Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[robbwolff]

I recall watching some scenes between Meta and Michael Burke around 1997. For some reason, I got the impression that they were going to link the two characters -- that Michael was Meta's son. But that never came to pass.

[jam6242]

This was the official explanation for killing off Kathy Holden at the time it occurred.

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Edited March 27, 2016 by jam6242

[All My Shadows]

Nothing drives this fact home more than Papa Bauer's death/funeral, where Meta is seen comforting Bert.

[zanereed]

Thank you for sharing that. I wonder if Irna really needed to kill off Kathy, or if she didn't want Susan Douglas off screen for any long period of time to have her second child? Irna was seriously SORAS-ing Robin at that point, so maybe it didn't make sense to keep Kathy on. Or, maybe it came down to either killing off Meta or Kathy, and Susan's pregnancy was the deciding factor.

 

I wish they hadn't killed most of Meta's family, either. I don't think any writer knew what to do with Meta, unfortunately. If it were me, I would have brought back Joey Roberts, all grown up and perhaps a problematic adult. That could have given Meta some needed storyline. Or, perhaps Ted White had a sister, unknown up to that point, who comes to Springfield to get revenge on Meta for murdering her brother.

Agreed. That, and at the service Meta isn't sitting in the front row, she's sitting behind Bert, Ed, and Mike. I haven't watched that episode in awhile, but did they even address Trudy at all?

[All My Shadows]

I don't think they did, but it's been a while since I've watched it in full, too. There were some of the obligatory "So-and-so called..." mentions early in the episode, but I don't think she was one of them.

A while back, I did a thread on DTS about the "chosen" siblings of each major family on each soap, and Meta was one of the characters I had in mind when creating the thread. For whatever reason, Bill was the "chosen" Bauer sibling early on, and I guess they just felt there was no room for Meta to be the nucleus of her own long-term family unit. And really, Bert was the "chosen" Bauer more so than Bill. It's like how Chris was the "chosen" Hughes over Edith and John (and then Bob was "chosen" over Penny and Don).

[Paul Raven]

Considering Ellen Demming stayed around for years without much story, it would have made sense to use her more effectively. Maybe Bruce could have had children for Meta to mother. Maybe Ben and Maggie Scott could have been related to Bruce in some way and Peggy could have turned to Meta as a mother figure?

[zanereed]

Yes, it appears Meta was more of a supporting character once she married Bruce Banning, as if the writers didn't know what to do with her after that. Even when she and Bruce were brought back in 1971, it didn't seem like they did much with her (and Bruce).

 

All My Shadows, I think you bring up a valid point about Meta's family being diminished in favor of Bill's I wonder if that was a sign of the times, favoring the male versus the females of the core family? Although I suppose Bill and Bert were more of an interesting family dynamic versus Meta and Joe. Bill was the weak, indecisive one with Bert badgering him on and Papa Bauer being the voice of reason between those two.

[Soapsuds]

 

How long was Douglas Marland's run on GL? And where did he go to from there? And why was he let go? I thought his work on GL was just as good as his time on ATWT. 

 

[zanereed]

Marland's writing for GL started airing in January of 1980, I believe. Marland left in protest in 1982 after GL EP Allen Potter fired Jane Elliott (who played Carrie Marler).

[Soapsuds]

Ah…Jane Elliott is one great actress. Don't know what Allen Potter was thinking …Im sure Jane misses Marland's writing these days. 

Edited March 29, 2016 by Soapsuds

[Soapsuds]

I find it interesting that GL fell in the ratings after Marland left. GL was #4 in the rankings during Marland's whole run and dropped to #6 once he left.

[MichaelGL]

The show was pretty unstable between 1982-1983 with the revolving door of writers such as L. Virginia Browne and Pat Falken Smith. It really didn't find any stability until Pam Long and Richard Culliton took over writing duties. 

Edited March 29, 2016 by MichaelGL

[Soapsuds]

During that time the ratings went from a 8.2 under Marland to a 7.4. Thats all most a whole ratings point lost….yikes. I loved Marland's GL….after he left the show slowly became way too campy and not serious enough of a soap like ATWT.  I can see why GL's Marland beat ATWT during 1980-82.

[zanereed]

I thought I recall GL briefly going back in up ratings in either 1983 or 1984 (1984 was the year in which GL was supposedly the top rated soap for a brief period, but I think that was nixed previously in this thread)?

[robbwolff]

Guiding Light definitely hit #1 in the ratings for about three weeks in July 1984. I remember it well because Entertainment Tonight aired a story about GL's ratings surge.