Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

Thanks. Hillary seems to worship Kelly to such an extent that she probably would have never been able to allow herself to bed him anyway. 

I definitely wouldn't call that period anti-sex. There are other moments I'd forgotten like Carrie bedding Josh and a guy who delivered papers. It's just something so cold and clinical in the show's presentation. I think part of the issue is just a certain malaise through the P&G soaps, and their struggles to adapt to a new world for daytime. 

That may be why the most popular GL couple of this period was the one who relied the least on sexual conflict (Quint and Nola).

I get what you mean. I am going to assume Marland wrote the story this way to establish for us that this wasn't the "real" Carrie. Maybe that means if he and Jane had both stayed, we would have had exploration of Ross realizing he had never known, or loved, the real Carrie, something he did explore with Royce and Emily on ATWT (or his outlines explored, as he'd passed by that time). If we can only judge the story by what did air, I think it would work better if we'd seen more hesitation from Ross about their love story, him knowing deep down something wasn't right, and him falling apart when he realized the extent of her illness (maybe sleeping with a woman he meets in a bar). 

I can see why Jane thinks highly of the story, because her work is brilliant and this is the only time in her career she did not basically play the same character with different names and clothes. But I don't know how well it works as a part of GL, and I can see why Potter had enough.

Edited 11 hours ago by DRW50

[DRW50]

I remember a glimpse of them sitting together in the new opening credits from 1983. I would be interested to see when they became friends and if there was any acknowledgment of how much she despised him due to his scheming against Kelly (and because he didn't take Tony's karate class seriously enough).

Edited 11 hours ago by DRW50

[Paul Raven]

SOD critique of GL from 81, well into Marland's run. 

Edited 10 hours ago by Paul Raven

[DRW50]

Thanks @Paul Raven . I appreciate seeing some takes from the time.

Interesting choice to claim the Marlers were a "bedrock" of Springfield until Marland. I do think Marland underused Justin, although the poor recasting of Jackie was a big factor. Ross was a presence in story, even if it wasn't about him. Lainie was long gone - not sure if viewers cared.

Nothing against Ted Leplat, but what I've seen of him doesn't suggest the charisma Michael Zaslow brought to Roger. They also took years to get Roger to where Andy was from the start. Didn't viewers know before he even came to town that he had beaten Trish? The story is extremely unpleasant to watch. The blackmail aspect is the most interesting part, but that in no way makes the character viable in the long-term.

Edited 10 hours ago by DRW50

[chrisml]

The article @Paul Ravenmakes me wonder: Is the adoration for Douglas Marland something that happened in retrospect or was it always there? I ask this because my knowledge of his work comes from the later years of ATWT where the response to his work was often mixed. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Okay but what you just describe is as if it were a -- like drama extravaganza!!!

[TEdgeofNight]

Make no mistake. When Jerry said that when you never knew which Jane you were going to get, he definitely meant Jane the actress and not Carrie the character. I personally witnessed one of her blowups onset. 10 minutes later she was all smiley. Actors on the sidelines were talking about her behavior. That is not 2nd hand gossip. It’s my own personal eyewitness account. 

[TheyStartedOnSoaps]

Well I guess it was the "Smiley" Jane Elliot who showed up to Jerry Ver Dorn's fan club luncheon.

Edited 2 hours ago by TheyStartedOnSoaps

[Contessa Donatella]

Now, one single solitary entity has stepped up to make one report of bad behavior on set & aren't we lucky that said entity's reputation for posting only truth is, like, negative 40?!!!

 

Douglas Marland's second tenure HWing at ATWThas seemed to me to get a positive critique, not mixed. Is this just that there's always some soap fan with a complaint or is your impression really like 50/50?

[Mitch64]

Yes...the total destruction of Alex...(Buzz berating her in the hospital while she practically cowers and is only concerned if her muscle boy, who could care less about her, is alive) and I have to say, Hurst was writing at that time so she bears a lot of this weight!

 

Oh lord I remember poor JVD having to wear"matching" track suits with "Carrie Todd," (Marland had every character say her whole name, repeatedly...and drinking juice and..becoming boring (he hadnt quit got to the patriarch role yet so he came off as a typical boring Marland man..)  I think the problem also is...Elliot sparks no sexual chemistry..with anyone. For Carrie Todd to totally put a spell on Ross, they needed a sexy actress, and Elliot was not one.

[Contessa Donatella]

I think she's sexy as all get out. 

[Mitch64]

Actually, his second tenure is when I think the wheels fell off. It was morose and I thought dull (GL at the time was sparking) with all of his tropes on full display...throwing in a "socially relevant" storyline does not make a show good (i.e. all the Snyder boys horning after boring Angel Lange who was raped by her dad...)If I heard one more person talk about relationship "honesty" or "therapy" .....

 The first part of Marland's tenure was the best, he restored the core, he had history on display, and he also had humor and camp. So, yes, there is always a soap viewer who would find fault!

God love you, I think your the only person on earth (besides Janes girlfriends to say that!) But she was supposed to appeal to men, and that was not happening. Now if they made Carrie a lesbian..

[P.J.]

Well, Carrie was a 180 degree turn from Vanessa (ambitious, calculating, controlling) and Amanda (pretty neurotic and someone he had personally wronged). 

I do wonder why Ross ended up believing Carrie over Justin, but I guess that's how drama works....

Yeah, thinking about it, it's a little weird that they're friends, as Josh had been holding Leslie Ann's past over her head, and intent on screwing over Floyd in the process. Not to mention him trying to bust up her friend Kelly's marriage. They had been around each other since the days of Wired for Sound, if not exactly "friends".

I think Hillary was just one of those characters (like Maureen later) who is a friend to all, and accepts you if you're making the effort to be better than you were in the past. 

Josh took Hillary to Quint and Nola's engagement ball. That shot in the opening credits has Billy kissing her hand (in case you can't tell who it is.)

[P.J.]

Vanessa knew Andy was married to and had abused Trish (which made her sleeping with him squeamish), but we didn't find that out until just before Trish came to town. I'm not sure when exactly Andy blew into town, but Trish doesn't show up until June/July of '81.

 

Critiques are always of their time, but I side-eye this one more than a little. You can't let the fans dictate story. And the irony of complaining about the "younger set" when that must include Nola, who ends up being one of GL's most beloved heroine  kind of proves Marland's point from that interview.

I do agree with one point, which IMO really plagued GL until it's finale---the inability to create new villains with legs. In the '80's with Roger gone and Alan's running in and out---Warren Andrews is not the answer. Maybe Ted LePlat wasn't either, but at least bringing him back (and I just saw an episode where Josh mentions that Andy is up for parole) would've played on established history. And it might've given Trish and Katie something to do, and kept them in town longer.

I will say, the one thing that might've given Andy a path to be redeemed somewhat, was his friendship with Hope. 

Edited 23 minutes ago by P.J.