Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Soapsuds]

That's odd since ATWT had Jessica and Duncan which was a P&G/CBS show.

[BetterForgotten]

Yeah, that is strange. I wonder if the aversion had to do with them being a younger interracial couple. The CBS soaps tended to skew more towards Middle America and the South - a few years later, Y&R had a ton of backlash from that segment when they toyed with Victoria and Neil. 

 

The P&G soaps never got the credit when they did socially relevant storytelling right - a lot of the time they were less preachy and more soulful than the ABC soaps, which always got all the credit for socially relevant storytelling. 

[NothinButAttitude]

 

 

I think that it has to do with Middle America and the South along with the fact that many of these people care not to see a Black man with a White woman. They will turn a blind eye to a White man with a Black woman, but the second a White woman comes into the picture as opposition, she better emerge victorious in the battle. Look at Shannon/Jessica/Duncan. Poor Jessica got tossed to the side for Shannon.

Please register in order to view this content

 When look back at it, Jessica/Duncan had a WAY better love story than Duncan/Shannon. 

 

 

I so agree with this. P&G soaps had a crafty way of subtly instilling the message in you, and not force feeding it. But the scene of David getting freed was such a powerful message to me as a young Black boy. It has always been one of my favorite scenes from my time watching GL. 

 

Just sucks b/c the bottom would fall out soon enough and in a few years, David, Kat, Gilly, Hamp, and Bridget would all be gone. 

[slick jones]

Such a great scene, and I frequently forget about Ellen Holly's appearances as Judge Jeri Collier (seated behind David.)   The speech from Vinnie's aunt brought a tear to my eye.

[BetterForgotten]

If I remember correctly, the story also had an indirect impact on quite a number of characters on the show at the time, and it felt like all of Spingfield was united behind David (even Roger!). 

 

 

[NothinButAttitude]

 

I lost it when Roberta Flack started to sing and Bridget ran into David's arm. Just so much heart and humanity in that scene. Again, we'll never see that again on the remaining 4 soaps, which is sad seeing as they have the tools to tell a story like this. 

 

We're still at the height of cases like Mike Brown, Philando Castile, Trayvon Martin, and it still boggles my mind that none of the remaining 4 have not told a story like this today. 

[BetterForgotten]

The scenes with Ross and David at the diner after his acquittal were also touching:

 

Please register in order to view this content

 

[cassadine1991]

So true, and  they can easily do it, but with the writers/EP/execs they currently have and the constant worrying about Middle/Conservative America, it won;t be done well at all

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Who gives a sh-t about them? I don't. Empire makes double of what daytime soaps make and they addressed police brutality. American Crime's first season opened with a 8.0 in ratings and stayed making above 4.0 throughout the season, and they addressed race relations. Shots Fired consistently stayed making what Y&R is getting now. 

 

Soaps need to get back in the business of telling stories that makes people uncomfortable. That is what art does. It makes you think and see things from different perspectives. 

 

I think everyone was on David's side, which is the one thing that unnerved me. It would've been interesting to see some characters (not Roger as they always made him the bad guy) turn their nose up to David, and believe he was guilty. 

[Vee]

That really was very relevant for today. Emotional to watch and shameful that daytime has basically abdicated its roots in social responsibility (and of course long-running serialization) to cable, streaming and what's left of primetime. Per that topic I won't bring up Agnes' AMC 2.0 right now because that'd just be crass.

 

I always wondered why GL apparently never actually paired David and Bridget despite it being the implicit dynamic, but I also always suspected I knew the answer.

Edited June 18, 2017 by Vee

[NothinButAttitude]

 

^

This.

 

It bothers me how everything daytime used to be centered around is now something all other forms of media are profiting heavily off of. This is Us, which is a soap in itself, was one of the most buzzed about shows this past year. Soaps are hot again and it is sad that soaps can't capitalize off what they started. 

[Dan]

God, could Jerry verDorn nail a speech or what? 1993 had its ups and downs, but it certainly had some of the best scriptwriting of the entire run of the show. 

 

I'd say that soaps have outsourced all of its good writing period to primetime and cable TV and that is certainly the main problem. Who would want to watch the current shows when Game of Thrones (or insert your favorite drama) is far better written and has more intriguing drama? Even if you have to be a masochist to watch GOT. (I'm stuck on the 3rd season. I may not make it longer.) 

 

 

Also, I would not have wanted Bridget and David together. I agree with the above post that said the chemistry between the actors was more brother/sister. Gilly and A-M? That's more like it. 

Edited June 18, 2017 by Dan

[MichaelGL]

I always shipped Gilly/A-M and would've have loved to see where Curlee and Co. would have taken them.

[GH_Girl]

 

In addition to not pandering to racists or backwards thinking people, relevant, timely stories like that could bring in NEW viewers. 

[cassadine1991]

+1