Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Mitch]

And the weird thing, both Bridget and Matt should have seen Ed as a surrogate father..extending the Bauer family. The writers did do some of this but Simon just had no connection with anyone and seemed so shut off.  I would have recast a year after Mo's death..the Bauer's didn't necessarily need a matriarch as anyone else was going to be compared to Bert and Mo, but they could have recast Ed to be the warmer patriarch. That's one of the reasons I hated what they did with Rick and the acting ticks O"Leary jumped to...at his best MOL had nice chemistry with everyone and was a kind of warm guy people would respond to, but the writers insisted Rick was a loser and MOL couldnt get over the fact that he would never be a romantic lead or dramatic character and jumped into mugging to get attention.

[Soaplovers]

 

 

I remember that scene, and I do recall that Eve Guthrie overhead him ripping into her for doing the right thing and she ripped him a new one in that scene which took him and Bridget by surprise.

 

I do think after the show killed Eve off and Ed eventually left the show... that was when they should have gotten either Mike Bauer to come back (since his grand son Alan Michael was struggling with his good vs bad side... plus Alan was back).. or recast Ed with MH.. or even someone warm that was his own worst enemy.

 

I do think the show had found the next generation Bauer couple to take over for Ed/Maureen.. with Abby/Rick... but the show blew that in 1998/9 with the whole Mob/Reva overdose/San Cristobel crap 

[NothinButAttitude]

 

But they did eventually recast Ed with Bob Gentry reprising and they should've possibly kept him. Was Mart Hulswit still acting the time? If so, they should've brought him back to play Ed after Robert didn't work out. 

 

In regard to Rick, they stayed flopping and missing opportunities with the character in later years. 

 

 

Even after Abby/Rick got blown to shreds, do you think that Mel/Rick could've possible taken that role too? At least I did. 

[Mitch]

Mel had potential when she showed she had fire...like when she was opposed to Phillip.  That was actually good to have a Bauer and Rick's partner not cowed by Phillip and they should have kept that up...not them fighting up Mel never taking Phillips [!@#$%^&*] and calling him on it and calling Beth out to. She didn't know the Four M's and Abby just saw the good in everyone so she would be different. I like the Bauer Matrirarch being a black woman who was strong and good and with a career.  I just dont think the actress and MOL had a zilch of chemistry with each other.

 

But ulitmately Rick and Mindy (KT) would have been my go to for next Bauer Couple. Loved them.

[DRW50]

 

I thought they were decent together (although I thought she felt too young for him), but their relationship was rushed for that heart transplant story which just felt so manipulative I couldn't really invest. 

 

I saw some clips of a very fiery set of scenes with Mel finding out about his sleeping with Beth. I guess at least she got that material, if not much else...

The pairing with Cyrus always seemed random as hell. I did like Cyrus, but that was mostly down to Murray Bartlett. 

 

The Boudreauxes were introduced with real fanfare yet the show gave up pretty much immediately. I still remember poor Shari Headley having to play a slave...

[KMan101]

 

Thank you. All of this, Carl. All of it.

 

They all had potential but ... you know ...

[victoria foxton]

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Guiding Light (December 4, 1986)

[DramatistDreamer]

Only yesterday, I was bemoaning how the quality of the writing started to descend in 1994 (for example, the highly contrived scenes of Alexandra walking in just as Nick, Gilly and Alan-Michael are toasting Nick's secret plan to secure Spaulding's half of WSPR to sign over to Gilly but they happen to be doing this in public at a club where Alexandra is a member

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)but then watching this episode now, I am reminded that early-mid 90s GL was still able to inject some snappy dialogue, such as Fletcher asking Alan-Michael "What's the tea?" @36:28.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvnTPWQqkqo

 

 

Edited January 23, 2020 by DramatistDreamer

[DramatistDreamer]

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Those scenes with Mindy and the big bodyguard. Krista Tesreau is as cute as can be here.  Roxy would be a total anomaly on today's soaps. A young woman who is ambitious enough to be engaged in her studies and academics, while also being hung up on a guy--soaps today seem to forget that a woman can do both.  Seeing and contrasting the opening theme from 1994 compared to 1986 and in '86 you can actually see each and every character in the opening, while in 1994, it moves so fast you barely catch a glimpse of some of the characters. Of course, I think '94 was trying to squeeze in more faces.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Can I just say that GL totally dropped the ball with Mel upon Phillip's return...

 

Mel and Leah should've given Phillip so much grief as he blew up their world due to his antics. It always struck a nerve with me that his feet wasn't held to the fire upon his return.

[DRW50]

 

They dropped a lot with Philip's return. I'd say it was down to cancellation but realistically they still would have dropped a lot. 

 

There's something very unique about Roxy that draws me to her. The acting isn't the best, but I like that the show sort of went against type.

[Mitch]

Agreed..they could have made her Mini Reva but the actress came across as so sweet and happy and not in a Jessie kind of way, she still had spunk.  Agreed her acting wasnt the greatest but you could tell she took it seriously and she got better. Sometimes in TV and soaps, an actor's warmth and personality can make up for a lot.

[Dan]

Honestly, I think most of us were just glad the real Phillip returned and not psycho pod Phillip, the Grady crash-dummy death notwithstanding (the most unintentionally funny scene in GL history. I laughed so hard.) 

Edited January 24, 2020 by Dan

[Mitch]

Yes, I think that Crazed Phillip story line should have been treated just like the clone and jumping through paintings, never to be mentioned again.

 

Its too bad though, it had as always potential, but for some reason Wheeler wanted to turn Phillip into James Stenbeck and have both he and Rick have hands in killing Ross????

[Soapsuds]

I also liked Roxy. She was one of my favorites. GL was so hokey at that time. Add the awful recast of John Bolger as Philip to that and you had a GL that had lost its luster. And it was reflected in the ratings.