Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[SoapAnon]

When Reva went off in the car and got amnesia in San Cristobel, did they write her off the show or did they show her escapades down there? I'm watching Guiding Light 1999 now so I'm curious if this stuff with her having a kid with the prince happened or if it was just written after the fact.

Edited June 4, 2023 by SoapAnon

[BoldRestless]

That was all retconned. She went off the cliff, appeared a couple of times as a ghost when Josh started dating Annie, then was discovered in Amishtown with amnesia. The San Cristobel story was invented later. 

[SoapAnon]

Thanks

[kalbir]

IIRC Robert Newman 1991 exit story was that Josh thought he saw Reva on a news segment from Italy and moved there to track her down.

[Soaplovers]

What I never understood was why the show didn't just write off Josh/Reva as leaving town instead of having Reva drive off the bridge... especially since he ended up leaving within 6 months after she did.

That way, the show wouldn't of had to do all the stupid things they did later in the mid 90s

[kalbir]

GL had a bit of cast purge in the early months of 1991. Grant Aleksander, Beth Chamberlin, Kassie DePaiva (then Wesley), Robert Newman, Michael O'Leary all left. That cast purge also overlapped w/ the HW change from Pamela Long to Nancy Curlee.

[Paul Raven]

Yes, even if Josh had to stay on because of contract, Reva could have survived the bridge accident and be sent to rehab, with Josh dealing with his beloved in recovery and then leaving town 6 months later to be near her.

Then down the track the story could take off from there. If Josh came back alone they could have divorced or she could be missing etc.

I guess they didn't know for sure that Robert would leave.

[Darn]

Did they ever explain how Reva got to Amishtown from San Cristobel with a second bout of amnesia?

[Vee]

Still the dumbest thing ever.

I would not trade the Reva post-partum story or the Josh/Harley stuff for a joint exit. I love what I've seen of those stories.

[Darn]

At least she was off the show for a good 5 years. At first I thought they tried to squeeze marrying a prince and giving a birth and being Amish into two years. Still dumb as hell.

Am I wrong in thinking that Reva returning as "Amish" was largely a sight gag for the Slut of Springfield? Doesn't seem like they did much with it beyond introducing Abby.

I'd really love to know how they reconciled all that backstory. Where did Richard find her? Did he try to find her family? Did anyone? I kinda get why Edmund was so upset, you mean that this random amnesiac's child is gonna have more power than me?

Edited June 6, 2023 by Darn

[Khan]

IIRC, @Darn, Reva's life was in danger - probably from Edmund and his goons? - so she left Jonathan with Marissa and her husband and then escaped from the island.  At some point, she suffered some kind of injury and turned up in Goshen with no memory of her lives in San Cristobel OR in Springfield either.  (And yes, @Darn and @Vee, I agree that it was all so very stupid, lol.)

It probably was, lol.  At the time, as the story was playing out on-screen, I remember justifying Megan McTavish's choice to bring back Reva as a member of an Amish community by saying she had subconsciously recalled when she and Kyle were hiding out years before in another Amish community after his plane had crashed onto the roof of an Amish family's barn.  Megan McTavish probably wasn't thinking about that story at all when she wrote it, but that was the only way I could explain why Reva turned up alive where she did.

[Forever8]

If anything, I would've had Reva off with Kyle who somehow found her after driving off that bridge in Florida. 

[AmandainNC28655]

This would have been an ideal storyline, capitalized on the characters history together and would have led to some interesting storylines once Reva and Kyle returned to Springfield or didn't return to springfield but she was spotted by HB or another Lewis living abroad.

[j swift]

So, this is totally just conjecture based on reading Zimmer's memoir and Pam Long interviews.  It seems like Long felt some ownership over the character of Reva, which eventually caused some friction between the two women over discussions of what Reva would or wouldn't do as a character.  Zimmer writes of a lunch with Long and a CBS executive that devolved into a screaming match when discussing Zimmer's desire for some time off to go to LA for pilot season, resulting in the executive wanting to hide under the table.  And in her exit interview with SOD, Long talked about scuttled plans to bring back Reva in a dream for Christmas. 

Thus, what I would imagine occurred is that Zimmer wanted to leave, but Long held out hope for her to return.  The resolution was an exit that needed to be semi-permanent enough to please both women. 

Edited June 6, 2023 by j swift

[Mitch64]

Naah, McTrash was a writer during that original storyline...it was even dumber then Kyle's plane crashing into the Amish barn...Kurt the nicest dullest guy, until Frank Cooper came along, took a spear gun and  forced Kyle and Reva to parachute off the  plane, you see he was married to Roxie while she had a split of Rosie, and he was trying to save her. Reva had her big ass 80s hair and a big fur coat somehow actually crashed into the Amish barn (this was during that Harrison Ford movie being popular so it was a ripoff) and were a-okay. For reasons, Reva and Kyle didn't just go to a phone and call SF to let them know they were okay, so were subjected to scenes of Reva being washed with lemons by Kyle..(Amish don't have showers...) and if you don't think was all McTavish you don't know Megs. So yes, she was referencing that storyline, which no doubt she thought was a high point.

 

That was the exec producer who went out and puked in the street as the fight was pretty nasty.  Who knows what it was about, but Long wanted Zimmer back for a short "ghost/angel/dream" story of her visiting Marah and Zimmer was up for it. But CBS,which apparently had better taste then years later, said no, so that, and the Jewish storyline being nixed pissed Long off so she left when her contract was up. JFP used that story for the "ghost" return (so she didn't have to bring Zimmer back full time.) 

 

But that would be hard to explain why Reva stayed away from her kids so long without amnesia and if she did have it, why Kyle didn't clue her in on who she was. They should have just left it that Reva had one bout of amnesia that lasted for years, and if they want to throw in a past life, it was under the original amnesia and she escaped from a danger and hid out in amish town.  When her memories returned it was only her recent memories, and the rest of fuzzy...(and a good explanation why she allowed Alan to talk her into keeping it a secret from her family, all she remembers was something like hitting a man and there was blood..) But I agree, instead of San Crud, have Kyle come back to town, on the arm of his wife Amanda (CC would have made a great Amanda) to take on the Spaulding and Lewises. I can't believe a Prince on an island got out of the concept room.