Guiding Light discussion thread

[Paul Raven]

So true, they should have adjusted the storytelling and approach to suit the budget. But by this stage those in charge thought soaps had to be a series of events and larger than life storytelling. It had worked for a while in the 80's and that mentality got locked in.

That was their undoing IMO and it's still happening today.  Trying to compete with primetime is useless when there is not the time or money, so why not double down and go for a more measured approach like soaps of old.

[vetsoapfan]

I did not like TGL's disco theme/opening, and was relieved that it did not last too, too long. An executive at the time reported that it was hugely unpopular with the audience, and fans made their ire well known, so it was replaced.

Personally, I loathed other openings more than that disco one, however.

 

This one looked like it had been made by a high-school kid during a rushed 30-minute lunch break at school and was really cheap and tacky; such a come-down from the likes of Ritournelle, My Guiding Light and even Hold onto Love (which I thought was a decent fit for the show.
 

The boob-implants floating across the screen atrocity was also dreadful.

As for ATWT, I voted thumbs down to the 1981-93 opening, the 2006-09 one, and the 2009-10 (final) one. The visuals for the toilet-flushing opening were fine, but I disliked the music. Probably the worst opening ATWT ever had, though, was the "gold" opening. Weak music and awful visuals.

 

[Darn]

It still astounds me 20 years later that this PowerPoint presentation with the fücked aspect ratio ever made it on air.

I, however, really liked the Lifesavers opening. The music was more commanding than the show, it set you up for melodrama that never arrived.

[Vee]

I just hate all the fake elevator music themes GL and ATWT got in the last 10+ years. And yes, that opening was always so bad. The Peapack one was somehow worse.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Vee

[Gray Bunny]

I liked the Lifesavers theme too. I kinda liked the visuals and definitely liked the music. Very majestic. 

2003-2005 opening. Oy. Just awful. I always referred to this one as the "Knots Loving" opening; a cheap version of Knots' scrolling images, along with a direct ripoff of L-O-V-I-N-G as part of the music.  Its one saving grace was that the melancholy background music version of it used in scenes was nice. 

Edited January 27, 2023 by Gray Bunny
L-O-V-I-N-G

[soapfan770]

IMO GL should have just kept Hold on to Love as their opening with updated visuals again. The Lifesavers opening was nice though. The 2003-05 opening was a disaster as others have stated LOL, the 2005 opening was okay but felt like a news theme with a very busy screen, while I have no comment on the Peapack opening. The worst IMO had to be the 2007 "hairy arms and hands" opening. Ugh. I could understand for the 70th anniversary special, but to last all year? 

 

Flushing toilets at ATWT LOL that was the last real opening the show I had. The music was alright. The 2002-07 open was very generic, at least the blue color was much easier on the eyes than that awful gold color I never understood why they stopped showing the globe in space until the 2009 opening, which really was just a title card. The 2007 opening was extremely pointless except for including old clips in the background. 

[j swift]

Nothing will ever be as bad as the lyric "everbody clings to sex like soap on a rope"

Everybody wants truth
Everybody wants hope
Everybody clings to sex like soap on a rope
Everybody gets low
Everybody gets high
Everybody’s feet are on the ground and head’s in the sky

Try letting go Try letting go

Only love can save the world Only love can save the world
Only love can save the world Only love can save the world
We know

[Vee]

I remember that they played the full song on the show a few times, including IIRC the finale. I never got over the impassioned Michael McDonald-sounding dude on background vocals going 'ohh yeahhhh, yeahhhh!!' over the terrible lyrics.

I understood the concept of it and thought it was a nice idea in theory, but as Kim Zimmer pointed out in her memoir (which I think we've both clearly read) it was just 'a bunch of hairy-ass arms reaching out to hairy-ass arms'. The other unfortunate part came when they would get some of the eight million little child actors on Wheeler's Mormon GL to read some of the narration and God bless 'em, those kids sounded like they were delivering it phonetically.

[Gray Bunny]

Ellen Wheeler and the gang at the time acted like Guiding Light was gonna cure cancer or some sh!t.  That Wednesday "Find Your Light." Oy.... those final 5 years.  (I too read the Zimmer book). 

 

Edited January 27, 2023 by Gray Bunny

[soapfan770]

Only for the curious die hardest GL fans of course…..

 

No doubt in my mind that in addition to the major budgetary issues GL that any additional issues the show had were tripled down on by an emotionally unmoored Executive Producer who was out of her league. Not saying it would have bought the show more time but it would’ve have been nice to have a more stable EP in those tough times. 

[Vee]

Cannot believe I am going to watch this. I have been dying to see what this woman looks like for years. Damn you.

[Sapounopera]

I loved the 1975-1981 opening. Haunting and sophisticated.

The disco theme was weird, I couldn't stand the 80s opening. 1983 was better looking and the music was dramatic, but watching it meant that the good old days were gone. Later 80s intros looked cheap and uninspired.

Hold on to Love: I could never make sense of the graphics, but the music was fine.

Shockingly, I liked the 1997 intro. It was short, it didn't need to be renewed and the music was dramatic. I could see a more modern and sophisticated version of this lasting years and years.

2002: @vetsoapfan is so right; these were definitely boob implants.

 2003 was kind of sad.

 

Actually this was just fine. It was vibrant, the images were soapy and it would have looked much better if everyone was less blue.

The hands-opening: another crazy Wheeler idea. And after that... things got really weird and sad. 

[j swift]

This whole discussion has left me with two questions (1) What is the average cost of a new opening? (2) Has a new theme song ever resulted in increased viewership?

I would add that as a kid the 1975-1981 opening was a huge turnoff, and even though I kept with the plot from SOD, I never tuned it because it looked like a nature show.

Edited January 27, 2023 by j swift

[NothinButAttitude]

I NEVER understood how GL went from Hold on to Love opening or the Lifesavers opening to that cheap mess that was the Microsoft Movie Maker intro. That mess was abysmal. Whoever greenlit that should've been stoned. I wasn't too keen on Only Love Can Save the World intro either. But that has Ellen Wheeler's stench all over that heap. 

Speaking of Wheeler, I will NEVER understand how her or Goutman, who both got their starts as actors on soaps, go on to be some of the worst EPs and eagerly destroy institutions. Yes, I get that network interference played a heavy role but ugh! Sometimes, some actors need to simply stick to actor or directing roles at the most. Not everyone is meant to lead an entire production. 

[Mitch64]

He definitely would have stayed. This was a display of Wheeler's ignorance...Ross was the tentpole of the show with both Bert and Mo gone..he was a soap opera abnormality..having three kids with the one woman, (who has seen that since Nancy and Chris or Tom and Alice) and had connections with everyone not mention plot stirrer Dinah. But they kept Deas and Dicipolous on contract? 

I liked the "Lifesavers" opening and thought the show was pretty good at that point, (the anniversary, Joan Collins, Ed coming back) but it all was shitted away with Conwest and their cheap opening to boot. But still, I would have just done what Rauch did, use a snipped of the lighthouse and "hold on to love" and right into the show...we know what show we are watching thanks!