Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Mitch]

This is it..you can work 24/7 but if you aren't capable and you make wrong choice (putting JVD on recurring) after wrong choice (thinking that weird assassin guy and Hillbilly Bonnie would make a super couple) there are no kudos for you. I am also sick of hearing that Peapack saved GL for a couple of years...who cares...it sucked and should have gone off the air if the net and P & G didn't give a damn anymore.  Hey she could have ended up filming people having sex in roadside park restrooms who wants to see it..oh yes, she did film people have sex in park restrooms..so..no..just enough with Wheeler, she is where she belongs right now.

 

No..he truly was as if Bernau had a kid..but that was the problem...Phillip wasn't Alan's bio kid!

 

 

[j swift]

It is funny that you should mention their chemistry because according to this article about his casting the chemistry was a key component to Bolger being cast

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[Franko]

Something I didn't know: Hillary Edson, later to play Eve, auditioned in 1983 for the role of Mindy.

[Mitch]

That is why they should have cast him as someone else and just had Phillip skip town to go looking for Alan when Alex tells him she thinks he is actually alive.  Here comes this new hungry exec at Spaulding (is there any other at the factory or evil) who conspires with and against India.  I mean, India chasing after that feathered haired blond bore Simon????

[Mona Kane Croft]

There was an amazingly respectful tribute to Guiding Light and soap operas in general on today's episode of the NPR radio show, 1-A. The segment is approximately 15-minutes long, and I would encourage any soap historians and fans to find it online and listen to it. It's ironic that the national tv networks can't show any reverence to the soap operas that sustained them for generations, but NPR took 15-minutes on national radio today to reflect on the importance of the genre. I've always loved NPR, but even more so now.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Here's the link:

 

https://the1a.org/segments/guiding-light/

[Mitch]

 

Great story!!! I loved that they used the 70th anniversary episode sound bite as Ehlers as Irna and Boque as a network exec. As much as I dis Wheeler, that was a great imaginative episode.

 

[Bill Bauer]

 

 

Thank you for the link! It was great to hear a segment from a radio episode I don't have. People sadly have no idea what they missed. I think Guiding Light was at its best on radio. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

You're welcome.

It's like you said, people have no idea what they have missed. I blame P&G/PGP for this.

Something that I have been saying for years was mentioned in this podcast segment- the devaluing of the impact and artistic value of the soap opera because it was perceived as a genre directed at women. That is a massive part of why the archives have been so poorly preserved, if preserved at all.

It's also why I have been saying for years that the genre needs a very thorough, scholarly and entertaining documentary series (a la Ken Burns' "Jazz", "Baseball" or the recent one on Country music for the History Of the Daytime Drama. And a big part of that should be a "warts and all" examination of Irna Phillips, on all her genius, faults and foibles, the sexism she undoubtedly faced as well as the actions she took in its wake to build thos genre. Until we get something of that level, with that sort of gravitas and scholarly examination, the likes of P&G will continue to devalue parts of their entertainment legacy, because they can and aren't facing pressure to do otherwise.

[Forever8]

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[FrenchBug82]

Is there a good place, since that documentary is not close to being made :), for someone to read about Irna in more details, including some of the things you mention? I always learn bits and pieces on this forum and it sounds so fascinating but I could enjoy a more comprehensive story of hers.

[Mona Kane Croft]

 

This is wonderful.  I had forgotten that Don Stewart was still playing Mike Bauer during this storyline.  Sadly, both Stewart and Peter Simon would be gone by the time Bert died.  Because of that, it seemed like the character's death was minimized.  

[heffer]

 

 

Is this a pre-GL Michael O'Leary on General Hospital (starts at 8:48)?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bghrMvYV7AE

[DRW50]

 

It doesn't help that some of the more high-profile soap fans are very polarizing people who only seem to be interested in cheap camp aspects. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

 

Yeah, but any truly well-made documentary will appeal to an audience beyond those fans. 

A thoroughly researched, well done documentary will garner attention and interest in the subject. And I am not talking about reboots or anything, just enough regard for the genre to look at preservation efforts (or lack thereof).