Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

I'm not that sure either. I know they did get married again around 2002 or 2003. I can't remember who was at that wedding. Which wedding had Trish and Dylan and ghost Sarah? 

[MichaelGL]

Maybe it was their 1999 wedding that had ghost Sarah?

Their 2002 wedding was for the show's 50th year on TV (which I believe Rauch/Gold/Taggart had initially wanted to throw the Lighthouse Gala but it was derailed by Mary Stuart's passing, so they had Josh and Reva the main event instead) and it took place at the Beacon. 

I wish Rauch and Co. allowed Josh and Reva some happiness after Annie/Teri, but nope, they were tossed into that San Cristobel storyline almost immediately after if I recall. 

Edited August 20, 2024 by MichaelGL

[P.J.]

The '99 wedding ends with them going to San Cristobel on their honeymoon. although I didn't catch any ghost Sarah on my quick scan of the episodes, there is a moment where Reva shows Vanessa some ring with the San Cristobel crest she says she got from Sarah (or maybe found in Sarah's things?).

The '02 wedding has returns from Vanessa, Trish, Dylan and Mindy.

[DRW50]

 

Thanks. I really have blurred those together in my mind.

I think Rusty was at one of them too. 

(meanwhile poor Roxie was still locked up, although I think maybe they eventually said she was out)

[P.J.]

Both Rusty and Hawk are at the '02 wedding. Josh/Reva got a nice string of flashbacks. It might've been nice if others had. *Bonus Vanessa's stag at it, so I didn't have to ff Matt. 

[DRW50]

Thanks. 

I'm glad Hawk came back off and on to the last year (even if he wasn't in the final episodes, for some reason).

[P.J.]

I kinda sideeye why Maeve wasn't in the final episode ff. Like they couldn't tape one scene of Vanessa gushing over her grandchild-to-be and then insert it into the episode? I really didn't care that Dinah and Mallet were running around Europe spying on weddings. rme.

[Contessa Donatella]

I was very very involved with GL at that time & frankly I'm not aware of their having a monster fanbase at that point. Now, Kim had possibly one of the strangest fanbases I am aware of. All she had to do was say the word & they leapt into play calling the studio & harassing & haranguing until whatever the goal was, was achieved. And, they literally considered it mandatory fan activity if she was off the front burner for one day, one single day was too much. By that point Robert was consigned to "scene partner". I doubt it was that way in the beginning but by the end she was extreme & so were here fans. 

Of course, a great many things were terribly wrong with GL fandom by then.. All you had to do was make one trip to the infamous GL Buzz Board. Shivers, Bad memories. 

[kalbir]

Spring 1983-Summer 1984 Gail Kobe/Pamela Long got the ratings up from the post-Marland slump and set in motion the final 25 years but it was too much chasing 1980s trends which wasn't sustainable and caused long-term damage. The ratings from Fall 1984 onward reflected this.

The early 1990s golden era that started shortly after Robert Calhoun became EP. I loved the Calhoun years and it will always be a disappointment to me that the ratings during his run did not reflect the quality of the show.

[P.J.]

I'm one to abhor the Reva-ization of GL as much as anyone, but what show could survive the behind-the-scenes turmoil of the '80's? 12 different headwriters/headwriting combinations? That's insane.

I love '90 to '93. I even throw in the last half of '89 as great soap. I should probably give in and watch the first half, as it covers Roger's return.

[DRW50]

I haven't religiously watched '80s GL, but I don't feel like Josh was ever much of a strong character in his own right. I know the conventional wisdom is that he was trapped by Reva, but other than his pairing with Harley, he never thrived without her. He could have easily been written out from 93-95.

Aside from a few stories, the template that made Josh a mainstay on the show was the pairing with Reva, marrying the wrong woman, and going back to Reva.

At least in the last few years he got some stories out of the norm for him, like being a minister. 

Onscreen I never felt like Reva was heavily catered to due to demanding fans. The character was called out and suffered losses. Admittedly I was not exactly glued to '00s GL, but I never felt like the fan push and resulting show caving was as obvious as it was with Danny/Michelle, or Harley, or Bradley Cole.

I'd also argue that Reva was never really the worst part of those eras - some of her stories don't work or can be boring (like Maeve/Kyle/Reva), but compared to Infinity or Claire has a psycho tumor or Simon/Jessie or Calla's VD shame or whatever else was going on...

However, I can see why people see her as a figurehead of the show's decline.

Edited August 21, 2024 by DRW50

[robbwolff]

Sarah appeared at the 1999 wedding. Reva hears Sarah’s voice then looks up and sees Sarah standing on a balcony.

[Contessa Donatella]

Here, we have to agree to disagree. 

The clone, traveling through time via an oil portrait, Amish Reva, Reva as Princess Catherine, Reva & Sandy & Jonathan, ... to me at least, those first three are obviously egregious & as bad if not worse than anything AMC inflicted on their yearly Emmy quest for Erica. 

I only think it is possible to make the case that Reva ate her show. I don't see that with any other GL character. 

[DRW50]

I was replying to a post about '80s GL, not those stories.

To be honest I never felt like Erica's stories were inflicted on AMC (not until the last decade of the show, when it had many, many problems) and the few that were Emmy bait were mostly well done, but that's a whole other thread.

[kalbir]

It was the combination of Roger's return and Robert Calhoun becoming EP that got GL to finally hit it's stride after some really bad years.

It's so funny that by the second half of 1989, CBS daytime was at full strength (all four soaps hitting their stride plus the game show block) but CBS primetime was an absolute mess.