GL: September Discussion

[JackPeyton]

so, this is it.

the final Guiding Light...

[Cat]

Just popping my head in to say Good Luck and keep your chin up to you indefatigable GL fans. This is a sad and bittersweet day -- I've been there, with Santa Barbara and Sunset Beach, and will undoubtedly "be there" again over the next year or so.

GL was a wild ride, I remember loving it when Rick Hearst was Alan-Michael and Roger was married to Alex. I don't want to dwell on what Wheeler did to the show, just on the good stuff I managed to catch in the early 90s and part of this decade. I hope it ends on an appropriately affecting note, one that means something to you loyal viewers.

Co-sign, SFK. I adore Marj Dusay and would love to see her land another soap (are there any left she hasn't done? lol). Oooooo, imagine Dusay and Constance Towers reunited!

[Rakesh]

http://www.dlisted.com/node/33949

Thanks Michael!

[Cat]

D-Listed is awesome. And that is, bar none, THE best opening credits for a soap EVER. Disco karate!

[Southofnowhere]

Josh&Reva ride into the sunset in the old Ford truck with the Lighthouse in the background.

The End

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Getting ready to watch the final episode ever of GL, wow...

It feels so strange saying that, even though we knew this day was coming...

[DRW50]

I haven't finished the last few episodes yet, but has Daisy had any scenes with Dylan?

[Vee]

This last episode illustrates the double-edged sword of how Wheeler laid it out somehow too thick with showing "community" - yes, she sometimes manages to show very realistic scenes of everyday life, but most of the time they are undone by either incredibly awful production values, lack of good storytelling, rushed scenes, and as we see with the ENTIRE TOWN attacking Blake and Frank in the park today, it's just...too much. Every single show has to have long setups with people swarming other people for big social events, as opposed to telling a story of just a couple people. There absolutely should be a huge community, a sense of family, but to have them together ALL THE TIME and roaming the streets like Frank Miller's "300 Spartans" just looks ridiculous and comical.

I teared up a bit at Josh and Reva, and I'm glad they reunited them, but it was in the most rushed, lazy way possible, like Wheeler clearly didn't care. I assume she was overruled on reuniting Jeffrey and Reva, which is why she basically abandoned that storyline entirely yesterday - there was no ending. I hate Bradley Cole but that's totally incompetent, and really cruel to that couple's fans.

So I teared up a little, but I'm mostly fine right now. Because it was just another Ellen Wheeler episode, hollow scenes of community without giving enough respect and attention to the right people. Phillip, Beth, the Bauers are all shunted off by themselves; no Ed and Holly, no Nola or Bridget at all. No Vanessa, very little Billy. Two seconds of Dinah and Mallet. Ellen really seems to care about the Coopers, and little else.

Have there been some good scenes this last week? Yes. But it's only been due to the grace of the veteran actors and the poor scriptwriters who seemed to do their best to uplift the producer and HW's nonsensical edicts - and who knows how much credit we can give the dialogue people, since we've heard from some actors (like Orlagh Cassidy) that they had to rewrite their own scenes. GL is a lesson in what not to do, how not to end a soap. Whenever my soap, OLTL, goes, I feel at least confident that it will not die like this, like a dog, on its knees.

[DRW50]

Which scenes did Orlagh Cassidy rewrite?

I was such a fan of Doris from the start, back when she was prosecuting characters I didn't like. It's nice she has had more to do in these last few years.

I do agree with what you're saying, although I think GL, in spite of everything, still managed to hold itself together better than some other soaps, mostly because they managed to keep characters like Billy and Vanessa around, even if others were let slip away.

[Rakesh]

Ellen Wheeler really messed up the finale episode. Only the last 15 mins were good. Loved the Josh/Reva reuniting scenes. Zimmer looked great!

[UCLAN]

Well, I haven't seen the last episode yet. But i am saddened by once again saying goodbye to old friends, I've watched GL since the late 60s. I grew up with Philip, Beth, Rick. Loved the Bauers, hated the Spauldings, loved the Lewises, tolerated the Coopers. But they all became dear friends who I visted everyday. I don't really care about how crappy the writing was or how disjointed the stories were. It was the characters that I chose to visit. This is the GL I will truely miss. Good-bye old friend

[Doyen]

So...I take it Telenext wasn't successful in finding GL a new home? 

[Y&RWorldTurner]

The finale was a mixed bag, it could have been done so much better. It felt more like a season finale of this year's storylines (which it should in part be) than a series finale for a 72 year old show.

I could care less about Daisy and Ashley going off to college or Remy and Christina getting married again.

It was nice seeing Alex leave with her Fletch, as rushed as it was.

The Reva/Josh stuff was gold and what really got me.

Wheeler really hates Harley/Beth Ehlers still. LOL! I wasn't a big Harley fan by the end, but the character was a huge part of the show for the past 20 years, and her prominence was probably only second to Reva's. I'm surprised they didn't have Buzz or Frank mention how she was doing.

The going a year forward was a bit of a provocative move. So Rick and Mindy got married, eh? See, all throughout that, I wondered why they couldn't fit Ed and Holly into that. Going a year forward could have meant Ed and Holly returned to Springfield after their traveling.

But, everyone got a happy ending towards the end, I guess we should be happy with that. Couples that should be together were reunited this week or over the past few weeks, so whatever.

Billy/Vanessa = reunited

Josh/Reva = reunited

Ed/Holly = reunited

Shayne/Marina = reunited

Fletcher/Alexandra = reunited

Dinah/Mallet = reunited

Rick/Mindy = reunited

Blake/Frank = ended up together

Could these reunifications have been done loads better? Hell yeah. But, I guess we have the satisfaction of knowing couples that should have been together by the end, were together.

Anyway, RIP GL, my dear old friend. Thanks for the memouries, which I'll always cherish. You were my first soap, and the era I became a fan remains golden to me and to many. Despite your flaws and how things got over the final few years, you'll remain a television icon and an important part of my relationship with scripted television.

[jcar03]

The Early Show:

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[Aaron]

I haven't watched the episodes yet, but okay, call me a sucker, but it does sort of make me feel all warm inside to know that Ed and Holly are gonna live happily ever after! YAY!