Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[P.J.]

No, Mindy didn't like Lujack. She and Phillip both considered him a troublemaker. Rick was the one who respected Lujack and Beth's relationship. I didn't even consider Mindy and Beth that close of "friends" at the time. The Musketeers kind of broke up after Phillip and Mindy's wedding, and once Beth started getting involved with Lujack, she wasn't hanging out with them. 

I can't say for certain, but I'm not all that sure that that "recreated" moment between Mindy and Lujack ever happened. 

Edited April 3 by P.J.

[tonymidnight]

Just finished reading an old SOD article (1990) in which Marland expounded more on his premise for "Soul Survivors".   He was aiming to go into a more multicultural direction after perfecting the multigenerational structure during his long career of head-writing, hoping to bring "people together who are worlds apart ... I hope that will be (the show's) trademark".  

"Set in an urban metropolis setting and featuring characters of racial and ethnic diversity, the soap will have a harder edge to it than any of the previous shows Marland has written for.  He also hints at incorporating a level of international drama with characters globe-trotting from New York to London to Paris."  

He envisioned it premiering with a ninety-minute debut before it proceeding on in a half-hour format, introducing the viewers to a small cast of about eight characters and no more than two major stories.  

His dream cast: pairing Lane Davies (Mason, SB) with his favorite Jane Elliot ("I think they'd be dynamite together," he says).  He also saw roles for other of his personal faves Lisa Brown, Susan Brown, Jon Hensley and even Genie Francis.   He jokes he'd be happy if he could steal the entire cast of ATWT.   

That said, he realized the show - which was part of his deal with CBS - may never get its chance "given that CBS' current daytime lineup is so healthy" (this article was written in 1990).   Still, he loved spending his free time working on it.   He found it "exhilarating". 

Does anyone know if the bible is available to read?     

If anyone else is interested, the article also mentions other soaps in the planning stages in 1990:

CASINO, a John Conboy-Peggy O'Shea collaboration for ABC that is set in Las Vegas.   I recall CASINO being mentioned as early as the 80s in soap magazines, with a cast wish list that included Douglass Watson for one of its leads.  

NBC had two DAYS' spin-offs on the drawing board: PACIFIC LIVES, set in Hawaii and starring long-lost Horton son Tom Jr and his daughter Sandy, and a comedy-based soap starring John de Lancie and Arleen Sorkin as their DAYS characters Eugene Bradford and Calliope Jones (working titles: KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES and SUNNYSIDE UP) set in Queens and revolving around Calliope's Bronx-based family of colourful characters.  DAYS pitched two other spin-offs through its run: in the 70s, they wanted to spin Bill and Susan Seaforth Hayes off into their own half-hour show, and later in the 80s, Deidre Hall and Wayne Northrop in a Brady-based soap. 

Henry Slesar pitched four different soaps for P&G: CANNON (a spy and espionage themed soap, the bible of which ended up getting him the job as EDGE's new head writer); WILD PALMS (about a Florida crime family); FEAR NO EVIL (a Dark Shadows-type Gothic soap); and a prime time soap called THE SAVAGE GENERATION (about a medical school).   

Also at the time of this article, Gloria Monty was developing a new soap for ABC, as was Claire Labine, who wanted to do serial set in Brooklyn (which probably was adapted to be her infamous GH Ned and Lois project, which never got the green light).     

 

[TEdgeofNight]

I have a hard time feeling sorry for someone who has 8 weeks of vacation saying that they are overworked. 

[Contessa Donatella]

And, of course it makes so much sense to evaluate if someone is being overworked while they are on vacay. Wait. 

[DRW50]

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[P.J.]

I don't presume to understand what goes into making a performance, but when you don't feel respected by upper management, it makes everything harder. I think everyone can relate to that.

not to go off subject...but imo, that girl still has not learned to act. 

[Vee]

Having a substantive conversation with a contrarian tr0ll who somehow still isn't banned is a fruitless pursuit. If there's something most of the board likes or hates his position is purely and simply the opposite. He knows most of SON hates JFP or is critical of Carlivati so he makes a point to post cheering them on at all times. Did you know he met [insert name here]? He'd like you to know, a lot.

Anyway, I'm sure when Bev rises from the grave this debate on her vacation time during the George H.W. Bush administration can continue.

[chrisml]

I watched some of Marj Dusay and Signy Coleman's scenes tonight. Depressing. I respect both of them for trying, but boy they did not work as Alex and Annie.

Edited April 3 by chrisml

[cassadine1991]

Is this online?

[Contessa Donatella]

PJ, here, "can't act still" are you possibly talking about Karla Mosely, plays Dani on BGT? Not trying to give you a hard time, just can't tell & curious. 

[Mitch64]

By the time that 9/11 rolled around JVD/Ross had become the patriarch of the show, the closest thing to a Bob Hughes voice of reason there was. (Should I throw in my usual complaint that dumb*ss Wheeler put him on recurring when he was the longest running cast member, the glue of the show, and the patriarch? Dumb, dumb, dumb.)

[Contessa Donatella]

Especially when she could've put Frank on recurring or even totally got rid of Bradley Cole?

[Mitch64]

While I agree they didn't work as either, the scene itself is good. Marj gets to play her one note Myrna Clegg (her Alex was always too shrill, mean or wimpy, depending on the writer that day) which she excels at, and Signy just got to play a hard girl...if you pretend they are on another soap playing other characters it is quite good in a cheesy way!

Lets put Frank and Deas on recurring, AND totally get rid of Brad Cole! Which, by the by, what was the deal with him...why did they think he was SOOOO popular, talented, charsimatic hit the demo, whatever they thought that they had to keep him over JVD and GA?

Just saw this..looks interesting:

https://www.wbez.org/perspectives/2025/04/03/soap-opera-daytime-tv-chicago-irna-phillips-black-women-wbez-podcast-natalie-moore

Edited April 3 by Mitch64

[Contessa Donatella]

I was thinking about some of the things we've been discussing. 

Right off there is no way in heaven or hell that Beverlee would've wanted anyone to feel sorry for her. If you think in those terms you are way offbase. 

And, we could remember things like Tony Geary 10 weeks annual, without fail, also input into his stories. Both Susan Lucci and Erica Slezak had their contracts in regard to calendar & daily schedule completely in synch with their school-age children's schedules & calendar. Multiple stars on multiple shows had the first in, first out clause. One actress I won't name had a helicopter  ... I can't go on. 

[tonymidnight]

Late Breaking News from a 1990 SOD announced the show was in the process of looking for a recast for Rick Bauer after Michael O'Leary vacated the role.   They obviously abandoned these plans.  I wonder if they had any contenders?   

I may be in the minority on this subject, but I always felt a recast was needed for this role.  I thought O'Leary was the weakest of the Musketeer set.  Loved to have seen a stronger actor be given more material to explore with this character.  In fact, I would have loved to have seen this character be much stronger from the start.  Rick really could have continued the evolving Bauer narrative from the 70s into the 80s without missing a beat.  Years of Ed's selfish and indulgent romantic merry-go-rounds through the years, all those questionable step mommies for Freddie, Ed's drinking (and his abusive behavior towards Rick's mother early in their marriage) .... it was all fodder for some great parent-child conflict that GL truly excelled in: Ed and his own father Bill, Roger and his father Adam, Phillip and Alan, Holly and Blake ... Rick and Ed should have been given more of a cornerstone treatment.   

The show missed out on some classic family drama that was rooted in Bauer history and just waiting to be mined.   My Rick would have been closer to his uncle Mike, whom Rick would have gravitated to as more of a stable father-figure type, romanticizing Mike as the father he wished he had.  Instead of medicine, Rick could have gone into law instead.  Phillip's dislike of Mike because of Mike's role in the whole Elizabeth-Alan drama could have been an issue in the Phillip-Rick friendship, which could have played more off Alan and Mike's old feud.  While Phillip was the complex, bipolar loose cannon, Rick could have been the heroic one, following more in the footsteps of Uncle Mike, Springfield's version of Atticus Finch.  Unlike Mike, however, Rick could have been a little more emotionally unsure of himself because of his issues with his father, and his fear that he was more like him than he was willing to admit. 

I wonder what Marland would have done with these characters?  Wasn't Phillip and Rick's return to the canvas as teens part of his plans before he quit - wasn't he setting it up before he left?  Did he have say in the casting of Aleksander and Phil MacGregor?