Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Khan]

I wouldn't mind a GL reboot that brought the show back to its' roots as a faith- and religion-based soap opera.  Something to help differentiate it from the other web soaps out there.  (Although, if that means the return of Reverend Joshua Lewis, forget it.)

Edited May 31, 2020 by Khan

[JelloRocks]

I have a question I hope you all can help me with. I remember watching the show in the late 80s and there was a character introduced who I think was the hospital administrator (maybe Warren’s successor?). It seems she didn’t last long though. Anyone know who this character was?

[GLATWT88]

 

I was flipping through a magazine and it had an ad for the show Greenleaf on the OWN network and on the ad it had two huge letters "GL". I have never seen it promoted this way or abbreviated as such, but the show from my understanding does have a central family connected with a megachurch. Considering Springfield is rural Midewst, I can definitely see a Guiding Light reboot with the addition of a faith based family. While I don't believe I reboot would work, I would love to see some of the characters again, even for a 85th anniversary movie or miniseries to play out a new story or updates on what's been happening in Springfield. 

[BetterForgotten]

It's interesting that despite coming from a Jewish background, Irna's work often had these Christian themes running through them. I guess it could be down to the networks/sponsors she had to contend with. 

 

Did Irna's Jewish cultural roots ever get reflected in any of her works? 

[DRW50]

 

Was Mitchell Dru, the character she shipped onto most of her shows, meant to be Jewish? 

[victoria foxton]

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Guiding Light - June 19, 1986 - India at Stoney Lake Reformatory.   Dorie and von Halken gold. Baby Ben drama.

Edited May 31, 2020 by victoria foxton

[Bill Bauer]

 

Yes. One of the two major families when The Guiding Light started was Jewish. The Kranskys. I think Irna's fascination with Christianity came less from the networks and sponsors than it did from a positive relationship she had with a Christian minister who helped her when she got pregnant by a married man and lost her baby (a theme that would run throughout her work). I'm not sure how the relationship started. There's just mention of it in her biographical material. I don't think she ever became a Christian but she did "flirt" with the faith through her writings. I think Sigmund Freud would have loved Irna. 

 

That's an unfortunate freeze frame. Looks like a scene from The Exorcist. 

[GuidingLighter]

Kim Zimmer and Jane Eliot appear in Nancy Lee Grahn’s new Zoom webseires. Its actially funny

 

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[EricMontreal22]

A classic September 1963 Agnes Nixon episode has been re-uploaded in good quality. 

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[Alan]

Watching the Cooper reunion now, Beth Ehlers's first comment upon meeting Justin Deas was "Here's the executive producer's boyfriend." LOL!

[Soapsuds]

Can't hear Justin. Frank praising Beth to the hills is cringeworthy.

[victoria foxton]

 Oh my! Alan has opening graphic at the start

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[BetterForgotten]

Beth looks more and more like Irna Phillips as she ages...

[victoria foxton]

Beth is looking like Ruth Karloff to me. 

[Soapsuds]

He did it with ATWT. Alan starts the interviews the same way and asks the same questions. Talking about Jean Carol but Justin still can't be heard.

I had forgotten that Fiona was John Driscoll mother on the show.