Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Mitch64]

Agreed, the Bauers needed rebuilding...it was just awkward with the "new" Bauers..maybe make them Mike's step kids that he adopts. Maybe Harley should have been a Reardon grandkid..ala Bridget, who Bea or Mo took in. Speaking of Faux Bauers, its weird that Long wrote off Bea, but brought in Johnny's parents, put them on contract, they moved into the Boardinghouse, and then she never did anything with them.

A Sam/Dinah competition would be fun, and it would take Dinah away from the eternal triangle with Crassie!

[j swift]

This must be hyperbole, because the answer is self-evident.  Not only would most writers want to “make their own mark” in order to remain creatively stimulated.  Also, they are usually hired because ratings or interest has fallen, so they are encouraged to institute new ideas.

In hindsight, we may not agree with it, but if Pam Long hadn't been able to create Reva or Alexandra Spaulding, it would have been a huge loss.

Edited December 17, 2024 by j swift

[NothinButAttitude]

But what I mean by that is that they make their own mark and when the audience resists it, they double down even more instead of quickly fixing it. Again, I am all for new families and characters, but work on the existing families too. Especially, the main families of these shows. 

Mallet being torn between Dinah/Sam would've been way better than Marina, which was gross. 

We could've had the lawman/lawyer/journalist triangle, which could've intertwined them all for years. 

[Khan]

OMG, no way would I have wanted a Sam played by Cady McClain to be involved with Dinah and Mallet on that level, lol.

Years ago, when I still was writing GL fanfic, I had paired Sam with a very surprising choice...but like hell I'm gonna tell anyone what that choice was!

[NothinButAttitude]

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Dinah v. Sam with Mallet up in there wouldn't've been too bad.

And who was your surprising choice? You gotta spill it now. 

[Mitch64]

Olivia??? Ed???? Lillian???If you say Buzz...I will go nutso!!!!

When Long introduced Reva and Alex..the rest of the families were still going strong...(plus Alex was a core family member..if totally retro written out of the blue...)

[DRW50]

Lacey and Alan-Michael being cousins would have prevented the pairing that seemed to be one of the reasons for Harley's creation.

I don't think it helped that Lacey seemed to not get a very positive response from viewers, although she was barely on long enough for that to matter. From what I've seen of her she seems a bit like a vaguely evil version of a robot from an '80s sitcom. 

It's always dicey when trying to revive a mostly defunct core family. ATWT managed with Jack (and to a much lesser degree) Brad Snyder, but GL had had so much loss and turnover that there was no one like Emma around to help bridge the gap. There was just Maureen, who wasn't written as matriarchal at the time. 

This is where bringing back Meta or Trudy would have made sense to me, maybe with an adopted daughter or ward. And bringing back a recast Hope, along with some appearances by Don Stewart as Mike.

Edited December 17, 2024 by DRW50

[TheyStartedOnSoaps]

I stumbled on to this a few months ago. Former head writer of One Life To Live - Sam Hall - had once sued ABC for not getting royalties - when the show moved online. Sam Hall was to receive $1,000 a week for life, as long as OLTL remained on the air - link 

Former ‘One Life to Live’ Writer Sues ABC Over Royalties

I know we have talked about Head Writers receiving royalties for characters they create (though there has been disagreement if that is true or not) - so in terms of writers wanting to make their own mark - it is possible money is the reason. 

 

They were "distant" cousins - and "distant" cousins have hooked up on other shows - like OLTL (Larry & Karen) - and we had Tammy & Jonathan on GL!

Edited December 17, 2024 by TheyStartedOnSoaps

[DRW50]

They have, but it's rare, and given that they were both brand new characters to many viewers, aside from Alan Michael being on briefly as a baby, it would have stood out more as they'd both have many of their establishing scenes with the other Bauers.

[Soapsuds]

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[Sapounopera]

Perhaps Harley's story could have been given to Nola's daughter Stacey Reardon. She was the same age as Alan-Michael. A troublemaker who has been staying with Tony and Anabelle for a while and has ran away. 
But I understand a writer's need to bring brand new characters. Otherwise the show becomes a Forrester/Horton-Brady-Dimera/Abbott-Newman mess. 

[DRW50]

Lisa Brown could have made guest appearances. I suppose they could have brought back Quint when Michael Tylo's ill-fated AMC stint ended. But I do agree bringing Beth in as a new character was a good idea. Something the show excelled at with Harley until JFP made her generic the way JFP made everyone generic, was to reinforce that Harley wasn't like anyone else in Springfield. That was helped by her not being related to anyone outside of Frank and Pops.

[vetsoapfan]

Yes, in my personal opinion, that is correct. 1983 wasn't as bad as subsequent years, but serious cracks were really beginning to show, and decisions made by TPTB did not bode well for anything be repaired. In 1984, the situation got drastically worse (again, IMHO) By 1985, TGL had largely been decimated.

To me, it was like a corpse being dragged behind an exhausted, blind mule.

(Okay, so I am exaggerating and being sarcastic, I admit. Sorry! Being a crusty curmudgeon is ingrained in my DNA. That being said, I do believe the show was on life support in its final years.)

Edited December 17, 2024 by vetsoapfan

[chrisml]

I didn't follow Beth Ehlers after GL, but did she do much after her comments about JR Martinez during her time on AMC? I remember being so shocked she would even say those things. Some of the GL blind items then made sense to me. 

GL just seemed like one missed opportunity after another. If TPTB could make the right decision, they would make the wrong one. 

[Mitch64]

I do agree that Harley and the Coopers as this fringe family worked well..Harley and Frank only had each other (and poor Pops) and Beth at that time was totally different then any soap actress. Maybe make them be next door to the Boardinghouse or something to intro them. It wasnt until later that the Coopers became the "Super Dooper Coopers" who were better then any other family in SF.