Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[RavenWhitney]

Lezlie Dalton and Denise Pence 2015 with Nelson Aspen

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[Soapsuds]

GL was the better show at that time(even I an ATWT #1 fan have to admit). Thus the better numbers. Their ATWT had some good moments but nothing like the writing they did on GL.

Probably a lot since I hated their writing on SB.

[Mitch]

Loved that set and that is really one thing the Dobs did well that they didn't replicate on ATWT,...a midwestern gothicness.  Marland picked up on that and took it even higher.

 

Bridget..she has to be a trip to have drinks with but she has a huge ego and actually beleives what she thinks. GL was doing better, as ATWT fell into a rut at that time, so P & G thought they could do what they had done with GL, take a traditional soap and "contemporize" it while keeping the core. I have no idea why it didnt work on ATWT but the Hughes were decimated.

[BetterForgotten]

They also had fairly terrible producers in Bartholomew and Bunin to contend with at ATWT.
 

Their transition to ATWT also coincided with the explosion of ABC Daytime, so they were likely being forced to ‘ABCfy’ the show. ATWT always had the reputation for being the most traditional and old school soap, and was often the soap cited at the time as being “uncool” when GH and AMC exploded in popularity in the late 70’s/early 80’s.

 

At GL, they came in at a time where they likely had more freedom and support from P&G to really tell the types of stories they wanted. Their GL is pretty amazing soap, and I definitely think it surpasses Marland’s tenure in overall quality, IMO. It still felt like a P&G soap, but very contemporary and modern in its own unique way.

[Soapsuds]

ATWT ranked #4 with an 8.2 followed closely by GL at #5 with an 8.1. GL didn't overtake ATWT until the following year. When did the Dobsons leave GL?

[BetterForgotten]

Didn’t Marland replace them in late ‘79?

[Soaplovers]

GL always had more emotion, and you're all right that in 1975..P & G probably let the Dobson's work their magic and were more patient since ATWT & AW were flying high while SFT were on rebirth of ratings at that time. 

 

They also didn't drop Cendella's plots or characters when they took over..just updated things over time.  

 

I've watched a few episodes of their 1980 stint on ATWT..and it wasn't bad..but I think P & G needed to let the Dobson's work to update things without demanding instant results.  ATWT needed a lot more work in 1980 than GL did in 1975.  

Edited June 27, 2020 by Soaplovers

[Forever8]

From Facebook 

 

Emmy-award winning writers Jim Brown, Jill Lorie Hurst, David Kreizman, Courtney Simon and Millee Taggart will join me live on Wednesday, July 1st at 3PM EST. Do you have questions for these incredible writers? Please share your questions below.

 

https://www.facebook.com/TheLocherRoom/

[BetterForgotten]

‘Incredible’ applies to very few of those people...

 

Will someone ask Jim Brown about covertly praising his own work on Facebook? Lol

[RavenWhitney]

The Dobsons wrote for GL from early 75 through December 1979. Marland took over in Jan 1980 and wrote the show until near end of 82, I think.  Pat Smith and L. Virginia Brown each wrote the show for a few weeks/months, but I can't find any youtube episodes from their short periods.  I know the Cullitons/Tomlin were interim head writers from early March 1983 until May when Long started.  I found episodes with credits during that time.

Edited June 27, 2020 by RavenWhitney

[Bill Bauer]

 I have a Christmas episode from 1982 that fell under Brown's tenure but that's it. 

[Soaplovers]

I watched some of the Marland era, but even than..headwriters were propping their creations.   It's natural and not always a bad thing.

 

However, I didn't Carrie at all...not because of Jane Elliot..but it wasn't a strong character imho.  So what was the reason why Potter ended the story early?  It did sort of end suddenly.

[soapfan770]

 

He came back for a couple episodes to see Tammy after Sandy's death and visited Lizzie(Rylan had just taken over) for like an ep. 

 

In the transition period from Weston to Kriezman a lot of old references came popping up. It was just a relief after Weston's GL had completely twisted and ruined all GL canon that existed prior to 2003. 

[DRW50]

 

Wasn't it that she had gone too far and Marland wanted to keep her around? Or was it a ratings thing? Considering the ugly tension between Potter and Marland, she may have been a victim of a proxy war.

[Paul Raven]

Jane's option was up and I believe if she renewed she'd get a pay raise and she was already on top dollar. Potter didn't think that the story was resonating and the ratings weren't up so he wanted to save the $$$.