Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[EONGLOLTL]

Thank you so much Forever8!  That brought a tear to my eye!  What a wonderful woman and actress.  I miss her and the show very much. 

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[zanereed]

 

Thank you so much for sharing this, @Forever8!

[DRW50]

 

True. I agree with you - a documentary might break through to people in a way a loathsome figure like Andy Cohen won't.

[Forever8]

You're welcome! It's from FYI YouTube page. 

[Soapsuds]

In case anyone missed it like I did.

 

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[vetsoapfan]

 

ITA. Its radio years were astonishingly well done and mesmerizing! Every soap fan should listen to  1950's run of Meta Bauer's trial for murder.

 

The on-screen "tribute" to Bert Bauer after the character died was badly written in the first place, but the entire situation was made significantly worse by the fact that the show did not bring back any of the actors who had worked closely with her. M O'L was there, but he was one actor among so many irrelevant newbies gathered at the Bauer house.

 

I must say, however, that the interview just linked for us brought tears to my eyes. Who among the audience did not love and cherish Bert?

[Mitch]

Yea, Bert's memorial really put a glaring focus on Kobe/Long's huge changes and the impact it had on the show. They had Parker, O'Leary, JVD,Kinkaid, WR, and Terseau as the only people left who had really any scenes of impact with her..(they even had Judi Evan off screen for that dumb ass Sampson Girl thing...you would think she would be there for MOL and to bring her back closer to Phillip, and Bev was on not there, though Alex had only one scene with Bert McKinnsey spoke fondly and highly of Charita on an interview when she just left Texas, which focuses on both of their mutual dislike and annoyance with Ruth Warrick!!)  Not only the actors who werent there but it was glaring how the tone of the show had totally changed from an warm ensemble show to a cold, campy show dominated by Reva and the Lewis men and Kyle Sampson,and a bunch of newbies.

[Mona Kane Croft]

 

Is the one scene between Bert and Alexandra available on Youtube?   I'd love to see them together.   

[victoria foxton]

 Yes. Here's Alex and Bert. They meet 8 mins into the episode. 

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Edited April 22, 2021 by victoria foxton

[vetsoapfan]

 

While I adored characters like Ross and Vanessa, they were not as close to and as important to Bert as several other characters (and actors) who should have been there. Michael O'Leary's Rick was her grandson and had had a good relationship with Bert, but I felt no major emotional connection between Bert and Mindy (for example)...and Warren Andrews??? Yuck. It annoyed me to see him at the Bauer house when Meta, Trudy, Peggy Scott, Steve Jackson, Sarah McIntyre, Mike, Hope, etc., were absent. Of course I knew the show would not bring back everyone, but they should have AT LEAST made an effort with Mike and Hope. With Richard Van Fleet filling in for "the real Ed," LOL, the only on-screen character whom I truly felt sorry for was Frederick. The entire sequence just left me cold and annoyed.

[robbwolff]

Actually it was Ellen Dolan who appeared as Maureen in those scenes. Ellen Parker assumed the role shortly after Bert died. 

 

I'm still watching the latest Locher Room reunion, but Harley Jane Kozak is still pissed that Guiding Light taped the day of Charita's funeral. And thanks to Dolan, we know now it was a spiteful Gail Kobe who killed off Hillary Bauer when Marsha Clark exercised her right to go out to California for pilot season.

[victoria foxton]

GL had over a year. To write a fitting farewell for Bert. What they came up with was crap. It's just a sea of strangers. At the memorial service. 

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[vetsoapfan]

 

"Crap" describes it perfectly. Compare this to Papa Bauer's memorial service. Sigh.

[zanereed]

 

For Bert, they mentioned *in passing* that Mike sang at her service, yet no Mike on screen. I know by then TPTB had burned bridges with actors like Stewart and Roussel, but I'm guessing if asked to appear to honor Charita, both would have done it. Or, if they were looking to finally bring the characters back in recasts, then this would have been the opportunity to do so. But, as @vetsoapfan stated, there were no close friends, no family other than Ed...just horrid.

[vetsoapfan]

 

I would have been (grudgingly) mollified with only Don Stewart appearing on screen as Mike. I could believe that M O'L had had rapport with Charita Bauer, and Frederick was Bert's grandchild, so I was fine with him being there. But with an atrociously-miscast Ed representing the long-term Bauers, the service was a debacle. I would have preferred an hour-long tribute to Charita/Bert, filled with flashbacks, perhaps hosted by someone like Ed Bryce. If the show were resistant to devoting an entire 60  minutes to such a thing, what about 30 or even 15 minutes? When Emily McLaughlin passed away, it infuriated me that General Hospital had her legacy character, Jessie Brewer, just  disappear from existence without mention or reason. Still, I think it might have been less annoying than watching TPTB pay lip service to a beloved veteran by trotting out a limp, half-hearted memorial service like we got with Bert.