Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Matt Powers]

Fletcher annoyed me. I never understood his character or why he was considered such a catch-they threw some many women at him-Hillary, Claire, Mo, Alex, Reva, Holly, Maeve. I can kind of understand why during Pam Long’s tenure, but no some much once she was gone

[P.J.]

Yeah, sometimes I wonder if he liked Ellen Dolan more, or didn't like Ellen Parker, or just got bored in the role. But there's a definite shift, even for PS, who I wouldn't call the warmest presence in town.

[Mitch64]

He and Frankie D should thank their lucky stars that they last as long as they did on characters who were just there... I do think Hammer was a better actor then Frankie (I mean, who wasnt) and that Frankie had the hunk thing going for a bit..but after middle age hit Frank hard, and Hammer never made a mark with any pairing..

I do think there was a story when Holly got preggers ( the whole Michele is Ed's kid thing was that Fletch had the snip) that there is a question of Fletch not Ed being her dad. Especially since his only good pairing was with Claire, bring her back, have her manipulate him to being in Chele's life and then for once I want a soap to be positive about adoption..and have Chelle say, "My dad and mom are Ed and Maureen Bauer and if you want to stay in my life you need to recognize that, I am Michelle Bauer."

MOL and GA always have talked (lovingly) how he would constantly bitch about the writing...(and he HATED wearing the chefs hat at the Bauer BBQ.) I know he had his own money  and could tell them go go to hell.

I heard they asked MH to come back (lovingly know as "Fat ED") which I think would have been good, but he declined.  Imagine if he came back for the 65ht anniversary and they went ahead with the Roger ALS story and they could show flashbacks of Ed/Holly/Roger during that time..ah what might have been.

[alwaysAMC]

Y'all - how did Sonia Satra not even get nominated for an Emmy in 1995?  She was dynamite in this rape storyline.

These two scenes alone should have gotten her a nom or win!

May 11, 1995 at the 14-minute mark when Lucy talks to Alan-Michael about being raped:

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May 16, 1995 at the 9-minute mark when she tells Buzz about being raped:

There are many other great scenes with other characters during this time, but those two stood out for sure!

Edited March 28 by alwaysAMC

[P.J.]

Fletch was that utility player that sticks around because other players move from team to team. And other than Maeve (and perhaps Alexandra) he dated the ladies of the town as a placeholder (like Ralph Bellamy) in the story. Good grief, before Chelsea leaves, they banter, which we all know was a precursor to romance. Oy vey.

If any regime had had staying power, they probably would've tanked Fletch after Maeve died.

[P.J.]

There may have been an element of Guiding Light burn out going on. In the early '90's, Ellen Parker and Maeve Kinkead won supporting actress, Deas and Jerry ver Dorn won supporting actor (JvD back to back years), Deas and Zaslow won Lead Actor, Melissa Hayden won younger actress, and Monti Sharp, Kevin Mambo and Rick Hearst won younger actor (not to mention, Bryan Buffinton, bless his sweet face was a perpetual nominee). Zimmer had won lead actress in '90, and Maeve Kinkead, Marj Dusay and Maureen Garrett had been nominated.

In looking, I think I know why---Satra would've been 28, meaning she'd have needed to submit in supporting, not younger lead. The younger lead nominee from GL that year was Kimberly J Brown.

the Supporting Actress noms that year were Anna Holbrook, Rosalind Cash, Victoria Rowell, Tonya Williams and Michelle Stafford. Anna Holbrook won.

[Mitch64]

Lord have mercy, I can't believe I read Sonia Satra and Emmy in the same sentence!!!! : ) The world truly is ending!

I didn't know Toby Poser and her husband make films..and they are actually getting good reviews. I have had my fill of gore (can't anyone make anything "spooky" anymore) or I would watch it

https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/526901/mike-flanagan-loves-this-gory-and-gorgeous-free-to-stream-chiller-critics-call-an-exquisite-cinematic-experience/

 

 

[chrisml]

As callous as it is, I remember people not caring about Lucy during that storyline. Their attention was on Brett and then Marian. I'm sure part of it was fatigue from all the rape storylines on daytime.  I think some of it was just that people were tired of the Coopers (save for Nadine) by that point. I came across a letter to an editor where a soap viewer was angry that Lucy had been raped because she said something (paraphrasing from memory here) like "Now I have to care about a character I can't stand. I'm not going to do it." If I can find it, I'll upload a screenshot.

[Khan]

And that's...pretty much how I felt about Lucy as well, lol.

IIRC, even Nick's HIV-positive wife, Susan, was liked more by viewers than Lucy; and she was only a supporting player in the Brent/Marian storyline who was in Springfield for, like, a year.

Edited March 28 by Khan

[Mitch64]

Susan actually had a brain and a purpose...The bad part was, beside JFP desperately trying to make people care about her by (sickly) having her raped, she attached her to Rick Hurst to ensure her popularity. I wonder if we would have Hurst for a year more if they hadnt stuck him in a dead end marriage to Lucy.  

[P.J.]

I admit, I don't get it. I mean, I disliked Nadine, but even I felt a tinge of sadness she got whacked. I loathed Jenna, and cried buckets at her death.

One of the few times I was unaffected by a rape storyline was Emily Stewart's on ATWT. But I had years to build up my dislike of the actress that played into that. 

I will say, Guiding Light didn't overuse the rape trope (although other soaps did, I recall distinctly DAYS getting called out on having all of their heroines raped). I'm probably forgetting something, but there was Rita, Holly, Morgan and Beth in the late '70's-early'80's, and then it was years before Vanessa's attempted rape in '92, then Lucy's in '94 (or '95).

[Mona Kane Croft]

Was Morgan raped?  I can't remember that.  Hmm.  Which actress was playing Morgan at the time? Who was the rapist?

[kalbir]

JFP had the block voting game on lock.

Supporting is basically a holding tank for those who aged out of the younger category but are not at superstar/long-tenured veteran level.

[Vee]

What's darkly hilarious to me is that when Jill jumped to OLTL she brought Satra with her, and her character was again immediately raped. This time though they couldn't put the role over and she was gone within a year. (I don't know if the Barbara Graham character was intended to last longer, but I suspect so initially.) IIRC she also did a brief fill-in as Felicia on GH during JFP's time there. But I can't find any evidence of that so I may be hallucinating, or just mixing up the Sandra Ferguson recast.

Edited March 28 by Vee

[DRW50]

I also remember her filling in as Felicia.

Nancy Bell (I had to look that up - I had no idea she was on B&B in the late '00s, I guess just as a doctor) was a very sincere and likeable actress, with a good screen presence.  She was also the first woman Vincent had had chemistry with in over 3 years. I do still wonder if the plan was to kill her off, but viewers liked her enough to where she got to live and leave town with Nick. 

The man Lucy met in her HIV support group was also very likeable - and the only gay male character ever on GL, other than a guy Reva worked with.

I do think that's a natural feeling in many cases. Rape stories are often manipulative and sleazy. I did feel sorry for Lucy, and I thought Sonia Satra did a great job with the story. I say that as someone who could not stand the character from her first scene. The problem is there was nothing left for Lucy after that story ended. They tried a love triangle with Zachary the angel, which no one cared about. 

It was fitting that one of her final scenes was with Harley, the character she had unsuccessfully replaced. 

The Emily story was awful. It was a naked attempt to make us feel sorry for her, as most rape stories on soaps are. At least the Lucy story wasn't about punishing her, and GL generally didn't tell those types of stories. Rita's may be one of the few.

You're right. They never painted him as a big stud, as they did with others. He was more of the hapless guy, often unlucky in love.

Chelsea and Fletcher is one of the first things I remember when I started GL.

Something else that made Fletcher work for me is we often saw him with Ben, getting ready for school, struggling with the daily life of being a single parent, etc. Stuff you don't get now.