Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Faulkner]

P&G probably wouldn't have allowed her to do what she wanted. It would have been interesting to see how Pam Long reacted to MADD's directive to fire the ailing Michael Zaslow. She wrote him in as David Rinaldi at OLTL, which was one of the only good things about Pam's stint there.

[vetsoapfan]

 

I was very unhappy with Pam Long during her first reign on TGL, when 2/3 of the cast was purged and stupid sci-fi/fantasy plots were inflicted on us, but she did become a much better writer the more she "got real" and focused on interpersonal relationships, romance, and family drama. Her handling of the Rick and Phillip relationship was wonderful, and she handled Bert Bauer very well. TGL, to me, ended up representing Pam Long's best work in daytime TV.

[Faulkner]

I'm sure she would have brought some good things to GL in the '90s. But I also realize that, around that time, every soap wanted to achieve DAYS' Reilly-era success by mimicking its outlandish stories, and she would have certainly been forced to write the same type of sci-fi/fantasy stuff that B&E had to do in '98.

[vetsoapfan]

 

When Don Chastain was finished writing SFT, he admitted that all the suits cared about was copying GH and what that show was during. They did not care if it was good for SFT or not, if it was true to SEARCH's history and characters or not, they just wanted SFT to mimic GH in hopes of achieving better ratings. The endless incompetence of TPTB knows no bounds.

[Soaplovers]

 

I think in a post on this board..pam long had been interviewed in early 1984...and she talked about how one of her favorite things as writer was to write scenes of characters talking..owing to her upbringing in the south and women gathering around the kitchen to talk after church or during a regular weekend day...and she hinted in the interview that the suits were pressuring her to focus on plot and that she was trying to squeeze in talking scenes.  It explains the shift in late 1984 through 1985 of plot over character...though she did maintain Company as a gathering place..and the bauer kitchen was important.  I guess by the late 80s...the suits left her alone (cause during her 18 month absence, three writing teams messed up the show and they had no choice lol).  It is telling the difference in quality from the bauer barbeque in 1987 vs Christmas 1987 (when Amanda Spaulding came back for a visit...and history was focused on).

[vetsoapfan]

 

To her credit, Long admitted (after her first stint as headwriter) that the fantasy stuff she and producer Gail Kobe foisted on the show wasn't necessarily right for TGL, and she had learned that between telling outlandish stories or intimate human drama, it was better to "get real".

 

Soap editorialist Mimi Torchin interviewed Gail Kobe, however, and reported that Kobe was convinced attention-getting plots were more important than character. GK clearly did not understand TGL or the audience.

[zanereed]

 

Which would explain why it all went downhill towards the end of 1984. The "Dreaming Death" storyline was questionable (and was already told over 20 years prior to that on "Dark Shadows"), and "Tony and Annabelle's Haunted House/Susan Piper/Brandon Spaulding Back from the Dead" storyline was even worse. By the time 1985 rolled around, I didn't know what show I was watching any more. I do lay the blame more on Gail than Pam. Gail just wasn't a good fit for TGL, IMHO.

[amybrickwallace]

 

That's the understatement of the century, my friend!!

[glatwt]

Thank you so much for finding this. I remember being glued to this storyline! Wasn’t Daniel also the one who locked Harley in that outside cellar during a snowstorm?

[DRW50]

Olivia Cole has passed away. Beyond her esteemed primetime work she was on GL in the late '60s or early '70s as part of the Stanley Norris story.

 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/olivia-cole-dead-roots-backstairs-at-white-house-actress-was-75-1077977

[cassadine1991]

Happy 81st anniversary Guiding Light. What was your favorite opening credits and writer or era of the show?

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[vetsoapfan]

 

My favorite theme music was My Guiding Light, and my favorite writers were Irna Phillips and Agnes Nixon, but I was also quite happy with the work of the Robert Soderberg and Edith Sommer, the Dobsons, Douglas Marland, Pat Falken Smith, and Nancy Curlee's team.

 

As far as I know, this is the earliest episode of TGL known to exist.

 

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[cassadine1991]

@vetsoapfan do you think GL could've been saved from cancellation? 

[zanereed]

My favorite theme would be "Ritournelle" (the theme used during the mid to late 1970's).

 

As for writers, I still think The Dobsons were my favorite writers for TGL. There were other writers and eras I enjoyed, but the Dobsons' era is what I remember vividly, even though I was very young when I started watching.

[BetterForgotten]

And oddly enough, I believe the Dobson's hated the Ritournelle opening - I think Bridget Dobson once said they would try to write a compelling opening scene and then it would "flash to that thing with the dead leaves!"