Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[amybrickwallace]

 

That's so true. A month after GL aired its final episode, I and my 300-odd co-workers lost our jobs when our call center closed its doors for good. Finding work at that time was no picnic.

[Mitch]

Agree on all the points people made on this topic, but I grew up in a town in Central Illinois and too international companies ADM and Staley's (well, parent company Tate & Lyle) were based there. (its such a weird town that Warren Buffet's son lives there and is now the unpaid Sheriff)  So its not totally weird but those businesses are related to farm and agriculture, not Lewis Oil (why the f*ck did that move to Springfield) and God knows what Spaulding or Walsh Enterprises actually produced.  I can even see a media company in the 80s being situated in a midwest town in the center of the country..but they needed to explain that ( "Darling this is a burg, but the cost of living is so low we don't have to pay as much and I have easy access to all my stations in the country.") 

 

What I hated was all the Yachts  (uh, a yacht on a lake in a landlocked town???) and international flights coming in and out.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

LOL. In my imagination, Spaulding didn't produce anything but acquired other companies to fill out their various divisions and their company portfolio.  It seemed as if most of those companies were like that, including Walsh Enterprises, which I remember wanted to take over the Snyder farm, Lucinda mainly wanted to get rid of the Snyders but I remember Tad Channing suggesting partnering with Lucinda to industrialize the farm, likely to make it one of those agro-businesses.  I think early Kirk Anderson suggested a similar proposition. Walsh, in maneuvering to take Simply Barbara (and not give it back once Barbara got out of prison) seemed more of an acquisition (remember how Walsh flopped the business once Barbara started BRO and began to compete? Walsh also briefly acquired the television station WOAK.  

 

Yeah, why did Lewis Oil move from Tulsa to Springfield?? Unless they were a big proponent of 'fracking' and believed that Springfield had a source of oil underneath the surface like Nebraska, it doesn't make much sense as to why they'd move their headquarters to Springfield when their rigs were still rooted in Tulsa (and Venezuela).

[robbwolff]

 

I have to disagree with Culliton about living in lofts not belonging in a midwestern setting. When I've been in that area of the country, I've gone house hunting and have looked at lofts a number of times. 

[Paul Raven]

My point was that in the Genoa City of 1973 there were no international conglomerates.The wealthiest people depicted were the Brooks and then the Chancellors. 

Later on Lance Prentiss took it up a notch with a private jet etc ...

Agree that the soaps should have taken the time to explain why these big outfits were based in these towns and used that as a plot point.

[Mona Kane Croft]

 

Walsh Enterprises didn't produce anything. It was a management consulting company. They engaged in contracts with other companies all over the world,  to solve problems or deal with business decisions. Kirk Anderson and Conner Walsh were among the consultants who completed the various contracts.  Lucinda did occasionally acquire smaller companies, such as Simply Barbara and one of the newspapers.  But that was usually just  Lucinda"s way using her money to influence something in town, or to get back at someone.  

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by Neil Johnson

[~bl~]

I thought Guiding Light first was on the radio out of Chicago, and then I thought the Schemering said it was in California, before it made its way to the NYC. I wonder if the location changes for the broadcasts, (as it was radio in those days) was influenced by the real life changes behind the scenes. (Does anyone know the timeline of Selby Flats to Five Points to Springfield?)

[Khan]

Personally, I've always thought "Selby Flats" sounds like Skid Row.

[Mona Kane Croft]

 

I don't believe the location changes were connected to the location of the broadcasts.  I don't know the timeline, but Five Points was first, followed by Selby Flats, and then Springfield.  Although I'm not sure, I believe the Bauers never lived in Five Points.  They joined the show while it was located in Selby Flats, which was supposedly a suburb of Los Angeles.   

Edited February 7, 2020 by Neil Johnson

[Paul Raven]

Meta was the first Bauer introduced  as she was the natural mother of a child adopted by the Brandons. She went by the name Jan Carter. She was re-united with her family and that's how the Bauers were introduced to the show.

[victoria foxton]

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Guiding Light (March 13, 1987) 

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Edited February 7, 2020 by victoria foxton

[Dion]

 

 

 

(The following is all pieced together from Wikipedia and the whos who profiles on soapcentral which are surprisingly extensive for some of the early GL characters).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guiding_Light_(1937–49)

https://www.soapcentral.com/gl/whoswho/ray.php

https://www.soapcentral.com/gl/whoswho/meta.php

https://www.soapcentral.com/gl/whoswho/mama.php

 

NBC cancelled the show in November 1946, CBS picked it up in June 1947. The CBS version shifted production from Chicago to Hollywood and the show's locale from Five Points to Selby Flats. Rev. Dr. Ruthledge appears to have died just before the end of the NBC/Five points run, with his lamp being transferred to his friend the Rev. Dr. Matthews in Selby Flats.

 

Selby Flats originally revolved around Rev. Dr. Charles Matthews and his interactions with an ex con, Roger Barton sr. aka Ray Brandon, who'd been framed for a crime he didn't commit. There was a roughly year-long storyline involving Ray wanting to reconcile with his son and get revenge on the man who'd framed him, while falling in love with Charlotte at the same time. When that was all cleared up and Ray was exonerated, Ray became a lawyer, married Charlotte, and together they adopted Chuckie who was Meta Bauer's son in 1948. This heralded the arrival of the Bauers.

 

Meta was initially estranged from her family and as @Paul Ravensays, was going by the name Jan Carter. Mama Bauer had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and this was the impetus for Meta's reunion with her family.

 

The show moved production to New York City in 1949, Bert was introduced and she and Bill married at the end of 1949. Mama died whilst Bill and Bert were on their honeymoon. At some point, Rev. Dr. Matthews was replaced by Rev. Dr. Keeler and eventually the religious aspects were phased out as the Bauer's become the central point of the show.

 

Meta eventually reclaimed her son and married son's father Ted White, later shooting Ted dead after Chuckie was killed in an accident while in Ted's care. This lead to the famous trial storyline in 1951.

 

The show stayed in Selby Flats until 1965-66 when it began to transition to Springfield.

Edited February 7, 2020 by Dion

[Mitch]

 I wish some writer would of thrown in some Easter Eggs, and have Roger be behind a new residential developement called "Selby Flats" (so Alex could steal Khan's line "Sound like skid row!") or when Philiip had his really stupid plan to knock down Company (did we ever know how he just acquired the mortgage) and rename 7th street Five Points...

 

And Victoria Foxton..you stole my heart with that gif of Chelsea being electrocuted when touching the mic...if only that happened each time...

 

[EllenP]

Someone under the name AlexDevane has been posting full episodes of the show from the early 2000s, pre-2005 massive budget cut. The stories sucked other than a few spots here and there like 2002-early 2003 and mid-to-late 2004. But I am amazed at how good the show looked and how many sets the show used!

 

Question: in Josh and Reva’s house they got from Vanessa, were there two different living rooms/dens? As I have been rewatching, the rooms look nearly identical, but one has  stairs and you can see the dining room. When I was watching at the time, I thought the rooms were one in the same. After rewatching though, I am realizing that they may not have been the same room at all! At any rate, that house was so much better than Lincoln Logs Cross Creek used in the year just before the production change.

[Mona Kane Croft]

 

Yes, Josh and Reva's house had a living room (with the stairs and, I believe, a fireplace) AND a den/study.  Definitely two separate rooms. But after one of the big budget cuts, they moved the two sets together, as if they had always been one room.  The side of the set with the stairs (from the living room) was used, but was pushed together with the opposite side of the den/study set.  Not sure I am explaining it well, but maybe someone else remembers and can explain it more precisely.  They used this "combination" set only briefly and then they stopped using the entire set.  I guess Josh and Reva must have moved to a different house, or maybe they divorced and they both lived elsewhere.