Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[amybrickwallace]

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[Paul Raven]

Dec 1982

‘Guiding Light’ writer looks for fresh ideas

 

By TOM JORY Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - “Guiding Light” has been a daytime companion for millions since 1937, starting on radio and switching to TV after 15 years. Can anything new, really new, ever happen to the Bauers or the Reardons or any of the other folks in Springfield? “I get really upset,” says Pamela Long Hammer, principal writer for the CBS soap opera since March, “because I’ll come up with this neat scenario and someone will say, ‘That’s like “Strangers on a Train.’” “I think, ‘They keep stealing my material.’ “The way I figure it,” she says, “there are only so many stories in the world. It’s the characters who keep the show new and exciting. All of our stories come from them: I don’t come up with a plot, and then work a character into it.” Continuity is important. Someone out there surely knows all that’s happened, to everyone on the show, in 46 years.

How about Miss Long Hammer? "Nope. I care about what our core families have been doing,” she says. “I’m always interested in what happened to Bert Bauer (played since 1950 by Charita Bauer) 20 years ago, but as far as going back and reading scripts, no. “Others on the show keep track,” she says. “I’ll suggest something, and be told, ‘You don’t remember, but five years ago, they had this terrible fight. They would never speak to one another now.”’

Miss Long Hammer, a former Miss Alabama who came to New York as an aspiring actress in 1980, began writing for daytime television while playing Ashley on NBC’s “Texas.” She eventually wrote herself out of the story. Her staff for “Guiding Light” includes nine writers, among them her husband, Charles Jay Hammer, whom she met while both worked on “Texas.” NBC dropped “Texas” after two seasons, and episodes from the serial currently are being rerun on the Turner Broadcasting System’s cable-TV SuperStation, WTBS.

Gail Kobe, who was executive producer of “Texas,” now has the same job on “Guiding Light.” And Beverlee McKinsey, who played Iris Carrington in “Another World” on NBC, and later in "Texas,” will join the Light” cast of the CBS soap in February. Miss Long Hammer is reponsible for the long-term story, which can mean looking ahead 18 months or more. Staff writers deal with specifics, including the scripts for individual episodes. She says she draws on “imagination and instinct” for the “Guiding Light” story. Often, that involves inventing new characters. “‘I look at Vanessa (Maeve Kinkead), one of our leading ladies,” Miss Long Hammer says. "What could make the audience care more about her? “Then I think, ‘Why can’t she find a man she can love, who will also love her?’ Voila, here comes Billy Lewis (Jordan Clarke).

“Another example,” she says, “is Alan Spaulding (Christopher Bernau). All of a sudden, he’s got a sister no one ever knew about. “They come complete,” says Miss Long Hammer of the serial’s characters, including the new ones. “We know who they are and where they came from long before the viewer gets all that information. That’s one of the most interesting things about daytime, the complexities of the characters.” The writers make a big effort to keep the show contemporary, and four of the leading players are in their late teens or early 20s Judi Evans, who plays Beth Raines, Kristi Tasreau (Mindy Lewis), Grant Alcksander (Philip Spaulding) and Michael O’Leary (Rick Bauer).

“Guiding Light,” longevity notwithstanding, is a moderate success by that ultimate yardstick of the industry; ratings. The show is behind only “General Hospital,” “All My Children” and “One Life to Live,” all on ABC, and CBS’ “The Young and the Restless,” among soaps. And Miss Long Hammer says she’s convinced writing is the key to even greater achievement. “When I say I love the characters, it’s not a light thing,” she says. “I think what the audience senses is an enthusiasm and an energy among the people who do the show.”

[RavenWhitney]

I don't think this article was from Dec 1982? Pam Long took over in March 1983 and her scripts began airing in May 83.  Alex first appeared in Feb 84. This article had to be Dec 83?

[Paul Raven]

Sorry typo Yes it was Dec 83

[Liberty City]

I think it's so interesting that Laura Wright (ex-Cassie) asked for a guarantee that if Guiding Light were canceled she could move to As the World Turns. I'm also wondering what else she asked for that they refused, security-wise.

[FrenchBug82]

Yeah. I love it when they share little tidbits like that!
I am not going to lie: I hear her point and why she asked but she would have been an odd fit for ATWT and considering what happened to the AW characters who had to be transferred, I would have advised her against that idea at the time.

When she mentioned "security" I first imagined it had to do with episode guarantees. That's usually where negotiations come down to when long-time performers renegotiate contracts. It would technically be true she didn't ask for a raise but it would power up the level of income she would bring in.
Could also have been that she requested longer cycles? Actors can be fired at the end of each 13-week cycles but maybe she asked it be made 26 or something?

[Liberty City]

Does not necessarily mean she'd cross over as Cassie. It would just mean she, as a performer, would crossover, and I do think under the right character she'd work well on the canvas. Now, I don't think she would've fit well on All My Children.

It may have been an episodic guarantee: it's the same thing Martha Byrne requested, and they refused.

[Vee]

Laura Wright has never played around on job security. She's tough as nails.

[BetterForgotten]

I guess Tom Eplin actually received a similar clause in his contract which P&G had to fulfill when NBC canceled AW. 

[FrenchBug82]

Because I am a gossip I like to read between the lines in interviews like the one LW gave and while it is extremely unsurprising, I found the way she reacted to being asked about Frank Grillo amusingly telling. She said something positive but the subtext was very clear.

You're right. I projected what happened with Tom Eplin but obviously nothing would have mandated it being Cassie.

Edited July 23, 2021 by FrenchBug82

[DRW50]

Laura also left the show when they were really starting to lowball actors, which Kim Zimmer  complained about in the press. I guess she knew they weren't going to give her what she felt she deserved.

[Vee]

Supposedly Laura also quit when she was told the Josh/Cassie pairing was coming, though I think the external factors at the show and network were the big reasons. I think she actually could've sold that story, though.

[Chris B]

Did she immediately go to GH when she left GL? I always just assumed she was jumping off a sinking ship.

[FrenchBug82]

Yes.

Her last airdate on GL was November 3rd 2005
She first appeared as GH's Carly at the tail end of the November 4th 2005 episode.

[Forever8]

You got that feeling to when Frank Grillo was mentioned too, huh?