Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[kalbir]

Daytime dramas could get away with a lot more stuff in the first half of the 1980s. Then AIDS happened and that changed everything.

GL chased all the 1980s trends (action/adventure, supercouples, Dallas/Dynasty influence) but it caused long-term damage that took years to recover from, or some may say never really recovered from.

[Mitch64]

I thought that was a mutual agreement, Joan was tired of the grind, and MADD wanted to save money...with Rauch not around they all decided to go their separate ways with the book tour as the excuse. I am just glad Joan wasn't around to play out the way they massacred Alex under Conboy..maybe they wouldn't have if wild eyed Marj wasn't there but doubt it. I always detected a mean spirited vibe for writing for an older woman who should be powerful, she just became pathetic and the role never recovered. 

And the Magic Mirror aka Sydney Glass on Once Upon a Time was on GL?

[Contessa Donatella]

IIRC there were times when he felt the suspension of disbelief was, shall we say, difficult?! Like I think one example was when he felt it would have been obvious to Ross that she had harmed, or perhaps, killed someone. 

I have a blog that is a fan review if you're interested.

And, it was the baby of Lin Bolen, NBC Daytime exec that is represented by Faye Dunaway in the classic movie NETWORK  (1976). The network expansion from half hour to an hour began as an idea of Pete Lemay's but then it went to Bolen for research & then to development. 

Nope. Collins knew she could work certain dates non-stop but then needed to be off for this already existing engagement but then was planning to come back as soon as it was concluded. Unfortunately - and this was short-sighted on the part of Rauch - this was informally agreed upon so not written down. Conboy completely misread the situation & took a hard line with Collins, saying the time off she wanted was out of the question, so boom, done, finished. From Collins pov she was to do a front half 3 months, do the book promo gig & return for a back half 3 months. When I learned about this little tidbit, I just shook my head. Stupid & also unnecessary. 

Uh, I am totally lost. WHUT?

[Contessa Donatella]

I just posted in my rumble acct, name shallotpeel, video title

1982 Daytime Emmys A Soap Edit 6-8

GL won Writing & Show

[cassadine1991]

Do we know which month Marland left in 82

Edited April 19 by cassadine1991

[chrisml]

I was reading a book that talks briefly about Guiding Light and the writer claims that Pamela Long focused almost exclusively on the Bauers during her first stint, and that while it was devastating to lose Maureen, it was riveting to watch Ed deal with the fact he accidentally killed her during an argument. I think the writers got confusing secondhand information from someone.

[Soaplovers]

Watching some of the 1984 episodes in the past, one of the things Pam Long was talented at at the time was writing anticipation and longing between two characters in love.

For example, Josh and Reva in 1984 was straight out of Tennessee Williams.  The wealthy son of the Lewis family both in love with and embarrassed by the daughter of the help.  The daughter of the help was spirited and full of energy with everyone except the wealthy son of the Lewis family.  They were a one step forward, two steps back couple and fans ate them up during that year.

Contrast that with Hilary/Jim.. who were the complete opposite of Josh/Reva where their stubborn natures kept them apart at first.. but eventually they got together and were good together.

The Slut of Springfield episode shows this contrast between Josh/Reva and Hilary/Jim... where one couple are having a honest conversation about their relationship and listening to one another.. while the other couple are reacting in emotion without listening to the other.

If a couple has chemistry, keeping them apart can intensify the chemistry and anticipation.  So this whole conservative pullback due to the AIDS crisis could have been used to amplify this trope.   It's partly why Days of Our Lives was so popular in the 1980s.. because they were able to utilize this to the fullest degree.

It's a shame Guiding Light stopped being able to use this trope well in the 2nd half of the 80s.

Watching the Spauldingfield uploads of 1983/1984:

I had no idea that Josh/Hilary were friends.. even went on friend dates together.  it's a shame that the show abandoned their friendship once both individuals are paired up in couplings.

 Kelly/Clare were a good match with a more layered Claire vs the one note mess she becomes in late 1985/1986. What surprised me was that the show was setting up tensions between Claire/Maureen with Ed and Claire being on the same wavelength.  So the 1985 story involving them isn't out of left field, but goes so wrong by the end of 1985.

[Gatecrashers]

I was just wondering if anyone knew where those "vault" files were for Guiding Light on here. I have a whole evening to myself and I want to indulge in some GL nostalgia! Thanks in advance, y'all!!

[P.J.]

You can always tell when a writer has no real connection to the soap they're writing about. 

[Mitch64]

True, and Alex would have wrapped things up and went back to "Europe" and we would have been saved the terrible MarjAlex stories drugging Alan, being beaten by Alan, becoming a drug dealer, being in a triangle with Marina (did someone HATE Marj) and just leaving Harley and the muscle thief guy for dead under a collapsed building.) However, the buck stopped at MADD, she let it happen...and well, she stupidly hired Conboy

 

Giancarlo Episito played the genie, aka the Mirror, aka Sydney Glass (his identity in our world) on Once Upon a Time, a past guilty pleasure...(if you stream it now you can stop at the end of S1, it all falls apart there but you will be hooked..)

[P.J.]

Even when she starts, there is a marked difference in how romances are written. The Mark/Amanda affair is scandalous, but I never really get their attraction. OTOH, I know exactly why Billy/Vanessa and Annabelle/Tony are attracted to each other.

Josh and Hillary kissed, but I'm not sure if they slept together.

I don't think Josh was embarrassed by Reva. I think he didn't trust her because she'd married Billy for the Lewis name and money. Then she came to scam Billy out of more money. Then she married HB.

[Contessa Donatella]

Thank you so much for this laugh. 

Honest to god, can you even imagine what it would be like to meet someone like Reva & try to fit them into your day-to-day life?

The black marks on her record just keep adding up. I know people who say - she got me my job - fans have no idea how hard she fought for her shows - and - as a powerful woman she taught me that women could have a space in the P&G establishment ... Meanwhile I'm thinking about the worst of the worst, the Zaslow quote! Sort of surreal. 

 

[P.J.]

I didn't know that either. 

The funny thing is, I've never caught him in an episode of GL. 

Well, Josh certainly ups his down-home, whooops and square dancing game around that time. But I'll clarify---I never thought Josh was embarrassed by the fact Reva was the housekeeper's daughter, his ex-sister-in-law, or couldn't string together a sentence without putting some homespun, slightly trashy backhanded insult in it. 

[Soaplovers]

But she wasn't good at her job, which actually diminishes the argument that women could have a space in the P & G world.

I know of powerful women that could have been good at P & G, but she wasn't it.  

Edited April 19 by Soaplovers

[chrisml]

Female execs can be just as vicious and ineffectual as male execs. 

I've often wondered if violence against women increases, stays the same, or decreases when it's a female producer v. a male producer. IT would probably be hard to quantify as there are other variables (sponsors, network interference, previous storylines, etc.)

Edited April 19 by chrisml