Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[BetterForgotten]

Josh and Reva always seemed so damn isolated from the rest of the show as I watch more stuff from the late 80's and 1990. To be honest, they're often my least favorite part of the 1990 episodes I've seen. Its almost feels like they're on a separate show sometimes.

[DRW50]

The location work here is very nice (and there's some sweeping music among the computer oddities and the odes to Three Women)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQAOtyqqfxk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yGf1u9IZWw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlZ6bvExII0

[antmunoz]

QUOTE: I wonder what the average fan at the time felt about Anna Stuart's Vanessa. Maybe they just said, "Oh that stupid Vanessa," as most of the characters did. Personally, I have a blast watching her, especially since she isn't just imitating Maeve (Maeve veered between fragile and I'll-cut-you-bitch). Springfield at this time was so uber-sincere it needs all the flies in the ointment possible.

I LOVED her. Still think it was one of the best recasts EVER. Wouldn't have been disappointed if she'd stayed forever. And I loved Maeve. But this is the epitome of an Anna Stuart character. Donna Love was this character GLORIOUSLY for years until Michael Hudson felt the need to "tame" her. And honestly, Donna and Matt were a better Vanessa and Matt. I hated all that Contessa crap.

[DRW50]

I always liked Donna and Matt too. What a waste.

[zanereed]

Carl,

Thanks for getting more of the November 1981 episode links up here. I haven't seen that footage since it first aired, with Mike Bauer on a horse chasing after Alan in Tenerife! For being 45 years old around the time this was filmed, Don Stewart was quite the action hero on GL.

[DRW50]

The rest hasn't been uploaded yet but here's the first part.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2neizYcj34

The scene of Eyepatch guy stealing Mike's backpack is strangely chilling.

I'm enjoying the Tenerife material more than I thought I would. Not just the gorgeous location footage, but also the suspense and family drama.

And it does show that Mike could be a vital part of the show when given the chance.

[heffer]

Is it me, or is the backround music in the outdoor scenes the exact same that GH used pretty extensively (for when something suprising was going to happen) arond the same time?

[DRW50]

Some of it did remind me of GH music, yes. I kept hearing Luke in my head, hissing, "ICE...PRINCESS!"

[NothinButAttitude]

Glad it wasn't just me that noticed the background music wasn't something that would typically be on Guiding Light. But I didn't mind it.

What I love from these episodes are the scenes with Quint & Nola and the slow building of their relationship. Quint and Nola are a bit before my time but having watched their entire love story on YT numerous times ... *sighs* They are just everything. I don't know why they weren't bigger than they were. IMO, I found their love story to be 20x's better than Luke/Laura, Nikki/Victor, Josh/Reva, etc.

[jam6242]

Quint and Nola were quite popular in their day (and they're my second favorite soap couple ever on a soap). But they didn't have the longevity of the other couples you mentioned. I didn't like it when the show officially made Quinton Henry's son. Then they made him a college professor. Boring! It just seemed to take away much that made him unique. I also wanted Quinton and Nola to remain at Thornway Road instead of living with Henry and Vanessa.

[DRW50]

I don't think it helped that there were about 4 changes in headwriters during their time on the show. Watching the clips, some of the inconsistencies gnawed at me (I couldn't keep track of how many times Mrs. Renfield implored Quint to trust Nola and warned Quint to never trust Nola). And the writing for them sort of pushed them into generic long-suffering couple mode once Rebecca arrived. But still, Lisa and Michael had good chemistry and made it work. (they have since agreed with those who believe only Marland knew how to write for them)

It still saddens me a little that the show dumped all their supporting characters that helped make them unique. (I'm not talking about Jonathan...)

[zanereed]

I agree that Marland was probably the only one who knew how to write for Quint and Nola. I, too, think that Quint was ruined once he lost that mysterious quality, becoming Henry's son and then a college professor. To me, that wasn't Quint.

As for the background music, that seemed to be typical for GL's location footage. They had similar type of music the year prior when they filmed in Santa Domingo for Roger Thorpe's final days on the show.

[Mitch]

Funnily enough...Brown had more chemistry with fill in Quint that guy from Days. He made Quint more rugged and masculine and brought a little of that adventure thing back. They would have made a good couple but then they brought Tylo back and...they just didn't have it anymore.

[SamanthaKitCat]

I was surfing the internet and found an old online article/post on Guiding Light from 2009. I got on my soapbox and wrote a response to one post, re: Pam Long and the Bauer family. I know my opinion isn't a popular one, but, I'd like to post my response here, as well. I apologize in advance for the length.

1) Scott Bryce stated in an issue of Soap Opera Digest, back in the 1980s, that his father, Ed Bryce, had wanted to retire. Yes, maybe they could have re-casted the part of Bill Bauer. But, then, Peter Simon actually got a lot of flack for replacing Mark Hulswit and Simon's replacement in 1984 also got flack. 2) According to the Gail Kobe interview for GL's 50th anniversary in Soap Opera Digest, Peter Simon chose to leave. The show couldn't do anything about that. 3) From the same interview, Kobe lumped Don Stewart in with the group (actress who played Hillary Bauer and the actress who played Hope) that had storyline disagreements. However, Don Stewart later stated in a Soap Opera Digest article that he was getting burned out worked on a daytime soap and wanted to leave. That it was his choice. Before he left, the show was clearly playing with the idea of an Alexandra/Mike/Lillian triangle. He was put in multiple scenes with Alexandra. Also, his character, as a lawyer, probably would have been the one to defend Lujack, if Stewart had stayed. 4) Charita was ill. There was nothing that the show could do about that. What they could and did do was treat her better than the TIIC who were running the show in the 1990s treated Michael Zaslow. They told her that she could work as much as she wanted to. 5) Hillary and Hope's exit were definitely over storyline disagreements. The actress who played Hillary had writing aspirations. The actress who played Hope didn't want Hope to be an alcoholic. 6) Anyone could have brought the character of Hope back. But no one, especially not Curlee and Demorest, brought her back. They also did nothing to expand the Bauer family, but, instead, expanded the Cooper family. It was ultimately the Cooper family that supplanted the Bauer family in the 90s and 00s. I think Curlee and Demorest were top tier soap opera writers, but, they didn't do the Bauers much good other than writing the few Bauers that were on the show during their stint as head-writers, well. Expanding the Cooper family helped bring about the demise of the Bauers. I have read that David K. was a fan of Curlee and Demorest's work with the Coopers. Not to mention, Maureen being killed off by Curlee and Demorest due to a focus group finding her boring. Maybe there was nothing that Curlee and Demorest could have done, that would have made Maureen more interesting to that focus group, but, maybe they could have written better stories featuring her. With Another World, the character of Frankie Frame was another case of "death by focus group". It is unlikely that the Swajeski-era Frankie would have been deemed "boring". 7) During the Pam Long-era the Bauers were the "fun" core family. Frequently, the actors talent at humor was utilized and showcased. She also put her significant other, Jay Hammer, in scenes with the Bauers and the Reardons during his first two years on the show. Fletcher was in love with Hillary in the beginning of his run. He later became best buds with Maureen. He was involved with Claire while she was pregnant with Michelle. The show even played a little with the idea of a Maureen/Ed/Fletcher triangle during the late 80s. 8) Pam Long created a Bauer, Michelle. 9) She developed/co-developed two of the younger generation of the Bauer family (Rick and A-M) into big fan favorites. As long as I live, I will never understand why her long-term contribution to the Bauer family, via her development of Rick and A-M, isn't even acknowledged by her critics. 10) Pam Long didn't create the character of Johnny Bauer. He was introduced in 1986, after she had left the show. But, she did write the Johnny Bauer/Chelsea Reardon romance. 11) So, while it was a mistake to write off the characters of Hillary and Hope and they should have wrote Bert's death into the show sooner, I have never agreed with the Bauer purists (whose fandom apparently doesn't include Rick and A-M) feelings on Pam Long. It was pretty standard for TIIC at various shows to pressure head-writers to create new characters who could be played by cheaper new actors vs. the more expensive veteran actors. Pam Long, in terms of her GL run, just happened to be a more successful character creator/co-creator/developer/co-developer than most head-writers. Curlee and Demorest created a bunch of new characters during their run. 12) I loved Doug Marland's era of ATWT. However, even he had his faults. He wrote the character of Roger Thorpe into a corner. Long's human and well-developed characters mantra from GL helped make the character viable again. When Marland redeemed the characters of Alan on GL and Craig on ATWT he softened them too much. Craig, on ATWT, went from town scoundrel to the guy who wouldn't even tell a white lie --- per a soap opera magazines criticism of/commentary on Craig's reformation. Marland created the very large Snyder clan on ATWT. Who ended up supplanting the Hughes family as the core family. Even during the Marland era, when Chris Hughes died on the show, the Snyder family farm was heavily featured in those episodes. The viewers didn't get to see Tom and Margo find out about Chris's death. But, pretty much everything going on at the Snyder farm, we got to see. Actor Brian Bloom was not happy with the way his character was written out. He was getting a lot of fan mail, but, was barely ever used in storylines. He was basically phased out.

[NothinButAttitude]

Parts 2 & 3 of the video Carl recently posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16J2X9wlRaY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JQGxZIblDA