Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

 

I think Lisa may have been on Broadway at this time, I can't remember. She does tend to be a bit more stumbly at GL than she was at ATWT, at least early on. 

I feel like the main way Morgan and  Kelly worked was as Morgan's infatuation. Once they are an actual  couple, even though Kristen and  John did have some chemistry together,  the story is over. I  do wonder if Marland, as you say, was doing what he would have done with Scotty and Laura - were there ever any plans under Marland to get Laura into modeling? (I know that was her exit story in  1982 - Miss Star Eyes and vanishing)

I think that with Jennifer Cooke in the role, almost immediately it becomes  clear that she and  Kelly don't fit. Yes, they can have more intimate scenes, but that was never the appeal of Kelly and Morgan. 

I wish the show had leaned more into that, instead of just Josh being the baddie scheming against them. There's a scene in the wedding episodes for Carrie and Ross where Morgan is asking  people over so she can try out Bert's new recipe and they can all  listen to records. Everyone acts as if she's addled. It feels so much like something they would have written for Kristen - a girl playing at being a woman. With Jennifer it's just a little odd. I think it would have been more  interesting if they had just quickly had Jennifer's Morgan tiring of Springfield life, her screwed up family, a husband who was rarely home and wanted a baby. Imagine the scenes where she and Josh  lay around on the beach, smoking a joint, Josh joking about what a cow town Springfield is and is it REALLY true that Bert Bauer's husband faked his own death and that Ed had a child with Mike's dead wife, and Morgan feels a bit guilty, but joins in because it is all so strange and silly. 

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Speaking of that, I was trying to remember ( @zanereed or someone else may be able to help), did Mike and Ross know each other before Ross came to town? Mike  says he and Ross have known each other  for years, and he sings Ross' praises. I know that Ross was, by this time, A Reformed Character, but he had only been in Springfield for 3 years, and for a year and a half or more of that time he had represented the Bauer family's archenemy on a rape charge, and then sniffed around Amanda's money for months and months. I'd certainly have forgiven Ross -  just look at that face,  pixels and all - but I am not sure why Mike would...

Much as Marland's run tends to have Vanessa as a silly little vamp, a camp queen, and much as that can be fun at times (like her wearing black to Ross' wedding), this clip has, about midway through, a beautiful moment of Vanessa, in a dark room, remembering her times with Ross. Maeve was such an exquisitely nuanced and subtle actress. I'm so glad she got this type of moment amidst all the histrionics. 

 

[Mitch64]

Ha....yes on that damn song. Morgan was just weirdly asexual which always made me think that Speedo Boy (which we used to call Kelly) was going to turn out gay..its also weird that both of them have..asexual names...what was Marland going for?  I know Marland was weird about sex scenes but the whole thing was dull as dishwater, except for Nola! Yes, Lisa seemed to muddle her lines but she reminded me of Lisa on ATWT....maybe it was on purpose as both of them were jittery schemers with a lot of lies to keep straight in their heads?

And yes, Marland trotted out the "young model" storyline on ATWT also, featuring another..uh, plain model (Courtney)who everyone RAVED about!

[DRW50]

I hadn't thought about Lisa. That's a good  fit, especially since many said Nola got the most hate from fans than any character since early Lisa.

[Khan]

From what I've heard, Marland's original plan was for Kelly to end up with Nola, but when the whole storyline with her and Quint took off, he changed his mind.

[DRW50]

That's interesting. Given how much Marland loved writing for Lisa, I  can see that happening. I wonder when it would have kicked in, as everything I've seen of Kelly during and after the reveal, he was sickened by her and only kept quiet to spare Floyd's feelings. 

(when did Floyd  find out about the whole thing anyway?)

[Khan]

I've wondered that myself.  I guess Marland would have done it in stages. 

Kelly would have been sickened by Nola for awhile; having him get over her lies so quickly would've made him look foolish.  However, as time went on, Quint would have placed Nola in more and more jeopardy, while Kelly would have realized that Nola was right about Morgan - that she (Morgan) was still very much a child who was ill-equipped to make him happy - thereby setting the stage for Kelly (either on his own, or with Tony) to rescue Nola. 

I don't believe Kelly would have changed his mind about Nola right then and there, but I do think the climax of the Quint/Nola storyline, as originally planned, would have set the stage for it to happen.  Nola would have matured by that point, and Kelly would have fallen in love with the woman she was becoming.

But, again, all that (allegedly) went out the old window once everyone saw the chemistry between Lisa Brown and Michael Tylo.

Edited April 3, 2022 by Khan

[DRW50]

I can see that happening. It also makes sense of why she was still having  fantasies about him for a good while (like Shipmates Forever).

 

[Khan]

I WANT to say it was well after Nola had moved into Quint's house on Thornway Road and become his assistant (even though she had no experience - a point which I recall several characters making).  Like, at the baby's christening?

IIRC, too, Quint seemed inordinately fascinated with the circumstances surrounding Nola's pregnancy, asking pointed questions and such in order to get the details out of her.  However, that thread, along with several others pertaining to Quint, Mrs. Renfield and their reasons for being in SF, were dropped or changed once the plans for him had shifted.  (For example, we never found out who "the Great Man" was that Quint was supposedly in cahoots with on some mysterious, sinister-sounding project.)

Exactly.  In fact, once you know what Marland's original intentions (allegedly) were for Kelly and Nola, the changes in Nola's fantasies become more apparent.

[jam6242]

I think Floyd found out about what Nola had done re Kelly when Tony blurted it out after being mad at Nola (some kind of mix-up that he wrongly blamed Nola for). 

[Khan]

That's what I think, too.  Up to that point, Floyd knew he was Kelly Louise/Stacey's biological father - after all, that's why he and Nola were supposed to get married before Nola realized she couldn't go through with it - but he didn't know that Nola had gotten pregnant by him only so she could trap Kelly into marriage.

Poor Floyd.  That man was so easily duped, lol.

Edited April 3, 2022 by Khan

[jam6242]

Yes, bless his heart, lol.  I think this might have happened when they were getting ready to go to Kelly Louise/Stacey's christening.

[j swift]

I liked Floyd's sister Katie, but as I recall from will81's soap news thread, she left town just as good ol' Floyd was arrested for Andy's murder.  Was her first exit really to a "fat farm" as described in her Soap Central bio?

And don't forget he was a loser in love with Lanie as well.  Was she Ross's sister?

Edited April 3, 2022 by j swift

[DRW50]

Yes.

Thanks. 

I remember a lot of drama over him wanting to sue for custody but didn't remember if he knew all the details because so much was focused on his seeing Quint's home as an unsafe environment (which to be fair it was). 

I know that Nola was a pain and that her relationship with Tony was very realistic, but sometimes I have a hard time with it (like  in an episode where he told Maureen how much he wanted to punch Nola). 

Edited April 3, 2022 by DRW50

[Khan]

IMO, Nola's basic problem was that she lived too vicariously through the old, black-and-white movies she'd watch while growing up at the boarding house.  She really did see herself as some sort of tragic heroine, like Merle Oberon in "Wuthering Heights."  Nola had to learn the hard way that life was not like it was in the movies; that sometimes, your dreams aren't supposed to come true, no matter how much you want them to.

Of course, once she married Quint and had Anthony James, that all fell by the wayside, lol.

Edited April 3, 2022 by Khan

[Franko]

It not only fell by the wayside, it was buried under debris by the time of "Nolaerobics." The video quality makes it look like these women (and Louie) are sweating to the point of dehydration:

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Edited April 3, 2022 by Franko