Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Soapsuds]

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[DRW50]

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[kalbir]

Kimberley Simms is the only Mindy as far as I'm concerned. 

Granted, I didn't see Krista Tesreau original run when it aired or any of her returns but from what I've seen online, Krista Tesreau original recipe Mindy came across as spoiled brat/daddy's little princess. I'd say she was a mashup of Dallas Lucy Ewing and another CBS daytime spoiled brat/daddy's little princess from that same era Y&R Lauren.

I watched Kimberley run both when it originally aired and online and she took Mindy to a whole other level. In the beginning of her run there were some remnants of spoiled brat/daddy's little princess but then Mindy grew up and matured.

I saw part of Barbara Crampton run online and she didn't work in the role. I kept seeing her as her Y&R character Leanna.

I don't count the interim Mindy between Kimberley and Barbara.

Edited June 11, 2023 by kalbir

[NothinButAttitude]

 

So sad that we'll never get a well-thought-out arc like this in daytime again. How Roger's shenanigans affected the whole canvas in such detail... Ugh. How I miss those times. 

 

Kimberley is my Mindy too. Krista is OK from what I've seen online, but she was teen Mindy. Kim personified grown woman Mindy. Plus, I felt she had chemistry with every man they threw in her orbit. I always felt that they should've tossed her in Mallet's orbit versus Harley at times. I might in the minority but she was hot with Nick. And Roger and Mindy were fire too. She had chemistry with Rick too. I just wish that the show would've done everything in its power to convince her to stay or come back long-term down the line. 

[kalbir]

I don't blame Kimberley Simms for leaving GL after her initial contract as she was still relatively young and probably wanted to move on to other things. It's too bad a primetime career didn't happen or any of the soap roles she was rumored to be in contention for (Days Jennifer, Y&R Ashley, Another World Vicky) didn't materialize. In the episodes of The Locher Room I've seen her in she seems to have good memories of her time on GL and proud of the work she did on the show.

[bboy875]

In her exit interview with SOD, she said she wanted to sign a 2 yr deal but JFP pushed for 3. Kimberley then countered with 2 yrs and an option for a 3rd, but either Jill continued to push for 3 or said 3 yrs take it or leave it so she left. I know her and Sherry Stringfield's departures were announced at the same time and the show said they both opted to leave. Simms said she wanted to clarify things as it wasn't as simple as she wanted to leave. Springfield left a few weeks later as they kept asking her to extend her stay even though her contract had expired and Keifer was already hired as her replacement. I think they wanted her to play out Holly finding out about Blake and Ross before she left.

Btw I was there for Mindy's beginning. I love Krista but felt Simms played Mindy with more layers. During the watch party with Nancy Curlee, she said that during some of her confrontations with Alex, she at times would show sympathy for Alex, as Mindy was a much younger woman cheating with her husband. I just feel like she played her as a layered, well rounded adult

[NothinButAttitude]

Motherf*cking Jill strikes again. So it is painfully obvious that Jill was showing her a** during that time. So Kim and Beverly (McKinsey) both wanted a bit more time off and Jill couldn't compromise?! Ugh. Would Sherry fit into this too? 

 

Stuff like this just makes it so painful as if Jill would've had an ounce of humanity and worked for the betterment of the show, GL might've not went through that rough patch. 

[kalbir]

Summer 1992 GL lost Kimberley Simms, Sherry Stringfield, Beverlee McKinsey within weeks of each other. I think Sherry Stringfield was another case of finish initial contract, move on to other things while still relatively young. We all know Sherry found success in primetime since she was part of the original casts of two of the popular dramas of the 1990s, NYPD Blue and ER.

While Fall 1992 wasn't bad, their departures left a huge void in the canvas, and then of course the events of 1993 changed the show forever.

[soapfave06]

I was never the biggest GL fan but Kimberly Simms just has it, if I pick an episode up, it’s usually from that era or the last 70s. A huge disappoint to see they could have kept KS as Mindy and of course BM as Alex. 
 

It’s amazing how fast these shows will let go of talent, especially women, but are so eager to hire a “big name” that has no impact. 

Edited June 12, 2023 by soapfave06

[bboy875]

The interview Beverlee did with Michael Logan she said she told Jill that she was overworking the cast and she didn't like her story. Jill told her that she had a contract and had to play what she was given, but she wasn't aware that Bev had an out clause in her contract (under Robert Calhoun) and she left. I think she told Logan that the Nick/Mindy story was good, but it was time to move on to something else. She was right, looking back at episodes, Alex was too obsessed with splitting them up and she was becoming one note. I think Alex should have told them that she found Lujack and only had about 2 yrs with him before he died, and now she has a son she did not know about, and wants to get to know him and have a relationship with him. She'd tell them she would not work to break them up, but knows that 1 day Mindy will mess up, Nick will dump her, and Mindy couldn't blame Alex for it lol. I just don't know what they would've done with Nick from there because for me, he was boring without them, and the later recasts of Mindy and Alex showed how much that story should've ended earlier.

I never heard anything about Sherry leaving other than she wanted to pursue other interests. Too long ago to remember but I don't think she was gone too long before landing NYPD Blue. The trio of exits I always blame on Jill which helped ruin the show were Beverlee, Kimberley and Ellen Parker

[Forever8]

I remember watching Steven Bochco's TV Legends interview, and he was asked about Sherry Stringfield. And he was like he didn't want to focus too much on her because she lied to him that she was unhappy and wanted to either stop acting or move back to NYC, but months later she had landed ER.

To be fair Sherry's character was pretty much lacking screen time and development due to her being the ADA and not directly involved with the 15th precinct characters other than David Caruso's John Kelly. 

Edited June 12, 2023 by Forever8

[~bl~]

Once David Caruso wanted out, it wouldn’t have made much sense to keep Sherry on. So she probably saw that and wanted to go…

[Forever8]

Yep!

[chrisml]

Stringfield could have given him an honest answer AND then gotten ER. She left after two years or so it's not if fame and money meant all that much to her. Either way, did he want her to grovel for crumbs after Caruso left?

It's a shame that JFP was never held accountable for the working conditions on GL. That time is always described in terms of McKinsey's "outrageous clause" but never about how the actors felt overworked and exhausted. I really wish there were a tell-all book about the soaps and how actors and writers were treated. The OLTL oral history book got into some of that, but soap execs and producers got away with so much bad behavior.

[DRW50]

I think that JFP likely assumed she could easily recast Mindy, as Mindy had been recast before, and this was a time when plot, not character, increasingly ruled the canvas. 

1993 was a year of one wakeup call after another for JFP, and she was lucky to even last as far past that as she did.