Guiding Light discussion thread

[vetsoapfan]

 

Honestly, the entire Shayne clan was a failure, IMHO, which was nevertheless rammed down viewers' throats for far too many years. They were TGL's version of EMMERDALE'S Dingles. 

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Me too. I doubt I could come up with one, single favorite TGL character. I'd probably have trouble keeping it under a Top 10!

 

 

Usually I have a marked preference for the actor who originated the role, but occasionally I grow to enjoy and appreciate the replacement equally. Both Sudrow and Bryce were very good as Bill Bauer.

 

 

[Mitch]

Agree, I thought she was too classy to be Sarah..I think they should have cast someone who was a faded beauty..heftier and tougher. What would you think of her as Meta?  I never understood why they let Bea Reardon go right around the time Charita died, as the show needed a matriarch and Sarah was not it and the while most Reardons were gone she was good a Mrs Garrett kind of housemother with new young characters, and Lee Lawson had good chemistry with the 4 Ms, etc.

[zanereed]

 

That really shows the evolution of Mart Hulswit visually, and within the span of a few years. Actors certainly aged quicker at that time. Although the family photo would likely be from 1972, I assume the top photo is from 1971 or 1972?

 

To be fair, Don Stewart also aged quickly from 1968 to the early 1970's, but by around 1975, he looked virtually the same moving forward (someone said hair dye helped with that  ). Even when he came back in 1997 for Mike's brief cameo, Stewart's greying temples were the only notifiable difference . I still can't believe Rausch didn't try to keep Stewart on the show after that.

 

The ones that always stand out for me were Papa Bauer, Bert Bauer, Mike Bauer, Ed Bauer (Hulswit version), Roger Thorpe, Holly Norris (Garrett version, and she really cemented it after returning in 1988), Gilly Grant, Alan Spaulding (Bernau version), Lucille Wexler, Diane Ballard, Mel Boudreau (was I the only one...?), Rita Stapleton...

 

...and there are more! So, no...I can't keep it under 10, either!

[Mitch]

Ah everyone is always on MH and his weight...(hello Doug Marland...everyone can't be a muscle twink for you to fawn over..) I thought he looked cute in all of those. Agreed on DS..though I never found him as accessible as MH's Ed, he did not age. I too can't believe that Rauchie didn't offer him a return with no Ed around to have a Bauer patriarch .they could have kept Marj's Alex to pair him with (and recast Raines for God Sake!) The eventual mob storyline would have been better with Mr. Law and Order vs. Mob Mama.  Stewart was in California at that time so would have have agreed?

[vetsoapfan]

 

Actor Jack Betts (in the far left of the top photo) only appeared in 1974, I believe, so the shot must be from that year. 

 

 

Paul Rauch was not one known to care about long-term, beloved actors and characters. 

 

 

A series that spanned 72 years is bound to have a huge number of memorable characters. My top 10 favorites (if I were forced to limit the list to only 10) would probably be (in no specific order): Papa Bauer, Bert Bauer, Meta Bauer, Bill Bauer, Ed Bauer (Hulswit), Mike Bauer, Maureen Bauer (Parker), Roger Thorpe, Holly Norris (Garrett)...hmmm, I'm having trouble selecting ONE more name. There are many possibilities for the last spot: Peggy Scott. Robin Fletcher (Gillian Spencer). Johnny Fletcher (Don Scardino). Hope Bauer (Roussel). Amanda Wexler (Cullen). Ross Marler.

 

Can I have 15?

[Mitch]

Haha..that I thought I would never hear..the actress was lovely but the part was underwritten and she and Oleary had no chemistry. Tell us why you liked her!

[vetsoapfan]

 

I thought Mart Hulswit was cute as a button, regardless of a little added girth. 

[zanereed]

 

I really liked Yvonna Wright, but you are correct - there was no chemistry there with MOL, and they never really did anything with Mel. I kept hoping for a storyline, but...nothing.

 

IMHO, Mart Hulswit was underrated as Ed. The warmth was always there in his performances, but he still had the temper that Robert Gentry's Ed possessed. I still remember when Rita told Ed that Roger had raped her, and Ed went after Roger like a man possessed. I wish that episode still existed out there...

 

 

That makes me wonder who actually had the idea of bringing Stewart back for the 60th Anniversary? It made perfect sense, of course, but the show at the time was not really into its own history, as you allude to. I assumed bringing Stewart back was Rauch's doing. As @Mitchstated, Stewart was in Los Angeles at that point, but I wonder if he could have been convinced to come back? It certainly would have helped the mob storyline if Mike Bauer was back to combat it all, as he used to

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.

 

[vetsoapfan]

 

MO'L never really had off-the-charts chemistry with any women, IMHO. Frederick's most viable relationship was with Abby. Mel was underdeveloped and unfocused, and she and Rick never clicked in a believable way. I think MO'L best on-screen chemistry was with GA in the early days, when one could read something of a same-sex relationship potential into their dynamic. 

 

 

My thoughts exactly. Hulswit had the warmth, sweetness AND underlying temper, which made him a great choice in the role of Ed.  None of the other actors chosen to play Ed were as versatile in what they could project.

 

 

Aligning the vile Santos clan with the Bauers always repulsed me. The only way to redeem that entire situation would have been for Mike to return and fight to purge the criminals from both his family and Springfield. The shoot-out in the Bauer kitchen remains one of the low points of the entire series for me. And watching Michelle marry Danny 765 times was nauseating, LOL.

[Soapsuds]

 

 

 

MOL only had chemistry with Grant Aleksander. They should've went there with Rick and Philip.

[vetsoapfan]

@Soapsuds, in the 1980s, Michael O'Leary asked writer Pamela Long if Rick were gay and in love with Phillip. The undertones were obvious to him, too. Unfortunately, Long was the only writer who really understood the complexity of that relationship. Later scribes couldn't (or at least didn't) keep complex nuances and undercurrents going.

[bboy875]

In regards to MH and his weight, I still remember 40 yrs later, when Peter Simon showed up as new Ed, there was shock and anger in my house, and the 1st thing I said was, "how are they going to let that puny, little man play Ed?" lol. 

     With Don Stewart, I remember him doing an interview with 1 of the soap mags when he returned briefly, and he said that he did want to return, and that soaps no longer had his type of character on. So it was definitely TPTB who didn't want him back. Later when Michelle was accused of murder, I always thought Mike should've been there, which added to all the things that didn't make sense during Rauch's plot gimmicky run 

[Mitch]

That had to be that weird stuff lamb incident and when MOL told Long other actors were making fun of them and saying they were a couple Long was like "Tell me who said that..Im going to fire them!" 

 

While I would be totally for a same sex couple with two bi guys, I like that Long presented this intense "Bromance," before the word became popular.  Guys can form intense non-sexual bonds and Long infused that with all the loyalty, rivalry, jealousy, admiration and yes, just a touch of sexual spark that guys can have together. Long was the only one who got it right.

 

Agreed, it was stupid to let her go.  After that I think Rick and Frank could have existed as the nice big brothers of the town and everyones' best friend, who occasionally dated day players, etc. Actually, I think Rick and Frank would make a better same sex couple then anyone else...Frankie D, after middle age hit him, couldn't must chemistry with anyone since Melina.  Though I do think if they wrote for Mel during the Phillip goes nuts and then had her be one of Harley's lawyers could have fiilled her out. She had a quiet firebrand feeling underneath her, and one of Rick's wives clashing with Phillip, a suspect in his murder and then say cross examing Lizzie on the witness stand would have made more senese of Rick turning to Beth.

It thought having a shady family besides the Spauldings ,having a conflict with the Bauers was a good idea..especially a new immigrant family vs. old immigrant family..however, not how it played out of course. And yes, Mike Bauer coming to town once Chele marries Danny to sniff around Carmen (who would have been trying to go legit but had a "SECRET" she was hiding (I would say she killed Papa Santos with her own two hands in self defense when he tried to rape her..) would rack up the tension..Mike pushing on Carmen to give up her contacts in the mob and Carmen getting very nervous about Mike getting too close to the truth.

[Soaplovers]

 

Mart was in a holiday TV movie in 1983 opposite Lee Remick..and he was handsome (and slimmed down some as well.

 

And I think Mike/Carmen would have been interesting.  

 

Carmen was a character who could have been a viable character long term...shame the show went caricature with her.

 

One of Long's strengths were male friendships..and male/female friendships.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Soaplovers

[zanereed]

Mart had slimmed down as early as the spring/summer of 1980, as he appeared in some of the pool scenes at the Bauer house during that year shirtless. Speaking of Mart, @vetsoapfan- thank you for pointing out that the photo posted earlier was from 1974! I confess I thought Mart's hair was thinning a bit by then, so that must have been a careful combover.

 

@bboy875, that is too bad about the show not wanting to bring Stewart back during 1997. As @Mitchstated above, it would have been much better during the mob storyline if Mike Bauer had been back in Springfield as "Mr. Law and Order" (sorry, Mitch, that's too good of a tag not to use for Mike Bauer 

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 ) to protect his niece from Carmen (likely as a favor to Ed, who could have still been away in Africa). TGL didn't really have an older, handsome, leading man of Stewart's age on the canvas. I'm sure TPTB weren't going to chase that demo, anyway.

 

Oddly enough, Mike Bauer would have still known most of the people in Springfield at that time. He would have been able to fit back into conflict with Alan and Alex, and there was Lilian to rekindle a romance with. Looking back at the week Mike returned in 1997, the show hinted at it during an all-to-brief encounter Mike had during that celebration with Alan, as well as Lilian gleefully leading Mike around by the arm during that event (which may have been all Tina Sloan's idea, because I have a feeling that Tina would have been insistent on some continuity there).