Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

Thanks for including me in this @DRW50! Looking forward to taking a look at this.

[DRW50]

I guess it might have been mentioned in one of the soap magazines at the time, but if so I forgot about it - did Bernard Grant leave GL to go to OLTL as Steve Burke, or was he just written out of GL?

[Reverend Ruthledge]

Corrected a line from above. Ruth blamed Robin for Karl's death and accused her of trying to get even with her for marrying Mark. This was an accusation out of grief. Ruth eventually realized Karl's death was an accident.

Edited April 6, 2024 by Reverend Ruthledge

[robbwolff]

Thanks for sharing this! It was such a joy to watch. I was impressed by the large cast and the set. I actually loved the window backdrop in the courtroom, with palm trees visible right outside the courthouse. And it was fun to watch these vintage commercials too.

[Paul Raven]

That line about Papa Bauer being sick was probably a budget thing as there were quite a lot of cast in that ep. Truthfully they could have had Bruce at the hospital for that ep at least, as he had few lines.

I don't think that was Phillip Sterling as George Hayes. I believe George came later as the lawyer who mentored Mike and that was where Mike met Julie, who worked as George's secretary.

By the time Paul left in 1970 he had been on 14 years and maybe Bernard Grant was ready for something different and the writers (the Soderbergs,I think) were more interested in other characters.

Paul had been widowed twice, but his son Johnny was still on at that point.

Did his OLTL character Steve work with Gillian Spencer again (Vicki) or was she already gone by then.?

[DRW50]

You're right, there's no real way it could be George - I do wonder if it's the same actor or maybe he just looks similar to me.

I wonder why the show decided to get rid of Johnny (although if they hadn't we never would have had Roger Thorpe, probably).

[Paul Raven]

Johnny could have stayed around . Did the actor want to leave? Johnny could have got involved with someone else and still be tied to Peggy through Billy. Some characters stay on for years and others are written off to soon. 

I'll repeat that Kelly Nelson could easily have been Billy Fletcher, thus continuing a family that started back with Paul in the 50's. I'm sure Bernard Grant and Fran Myers could have made appearances. For older viewers it's a reward for watching and new viewers would just enjoy Billy as a new character to them.

Same with bringing Emily Norris on,Holly's niece -a blend of old and new.

[DRW50]

Those would have been great ideas. If only they'd tried.

I'm still surprised Ken Norris was briefly brought back.

[jam6242]

@DRW50 I'm sure that's Philip Sterling playing the lawyer.  The actor playing Grimes looks so familiar but I can't place him.  Seems like I've seen him in one of those old 1950s sci-fi movies, lol.  I was happy to see Bernie Grant in this role.  I enjoyed him on OLTL and Somerset.  I recognized Beulah Bondi playing the grandma in the Oxydol commercial.  Thanks again for tagging me!

Here are a few newsclips from February 1960 and May 1960.  Was Ed Bauer originally called Billy, as the second article mentions?

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?

 

[Reverend Ruthledge]

 

Yes. 

[jam6242]

Thanks @Reverend Ruthledge. 

[FrenchFan]

Billy Bauer changed his name to Ed when he came back to town after studying medicine in fall 1965. Papa Bauer was very unhappy with that.

[soapfan770]

Thanks for the the tag and sharing @DRW50 this is an era of GL I know so murky about myself so it’s nice to see something like this surface from then. 
 

I reckon had GL continued to use the Selby Flats/LA setting we possibly would have seen a better diverse representation of LA that B&B has ever given us, at least depending who was in charge of the show that is. 

[DRW50]

@jam6242 Thanks so much for finding all that. I certainly never knew the actors who played Karl and Robin at that time were dating. I don't even see GL listed in Richard Morse's IMDB (if he's still alive maybe someone could interview him about his time on GL, if he's able...that does seem like a recent photo so who knows). The plot recap is nice to see as well. 

I agree that is Sterling, probably just in a different role. 

I wonder why the show was never tempted to start Robin/Mike again. Maybe they would have been if she hadn't been killed off.

@soapfan770 I agree about the diversity. GL in the '60s did have a few black performers, so not far off B&B today...

[FrenchFan]

Grant first appeared on Dec 16, 1970 and his first scène was with Viki. I think it was Joanne Dorian in the role.