Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Vee]

Did I ever say that? I actually don't want to, but I have no problem doing so when I feel it's truly warranted. Case in point. I'll be more respectful about how you're involving yourself in these kind of discussions when you consider doing the same. Believe me when I tell you the way you attempt to dress up this attitude has placated no one, and this is not a minority forum opinion. It is easy enough, for example, to simply say that "I think sometimes we underrate JFP's skills as a woman producer in an overly misogynistic industry". It's a lot easier than spending paragraph after paragraph amusedly shaking one's head while talking down to the clueless proles of SON about their blinkered, reductive opinions. And I think we both know I'm not imagining that POV.

And yes, I am saying that many of us have spoken up crediting Phelps for the skills she obviously has as a technical whiz and line producer. There's nothing out of turn about acknowledging that many posters know where she excelled. Or talking about where she clearly (for many of us) didn't. You don't have to agree, but you could try listening to someone other than yourself.

Edited 22 hours ago by Vee

[Liberty City]

Absolutely! From a technical standpoint, Phelps is a very well-done producer. She knows how to produce a soap from a visual focus. Creatively? Not always.

[P.J.]

It really is ridiculous how happy episodes from 40 years ago make me. God, MKA is so young!

[DeeVee]

I love MKA and feel like they never used her to her full potential with India. The character seemed to exist merely to fight with Alex and blackmail men into marrying/sleeping with her. As if! Then adopting an orphan right out of Little Orphan Annie...somebody BTS didn't like her, I think.

Edited 17 hours ago by DeeVee

[DRW50]

I think it may be that the character was brought in for a specific purpose and then became popular with viewers, and the show didn't know how to respond. 

The choice to pivot away from Simon/India may show that you are right and they didn't care for her...although pairing them up may be another sign they didn't care for her.

I don't connect well with this period but it does make me happy seeing some of these characters before the great purge and some of the surprises - I'd forgotten the wonderful Maureen O'Sullivan popped up to be bumped off. So typical of soaps by this point, but it doesn't grate as much as later on when Y&R would bring on any random cast member from Small Wonder.

I'm also amazed at this time at just how much money the show must have had. The costumes for the Founder's celebration in summer 1984, or whatever it was, looked gorgeous.

Edited 16 hours ago by DRW50

[P.J.]

oh, definitely! It's too bad she hit the start of a rough transition period for the show. She shines, but she's stuck with bad story and some (if not exactly bad) not great co-stars. 

Uh, who did Maureen O'Sullivan play? (Sigh--and only if I'd understood exactly who and how wonderful Teresa Wright was in '86)

God, the summer of '84 was literally one event after another. Kim's outfit alone must've been worth a small fortune. And poor Maeve. She looks so uncomfortable. Rebecca Hollen told a story on Locher Room where Maeve dropped the f-bomb during the shooting of it. For some reason, she wasn't being listened to, and had just had enough. As a producer, I would've been holding my breath as my pregnant actress kept walking around strange and undoubtably uneven sets in that long skirt.

[DRW50]

I can't remember exactly but I think she lives in or is part of the cottage story with Carrie. Carrie poisons her in this episode. 

I forgot Teresa was on the show.

(I see that AI is insisting she wasn't - well they're wrong)

Poor Maeve. I can how even she had her limits. 

Edited 16 hours ago by DRW50

[alwaysAMC]

Haha that scarf thing did go on a bit too long, very odd. And what a young Rick!  I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I just never got the physical appeal of Grant Aleksander, but he's definitely a great actor.

Who is the older lady around the 8:30 mark, and also ends the episode, alone and in pain? She seems like a really interesting character. I love the smoky voice and sultry, snaky vibe she seems to have.

[DRW50]

That's the one and only Carrie Nye (Mrs. Dick Cavett) as Susan Piper, a deadly realtor. I don't want to spoil a lot if you ever want to see those episodes. She returns as another character in 2003.

I think Grant has aged well and he always did a good job at being ripped without going too far, but he was never entirely my cup of tea either. I did think John Bolger was hot.

[alwaysAMC]

Ohh, interesting. I instantly gravitated towards her in that episode. Of course I'm already hooked and want to know why she was trying to poison that older lady, but then how did the older lady know to switch the mugs so Susan drank her own poison...  but I have too many timelines I'm watching right now haha. 

Oh, Bolger is definitely hot. I didn't realize he was on GL haha. I knew him from OLTL and other primetime stuff.

[Franko]

The bit with the scarf reminds me of the fabled stuffed animal scene with Rick and Phillip. (That wasn't debunked, was it?)

[DRW50]

I think someone said it did exist, but I can't remember.

[Mitch64]

She was the Town Historian, who knew a bit too much about Brandon and the infamous cottage.  SF was still a pretty normal place at that time, with Nola and Reva being the most outrageous citizens....seems that Carrie Pipper would have stood out a bit more for people.

[Soaplovers]

That's because India, or the India MKA ended up playing, was created due to the fact that both she and Kristi Farrell were liked by TPTB, but the part they both read for didn't exactly fit either one of them so the show created two brand new characters for both actresses to play (India and Roxie) and opted not to cast the character they were intending to cast (A cousin of Beth's).

I think that's why the show seemed to struggle at first with how to write both India and Roxie in their first months on the show because the characters weren't ever intended to exist. 

And yes.. Grant A had a great body... but I didn't find him hot when he was playing Phillip.. only when he was playing Alec on AMC which baffles me since it was the same actor in both parts LOL