Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Soaplovers]

Cold and Sterile is what I'd describe the writing of Marland. For some reason, I think he worked better on ATWT then he did on GL.

To me, Marland had all the elements of a Norman Rockwell painting on the outside, but there was no heart and soul on either of the shows. While I think Pam Long had the family, heart, emotion, etc of a great family drama... which can be messy and inconsistent. I do think Marland/Pam Long would have been a dynamite team.

I was a kid during the Pam Long era, but I can see how people who grew up on the Dobson/Marland era might have had trouble with Pam's Long vision of the show.

[KMan101]

Congrats to Matt Bomer on his Golden Globe win for The Normal Heart!

[DRW50]

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[cassadine1991]

22nd anniversary of Maureen Bauer's death is today

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[vetsoapfan]

Killing off Maureen Bauer was one of the most bone-headed and inexplicable decisions ever made by the powers that be at The Guiding Light.

For YEARS, the fans had been begging for a return to the show's roots, and a return of its core family, the Bauers. Losing Bert was unavoidable, of course, but killing off Bill and Hillary for the sake of a simple-minded short-term story, replacing the affable Mart Hulswit with the more aloof Peter Simon in the role of Ed, and firing Don Stewart and Elvera Roussel as the popular Mike and Hope had a major crippling effect on the show. Ellen Parker's warm, sympathetic portrayal as Maureen allowed her to develop quite nicely into the matriarch role left empty by Charita Bauer's passing, and by killing off Maureen, the show was essentially gutting itself of its heart in order to give us a grating...Buzz. UGH.

[cassadine1991]

The show could've at least brought back Mike and Hope, maybe Rita Stapleton

I wonder though what would've happened if Maureen wasn't killed off

[katie_9918]

Unpopular opinion warning:

I agree that killing Maureen was stupid and short-sighted, but I'm so tired of hearing about it like it's the only thing that went wrong in the nineties. In my opinion, GL's wheels didn't come off until sometime between 1994-1996, when the whole thing was handed over to Reva (and to a lesser extent, Phillip and then Harley as well).

There was a lot of great stuff going on before, during, and after Maureen's death. Yes, it was cruel to get rid of her in such a fashion, but I thought some of it (maybe not the events leading up) was heartbreakingly true to life in that we all suffer tragedy and sometimes horrible things happen to people who don't deserve it and the repercussions were played out over the next several years.

But I do agree that Buzz was horrible and if it's true that Maureen was culled to make way for his worthless ass, THAT was the most stupid, unforgivable thing about the whole thing.

[vetsoapfan]

Killing off Maureen was far from being the only misstep TGL took in its final decades. The overemphasize on the Reva character, the San Cristocrapian nonsense, the nauseating Santos mob, the reliance on adolescent and cartoon plot devices over character delineation and interpersonal relationships, the destruction of (and contradiction of) history...the list goes on.

However, I have always felt that soap fans will remain loyal to their series, even through periods of bad writing, if the core characters whom they love and want to see remain on-screen. If both the main beloved characters AND the quality of the writing are absent, it's a lose-lose situation, because we have no one left to care for, and the plot mechanics forced upon us by incompetent writers turn us off. That's when the ratings are wont to take a nosedive.

[KMan101]

I'd argue 1996-1998 was the light dimming, IMO. It never recovered from those years, really.

[heffer]

Instead of killing her, they should have had Maureen drive right into the arms of Roger! It would have had some interesting fallout.

[zanereed]

Apparently they wanted Lenore Kasdorf to return as Rita in 1989 along with Roger and Holly, but Lenore declined. I really wish she wouldn't have. Although I'm not sure how she and Peter Simon's Ed would have played off each other...

Mike and Hope were rumored to be returning in 1986, but that never materialized. I think Hope was not an option at all once they seriously SORAS'ed Alan-Michael and brought him back to Springfield in 1987.

Edited January 13, 2015 by zanereed

[zanereed]

It certainly would have driven story moving forward, having implications for Roger, Maureen, Ed, Holly, Lillian, etc.

However, I really did like the friendship between Roger and Maureen - Michael and Ellen had good chemistry, but I never saw it in a romantic fashion.

[NothinButAttitude]

*gasps*

Y'all gonna stop insulting my Santos clan and San Cristobal saga! I loved those stories!!!

But heavens no to a Maureen/Roger pairing. That would've been bad and destroyed their friendship. I enjoyed them as friends only. Roger needed that one ally that he didn't have sexual chemistry with and that was Maureen. I would've preferred if they just tossed her back into Fletcher's orbit instead of killing her. The story that they'd eventually give to Holly with Fletcher [i.e. marrying and having Meg], should've went to Maureen. I think it would've killed Ed more if Maureen moved on with life with Fletcher instead of her dying. Plus, Fletcher did always carry a torch for Maureen so for once, he'd finally win. This pairing would've also ignited mixed feeling from Alex, who had feeling for Fletcher, and Vanessa, Maureen's friend & Fletcher's ex-fiance.

Holly should've remained the savvy, sexy businesswoman she was--one who pined for Ed but couldn't deny her tension with Roger. Trying to domesticate Holly with Fletcher went against everything she had become. Holly should've went another round with Ross around the time Rick returned and had his affair with Blake, OR Holly should've finally been paired with Roger.

Besides Maureen's death, the biggest thing that irks me is that GL fired MZ and Roger and Holly didn't get the romance most fans wanted. I think it would've been poignant and tear-jerking for Roger to have been married to Holly around the time MZ learned he had ALS and for the two of them to deal with illness. Just imagine how juicy and tear-jerking it would've been had we seen the almighty Roger dealing with the fact that he was ill and losing his motor abilities. And for Holly to watch on in fear after finally reuniting with the man she loved most. MZ and MG would've tore that story up and it could've breathed new life into GL. So many dramatic performances could've came from that story.

[Mitch]

I agree..no to Roger and Maureen. Roger would have been totally nuetered as a characters as there is no way he could be manipulative and *mean* to Mo the way he could with Alex, who could hold her own in that area and Holly. It would have dumbed down Mo who, knew what Roger was all about but still would give him the benefit of the doubt and understand him. They worked as friends.

If Mo had lived I would have loved to have seen her leave Ed, and take over the Boarding House and work with Bridget. At that time Bridget would have come to her and told her about the baby and Mo would have been supportive and offered to take care of, and adopt the baby so Bridget could live her life as a young woman but the kid would remain in the family. Bridget would agree as long as they covered up the baby daddy thing. Eventually Ed would reunite with Mo and then the whole baby fall out would happen when Ed finding out the baby he adopted is Roger's grandson. Mo of course would insist on allowing Roger access with both Ed and Bridge fighting her.

That would have sidelined that STUPID attic storyline and Nadine tricking Billy of all people.

[Soaplovers]

I think instead of killing Mo, they should have had her leave town or even been put in a coma. Once viewers backlashed, then the show could have easily bought her back.

With that said, I do think the show in 1997 had a chance of moving forward from Maureen's death since they had spent two years building up Rick and Abby as the next anchor couple. However, the show was intent on cloning, time travel, that stupid island, and the mob. I do think the mob aspect could have worked but it was executed all wrong.