Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[antmunoz]

I think so, but I just floved Rodell in anything, period.

[saynotoursoap]

It is true. Despite Lynne Adams originating the role of Leslie and playing it for six years before Rodell arrived, Barbara was absolutely beloved the audience. When Adams returned to GL shortly after Barbara's Leslie married Mike, many, many viewers were not happy. Personally, I believe it worked out for the best. Had Barbara remained as Leslie, she would have missed the opportunity to create Joyce on As the World Turns, which was a far juicier part than any of her other soap roles,

[DRW50]

I wonder how GL fans felt about seeing her on ATWT as a darker character.

You don't usually hear about recasts in that era being so popular.

I know Don Stewart was popular, but there was a year or two gap with Gary Pillar, wasn't there?

I guess Mart Hulswit took right over as Ed though.

Edited April 24, 2013 by CarlD2

[zanereed]

saynotoursoap,

I agree 100% that Rodell was fantastic on ATWT as Joyce.

Carl,

Mike Bauer was played by a handful of actors in the 1950's and 1960's before Don Stewart took over the role in 1968. Pilar was Mike #4, lasting two years on GL (1963 - 1965), and then he reprised the role on "Another World" for one year. Basically, Mike Bauer was gone from Selby Flats/Springfield from 1965 to 1968, when Robert Pickering was cast in the role as Mike in early 1968. Pickering was Mike for about nine months when Stewart assumed the role until September of 1984.

Personally, Stewart always reminded me of Mannix/Mike Connor. I wonder if TPTB at that time cast Stewart based on that similarity?

[zanereed]

Carl,

Also, regarding Ed Bauer and Robert Gentry/Mart Hulswit - there was a four-to-five month gap in 1969 between when Gentry left the role of Ed Bauer to when Hulswit took over.

[jam6242]

Wow, that Lisa Howard story is interesting (and sad). I have never heard of her. What roles did she play on the soaps?

[DRW50]

She played Bill and Meta's sister Trudy on GL, and Louise Grimley Capice on EON.

Thanks. I didn't realize it was so short.

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9jGFCCMXIc

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZIfVvEtESM

[vetsoapfan]

CELEBRATING THE LIGHT

BEST HEADWRITERS:

--Irna Phillips

--Agnes Nixon

--The Dobsons

--Douglas Marland

BEST PRODUCER:

--Lucy Ferri Rittenberg

BEST DIRECTORS:

--Ted Corday

--Bruce Barry

MOST MEMORABLE ICONS:

--The Friendship Lamp

--The Destiny Poem

--The Lighthouse

BEST STORYLINES:

--Chuckie White's Death/Meta's Murder Trial

--The Long Destruction of Bert and Bill Bauer's Marriage

--The Roger and Holly Saga

BEST ACTOR and ACTRESS:

--Michael Zaslow (Roger Thorpe)

--Charita Bauer (Bert Bauer)

LAST GREAT ERA:

--Douglas Marland's reign as head writer, although the show rebounded for a time many years later, under the guidance of Nancy Curlee et al.

Edited April 28, 2013 by vetsoapfan

[DRW50]

What did you think of Pam Long?

[vetsoapfan]

In an interview after she had written for TGL for a while, Long admitted that campy, far-fetched plots were not as effective as more realistic, character-driven storytelling. She said that she had learned it was better to "get real". IMHO, her later work showed more maturity than her earlier material. I loathed (and I mean LOATHED) all things Reva, and the low-brow fantasy/sci-fi/camp nonsense that dominated much of the 1980s (not all of which can be blamed on Long, of course). Certain interpersonal relationship material was her forte. Nobody understood the Phillip and Rick relationship as well as she did. The Phillip and Beth romance was sweet and effective. But it was under her and Gail Kobe's reign that the show was decimated in the early 1980s, with essential, viable characters being gratuitously hacked from the canvas, and the era of Meva Shayme (LOL) inflicted upon us, so my overall opinion of Long is not as positive as it could be.

[katie_9918]

1990-early 1995 gets a real bum rap.

Yes, they lost Beverlee and Maureen, but it was the best the show had been since mid-1983 in my opinion. It wasn't until Brent Lawrence came back as a cross-dresser and the *shudder* return of Reva that the show fell apart.

[DRW50]

I had a hard time with anything from 93-94.

[vetsoapfan]

 

 

The show was incredibly stupid not to listen to, and try to appease, Beverlee McKinsey; lightening her workload and having the character appear less on-screen still would have been worth it to have an actress of her caliber remain in the cast.

Killing off Maureen Bauer was the last nail in the show's coffin for me (by the time they got into all the asinine Reva sci-fi stories of later years, I felt the true TGL was already dead), but the WRITING during the early 1990s was outstanding. If they could have re-established the Bauers during this period, the show could have returned to its glory years!