Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[katie_9918]

I actually enjoyed Alan-Michael and Lucy, but I would've loved to see them give Cutter and Tangie a real chance. Marcy Walker could have lasted longer and maybe Cutter wouldn't have been murdered by a cross-dressing rapist/serial killer.

Oh, I'm pretty sure I saw the New Years date he had with Mindy, who was fighting with Nick yet again.

[Soaplovers]

I remember Cutter.. He was fixed up with almost all the eligible women... I know he flirted with Tangie, went out a few times with Mindy, and was fixed up with Holly once with Blake ( I think that was around the time Roger was shot).

I do remember one funny scene where Cutter asks Blake if she could name anyone that would have reason to shot Roger and she pushed the phone book at him and basically said to take his pick.

[katie_9918]

I remember he was also hanging out with Jenna and Tangie (separately) at Ross and Blake's wedding and investigated the gift (a clock or something?) that a soon-to-be-returning Alan sent them.

The resident cop like him was a unique person on a soap. I mean, most of the soaps at one time or another had them, some of them prominent characters in their own right (like Hal and Margo on ATWT, or the resident cops such as Taggert, Rodriguez, and Cruz on GH before it got eaten by the mob) or almost recurring extras. I think Cutter fell somewhere between, because we never really found out too much about him, just that he was from Chicago. I remember Alexandra seemed to know a little more about him than anyone else did. Anyway, that kind of character was always interacting with everyone at one time or another, because everyone gets in some trouble at some point. I miss those kinds of characters.

[zanereed]

Katie,

Don Stewart definitely aged well. When they brought him back in 1997 (too briefly, in my opinion), he was a little greyer around the temples, but still instantly recognizable. They really should have found a way to keep him.

I'm not so certain that the Dobson's didn't know *what* to do with Mike regarding his love life - I think they preferred that Mike be single and more flexible in that regard in order to involve the character in new romances as they saw fit. It was the Dobson's who killed off Leslie in 1976, so Mike was free to be paired up with anyone they brought on. To be honest, I don't know why they didn't try Mike with Rita versus Ed back in 1976/1977. Mike always seemed to be attracted to females that had "complexities" in their lives, to put it mildly (Julie, Charlotte, Jackie, Elizabeth, etc.). From the "Man of the Year" episode on the "Bauer" set, I think Mike and Rita had some chemistry there.

I never thought of a Mike/Holly pairing before, but that would have been an interesting angle to try, post-Roger's death. Although, it might have seen as too much of a Leslie Bauer "copycat" story (Mike falls in love with Ed's ex-wife). However, the new angle to play could have been Mike's constant resistance to the romance, just *because* it was the Leslie situation all over again.

[DRW50]

I think you could have told a story about Mike actually loving Holly, while Ed was mostly just protective of her. Seeing Holly torn between her neuroses (which seemed to make up much of her relationship with Ed) and taking a chance on a new love that would make her grow and change would have been interesting.

[DRW50]

Soap Opera Stars May 1987

[katie_9918]

Very thought-provoking article.

I got my Jennifer Richards set and watched the first two episodes last night. A hell of lot jam-packed into just two episodes so far. I liked how Ben was sort of circling around the big secret but got it just a little wrong (he thought Amanda was Alan's half-sister, but she turned out to be his daughter, no matter what that later rewrite claimed).

I see how they were setting up Elizabeth's departure with her wanting Jackie and Justin to have custody of Phillip and preparing to do battle with Alan. Hope was starting to realize that Alan's nasty side really was as nasty as everyone had warned her about, just when she was hoping she and Alan were starting a family of their own. Ed and Rita are just separating again (for the final time, I believe). Ross and Vanessa were involved again.

This is fantastic stuff. I can't wait to get back into them!

[DRW50]

Wow, Ben must have been writing GL in 1997.

[zanereed]

Carl,

I absolutely agree. That storyline would definitely have held my interest. Ed never really did love Holly back then. Quite frankly, I don't think Roger did, either (at least how the Dobson's wrote it at the time). Holly was more infatuated with Roger and Ed for different reasons, but Mike could have been the first man she actually fell in love with.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

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[DRW50]

Thanks. I'd never seen this, or even heard of this show. It's kind of scary to think the show was almost canceled a few months after this.

I laughed when they acted like Robert Newman had just rejoined the show.

I'd forgotten how much I disliked Reva's hair at this time.

And that awful hair on Rick, ugh.

Edited October 20, 2012 by CarlD2

[Vee]

Minor note: Two young GL vets have turned up in something I had to watch recently - Yelling to the Sky, a gritty if derivative indie about a young girl (Zoe Kravitz) who turns drug dealer. Has Gabourey Sidibe from Precious as her nemesis, but as for GL, EJ Bonilla (Rafe) has a bit part as one of the girl gang's boyfriends, and Billy Kay (Shayne) - now 28 years old - is still playing high schoolers. He turns up as a preppy drug dealer in a sweater vest with longish hair. I guess he sort of sells it, he still looks about the same, if a bit puffier. But it's a little silly.

[DRW50]

Is Zoe related to Lenny?

Thanks for letting us know. GL actors tend to pop up everywhere. A lot of people here seemed to hate Bonilla. I thought he was OK, just not a lead. Kay was very good, although I'm surprised he's still playing teenagers. I thought he was going to be more known on the indie scene, after L.I.E.

[Vee]

She's the daughter of Lenny and Lisa Bonet. Absolutely beautiful girl, she also co-starred in X-Men: First Class., a.k.a. the only good X-Men movie. But she had very few lines there, and that's because she's more of a vision than an actress. She does alright in this film, but she has some wooden-ness and is clearly struggling with the weight of carrying it.

EJ Bonilla seemed much more natural here than he ever did on GL. But yeah, Billy Kay - it was odd. He does look the same, but he also looks like a slightly heavy adult playing dress-up. It was a tad Jason Priestley or Luke Perry on 90210.

[DRW50]

Maybe Kay should go on CW, they have sort of carried that tradition on.