Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

I have a feeling they may have decided they shouldn't post full episodes, perhaps for copyright reasons.

[zanereed]

Carl,

I've tried again to watch the available 1985 clips on YT, and I just can't get through them. Considering where the show was just one year prior, it really illustrates how far it had fallen (in my opinion).

I also want to state that I'm not a Pam Long hater at all. In fact, I think she managed to jump-start the show again when it needed it the most. The only unfortunate thing was that many of the core characters were written out under her first tenure. If that hadn't happened, or not to the extent it happened, I think her first era might be my second favorite next to the Dobson era. I don't know if the Infinity storyline was hers to begin with, but that was just something that wasn't GL. At least, not the version of GL I was used to watching under the Dobsons.

For example, I think the few months that Pam Long wrote for the character of Hope Bauer was probably better than the 2 years that Marland wrote for her. Looking back at the episodes I have from 1980 to 1982, it seems like Elvera had to say "Oh, Alan" or something to that effect on a regular basis. If I devised a drinking game based on that, my liver would be completely shot in a few months. Hope seemed to become much more interesting under Long - then, all of a sudden Hope's written out! I was also one of the GL fans that went, "WTF?!!?" when Justin Marler was written out in September of 1983. I was looking forward to the next era of the Justin-Phillip-Alan triangle, since Phillip finally knew his true parentage after almost 6 years (August 1983). Then, all of a sudden Justin's written out! And on and on and on...

On another note, I should really try comparing 1985 to 1993-1994 and see which era is worse for me.

Edited February 13, 2014 by zanereed

[Soaplovers]

For me, the trouble for GL started in fall 1984 with the pointless death of Hilary. It seemed like the show was hinting at a Tony/Annabelle/Jim/Hilary quadangle when Hilary was killed off. I think she could have been of great use in the late 80s especially when Roger/Holly came back onto the scene. Oh well.

Plus, I did see a few 1983 episodes with Hope and she seemed more interesting to me. It seemed like the show was gearing up for a War of the ROses types of story between Alan/Hope when she suddenly was written off. I could have imagined Alexandra siding with Hope in her divorce due to anger with Alan over losing her son Lujack.

[DRW50]

That site with the 1977 synposes seems to stop with the February issue. I have some more. I can't find them all right now but I'll post some. I meant to years ago, as I think katie asked me, but I wasn't able to get to that computer for a while.

March 1977 Digest.

[DRW50]

April 1977

May 1977

June 1977

Edited February 14, 2014 by DRW50

[zanereed]

Carl,

Thank you for those scans and continuing where they left off. I love reading these.

[zanereed]

Soaplovers,

Hillary's death made no sense to me either, and seemed to only serve as a "shock point" for the "Susan Piper/Brandon Spaulding back from the dead/let's give Keith Charles his third role GL role in 9 years" storyline. I didn't think that story was Pam Long's finest writing at all.

September of 1984 was not GL's finest hour, in my opinion.

[DRW50]

I'm glad you got to enjoy them. I wish more of that era was around. I mostly just want to see Jackie and Rita, but Peggy/Roger too.

I have more from 1977 but I'm trying to find the July one so they can be in order.

[zanereed]

I also want to thank saynotoursoap, because his posts here have reminded me of things I had forgotten in the 1970's watching GL as a young kid, such as the build up to the return of Bill Bauer in 1977.

saynotoursoap, if you do happen to read this, you had mentioned in a previous post of Mart Hulswit being fired in 1981 because P & G wanted the Bauer family marginalized and new characters to take over (or perhaps gleamed that from an interview with Hulswit from 1981?). You had also mentioned that the Dobsons and Marland weren't really thrilled with Hulswit in the role. Do you know where you read or heard this? I only ask because as far as the Dobsons go, Bridget usually said positive things about Charita, Don and Mart, and that group being one of the primary reasons they refocused the show on the Bauers. I really don't know how Marland felt about Hulswit.

I read in a couple of places that Allen Potter claimed Hulswit was beginning to be problematic (often questioning the scripts and the choices for his character) so he decided to replace him. I don't know if this is true or not, either. I was curious if you knew anything more about this.

[Mitch]

I thought they replaced MH with PS as they wanted someone "younger and sexier," which makes me LOL to think that anyone ever thought PS was "sexy." Don't get me wrong, he is Ed to me...but I didn't think Ed was supposed to be sexy.

Its too bad that they didn't bring MH back later on after Mo died. The show needed a warm central figure and PS Ed was never warm. MH always seemed more "cuddly," like Charita and Ellen Parker....I guess I like my GL tentpole to be a little chubby!!! ( which leaves me to ask why they didnt make MOL the tentpole later on???)

[DRW50]

I think they did sort of make Rick the central figure of the Bauers, in a way, but by then there was no real Bauer family, and the show had little interest in matriarchal or patriarchal figures. And there was something kind of pathetic about Rick as he grew older.

[DRW50]

I was going back and listening to a few of the GL radio broadcasts that are available. Some of them I'd heard before, some not. Some of the setup for the whole story of Ted White causing his and Meta's son's death by trying to make him more "manly", leading to Meta losing it and gunning him down and going on trial, etc. - this is all so subversive and balls to the wall for 1950. Irna Philips knew how to handle melodrama in a way none in daytime today do.

This episode, where Meta talks about a "feeling" she has - I wonder if any listener could imagine what was coming up.

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And of course there is more of driving, scheming Bert, chasing her own tail, and weak Bill, in some of these. I always enjoy that.

Edited February 14, 2014 by DRW50

[Mitch]

Yea, I never knew if they wrote him that way or if it was the way O'Leary played him (plus the bloat and the really bad plastic surgery.) If they just had him loose a little weight, and tell O'leary to tone down the mugging and the dopiness it could have worked.

[DRW50]

I guess him not being in a major pairing didn't help. I know he and Abby weren't a supercouple but that may have been the closest. The other option would have been bringing Krista Tesreau back full time to do Rick/Mindy, instead of waiting until the end.

[zanereed]

Younger and sexier...I don't think I would ever associate that term with Peter Simon. Well, Simon was definitely younger than Hulswit...by 3 whole years! I probably associated Simon so closely with "Search For Tomorrow" for so long that him suddenly being Ed Bauer was...jarring.

I wonder why they never tried to bring back Robert Gentry as Ed in 1981? Granted, he was still on "Another World" at that point (through November of 1981), but P & G moved actors around all the time in their soaps.

Edited February 14, 2014 by zanereed