Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

I'm really grateful to all the YouTube accounts that post their episodes. The uploads of GL are really in great quality overall. 

Again, I'll never understand why, in the decade+ years that the show has now been off the air, P&G couldn't let some dedicated group access their episode archives to post on a dedicated P&G YouTube channel.  If there were one place to go to, rather than going to ten different channels, I'd bet they'd really see some numbers in terms of visits to the channel. YouTube has a cost-sharing initiative--it wouldn't make them rich (although there are some YouTubers who have made great livings off page clicks) but it would be a lot better than letting the videos sit there and risk degradation. 

Many people will say, it would take too long to digitize and upload episodes.  Well, it's been 11 years now, and had they started the effort back then or continued from where SoapClassics left off, they'd have made significant progress with the episodes they have. There are so many loyal dedicated fans (some of which have relevant skills) that they likely could have found the necessary volunteers to accomplish the tasks. 

 

Again though, kudos to the folks on YouTube who post their episodes without asking anything in return. 

 

 

[Soaplovers]

For me, 1997 was the last year that the show still resembled GL.. and the best chance of fully regaining the light at full wattage ... The Annie Dutton trial was epic, Annie's downfall was satisfying, Annie/Alan becoming the powerful duo was great.. even early Cassie was promising.  And Abby's attack than her shooting her attacker when he had a Not Guilty plea was also very strong.. and Vannessa/Matt reuniting.. though I would have liked it if Vanessa had resumed working at Spaulding while battling Annie/Alan.  

[DeliaIrisFan]

 

Thanks, @SFK!

 

I have just gotten up to Buzz's debut in 1993 on YouTube.  I had never seen his very first episodes and in some ways I was dreading them even more than Maureen's death.  I did like his character back in the '90s and remember enjoying him with FH's Jenna, but I had heard that his fake accent, etc. made for a bumpy start.  I also anticipated that I would not be able to separate what played out on-screen from what I have since read of the backstage dynamics, i.e., the initial decision to kill Maureen was meant to free up money in the budget to hire a soap veteran.  (Whatever else, I will say again they should have taken another look at that budget after Beverlee McKinsey quit...and they probably would have found the money.)

 

Buzz's intro has been...pretty much as I expected, although it's not making me hate everything surrounding him as I feared.  One thing I have to point out, though, that I've never heard before: Justin Deas's first (full) episode was like a reunion of Phelps's so-called "Friends of Jill" that defied the time-space continuum.  The actress who had a bit part as the woman Buzz was living with (before he learned Nadine was married to an oil magnate and took off to bilk money from her) looked vaguely familiar to me, so I looked her up on IMDB.  JFP would go on to hire her as a love interest of Tim Gibbs's character on Another World, although the character lasted a few months before being murdered by the same serial killer who killed Frankie Frame.  And, the actor who played said serial killer was also credited as a guest star in this very same episode of GL (playing the DA who replaced Ross after he resigned to be a senator).

 

I suspect the part of Buzz's love interest was written as a woman of a certain age — it was insinuated that he met her while she was working at a VA hospital when he first came home from Vietnam — but the actress was clearly much younger than that backstory would suggest...

[DRW50]

@DeliaIrisFan did you see the short 1988 clip put in the RH thread - there's a pretty good Delia scene in it. 

[DAMfan]

Marj Dusay, a star of television soap operas like “All My Children,” “Days of Our Lives” and “Guiding Light,” died Tuesday at the age of 83.

[victoria foxton]

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Guiding Light - February 13, 1981 Amanda dressed like a young girl from the 1800's is a hoot. Lisa Brown brought so much as quirky bad girl Nola. It's strange to see Hope in an ugly maternity dress. Hope gave birth to AM in Sept . So she would only be about a month pregnant. Yet she's wearing that ugly maternity dress. With no baby bump in sight  It's always strange to see Vanessa as a snobbish ice queen. 

Edited January 31, 2020 by victoria foxton

[victoria foxton]

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Guiding Light- November 5, 1987 (partial) With a dash of Santa Barbara mixed in.

Edited January 31, 2020 by victoria foxton

[DramatistDreamer]

Mary Ellen Stuart appears in this partial episode sporting quite a huge helmet of hair! Nobody show Mitch.

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[DRW50]

Watching that 1981 episode again I notice how much the plot is driven by various baddies - even when we aren't seeing them they're talking about them (like Andy). It makes for some good drama, thanks to how much fun Maeve Kinkead and Lisa Brown are, but it leaves the "good" characters, especially of the female variety, feeling extremely wan. Only Hillary manages to seem tougher, but her cultish speech about Kelly toward the end is a little disturbing (if well-acted - great cliffhanger though). On the male side it's mostly the older actors who enliven their roles. 

 

I wonder if this was Stephen Jackson's last appearance. 

 

Nola is a lot of fun in this I have to admit. Sometimes I wonder if they should've left her as a bad girl a little longer. 

[j swift]

Old Cheers and Jeers from TV Guide courtesy of @RetroNewsNow always makes me smile - dated February 2, 1985

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Edited February 3, 2020 by j swift

[DRW50]

Two years?

[zanereed]

 

I think they were confused when Brandon "reappeared" in 1983 via flashbacks for the Eli Simms storyline (which actually ended up killing Bill Bauer in 1983, not Brandon). Brandon had originally died on camera in 1979.

[DRW50]

 

Thanks. That makes sense. 

[KMan101]

 

Yes it is refreshing how women had goals and dreams aside from wanting a man. They could *gasp* have both. Ciara Brady comes to mind instantly. Heaven forbid we want her to have goals and ambitions. I notice most of the young couple stans just don't get how soaps work. It's only about catering to them and their couple. Anywho ...

 

I love the '94 opening theme but it doesn't do a great job showing the cast. I liked the budget friendly '04 (02?) version.

Edited February 4, 2020 by KMan101

[Mona Kane Croft]

 

That storyline was confused about a lot of things.  Most importantly, did any of those older male characters even live in Springfield during the period the photo was supposedly taken?  Bill Bauer was living in Selby Flats, California during that time. HB Lewis was in Tulsa, and had never even heard of Springfield.  The Spauldings were not originally from Springfield, because I remember when Alan moved there in the late-70s (although this history was changed later and misused many many times).  I suppose the only character for whom this plot was historically accurate was the the Reardon father (don't recall his name) -- because the Reardon's were Springfield natives.  

 

It was a very interesting plot, and well written.  But the show's continuity was totally botched. Nutty.