Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Vee]

I mean, I don't think it can be disputed that the Lewises, Spauldings, etc. were wildly popular and successful. I don't like how the earlier families got degraded and marginalized either but it happened to so many soaps in this era, and I don't think you can so easily divest GL of a lot of those performers. I think a better mix of characters would've worked in the latter part of that decade because I know they had some rough years, but look at the Nancy Curlee era - I don't think anyone can in good conscience say that GL's being destroyed.

[vetsoapfan]

Of the age-appropriate men on the canvas at the time, I could have tolerated Bert with Henry, but we couldn't see Bert reunited with Bill, I would have preferred her with Steve Jackson, since Bert and Steve were both Frederick's grandparents, and all the Bauers already considered Steve to be a member of their family anyway.

Either TPTB didn't have the talent or the wisdom to understand this, or they simply did not care. I doubt Pam Long would have been so ready to slaughter her own pet families, the Lewises and the Shaynes, the way she did the longtime core families whom the audience knew and loved.

Join the club, LOL. It still boggles my mind that Peapack was allowed to happen.

Good point. Somewhere along the line, most soaps lost touch with lower and middle-class families, with so many people being filthy rich. There's something to be said for preserving "normal," middle-class characters to whom the majority of the audience can relate.

[Soaplovers]

I wouldn't have minded Bert having a friendly interaction with H.B. and Henry...and I could see both men being taken with her.  Bert was a warm spirited woman who happened to be beautiful...but I couldn't see her returning those feelings.

She was content with her life and would have welcome companions her own age...but I could see her not wanting to put herself in a position of a romantic relationship due to her issues with Bill.

I loved her blunt she was...and I wish she'd live..because I would have loved to have seen how she and India would have interacted.

Edited February 5, 2022 by Soaplovers

[Joseph]

Now HOw Many of you remembered this Alex?

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correction

 

[Khan]

I'm always reluctant to place the majority of blame on Pam Long's shoulders.  I've heard from various sources over the years that the elimination and/or marginalization of certain characters and families were not really her doing, but Gail Kobe's and P&G's.  They -- and not necessarily Pam, or her co-head, Jeff Ryder -- were the ones who wanted to dump the Bauers and others, because they felt those characters to be passe in the era of glitzier shows like DALLAS and DYNASTY.

[vetsoapfan]

I started to distribute blame among P&G, Kobe, and Long when I read an interview with the writer in which she spoke about working very hard to fix TGL, by "getting rid of all the dead wood" in the cast in the first few years of her original reign. Later, it was proposed that the show re-expand the Bauer family due to continued and voracious complaints from the audience, but (again, as reported in the press)  Long vetoed that idea and instead went ahead with creating more newbies of her own creation.

I have NO DOUBT that P&G and Kobe encouraged the cast slaughter (or at the very least allowed it to happen), but I believe Long was a contributing factor.

[Joseph]

but also i guess after Bert/Charita Passed Away the bauers losing space was somewhat natural, at least in my opinion She WAs The Bauer GUiding Light

[vetsoapfan]

I agree that Charita Bauer was an essential component of the show, representing its core and heart, but there was literally nothing the show could do to keep the character of Bert on canvas after Charita became ill and passed away. That being said, TPTB could have, and should have, tried to minimize the damage of losing Charita/Bert by doing everything they could to keep continuity alive and strong. Hiring Richard Van Fleet as Ed Bauer was a major gaffe; he was miscast and unlikable. Mart Hulswit should have been asked back. Or even Robert Gentry. Killing off Bill Bauer, a legacy character who could have been rehabilitated and function in a role similar to Papa Bauer was gratuitous, cruel and foolish. Eliminating other, essential legacy characters like Mike and Hope Bauer was damaging and unfathomable. Eliminating Hillary Bauer served no purpose and further weakended the show's core family for no discernible reason. In 1983 and 1984, we lost all these characters as well as Kelly Nelson, Jennifer and Morgan Richards, Amanda Spaulding, Eve Stapleton, Justin Marler, Nola and Quint McCord, etc., etc., etc. Since TGL was being completely gutted anyway, why not just cancel it altogether, and replace it with a brand new show: Texas Meets Scooby Doo? 

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[TVFAN1144]

On the interview with Alan Locher it sounds like Mart Hulswit was not kept on because of his participation in the actors guild and campaigning for actors issues.   But it would have been good to have him back as well as Mike.

[Paul Raven]

Couple that with weight gain/balding and a desire to 'youthify' the cast led to Mart's axing.

[Soaplovers]

I saw Mart in a 1983 Christmas movie..and it was unfortunate that the show was intent on youthifying the show.

Ed could have easily moved to the patriarch role in 1983 once Rick had been aged to a young character.  I'm not sure if Maureen and Ed would have been paired had he remained in the role...tbh.

[TVFAN1144]

Fat balding aged.  This could have logically been attributed to the character’s past alcohol issues. Although would probably not have had any romantic prospects (Maureen, Vanessa, Claire,Lillian)

Also why did Don Stewart leave?

[Khan]

I think it's been said that he was reluctant to play the Mike/Alexandra/Lillian triangle that Pamela K. Long had set up for him.

[Paul Raven]

Was that because he wanted a younger woman as his love interest?

That's what I've read in the past.

Maybe he  realized if he played with women in a similar age group he would probably not be front burner.

His role had been diminishing for some time but at least he had been offered a story.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Paul Raven

[j swift]

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Edited February 14, 2022 by j swift