Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[chrisml]

I don't remember the scene between Alex/Lillian, but I'm sure there are also quieter moments with Alex and Henry or Fletcher along the way. I don't think those scenes negate months of sexist ridiculous storytelling when the writers were doing their best to turn VI's character into Saint Nick. Again, it wasn't just Alex. It was Mindy who was being sacrificed for the character of Nick. It was another example of destroying female characters to prop up a male character. I have no problems with characters behaving badly or doing things out of character occasionally because no writer is ever going to be perfect, but it felt to me that the balance in the last year or so of Alex and Mindy's storylines was extremely skewed towards the men. They pulled the same thing with Eve who went crazy because she could not have Nick. 

[Vee]

@Mitch64 asked about the GL 9/11 tribute from Jerry VerDorn, so here it is. Still very moving.

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[Mitch64]

Love it..thank you!!! I love Sloane and LK in the front, and how Sloane grabs Chamberline's hand for comfort (I read that the are close.) Sad that JVD is talking about warmth and comfort (which GL and soaps shoudl be) while the Santos and Island people are standing there....

[TEdgeofNight]

Just to go back to Beverlee. Bev’s last episode aired on 8/17/92. Going back a year from that date, she appeared in 113 episodes. She could not have possibly been working 4 days a week from sunrise to sunset. Facts matter. 

[alwaysAMC]

Thank you!  It's funny, because since I asked the question, Ben showed up in a June episode and even Holly repeated his line in an accent, as if to make fun of it haha.  Don't know if that was ad-libbed or not, but it was funny.

This is beautiful and touching.  I hadn't seen this before.  Did they air this before an episode, just after the attacks?  

[DRW50]

This likely would have aired after the episode, presumably a week or so after the attack. These always aired at the ends of episodes, I think. Jerry ver Dorn had to do many more of them than he probably ever expected (starting when he had only been with the show about 5 or 6 years).

Edited April 2 by DRW50

[alwaysAMC]

Curious - why did they choose Jerry?  He's great, just curious.  What other major events would they do these for?

[j swift]

I remember, after many of the tributes, I was more conscious of the GL actors living in New York, or the Tri-State Area.  

Even today, I find myself amused thinking about Larry Gates (aka HB) commuting on the subway to work.  Or, Jordan Clarke (aka Billy) grabbing a slice for lunch.  And especially the very elegant Tina Sloan having to go to work to put on Lillian-drag. They played such larger-than-life personas, that it is difficult to conceive of them struggling against the forces of the urban jungle in the 1990s.

Edited April 2 by j swift

[DRW50]

He was a wonderful statesman, but honestly, I would guess the major reason is that the cast had been razed to such a shocking degree that by the time he started doing these, he was the longest running cast member!

He often did Christmas greetings, and when legendary actors passed. And probably other occasions I am forgetting.

I think this was the first:

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[Contessa Donatella]

Is it possible that I have this vague memory that he was the first person to get a contract? Not that I think it had anything to do with him as a kind of leader of the cast. I think the fact that he was their union steward for a number of years might have played into things. 

[P.J.]

In 2001, he was the longest tenured cast member. When they first turned to him, after Charita Bauer's death, I don't think Don Stewart (who had played her son since the late '60's) was on contract. Jerry didn't announce all such passings, I'm sure Grant Aleksander did the tribute to Chris Bernau (who played his on-screen father).

Even when Charita died, because of cast turnover, Jerry had been there the longest, arriving in March 1979. 

[alwaysAMC]

This was really sweet - thanks for sharing, and thanks all for the info/insight!

[Jkcdsm75]

The recreated flashback scene of Mindy and Lujack was at a jukebox and Rich Girl was playing.   It felt like it had been a previously aired scene with KT’s Mindy.  

I did not get the impression at all that Mindy liked Lujack. It seemed merely to let viewers know that Mindy knew who Lujack was and thus when she met Nick she would know he looked like Lujack.  

VI/KS had great sexual chemistry which is why once KS left the story should have ended.  
 

[P.J.]

Well, considering GL would've produced around 250 episodes a year, that means Beverlee was in 45 percent of them. And if you figure in her 8 week vacation (subtracting 40 episodes) raises it to 54 percent of episodes. Which is nearly 3 days a week. 

I think the bigger point was, Bev wasn't happy with how she was being treated (and I recall her saying that she spoke up for all the performers, not just herself) , and she had spoken to Jill about it. Jill basically told her to read her contract and did nothing. That's not the best way to handle anyone, not to mention a 22 yr veteran of the genre.

[Contessa Donatella]

I watched it. Often I do not. I lived in Brooklyn at the time & I was depressed for a year and a half. In the first days after, walking, and we walked everywhere, unless we walked to a subway & then took it. We could feel particulate matter flying around in the air especially on our faces.