Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Contessa Donatella]

 

Great! Glad to hear it. Tell her she was excellent on SFT. And, that we all loved her as Bunny Eberhardt on AW.

[VanessaReardon]

Marcia says that you need a time out on that AW bench! 

[Contessa Donatella]

 

ROTF! Okay. I'll be glad to go visit the AW Fan Bench. Tell her to join me. You both can.

[Khan]

 

Perhaps, if I hadn't been worn down by years of awful writing, @BetterForgotten, I would agree with you.  However, by the time Laiman and Passanante came along, I was desperate for anything on AW to hold my interest -- and you know I'd have to BE desperate, too, to even give two shits about something screwy as Lumina!

 

 

However, in a way, that neglect worked in AW's favor.  When AW was cancelled, it was in much better shape, overall, than it had been in quite some time.  No, it wasn't as "together" as ATWT was at the end of its' run, but it was certainly better, IMO, than GL was -- either at that time, or at any other time in the decade to follow.

 

 

I've always believed (or suspected) that "Ghost Reva" was a compromise of sorts between JFP and either CBS or PGP.  KZ was ready to come back, and both network and sponsor were ready to have her back, too.  However, JFP, who neither liked nor understood the "Reva phenomenon," wasn't all that keen on bringing her back, since she believed GL had evolved into a more well-rounded, ensemble-driven show.

 

So, like I said, they drew up a compromise: CBS and PGP got what they wanted (Reva/KZ back on GL) but more-or-less under JFP's terms (a short-term arc, as Reva's ghost).  If "Ghost Reva" flopped -- which it did, creatively, if not in the ratings -- then JFP would have all the justification she needed to keep both actress and character from returning full-time. 

 

But, if the audience were to respond well to the story...?  Well, figuring out how to bring back Reva full-time after bringing on her ghost would be up to her successor, since I'm about 90% sure JFP was out the door and working at AW by the time "Ghost Reva" was done.

Edited October 10, 2019 by Khan

[Contessa Donatella]

 

Oh, @Khan, Lumina was so bad! David Halliday/Jordan Stark with the facial disfiguration, UGH, can we say Phantom of the Opera?!!

 

And, David/Jordan was after both Rachel & Amanda. Yuck!

 

And, Cameron, of The Secret Garden with Amanda & Ally, had that soft "barely there" hair & spoke just as softly. Where The Secret Garden was really just a maze of shrubbery.

 

 

I thought the end 90s were better than you did. Carl & Rachel's love story & time walking through the Poet's Corner were wonderful, if you ask me. Of course, Matt & Amanda were always against that. In real life, my brother was against it too. Our family grew up with both AW & DOOL.

[Mitch]

 

 

Never got the Carl Rachel thing...when I watched in college on and off, he was trying to kill her and her family...too much suspension of belief to think that Rachel would accept him...and yea, I am with the network, the long hair on that old guy....only soap opera watching "fraus" : )  would think that was HOT or exotic. But I can't believe they gave "old" people a love story so there is a plus there.

 

[Contessa Donatella]

 

Yeah, you're with my brother there. Me, I loved Carl & Rachel. The YouTube Cips we put up of Carl & Rachel #1, #2 and #3 are great to me.

[Contessa Donatella]

This is from THE SURVIVAL OF SOAP OPERA: TRANSFORMATIONS FOR A NEW MEDIA ERA. Edited by Sam Ford, Abigail de Kosnik, and C. Lee Harrington. University Press of Mississippi/Jackson. © 2011.

 

I have permission to share it with you from both Patrick Erwin and Sam Ford

 

GL Relevance and Renewal in a Changing Genre by Patrick Erwin

 

[Maybe this would work:

https://www.amazon.com/reader/1617033170/ref=rdr_sb_li_hist_1&state=10112#reader_1617033170]

 

 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2019 by Donna B
Snip.

[slick jones]

One can only imagine how many restraining orders are out there.

 

[rlj]

DonnaB, ya ever heard of a link, no offense, that was way too much!

[Contessa Donatella]

 

No need to wonder; there are none.

[Contessa Donatella]

I am re-reading Zimmer's book because I'm looking for a passage. And, I found something I thought I would share. Kim had won her first Emmy the afternoon before. (That's when they had them in the afternoons.)That was her win when she had those garish hair extensions sticking out of her head at all angles. The next day, in the studio, trying to work, Kim was still so excited about her Emmy win that she couldn't get settled into her dialogue. I knew what it was she was supposed to say but she flubbed her lines for 8 times in a row. After that, Beverlee looked right at her, and cool as could be, oozing Southern accent, said, "You give the girl an Emmy and she can't remember a [!@#$%^&*] line!"

Edited October 12, 2019 by Donna B
Love the lines that are covered up!

[Contessa Donatella]

It's really interesting how many huge GL fans got sick or were sick of Reva Shayne. But, Zimmer says in her book that she -and her fans- do not have any tolerance for being on the backburner. If she goes 3 days without story she goes into the main office complaining!

 

Holly, Harley, Blake, all big fan favorites.

Edited October 13, 2019 by Donna B
more text

[victoria foxton]

I like Kim/Reva. But no character should be front and center all the time. Jeva's played out love story. Plus those awful scfi/supernatural stories did her no favors.

Edited October 13, 2019 by victoria foxton

[VanessaReardon]

A book is just that. A book. One persons perceptions and recollections. People mentioned in the book will always have different recollections and dispute the book. Take it for what it is. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle.