Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[BetterForgotten]

Bernau and McKinsey were irreplaceable.

 

Can anyone imagine those scenes with Raines and Dusay? Talk about a hot blubbering mess.

[DramatistDreamer]

Alan and Alexandra Spaulding (as played by Chris Bernau and Beverly McKinsey) had to be one of, (if not the) most richly complex and intriguing sibling relationships in the history of daytime drama.  

When they're so combative, soap siblings are usually written as having one sibling portrayed as being the dominant one, while the other sibling is usually written as the more submissive one but Alex and Alan were on equal terms when it came to being aggressive and driven.  Each was equal parts ruthless and cunning, they'd practically take turns undermining and outmaneuvering each other for control of Spaulding Enterprises.  Each person was totally convinced that they were justified in their actions, even at their most ruthless.  Yet Bernau and McKinsey were so good that they could still convince viewers that bubbling underneath all that Machiavellian maneuvering, there was an inextricable bond that looked a lot like love.

 

I thought it was really interesting that in that scene, even in the midst of Alan becoming completely undone and Alex obviously having the upper hand, she talked about their sons running the company together one day and meaning it.

*It's a bit unsettling to think of the fact that less than a decade down the road, Alan-Michael would lose Spaulding due to the most imbecilic of actions (temporarily surrendering the Spaulding corporation and the estate to Jenna Bradshaw) and that Alan-Michael and Nick McHenry would be running a fledgling newspaper in an economically tenuous part of town...but I digress*.

 

A bit of stunning drama, that scene between Alan and Alexandra was.

Edited June 15, 2019 by DramatistDreamer

[OzFrog]

@DramatistDreamer I fully agree with everything you’ve said above. I’ve been engrossing myself on old GL clips as of late (particularly Roger/Holly stuff), and somehow came across that clip. And I was *mesmerised* by it all.

 

I know it’s a GL thread, but the only other sibling relationship I can think that would even come close to this is Jack/Ashley on Y&R (the Lester/Davidson version). But the Spaulding siblings were on a completely different level altogether!

[NothinButAttitude]

Speaking of siblings, why was the introduction of Lacey Bauer so awkward? Like she didn't even know who her brother was? The dialogue was all choppy and awkward. No wonder she didn't last long. How long did the character last on the canvas?

Please register in order to view this content

 

[Bill Bauer]

 

 

Thankfully, not long. A year maybe? It was awkward probably because of a combination of the actor’s style and the way the character was sort of shoe-horned in. It was just a way for the writers to bring in more “Bauers” without bringing back more Bauers. It was just silly. I couldn’t tell you a single storyline the character had. I think she just sat around looking confused and startled.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

That's odd. But then again that seems like the stance on the Bauer clan at that time with the exception of Rick and Johnny. 

 

But why didn't the writers just tie Johnny/Lacie to Meta or Trudy instead of creating this whole new branch of Bauers that the audience knew didn't exist instead? That would've been the more logical route. 

[j swift]

When Michael O'Leary left the role of Rick Bauer in the early '90 SOD ran articles in two successive issues that the role would be recast.  Of course, he wasn't and as a result, Rick missed Phillip and Beth's second wedding.  However, I've been wondering if there was any info on who had been offered the part or if any new characters at the time were supposed to be the Rick-recast.

[robbwolff]

She was only around for two or three months if I recall correctly. Pam Long quickly wrote out the character. She was part of a quadrangle of sorts with Dinah, Cameron, and Alan-Michael. I believe she had sex with Cameron and then left Springfield shortly thereafter.

[OzFrog]

Dunno whether this has been posted already, but been on a 1986 GL watching binge, and came across the Christmas episode. Can I just say that this for me is hands down THE BEST Christmas episode of any soap that I have ever watched.

 

The highlight of this episode for me was the first official scene of Ross and Dinah as father and daughter. So fabulously awkward between Jerry VerDorn and Jennifer Gatti in this scene.

 

On a related note, there is quite a bit of December 1986 missing from bandstandmike’s playlist on Youtube, and part of what’s missing are the scenes where Ross and Vanessa finally discover that Dinah is their daughter (November 1986 gets up to the part where the carnival folk sneak into Lillian’s house after they find out that Vanessa is Dinah’s mother, but then a huge chunk of that storyline is missing). How did it end up getting resolved?

 

Please register in order to view this content

 

[Bill Bauer]

 

Yes, it would have been more logical but I think the reasoning with the writers at the time might have been; to be a “Bauer”, they had to have the last name “Bauer’”. That couldn’t have been done with the off-spring of Meta and Trudy. I honestly believe that they heard the audience cry of “We need more Bauers!” at the time and thought the only way to answer that was to bring on more characters with the last name “Bauer” even though they would have to reach far across the family tree to do so. They just didn’t get the fans’ love of the history of the show. The love was for the family who had been the focus of the show for decades, not for the surname “Bauer”. 

[Eboneece]

Even though her Alex cannot compare to Bev’s, I do find myself wondering how Marj Dusay is and what she is up to. 

[SFK]

 

I think about her often! I wish she was active on IG, but I hope she's enjoying her life with friends and family and fabulous vacations. 

[Eboneece]

Yes! Marj has always been fabulous with a taste for the finer things in life. I recall her getting along well with Crystal Hunt when she was on the show as Lizzie.

[Khan]

 

Wow, Marj must be a saint to be able to get along with her, lol!

[Mitch]

 

 

Hated Hunt as Lizzie but I liked the chemistry with her and Marj. Marj never had the "young person" maternal thing that Bev had as Alex, who could be ripping Roger apart in one scene and then calmly having a discussion with Phillip or A-M or whomever, the next.