lillian's co-worker and friend Eve self-commits to an asylum, and Lillian tries to help her there. Ultimately, her efforts are for naught as Eve later commits suicide.

Devious is great for a soap! Like this especially: "Even better, have Roger or AM plant bait for Nick to run with and have Nick blow things up without doing enough research because his arrogance wins out." Love that set-up. Love that it's Nick who unwittingly blows things up. That's really rather fantastic. Upon her return, perhaps Momma Alex is no longer so keen to call Nick her son. That said, Nick doesn't have the chops to run a lemonade stand. Besides, having Roger run behemoth Spaulding into the ground would take a year or two. Companies can run on nothing more than inertia for a year or two easily. I could see Roger rather appreciating that, as it gives him time to destroy not only the company, but run the Spaulding name into the ground.

Whoaaaa....an idea here. Re-introduce Bradley Raines (Rebhorn) as Rogers' co-conspirator in bringing down Spaulding Enterprises. That would be aces. Then, of course, you have Bradley turning on Roger, in a pseudo replay of Alan/Roger from the late 1970s/early 80s. Have Roger be the one defending turf. Maybe have Bradley make a play for Holly.

Soaplovers' right on target here. Having Alex away for two months to "find herself" would present a window of opportunity for Roger to go after Spaulding, what with Alan, Phillip and Amanda also MIA. And, as you say, having Roger woo AM (especially after Alex hands the keys to Vanessa...why the hell would AM want to stay around?) Of course, Vanessa would slow Roger down, but maybe not stop him as Vanessa cannot always enact policy as a Spaulding would, simply because she isn't one. Vanessa's hesitancy to act would be a logical occurrence, especially in early 1993 (Maureen's death). Conversely, if Vanessa did always enact policy, and made some serious mistakes in judgment, that in itself would make for some very interesting long-term business story prospects that affect everyone in town. (There's your next umbrella story- a corporate/employment/where do my loyalties lie type of thing). I've spent zero time thinking about any of this, but man o man, it's tempting to dig in.

Yes. Guiding Light for the most part lost its community vibe and umbrella storylines by the mid 1990s. 1993 starts the wobbling with Buzz' introduction and inane, pointless WTF characters such as MacCauley West (whom you are about to run into if you haven't already). What Guiding Light never did well, IMO, is to introduce big important characters (Alex, Buzz) or bring back important characters from the past (Alan, Roger). I don't like "reveal" storylines at all, especially when done via some masquerade ball, wedding, etc. Having Alan reappear in a mask at a ball (with no one immediately being able to identify him) or having Roger run round in a mask for months on an island were really poor ideas. Having Roger swing from a vine at Phillip's wedding to usher in his reappearance in Springfield?! The Mr. Tashawa story in 1994? All were horrendous.

And look at all those Millennial babies in the X-mas closing credits of that December 28, 1992, episode!! Wow. Little tykes all over the place.

LOL - That was fast! You sure got drawn in quicky, didn't ya?! Good. The young lady opposite David in the diner is Katherine Speakes, Hamp's daughter. Better known as Kat and portrayed by Nia Long. Their conversation is great here - especially that underplayed bit where David says he got something nice for X-mas..."you came by to see me." I also like to short interaction with Lillian...she didn't just get up and leave the diner as purely background fodder. Kat and Bridget are good buddies. You're going to witness plenty of underplayed yet surprising effective/significant moments in your early 1990s viewing. Lots of friendships, too, a few of which are surprising. All with plenty of chaos and complications to go around. Perhaps you'll bring CrazySexyQ with you for the ride!

Yes, but fortunately, not always. It's a shame that Guiding Light didn't pull a Capitol. The last scene should have been a blindfolded, ex-princess Reva facing a firing squad. That would have been my happy ending.

PJ said: "RIGHT? :) Like Larkin didn't know his character was going to revolve around Reva's various moods and hairstyles?' LMAO! Perhaps Larkin thought that Reva was going to revolve around HIS various moods and hairstyles?!

Hey AlwaysAMC - Have you watched the Locher Room interview with Rebecca Budig? It's great throughout, and the second half is pretty funny. A few other GL cast members also appear. A must-see viewing for you.

Well....I cannot say what I really want to say. But it IS hilarious! (I might get sued for defamation - and no, it doesn't involve yourself or any other poster on this board.) Sadly, discretion sometimes really is the better part or valor. Such a drag.

Not sure I agree. It would have been more fun to have Reva pregnant - with the question being was Josh the father - or was it the result of some totally random hookup? THAT would be a truer Reva story than Josh or Kyle.

CrazySexyQ - I very much enjoy reading your posts and hope you continue. I cannot comment on the GL of the 2000s as I didn't watch those years. Now about all the incest - well, yeah. There was an excessive amount of it in Springfield across the decades. You'd think that some Springfield progeny might literally be pinheaded or have a multitude of personality/physical disorders. I am reminded of the 1932 movie Freaks, the excellent 1992 movie, Brother's Keeper,(highly unusual, yet fascinating), and finally, the 1960 British movie, Village of the Damned, about a hoard of maybe a dozen kids - all blonds whom, as IMDB writes, are "glowing-eyed children of uncertain paternity prove to have frightening powers."

You know, GL95, you're one of the very few I've come across anywhere in life (not just GL) who sees the value of the long pause with moments allowed to breathe. I'm a huge fan of this thinking. It allows the viewer/listener to settle in, get absorbed, anticipate what may be coming, and at times, to wig out. If you have a few minutes, go back and watch the confrontation scene with Lillian and Maureen in the Bauer kitchen. A great scene...not just because is there, but because of what isn't there. There's a decent stretch of time in the mid-section (prior to the explosive part of the scene) where the dialog is slowed down, there's no music, nothing to fill the gaps. There's lots of space in that scene for viewers to feel whatever they're going to feel. It's all very played down (not up) for effect. That "another time might be worse" line from Maureen. Holy crap! What?! Worse than the silent, unacknowledged division in the air at that very moment, just before the explosion? That had me climbing the walls....fantastic! Allowing time to breathe was one of my favorite things about Guiding Light. During the periods when the show was good, it happened fairly often. Across various types of scenes and settings. Production and execution do matter. Both are very much undiscussed. I've stated before that as a viewer, I very much enjoy being manipulated. Providing the needed space/context for matters to percolate is a winning strategy.

It could be that the stylistic changes of late 1993 onward happened as a result of the late 1992 P&G focus groups that resulted in Maureen's death.

"Not disagreeing that the Reva of it all ate the show, but it’s like they set the tone for everyone to be more like Kim Zimmer stylistically "Before she even came back.' That could very well be...makes a good deal of sense. While JFP had no interest in bringing Reva back, she sure wanted Justin Deas. P&G likely put its foot down on stylistic possibilities other than what we got. P&G et al covered their behinds by blaming the mid-1994 OJ Simpson trial for ratings decline, rather than their own decisions.

TPTB could have done something interesting(!) with Reva but chose not to. Have her vocal cords permanently severed in a car accident. Have her be the culprit in an STD outbreak. Or - wait for it - have Reva get sued for enticement. That's a story never told on any soap and a ratings bonanza for Guiding Light as soap rags, television media and GL viewers fight about the justification of such a thing.

That's correct. And look what happened.

It was Reva saving Holly on the bridge that finally prompted me to turn off Guiding Light forever. That scene was beyond offensive. I mean, WTH? It's heartwarming to see others here react similarly. Turning if off wasn't that difficult as I had watched GL only sporadically once Watros left. I mean, what was the point in watching without her? To be continually insulted?

Call it "The Reva Effect." It is the mere presence of Reva on the canvas that creates ridiculousness throughout Springfield. Guiding Light increasing becomes a louder, more hammy and less intelligent program whenever Reva among the characters. Reva encourages sloppiness. In everything. In breakdown, scripting/dialog, character development, story continuity, believability, acting choices. And it's painfully obvious that TPTB believe that anything goes once Reva is present. You mentioned the change in tone. Damn straight. (A shame you won't get much opportunity to know the original Alan as played by Chris Bernau. Fascinating and expertly played. Light years apart from Ron Raines' moustache-twirling Alan). Alan and Alex being gutted/ruined coincides very nicely with Reva's return. It's no accident. Guiding Light was already in a downturn when Zimmer returned in Fall 1994. "Reva" simply institutionalized Guiding Light's destruction. It wasn't Maureen's death that represented GL's jumping the shark moment. It was Reva's return.

The haughty side of Ross could be easily cured if you build a story around Ross that results in corruption and his disbarment. Daddy Roger would have a field day with that, and Blake conflicted. She'd have to support Ross, right? Ross and Vanessa have long had possibilities. Do you sometime develop a Ross/Vanessa/Billy triangle? I dunno, and I'm not a big fan of triangles. You out there, PJ?

Yep. Hence, my question re: Betty Rae's tenure. I very much doubt Rae would recommend Hamilton or Crampton for the role. Rae rarely misfired as casting director.

I'm planning to do some of that, but I'm waiting until AlwaysAMC starts viewing the Curlee era. AlwaysAMC provides details, and it's those details that will prompt me to view Curlee as time allows.