Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[vetsoapfan]

 

A HUGE number of important cast members were axed in 1983 and '84. I realize that sometimes actors have "issues" that make them untenable to keep around, but I cannot believe that scores of actors who had been on the show for years ALL suddenly became impossible to work with, at the same time. Pamela Long even mentioned later on that when they came aboard, she and Gail Kobe wanted to "get rid of the dead wood." Pffft. 

 

 

Yes, Vigard had a very real screen presence, as well as chemistry with everyone. I found Morgan to be petulant and abrasive, but with KV in the role, I still wanted her on the show. When Jennifer Cooke took over, the character became pretty useless. 

 

 

I agree, although Cullen was always good. Compare her nuanced portrayal to that of her replacement. 

 

 

I am one of the "some," here. PFS wrote beautifully for Amanda, Vanessa, Nola, Bert, Mike, and even Sara and Hillary. She offered many memorable character-driven vignettes which proved she had studied the show and characters thoroughly. I was thrilled. I was sure she was going to do the type of stellar work she had done on Where The Heart Is, Days, and GH. Unfortunately, she was terminated very quickly and replaced by a revolving door of writers, the vast majority of whom neither understood TGL nor could write for it effectively. 

 

 

Mark Evans was another one of those characters whom I was not sorry to see go. Watching the Mona Enright mess, I always thought that the story was such a mess because the writers had no idea where they were going with it. 

 

 

[robbwolff]

 

Do you have any recollection of the original Lesley Ann? She was then played by Jacqueline Perkel, who is a colleague of mine at Rutgers University.

 

As I recollect, Geraldine Court was dumped in February 1983 when Allen Potter was still at the helm. Jennifer Cooke's Morgan was used during the Kobe period with the Browne/Palumbo and Culliton/Culliton/Tomlin regimes. She was placed into Rick and Phillip's orbit, which was odd. Cooke was written out in May 1983 just around the time the Long/Culliton regime started. Kathleen Cullen was dropped as Amanda in August 1983.

[vetsoapfan]

 

Mmm, no I cannot picture Jacqueline Perkel in my mind. Was she the actress who played the role when it was only a minor, recurring part? Maybe Perkel did not grate on my nerves the way Carolyn Ann Clark did, which would account for her fading from my memory banks. LOL!

 

I know Gail Kobe predated Pamela Long on the show. I thought Kobe began at the end of 1982, which is when I believed Allen Potter left. You could be right, however.

 

 

[robbwolff]

 

Yep. Perkel played the role when Lesley Ann was a minor character.

 

It's possible Potter left and Kobe started work at the end of 1982, but her credit in the closing crawl didn't appear until around February 1983. There used to be GL episodes on YouTube from February 1983 where the credits showed the shift from Potter to Kobe.

[Soaplovers]

I thought Cullen opted to leave the show and that was why Amanda was written off.  I know Pam Long said she couldn't imagine anyone but Cullen playing Amanda.

 

And didn't Amanda go into business with Josh as well?  

 

And I remember JC best from Friday the 13th part VI...she had more personality in that movie than she did as Morgan.

 

 

[Bill Bauer]

 

I didn't realise she was in a Friday the 13th. There were several GL actors in that series. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking Kevin Bacon and Amy Steel but I think there were more. 

[robbwolff]

I was under the impression Cullen was fired. Her departure was very abrupt. Amanda and Josh went into business with Ross: Los Tres Amigos, or LTA.

[DRW50]

 

I know it's common for soap writers to feel that way (some are more discreet than others), but talk about hubris. Would anyone really say that characters like Maeve or Miss Sally ended up being any less of "dead wood" than the characters they replaced?

[vetsoapfan]

 

I thought the change had taken place in about November of 1982, but...closing credits don't lie, LOL. Thanks for the info.

 

Reports at the time indicated that Gail Kobe wanted Cullen to drastically cut her hair, and the actress refused, which is why she was let go. It was a terrible mistake, however. Pamela Long was actually writing for Amanda (unlike some of the other longer-term characters), and there was still a lot more story fodder for the character.

 

Jennifer Cooke was also known for her role in the science fiction series V. She showed a bit more personality in both Friday the 13th part VI and V than she ever did on TGL.

 

[vetsoapfan]

 

Looking back at the 1980s, most of its newly-introduced characters (yes, with some exceptions) were failures, IMHO. And the ones we lost (Mike, Hope and Hillary Bauer; Sara McIntyre; Amanda Spaulding, etc.) were hardly dead wood. 

[Mitch]

Oh lord..Morgan...the prototype for Lily...EVERYONE is town was concerned about this petulant annoying girl. I gotta say..I thought the actress was a bit..uh...sexless..which to me made it look like overly muscled speedo boy was confused about his sexuality but maybe that is hindsight for me with JWS. But I was in the minority as those two were popular.

 

Alright now you crossed the line with dissing Poser : ) To be fair, she was really a totally different character at that time..and unlike say, Marj. who was not really playing the Alex we knew...I never liked the previous actress or how the character was written...(I can't get those damn dolls and her little girl clothes out of my mine...go Lucille GO!!) I do agree she was good as what the charcter was at that time...a pale girl who grew up in an attic and had no voice of her own, but I would have written her off too at that point to bring her back a few years later as stronger and more sophisticated and able to play at the table with Alan and Alex.  I do agree that Poser's Amanda, as much as I loved her was ridiculous in connection to what came before..I would have just had her been another character to be another thorn in Alex's side.

 

That suffered from Marland starting it and the various writers not know what the hell he was going for. Plus, I am sorry, but I find Pinter skeevy no matter what he plays..really Colleen..really???

[DRW50]

 

Yes, that is the main complaint I would have about Vigard's casting in that if you think about it too long, the pairing with Kelly is very questionable - I can't even remember if she was 18 when they first had sex (I know this was seen as no big deal at the time, but still...). I think the story would have worked more as a mistake on Kelly's part, with Morgan getting her heart broken and ending up together with Tim, or a new boy around her age. 

 

(with that said, I know the Morgan/Kelly/Nola story was very popular and Morgan and Kelly had a lot of fans - and I do think their wedding is lovely) 

 

I also liked Toby Poser as Amanda, I just thought they did her very dirty with the writing, especially the jabs at her hair. 

[MichaelGL]

I don't believe Morgan/Kelly would've lasted very long; and the two seemingly were being pulled in two separate directions during the tail end of Marland's tenure? Kelly's demanding job in the medical profession; Morgan becoming a model/Josh Lewis etc. and seemed like there might be some conflicts from that. 

Weren't Kelly/Claire a pairing under Long? Seemed interesting. 

[Mitch]

I remember Charita of all people saying something about Morgan being underage or too young in the press about it, and she seemed to not be a prude and never said negative things about the show. Yea, I know it was a fantasy that Marland minded later to have a kind of normal plain girl have this hot older guy in love...but as opposed to Lily and Holden it just seemed to be like..."Uh, this guy with this girl who looks like a pre teen boy..there has gotta be something else going on!"

 

Poser was one of the few people who had good chemistry with Marj, and their sparring was fun as opposed to just unpleasant with Marj screeching at whichever Mindy was around that day.  Again, I just wish she was another character. Alan or Ed's kid with Rita or if they wanted the Malibu Madame thing (which was dumb) a past lover of Alan's who he knew would drive Alex right up a wall, but then she has ideas of her own on how to grab power. I see Amanda as a younger Bev Alex..not above playing a game but for what she thinks is the greater good. Plus, it was always untapped potential for Amanda and Phillip to vie for power.

[wonderwoman1951]

according to marland’s longterm, his original plan was to eventually bring kelly and nola together. would love to know the story behind that change.