Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[vetsoapfan]

 

Douglas Marland's version of Laura Baldwin on General Hospital fit the same mold: the petulant, self-involved teen with whom everyone in town concerned themselves. While I felt Vigard had a certain something, I never really understood why Kelly (or Tim) were so obsessed with Morgan. Romantic and sexual attraction don't always make sense, however, so I just went with the flow and accepted the fact that both young men found her to be both romantically and physically appealing. Truth be told, I always thought Nola would be better in bed, LOL. 

 

 

Okay, to be fair: my main problem with Poser as Amanda was that the character was completely and totally changed from when KC played the role, and I was one who adored Cullen's version. Similarly, I loathed Grayson McCough's grubby Dusty Donovan, Roger Howarth's hammy Paul Stenbeck, and Hunt Block's smarmy Craig Montgomery because the characters were so bastardized when those actors assumed the parts. Poser probably would have been fine as another, new character. But she was not MY Amanda, and I found her (and Dusay as Alex, BTW) untenable.

 

 

ITA.

 

Kelly becoming sexually involved with Morgan when she was so young bothered me when it aired. Of course many teenagers have sexual and romantic fantasies about older adults, but it was Kelly's responsibility to hold off until it was more appropriate for them to become physically involved. I can't remember if she was still under 18 when they first did the deed, either, but I remember having a moral problem with her age. Wasn't Kelly around 7-8 years older than Morgan?

 

 

[Soaplovers]

 

Seems like Kobe was more the problem in 1983/4.

 

Watching 1983 and early 1984, Long had a fairly well balanced canvas.  She wrote quite a bit for Amanda, Hope, and Hilary before Kobe's vindictive side resulted in all 3 being fired.

 

Long had a good idea on how to write, she just needed a strong EP (which she got with Calhoun in her 2nd stint).

[Forever8]

Lawd! Alan Locher is having a virtual with Jill Farren Phelps... 

 

Alan Locher will welcome Jill Farren Phelps to his YouTube show, The Locher Room on Wednesday, June 23 at 3 p.m. ET. Phelps has been the EP at ANOTHER WORLD, GH, GUIDING LIGHT, ONE LIFE TO LIVE, SANTA BARBARA AND Y&R and has won 11 Daytime Emmys for her works on soaps. 

 

 

Jill Farren Phelps Virtual Interview - Soap Opera Digest

[Faulkner]

LOL you hit all the shows where she’s darkened the doorsteps.

 

He hasn’t done Patrick Mulcahey yet, has he? He would be up for it, but AL gets a bit pearl-clutchy when people are a bit too frank for his PR-honed sensibilities.

[vetsoapfan]

 

I think during her first stint, Long was a mixed bag. Her ignorance of history led to various problems, as did her sci-fi-ish fantasy stories. To her credit, much later she admitted that on soaps, when it came to fantasy or reality-based material, it was "better to get real." On the other hand, Long wrote for certain characters and delineated their relationships well. She needed guidance and a solid editor more than anything, IMHO, and Gail Kobe did not fit the bill. Long's stint under Calhoun was significantly better.

 

Mimi Torchin of Soap Opera Weekly had an interview with Kobe once, in which Torchin said the characters were the prime draw and most important force on soaps. Kobe disagreed and said characters were secondary to plot. That's the sort of attitude which crippled the soap opera medium. Gutting 2/3 of the cast and going heavy on dumb plot mechanics is what crippled TGL in the 1980s. 

Edited June 15, 2021 by vetsoapfan

[Liberty City]

 

Sorry, but anyone who believes plot sells soaps is not thinking straight. There is a way to do a story, and have it be character-developing... but you lose your cast and you lose your characters, then you lose your audience.

[vetsoapfan]

 

Yep, and that's what happened to many soaps, once clueless and incompetent PTB started axing veteran actors/characters and going the stupid science-fiction/fantasy route. After a brief "novelty period," the mainstream audience defected in droves.

[Liberty City]

 

I'm all for creating a balance; if you want to tell a story that is purely plot-dictated, ensure there is a way for characters to be developed within the storyline. And there is a way to do it... but TPTB seem to be incapable of successfully doing that.

[Soapsuds]

It's today SONers

 

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[Soapsuds]

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[Soapsuds]

Carolyn looks great!

 

 

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[Soapsuds]

Carolyn and Robert Newman dated...hmmmm

[robbwolff]

 

Definitely not. Kobe was still Executive Producer of Texas in November 1982. If I recall correctly, NBC announced the cancellations of Texas and The Doctors in early November 1982. The personnel change at GL that occurred in November was the replacement of Pat Falken Smith by L. Virginia Browne and Gene Palumbo.

[vetsoapfan]

 

Oh, of course. I should have remembered about Kobe and Texas. D'OH, me! I must have been mixing up the timing of the producer switch with the change in writers, which infuriated me at the time. If only PFS had helmed TGL during the entire decade!

 

Gracias for the memory jolt. 

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[robbwolff]

I have so few memories of the PFS period. It was so quick. I know that PFS took over as head writer of Ryan's Hope in late 1983. Was she also creating Scruples when she was head writing RH?