Guiding Light discussion thread

[Forever8]

Spauldingfield with a new character profile 

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[Joseph]

You're right on that One! They did a better job with the Costumes than several Prime Time Dramas

[zanereed]

I know that Marland definitely did not care for Hulswit, as Marland was the one who convinced Allen Potter to let Hulswit go (which Potter later stated that he shouldn't have done), but I was always surprised by Marland letting go of Milli, Berjer, and Schnabel. Marland always tended to use the vets well, even if they weren't in major storylines (as he did on ATWT). I suppose there must have been cost cuts involved, and since Roger and Holly were no longer in Springfield, Berjer and Milli weren't needed. Marland must not have felt comfortable finally "officially" putting Bert Bauer together with Steven Jackson, so Schnabel wasn't needed, either.

Edited June 2, 2022 by zanereed

[Paul Raven]

I believe that the dismissal of Berger,Schnabel etc was made at a higher level and Marland was forced to comply. I'm sure he later said he wished he had fought harder against that edict.

[Darn]

Susan not aging in 6 years and going by Daisy is one of the dumber decisions I've ever seen on a soap. Were they trying to keep Harley young? What was the point of keeping her a teenager?

[Contessa Donatella]

SO DUMB

[Forever8]

Never made any sense whatsoever. Harley was a teen when she had Susan anyway so if she was older, it would've made sense. And then they had with the most off-putting love interests i.e., Grady and not to mention hooking her up with her once stepbrother she loved and adored when he was a baby. 

I never forget how she got into Berkeley the week of the start of the semester and was questioning how she was going to afford it? Ellen Wheeler and Co. seemed to forget not only she is a Lewis, and her grandfather Billy and grandmother Reva were rich and could pay the tuition. TPTB seemed to think she was only a Cooper with no means. 

[Contessa Donatella]

I think they were just having things even out. Coop had gotten the money for the book & then Coop died, which was crazy & I did not understand, and then they wanted to show that that money went to a good cause.

[zanereed]

That makes complete sense. I always got the sense that Marland had to sacrifice those vets in order to keep the Bauer family intact - I've heard that TPTB at P&G wanted the Bauer family phased out as early as when Marland initially took over in 1980, but he was able to keep that from happening during his time there.

[TVFAN1144]

I’ve been watching YouTube clips from around summer 1966. This is before I started watching around 1969 or so

Very good writing from Agnes Nixon.  15 minute format and all storylines connected.    Bill Bauers alcoholism.. aftermaths of affair with Maggie Scott..Maggie’s marriage to controlling diabolical Ben Scott..Johnny Fletcher and Peggy young love..Robin Fletcher blaming Johnny for loss of her baby…Ed played by Robert Gentry bitter over his father and budding relationship with Leslie

Storylines were domestic believable issues for the day as opposed to clones, demonic possession, time travel plots of later years.

I felt Bert made excuses for Bill’s behavior and Ed was made out to be the heavy but there’s loads of issues with Alcoholism and how it affects families.

[titan1978]

Didn’t Marland get rid of Hulswit though?  He kind of destabilized the Bauers with that move.  From what I have seen, his Ed was more dynamic than the one played by Peter Simon.

[Joseph]

i remember watching some of those Maggie Scott was such a great character, i really wish she could've been long term

[TVFAN1144]

Did Don Stewart as Mike Bauer get taken off canvas about the same time as Mart Hulswit?

Why did they recast Ed and not Mike?

[Paul Raven]

Don Stewart lasted a few years longer than Mart, into the Gail Kobe/Pam Long era.

I think Don Stewart chose to leave, but it's quite possible he was offered a contract for less money/fewer appearances and he could see the writing on the wall.

[zanereed]

He did, but that was more because Hulswit was (apparently) critical of Marland's writing - so much so that Marland wanted Ed recast. I completely agree - Hulswit was much more dynamic than Simon ever was.

Stewart was fired by Kobe. Pam Long actually had a long term storyline planned for Mike Bauer as part of the Alexandra/Mike/Lillian love triangle (which would have been connected to the Beth/Lujack romance), but Stewart was resistant to it. There were previous comments in this thread that Stewart and Beverlee McKinsey didn't get along offscreen, so I don't know if that had something to do with it...?

I suspect it was because they had just recast Ed from Peter Simon to Richard Van Vleet (as Simon wanted to leave) at about the same time that Kobe fired Stewart. Ed was more central to the show at that point. He was married to Maureen, and her family was heavily involved the main storylines. Rick was also involved, as well. Mike, while being a Bauer, had no wife or children in Springfield, and he wasn't heavily tied to any storyline - Mike was easier to completely write out.

I think that had Simon stayed on as Ed in 1984, the show would have likely recast Mike and would have continued on with Long's original storyline.

Edited June 6, 2022 by zanereed