Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[chrisml]

re:Alex and Mindy. Once McKinsey and Simms left, there was no story left. It did all fall apart because the story just wasn't there. They made the idiot plot work as long as they could. Once Hamilton and Crampton took over and Joe Lando was forced into the show, it was clear the story was an absolute mess and a waste of time. JFP was already in danger of losing her job in 1993 and that's when the whole Marcy Walker debacle happened. Was Walker hired before or after the Joe Lando story that did not go over well?

As for Beverlee McKinsey, it's clear she wanted fair working hours. She did not want to be overworked, and she wanted to be treated with respect. That's certainly a foreign concept in daytime especially to producers and network execs. The same network that was angry at McKinsey than turned around and treated Zaslow so abominably. 

[Contessa Donatella]

If I understood correctly, Jill was using Bev 4 days a week, from early call (which is 6 am) to fairly late each evening. (say 9 pm) Now, that's what they do when they're taping something like a wedding, a masked ball or something else "special" but this was Bev's typical week, not special. And, that schedule was on top of disliking the story written about Alex interfering in Nick's love life. 

[j swift]

It is an excellent point, and honestly I had never considered the comparison.

As a fatal optimist, I wonder if we project the wrong feelings onto Ms McKinsey's resignation?  It is possible that she simply felt her needs weren't a priority for production, and moved on without anger or frustration.  Her method was dramatic, but as we've seen in interviews, she had a flair for drama. 

I recall reading the original reporting on her leaving GL. It was never my perception that she was angry.  It felt like she was pleased with herself for getting one over on the production.  But, she always seemed to me as more resolute than frustrated.

Edited April 1 by j swift

[Contessa Donatella]

Sorry but I definitely saw frustration.  I mean she tried & tried to get them to call Jill that last day. I guess I think she showed feeling all of these things, when you get right down to it. Surely she was angry - at Jill. But, you are correct about her being resolute. She was determined.

[P.J.]

Well, obviously Billy had to find out about the affair. And Vanessa or Hamp sitting him down and telling him the truth calmly wasn't going to happen.

But getting back at Mindy through her family--that's a Roger-like (or Alan-like) move. While I don't have a catalog of Alex's actions, I can't recall her doing that before. If you pissed Alex off, she came after you. Not your daddy.

As for Nick--he was a grown-ass man. You don't get to dictate who they date. Even if they had slept with your husband. And at that point, Nick didn't even know he was her son.

I don't disagree--at one point around the time Roger loses the Towers, she says "are all these men (Phillip, A-M and Roger) idiots?" 

It's just hard to really describe Alex. 

[tonymidnight]

There was a great scene between Alex and Lillian during the Nick McHenry story that did a wonderful job in explaining who Alex essentially was.  It was a beautifully written scene.  Everyone (including the viewers) thought Alex was going over the edge, but this scene gave her the chance to explain herself.  It was the first time in years - possibly ever in McKinsey's run - to explain exactly who Alex had always been.  She talked about how she had been used and abused by all the men in her life who she loved - her father, her brother, Eric and Roger.  Losing Lujack was the worst thing that ever happened to her - from his abduction as a baby to his premature death so shortly after they had found one another after all those years of separation.  This was a trauma that never healed.   They managed to keep this defining hallmark consistent throughout all of McKinsey's run - from her evening the score with Alan when she first came on the scene, to falling for Simon's grifting, to becoming Phillip's mother-surrogate to falling under Roger's spell.  But this scene really captured the essence of who Alex was - a damaged, wounded, traumatised human being who survived by her hard-as-ice queen exterior.  Unfortunately, it's forgotten when people remember McKinsey's last story, concentrating more on the sensational moments that showed Alexandra at her worst.   

[Contessa Donatella]

Tell me, please, the date? When did this scene occur?

 

[tonymidnight]

I have no clue.  It was early in the Nick story, when Alex was determined to prove Nick was her son when everyone else was saying it was impossible.  So perhaps it was before Mindy tampering with the DNA results?  I do remember SOD giving the scene a special mention after it aired, hailing it for the beautifully written piece of work it was as well as McKinsey's performance in it.      

Does anyone happen to have the Soap Opera Digest dated August 17, 1981 (vol 7 no 17)?    Candace Earley and Richard Van Vleet (Donna and Chuck, AMC) are on the cover.  There is an article in it "What are "Guiding Light's" chances to be #1?"  that I would love to read.  

[DRW50]

The Lando story was in summer 1993. I imagine Mary was hired a bit after that. 

[Mitch64]

No, he grew up in Midwestern Springfield, it was bad casting, that accent was so freaking annoying.

The writer's also forgot that as soon as Marj came on the scene, Alex lost all subtly and nuance and was a screeching shrew who moved her almost incestuous jealousy from her son to Alan. That is why I like Marj's short run during E&B and Faux Annie, she is a less slick version of BevAlex who is not putting up with Alan putting everything on the line for a psycho (though I do prefer JoanAlex sly slick Alex, who enjoys toying with her little "bro-theeer" and his new sex toy Olivia.

[Contessa Donatella]

Well, thanks for your very detailed description! 

About the Digest back issue, I checked SOAPWORLD dotcom & the ebay listings, no dice, either place.  If you register at Soap World you can leave an ask, a request, to be notified if they get what you want, in. I've gotten 2 back issues that way.  One about the end of AW, the other about GL. Considerable wait, you understand. 

 

[TheyStartedOnSoaps]

Guiding Light Emergency "Beth" Recast in the middle of a scene!

Please register in order to view this content

 

[TEdgeofNight]

Completely agree with you that while Beverlee's resignation was dramatic, I've never had the feeling that she was angry. It's just something she was determined to do. As I pointed out, this was not the first time that Beverlee left a show because she felt overworked or made a big deal about leaving. Per the Texas book, Beverlee left that show because she felt overworked and played "Take This Job and Shove It' on the soundstage on her last day. She had a flair for exiting dramatically. 

[Soaplovers]

From the interview she gave in 1992, I think Beverlee was going to leave the show anyway once her contract expired in 1993.. she just happened to exercise a clause/loophole in her contract that let her leave the show a year early.

Her final scenes in mid 1992 showed a remorseful Alex that realized that she had driven away everyone that she loved and cared for.  She had scenes with HB, Vanessa, Henry, Nick, and I even think she had a final one with Fletcher before she left on her trip.

I do wonder what the show would have done with her character had she not had the loophole/clause and she came back after her vacation was over.  Would she have tried to push Nick/Eve together or tried to keep a distance and focus on Spaulding and trying to forge a new path forward.

[tonymidnight]

I always thought her exit from Texas was very downplayed - not in the press, but on the actual show.  For a couple of weeks, a renewed Iris tied up all her loose threads and even made amends with her hated enemy Paige (which was very convenient and not realistic at all), and even propped up new stories to come, such as the Ashley-Justin-Reena story.  On that last episode, there was talk among all the characters of attending a goodbye party for Iris, but the party was never shown onscreen.  It happened after McKinsey's last episode aired and before the next episode began, in which Iris was long gone.   McKinsey's very last scene was with her sidekick Vivian in Iris' mansion, hours before they were all to attend this party.  The scene was aired not at the end of the episode, but it was penultimate to the epilogue, that last one scene ACT that usually aired at the end of all those P&G soaps.  The last scene belonged to the Ashley-Justin-Reena story, I believe.  The message was clear - the show is not ending because Iris is leaving; instead, life goes on and the story will continue without her.  No bells or whistles, not even a bugle playing in the distant background ...

Please register in order to view this content