Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

I'm sure the focus on Lujack annoyed Phillip fans. I'm not sure about others. I think the writing for Lujack was very balanced, from the little I've seen, but that's 30 years later.

I'd take most of this but I don't think Hillary's death is acceptable even in 2012. I will never understand that decision.

[KMan101]

ITA. That was such a wasted and uncessary death! And they just up and kill her after they save her from some virus? Seemed ridiculous to me. It's clear that the writers didn't know what to do with her but the show seems in a VERY strong spot throughout most of 1984, despite the questionable storylines (IMO).

I never understood the destruction of the Bauers. Hillary could have been around for a long time. Hope and Mike were the ones with THE most potential and they were completely ignored in the 2000s (and probably never mentioned after Mike's brief return in 1997). I agree with whoever said 1991 would have been the ideal time to reinvent them. And then to kill off Maureen? GL was so stupid how it handled the Bauers.

[RogerNewcomb]

I was the biggest Beth and Phillip fan in the world and one year later I was the biggest Beth and Lujack fan in the world. Nothing like that before or ever since has happen with one half of a soap couple, but there was just magic in both pairings. When the writing makes sense and you understand everyone's motivations, it goes a long way. These days we're left to fill in a lot of blanks to justify why people do/say things. GL was an ensemble so I don't remember Lujack taking over the show at all or being annoyed in any way. A lot of characters took the lead in 1984. I think the fact that they could afford to show more people on each episode helped the community feeling.

[zanereed]

Roger,

Was it an easier transition to Beth and Lujack because of John Bolger assuming in the role of Phillip in early 1985? I think that's what sealed the deal for me, but 1985 was a tough year to get through with GL, regardless.

[rlj]

I didnt like Beth and Lujack (happened way too fast and I am a die hard P/B fan) but I def accepted them more after GA left even though the show time and time again were still pimping P/B. I thought JB and JE had nice chemistry but I didnt like that whole black and white Zanzibar story with Jackson.

[RogerNewcomb]

Not really. I think the second Beth and Lujack rode that horse down the beach with "Almost Paradise" playing I was sold. Footloose is still my all-time favorite soundtrack. And they were writing Phillip a little darker at that point. I thought John Bolger was all wrong for Phillip but that was later. I also loved Darcy (Robin Johnson). The writing in general was richer and even the minor characters (that the writers cared about) had interesting backstories.

[zanereed]

By the fall of 1985 I had pretty much tuned out of the show. I don't remember the writing being richer at all by that point. I guess I may have to find some 1985 clips to refresh my memory.

[RogerNewcomb]

I was mostly comparing 1985 to the writing of today but I thoroughly enjoyed 1983 and 1984. By the end of 1985 it started going downhill for me with a new Phillip, Lujack dead, Kyle Sampson and some other things I didn't enjoy. GL changed radically from the Dobsons to Marland and later to Pam Long. I managed to enjoy most of all three.

[zanereed]

I also thought 1983 and 1984 were very good years for the show (with the exception of Bill Bauer getting killed as simply a plot point for the Eli Simms storyline, Hillary Bauer getting killed for no great reason, etc.). By the fall 1985 the characters I grew up with were mostly gone or had been recast. I guess I could not identify with the show any longer. The DVDs that I have purchased from Soap Classics only serve to solidify my attitude, I guess.

[Mitch]

I think the fall of 85 seems SO bad in that it was such an abrupt change from what came before. Up until that point the show was an ensemble show, even with Lujack and Reva in the mix. The families were all featured pretty evenly, and they all had their differences and bounced off of each other (the working class but tight knit Reardon family, the traditional Bauer family plaqued but its own demons, the dysfunctional Spaulding family, and the rambuctious, rowdy, wild and rich Lewis family) and it worked. Fall of 85 came and the show just became so much darker. Not only were Hillary and Lujack killed within one year, but the focus left the more tradtional Bauer and Reardon families to showcase the Lewis (whom I liked, but you could only take a little bit of them ) vs. the Spaudlings, who went from shades of grey to downright evil, each and everyone of them. Eveyone else started acting more angry and mean (Rick throwing Mindy into a pool, Recast Ed going back to drinking and not taking responsibility for it, Phillip cut off all ties to his freinds and suddenly became a 35 year old version of Alan...etc) Nola was pushed into a closet and Vanessa went from hell on wheels to Billy's sad little mouse of a wife. To top it off Charita died and has been mentioned the Mike actor, who could have pulled it all together at that point, left. The show was inidated with exwhores (Roxie and Miss Sally) Kyle Sampson and his flaring nostrils and a goofy record company storlyine with its cast of all new and unpleasent characters.

I never understood why TPTB didnt look at the summerof 85, when the show toppled GH from no 1, and tried to emulate what they did that summer instead of screwing it all up.

[rlj]

Most of 85 sucked, by the summer the Reardons were gone as were most of the Chamberlains, by fall we had drab characters like Suzette, Maeve, David, Jackson, Simon, Jesse, abd Calla!

GL topped GH in the summer of 85? I find that that hard to believe, 84 matbe, but I thought it was the beginning of 84.

[DRW50]

I think late 1984 GL was when they started becoming so focused on plot over character. Just as an example, the Maureen/Ed/Claire/Fletcher mess. Did any of that benefit the characters or have any reason? By the time they got to the Alicia/Charlotte story it's unintentionally hilarious hysteria.

[Vee]

Rachel Miner is co-starring in an buzzed-about indie, Replicas, a thriller in the vein of Funny Games or The Strangers which I had the opportunity of seeing recently. She's pretty impressive in it playing a madwoman. I hope it leads to more substantial credits for her, but more than anything all I could think about was how much I wish she'd gotten to play the adult Michelle Bauer.

...OTOH, looking at her IMDB profile, including an extended run on Supernatural and work on stuff like Sons of Anarchy, it seems she's not doing too bad at all.

Edited August 13, 2012 by Vee

[DRW50]

I really loved her as Michelle. I never can see her as an adult without thinking of Michelle. Fortunately for her I'm likely in the minority with that, since she has such a good, solid career.

[Mitch]

Your not the only one..I saw in her that movie, I think its name is Bully??? She plays a murderous drunk, drugged out white trash slut, and I felt like yelling at the screen, "Michelle Bauer put your clothes back on and act like a lady!" LOL..I had to cover my eyes on the sex scenes, cause you know, its Michelle Bauer!

I am in the minority in that I dont think she would have made a great grown up Michelle, just like the kid playing Bill Lewis wouldnt have made a great adult Bill. Acting and longevity yes, but I don't know, its a soap, and while I like the acting I like the eyecandy too, and Miner just doesnt have it. But once again, I was all for them recasting Scott Defreites as Andy Dixon on ATWT and when I mention that people wail "sacriledge!"