Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[titan1978]

Well,

 

He can be a compelling actor.  I also think he was at one point incredibly attractive (pre GL).  I also cannot blame him for the fact that the writers on the show were so in love with him that they centered too much of the show around him.  He ate some scenery, but so did a lot of his peers on this show and others.

 

Tony Geary ate whole sets sometimes.  But I can’t deny that when he is given good material and strong co-stars, he was good.  Same with Buzz.

[VanessaReardon]

Kim is Kim. She is who she is. I love her. Met her many times. Lovely woman. She’s always Kim. She doesn’t give 2 f***s what people think about her, which is why I love her. 

[Forever8]

My wishful list of Guiding Light stars to participate in the next YouTube Hangout. 

 

Peter Simon 

Maeve Kinkead

Grant Aleksander

Beth Chamberlin

Krista Teserau

Michael O'Leary

Yvonna Kopacz Wright

Paul Anthony Stewart 

Bethany Joy Lenz

Denise Pence

[MichaelGL]

Was GL still Reva centric during the Long/Robert Calhoun years before she drove off a bridge in the keys? I was watching quite a bit of episodes from 89-90 and it seemed that the show found sort of a balance where it seemed Alex, Holly, and Vanessa were sharing a bulk of the front burner stories.

[BetterForgotten]

I think Calhoun largely grounded Long in reality and emphasized a more ensemble approach. That, or Long just got better with managing and balancing the stories and characters in her second stint. Promoting Nancy Curlee to her Co-HW probably helped too.

Edited April 10, 2020 by BetterForgotten

[Soapsuds]

Kim and Jake......Kim is drinking again ...lol.....mentioned his time on ATWT and working with Martha and how great she was with him.

[Soapsuds]

Kim mentioned her time on SB and how she loved working with A Martinez and Pamela k. Long  again and how serious Larkin was as a person and how silly yet fun was the Amish story on GL.

Edited April 10, 2020 by Soapsuds

[Vee]

Zimmer was unbearable onscreen during the Rauch Queen of Love years, but even then you can't say she didn't give it 200%. She did very good, raw work post-Rauch in increasingly intolerable conditions; as a later viewer who didn't become more acquainted with her early years til WOST and YouTube, the later era is when she fully gained my respect. Could she be overbearing and extra in press? Sure, but she was also often right - especially about Wheeler. And her autobiography, very worth a read, is candid but also more kind to Wheeler/Peapack and her own potential culpability than I would be. She owns most of her flaws, she’s a hard worker and even in a kooky supporting role in OLTL she never tried to turn that recurring bit into the Reva Show; she did great work, knew her place on the show and over the years she’s made me a fan.

Edited April 10, 2020 by Vee

[DRW50]

Years ago I think Kim had unhappier memories of her time at SB. I wonder if the last decades of GL shifted her opinion somewhat. 

[Vee]

IIRC Kim said in her book the SB role didn't work but she enjoyed the people.

[Mitch]

I think the Kim of the GL Rauch Love Goddess days cared very much what everyone thought of her. She liked to ignore the critics but she cared.  Now I think she is in a different stage in her life and likes doing regional theater and her family and doesn't care anymore and good for her. I could see GL if it was still on with a budget, having her as the oddball matriarch, like Bert Bauer with a pint of Jack in her, getting in everyone's business and I think Kimmer would be fine at this stage with being support and not THE STAR, and I think it would work quite well.  Josh and Reva should have been support way before GL went off the air. They would need someone like Holly or Vanessa to balance her out as the sane other matriarch.

 

Whomever said Deas did more damage..(well not Deas but Buzz) HELL YES.!! Though his domination was only a few years they were so HELLISH and reminded me of the worst of GL!

 

GL back when Real Reva was running around was more balanced but remember it was filled with a cast of characters and actors who were just as strong with writers and producers who recognized that. Back in the day there was Bev, Maeve, MG, Parker,  MKA, etc.  Rauch and MADD either were too lazy or two afraid to step away from the formula... Josh and Reva break up, make up get involved in a weird situation and do it all over again. Rauch viewed the rest of the divas as too old ..MG, MK, so they were sidelined.

[Aback]

 

What did she say about Wheeler?

[VanessaReardon]

God, I love Kim! Real. 

[chrisml]

If it weren't Reva and Kim Zimmer, we also wouldn't have had Michelle Forbes and Cynthia Watros who turned in phenomenal performances--performances that still resonate today. If Zimmer didn't work on a soap, it was SB, but that was not her problem. It was Long's writing, but we also got Sydney Penny who was so good so I was never bothered by it. 

 

GL post-Reva plunge and before Parker's firing was some of the best GL (minus the BM exit) so GL did survive without Zimmer, but Zimmer deserves her due.

Edited April 10, 2020 by chrisml

[Soaplovers]

I liked Kim on SB...she was convincing as a cop..and she had good chemistry with the actor that played her husband....and she and Sydney Penny had good mother/daughter chemistry.  She also wasn't as OTT either on SB.