Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[KMan101]

I was actually thinking about the Maureen's the other day. Odd. LOL.

 

Having only seen clips (I didn't become a watcher of GL until 1997 but trust me, I know my stuff), I'd have preferred Dolan's version. I always felt Dolan was mis-cast as Margo on ATWT. But the writing for Tom and Margo was complete [!@#$%^&*] most of the time anyway. I mean, as a newer viewer to ATWT at the time, Margo and Tom were hard to care about or invest in. But I still liked Dolan and sometimes Holmes. They just never got them right, IMO.

 

I can see why they chose Parker as Maureen. I know she was the "Light" at the time, but it aged her too much to have her be the "new Bert" at the time, as some viewers seemed to have wanted. Parker was fantastic. I liked her Maureen a great deal. But I'd rather write for Dolan as Maureen, if that makes sense. I can ultimately see why she could have "failed" in (the ridiculous) the focus groups (I hate that idea for a soap). But she also seemed 'set up' to fail, so to speak. I think Dolan was just more who I'd rather see play Maureen.

 

Hilary B. Smith seemed perfect for Margo. But I can see why they cast Dolan to replace her. Dolan was just too hard at times as Margo, IMO. Kristian Alfonso suffers from this sometimes too.

[Soaplovers]

I didn't even know Ellen Dolan was Maureen because by the time I was old enough, she was playing Margo on ATWT.  I noted that her Margo was more serious than Hilary B Smith's version of Margo (Smith was my favorite Margo).  With that said, I only recall Maureen in the early 90s where she was set up as a stay at home mom that felt unfulfilled and went to get a job as an assistant at Spaulding.  Imagine my surprise when I realized that Maureen had been played by Dolan in the early to mid 80s.. and was a hospital admin... so I couldn't buy her getting a job as an assistant when she'd had experience running a hospital for two or three years before becoming a full time stay at home mother (I was surprised to see that Ellen Parker was still playing Maureen when she was a hospital admin.. but she didn't come across as convincing unlike Dolan, who always had a very confident stance.

 

With that said, seeing Ellen Dolan's take on Maureen.. she was much perkier, feminine, and strong willed... also she dressed very trendy as well.  I could have seen Dolan's Maureen eventually becoming the heir apparent to Bert down the line since she did have a calming presence.

 

I'll admit I think Pam Long wrote Ellen Parker's Maureen better than Curlee and co did.  The Maureen of the late 80s was funny, sarcastic, full of spirit and had a lot of self confidence.  I noticed the whole Maureen trying to have a baby, being jealous of Holly, etc didn't come into play till Long left the show.

 

I always viewed Maureen as more of a Pam Long type character than a Marland type of character (since her left months after she was introduced.. and Pam Long wrote most of Maureen's stint on the show.

[BetterForgotten]

IMO, had Dolan stayed in the role, Maureen would not have been as missed as she was when Parker was fired. Parker's interpretation made Maureen the heart, soul, and conscience of GL in ways that I don't think Dolan could have achieved. 

 

Parker said that years after she was gone from the show, people still came up to her and told her how much they missed her as Maureen. I think a large part of that was down to her and what she brought to the character. 

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

 

Or it could have been Parker over-inflating her importance on the show. When she won the Emmy she said she was still alive, or that she was still there, something to that effect, like she was hoping she could be brought back from the dead. She really had a hard time letting go of the character. I think viewers were affected by her last episode because the actress was having a hard time letting go and dealing with the fact she'd been fired, and she put that into her last performance. So in a way the viewers were mourning the actress' loss of job instead of the character.

 

I do agree that Pam Long wrote the character in an interesting way, as she did most of the leading women in the 80s. But Maureen was a Doug Marland creation and she was meant to be spunky and full of life the way the Reardons were. She was not meant to ever become a stay-at-home mom raising someone else's child. The reason Dolan succeeded on ATWT was because she made Margo a cop first, above being a woman who sought domestic harmony. She excelled at playing career-driven women, and that's how Maureen was in those early years. Parker threw most of that out and turned Maureen into something she was not designed to be.

[vetsoapfan]

 

I totally agree.

 

As Maureen, I found Ellen Dolan to be cold and off-putting. As Margo, I found her to be cold and off-putting. Both characters came alive for me under the warm, poignant portrayals of Ellen Parker and Hillary Bailey Smith, but Dolan made me indifferent at best to Maureen and Margo, and as her tenure on ATWT went on and on and on, I grew to actively dislike her character on that series.

 

The character of Bert Bauer had begun on TGL as a rather unpleasant, selfish woman but grew over the years into the warm, wise, maternal matriarch fans adored. With Dolan in the role, Maureen was much colder and less maternal and could never have inspired the same reaction and affection from fans as Parker did. Parker took Maureen from an aloof, non-essential component of TGL to its heart and soul. That's why, 25 years later, viewers still remember her and recognize her importance.

 

 

Of course, you cannot make the sweeping, unsupported allegation that fans mainly grieved Maureen's death because we were upset Parker had lost a job. It's clear from viewers' own heartfelt comments over the years that fans were upset at losing Maureen because the character had become the show's heart and matriarch, and because of Parker's memorable performance. Viewers did not sit in front of their TVs sobbing for days because an actress they had never met had lost a job. And it was not Parker over-inflating her own importance to TGL; it was the fans acknowledging it.

[KMan101]

Personally I think you can like both Maureen's. They each worked for me when I've watched episodes with them. Parker just exudes warmth and fits the matriarch role Maureen was put into. Dolan wouldn't have worked in that. But I liked Dolan as Maureen too, personally. Parker just felt so fitting for GL and Maureen ultimately though. I didn't grow up watching either so I have no connection that way, just putting it out there how it comes across to me.

 

I always felt Dolan was more cold on ATWT. She had life to her on GL. Oddly, I think Dolan "fit" better on ATWT, even if I was never the biggest fan of her as Margo. Sometimes I'd be. Always so hit or miss for me depending on her acting or the craptastic writing for Margo. I feel like Dolan checked out at times over the years on ATWT, but I can't say I blame her.

Edited September 3, 2018 by KMan101

[j swift]

DO we know why the Maureen recast occurred?

[DRW50]

 

I think Dolan wanted to try California. I'm not sure. 

[JellicleCat]

I never saw Ellen Dolan as Maureen so I cannot compare her and Ellen Parker in that role. I just want to say that the exact same thing that many hold against Dolan is why I loved her as Margo on ATWT.

She wasn't the warm, maternal type. She was a career woman and as such I felt she was a welcome change from the norm.

I also think she was/is a fine actress who did the best she could with the horrible writing that she (and the rest of the show) got during its final years.

With strong writing she was certainly capable of giving memorable performances. Her work in Margo's rape story and the story with Casey's euthanasia is proof of that.

Edited September 3, 2018 by JellicleCat

[DRW50]

 

I thought Dolan managed to play the warmer moments along with the harder edge in her first run as Margo. It was when she came back (and the show got worse and worse and worse) that things changed. 

[Khan]

I think Ellen Dolan quit GL, because she was uncomfortable playing stepmother to someone (Rick/Michael O'Leary) who wasn't that much older than she.

[KMan101]

 

I agree with this. She did better earlier on.

[koos]

Both Tom and Margo were pretty unpleasant, to me, in the '90s and on.

[vetsoapfan]

 

In an interview after her departure from TGL, Dolan explained that she had supposedly been brought in as a "lead," but Maureen was not being used as a principle character, so she was dissatisfied.

 

Yes, which is why I was only indifferent to her early on, but I later grew to dislike her Margo very much.

 

As others have said, the atrocious writing made things worse, but under Scott Holmes and Ellen Dolan, both Tom and Margo often came across as strident, stern and unpleasant. Such a radical and unwanted departure from Gregg Marx and Hillary Bailey Smith!

[Faulkner]

This. My mom watched ATWT, and Holmes/Dolan were the first Tom/Margo I remember. But going back and watching Marx/HBS and even Colin/Deas, I was surprised at how much more fun and accessible the characters were. Holmes/Dolan were as charismatic as drywall, even though I could appreciate them as actors.

 

On topic, Ellen Parker’s Maureen under Curlee was the only Maureen I knew, but she just radiated so much warmth that I simply adored her. Perhaps my feelings would be more complicated if I’d started watched 7-8 years prior.

Edited September 3, 2018 by Faulkner