Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[dc11786]

Thanks.

I didn't mean to imply Beth / Rick hit the sheets in 2004 / 2005. It was pretty clear this was where it was all heading, but it never really went anywhere.

I hated all of the sudden revelations that would pop up. Didn't they later reveal Beth and Coop had been sleeping together for months at the time of the reveal?

[DAMfan]

This Wednesday would have been Guiding Light 75th anniversary - the show debut on radio January 25, 1937 and ended on TV Sep. 18, 2009.

[~bl~]

According to Jerry, he was the only person at the GL studio that day who acted with Charita. That's why he was asked to announce her passing as they wanted it announced on the show as quickly possible. But yes once Charita died and Denise Pence was off, Jerry was senior cast member in total years until Zas came back and then they were close in number.

[DRW50]

It's amazing they didn't write him out too - I guess, as people have said before, they needed a lawyer. At least he eventually got a few stories to shine in until hitting it big with Blake.

[Gray Bunny]

Pretty interesting how they overhauled the cast in the early 80's. Imagine if a soap had done that anytime in the last 15 years and there would've been such outcry. This, and Y&R's phasing out of their original families, simply would not be tolerated by soap fans of the last 15 years.

[DRW50]

GL was a hybrid show - other than the Bauers, who were a mainstay until Kobe/Long, nothing ever stayed the same.

When the Dobsons came in to save the show, the mainstays were the Bauers, long-suffering Sara McIntire, good/bad Roger Thorpe, and the show's main young female leads who'd taken up a lot of story over the early 70's/late 60's - Peggy Thorpe, Leslie Jackson Bauer, Holly Norris. They fired Leslie, Peggy gradually faded away, Sara moved into a supporting role, and they brought in sisters Rita and young ingenue Eve, Ross, Jackie and Justin Marler, Ben (the show's first young stud), the Spauldings, Hillary Bauer, Amanda and her "mother" Lucille, and Elvera Roussell as Hope. GL was in many ways a new show by the time they left.

By the time Marland came, Michael Zaslow had quit, Maureen Garrett was quitting, Peggy was gone, Lenore Kasdorf was quitting. Eve was a tired character, Jackie wasn't popular after her recast, so they had less and less of a role. Ben left. Roger's father and Holly's mother were fired by P&G because of their age. Marland brought in Jennifer and daughter Morgan, young stud Kelly, kept writing for Amanda, for Alan/Hope, brought in the Reardons, Vanessa and Henry, Quint and his troupe of crazies. Mart Hulswit was fired and Ed was recast. By the time he left, GL was in many ways a new show.

Long and Kobe brought in their own characters, a brand new teen scene, and dumped Eve, Hope, Amanda, Jennifer, Sara, Kelly and Morgan left, they changed Vanessa, etc. And this worked well for a while. The main problem was they burnt a lot of these new characters out so quickly, and they or P&G thought that it was time to diminish the one constant, the Bauer family. I've read that they were so shocked about Charita dying and they may not have fired so many Bauers if not for this. How shocked can you be when someone who just had a major health crisis dies?

The biggest problem with the changes in GL around 1985 is that most of the stories and new characters sucked. I don't think it was about a loss of tradition as much as viewers just being fed crap and not wanting to hang around, and no longer having a reason to hang around.

Edited January 25, 2012 by CarlD2

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Did Maureen Garett leave because she didn't like Marland's writing for Holly post-Roger? I know some have claimed this.

I know many claim Marland zapped Holly of her acerbic wit, and made her totally void of any humour. Say what you want about Holly, but she always had some sense of humour.

[DRW50]

I think the claim is that Garrett felt like Holly wasn't doing anything and hadn't become a stronger person.

I've only seen clip sets of Holly in the Dobson years, and one or two Marland episodes, but there doesn't seem to be any humor or wit - sometimes there's a certain jaded quality which was still there later on. I think they reinvented certain things about the character when MG returned in 1989.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I think Long and Curlee's interpretation of Holly worked very well.

I liked that they made Holly a sexier character, and MG was more in touch with Holly's aesthetic and sexual side with her comeback.In the end, I think Holly's evolution was pretty natural when she returned.

Holly was dressed like a preacher's wife for most of the 70's/1980 - thank goodness for the wardrobe makeover!

[DRW50]

That's true. I think the changes in Maureen as a person also helped - she was a little gawky in her first GL run and RH run and was quite stunning by the time she returned to GL.

[rlj]

LOVED me some Holly when she returned in 89, she had a sexy walk. Of course they flcuked it up later by pairing her with Fletcher, who shouldve never lasted as long as he did imo.

[MichaelGL]

I'm shocked they kept Fletcher on after Pam Long departed in 1990. He didn't really have anything to do.

[DRW50]

Fletcher was a good supporting character, and a good fallback for Alexandra. I liked his relationship with Ben, and seeing the day to day life of someone raising a young son on their own. I always enjoyed his friendships with people like Ed or Ross. I do think that he wasn't overly suited for dramatic stories but he helped make Springfield a community.

I don't think his staying up to 1990 involved Pam Long - they'd split up several years prior.

[MichaelGL]

Interesting I did not know they had split up that long before her return to GL.

[DRW50]

When she was fired in early 1990 she said it was good because she had more time to plan her wedding.