Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[DeeVee]

Ha-ha-ha, I thought it was Marland who turned Mike into a jerk, but apparently not.

I get that they probably felt the Mike/Leslie story had run its course, but they should have at least let them have a kid. Especially since they were soon ensnaring him in a storyline with a woman who couldn't have children (Elizabeth).

Of course, no one could have predicted there would be a dearth of Bauers a few years later.

I remember this! I remember Holly sitting by the phone, desperate for Ed to call so they could stop the divorce. I forgot it was Rita who never gave him the message. What a bitch. 

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 But, yeah, this is the Rita I remember at the beginning: very determined to bag Ed.

I contend that Holly never, ever got over it, never stopped regretting that the divorce went through. I wish at some point over the years they had let Holly and Ed reunite for more than a brief affair. It feels like a thread that was left hanging.

There she is! I was beginning to think I had dreamed up the Rita/Tim/Evie triangle.

[Soaplovers]

From what I heard, the actress playing Leslie opted to leave so instead of recasting again.. they killed her off.  

Holly brought it on herself by lying and pretending Christina was Ed's child.  Although I do think that Rita's actions with withholding that message from Ed weighed upon her.   Even though she won Ed in 1976, she realized over time that she never truly had him.

There was no Rita/Tim/Evie triangle.  Tim and Evie dated after Rita broke up with him (which happened before Evie and her mother came to Springfield).  Ironically Tim did to Evie what Rita previously did to him... leading someone on that you're not interested in.

[zanereed]

Correct. Lynne Adams (Leslie) decided she wanted to leave the show, as Leslie hadn't been given much to do since Adams returned as Leslie in 1973 (and now everyone can witness her first scene returning as Leslie in 1973 on YT - unreal) I don't think the Dobsons tried to stop that from happening, as I think they wanted Mike single again. I agree, @DeeVee - they should have let Mike and Leslie have a child together. I wonder it they thought it would be too strange to have two siblings that could also be cousins 

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.

As far as Ed and Holly go, at least they allowed Ed to show up at the end of TGL and take Holly on a "trip around the world". IMHO, I don't think Peter Simon had as much chemistry with Maureen Garrett as Mart Hulswit had, but I'm glad the show gave them a final scene together.

[Khan]

In a way, it's a shame that Lynne Adams decided to leave the show when she did, because I think Mike and Leslie were positioned very well to become GL's tentpole couple.

[Contessa Donatella]

I thought that little scene was sweet & special. 

[Paul Raven]

Guiding Light 1976 continues...

Dr. Joe Werner’s double load, covering Ed’s patients as well as his own, has taken its toll, and he’s having chest pains. Joe arranges for a checkup at another hospital and then confesses to Sarah that the results show he has angina pectoris and must slow down.
Dr. Justin Marler arrives in Springfield to join the Cedars staff. His purpose is to organize improvements for the surgical-cardiac wing. He immediately disrupts the staff by giving a premature interview, saying the hospital needs much improvement. 
Sarah tries to avoid Marler and is noticeably cool to him. They were in love while in medical school, but Marler broke with her to marry a girl whose money and social position could help his career. Since Marler has criticized him for cutting back on his patient hours, Joe once again picks up his pace.

After performing emergency surgery, he collapses in the scrub room, a victim of cardiac arrest. Marler finds him, and his fast reactions save Joe’s  life. Sarah,learning of Marler’s efforts for Joe, expresses unlimited appreciation.Although he’s recovering well, Joe now fears for his future and insists upon revising his will. Sarah is frightened by his attitude, but Joe is adamant.

Mike’s client, Ben McFarren, was wrongly convicted of a crime and was in prison for fifteen months. When Mike informs Ben he’s been exonerated, Ben, embittered by his imprisonment, blames Mike for his having been there in the first place. Ben, released, will have a professorship in art at the local college in the fall. He’s working temporarily at the hospital and at the Metro, and he meets Mike’s daughter, Hope.Ben and Hope hit it off well from the first and soon begin dating. Ben tells Hope she’s naive and innocent, but she wants him to think otherwise. However, Ben’s increasing ardor frightens Hope, and she finally insists she won’t be pressured into sleeping with him just to prove-she likes him and is with it. Ben retorts that she’s letting them both down and walks out. Hope visits his studio, hoping to make him understand that she’s torn between her desires and the way she was raised. Ben tells her he understands but makes it clear that it’s his terms or not at all. Hope, to help Ben out, offers to replace the nude model for his art class. When the moment comes, however, she can’t do it, and poses in a bikini. But a local gossip columnist exploits the incident, and Mike finds
himself defending his daughter to all his friends. But when Mike discovers that Ben has sketched a nude of Hope, he questions her integrity, whether her denial was truthful. Hope is upset that she must defend her morality to her father. Mike also can’t help but wonder about Ben’s intentions toward Hope.
Hope becomes confused, as Ben’s feelings for her seem to vary day by day. At one meeting he will be open and affectionate with her, at the next remote and cool. Finally Ben explains to her that this is the  first time in his life that he has someone he can trust, and he still occasionally can’t overcome his suspicions and fears of being hurt and withdraws. Unable to discuss this with her father, Hope confides the situation to Ann, who has helped her with advice and a listening post before. Ann is able to understand, as she can empathize with the problems of living through an unhappy and difficult life, something beyond Hope’s experience. She makes Hope see that Ben has found only betrayal in his life until now and he can’t help but be cautious.

Hope soon discovers there’s a side to Ben she’s never seen before. When his boss at the Metro imposes on him unfairly and then rides him about being an ex con, Ben reacts with a rage that frightens Hope, but he manages to keep his control.. Ben realizes he overreacted when Hope remarks about his violent temper, but is surprised and deeply affected to see that she’s offering him support instead of castigation or rejection, when she defends him to Mike. This leads Ben to admit to Hope that he loves her.  But Mike is worried. He tells Hope that while he was defending Ben he looked into the young man’s background and found that he had a history of short temper and violent outbursts. And, based on what’s recently happened, Mike warns Hope that Ben has apparently not changed. Hope refuses to let Mike’s
argument deter her; in fact, she asks Mike if it’s not possible that this very past just might be the best incentive Ben has to do differently in the future.

Now that she has recovered from surgery, Mrs. Stapleton is eager to return home, but Evie is very upset by this news. She wants to stay in Springfield, particularly since she has just started dating Tim. Rita, understanding her sister’s wish not to return to the slow-paced small-town life she so recently left, convinces her mother to delay her departure, explaining that Evie stands a much better chance to plan her future here.
Rita herself is delighted that Ed’s attentions now seem exclusively hers. Her helping him study for the neurology boards has paid off: He’s passed the state boards and can now begin his neurology practice. Rita has told her mother that Ed is the first man she has ever seriously considered sharing her future with, and her mother concludes that her daughter is finally. in
love. Rita is eagerly anticipating a celebration dinner with Ed following the good news, but her happiness is shattered when she catches sight of a man in the corridor at Cedars whose presence forms ice around her heart. She is so shaken that Ed, coming upon her at the nurses’ station, is concerned and asks her what has happened. She cannot discuss this with him but is withdrawn and upset.

And, indeed, her worst fears are realized when late at night, after Ed has left Malcolm Grainger shows up at her door. Grainger bitterly threatens to ruin Rita by exposing the truth about what she did in Texas to her family and all of Springfield.

Rita thinks she has managed to stall him, for a day, and, assuming he has gone, she rushes to the Metro to tell Roger that Malcolm is in town. Rita and Roger are unaware that Grainger followed her and is standing outside the door of Roger’s office, listening to their conversation. Roger tells Rita he doesn’t want Grainger to know he is also in Springfield, and orders her to meet with Grainger.

Edited 20 hours ago by Paul Raven

[P.J.]

oooh....the '76 plot thickens... thanks @Paul Raven

[Mitch64]

Oh Hope..I remember Ben, and well, he has been the pass around boy for 15 months..THAT might be why he is not into you that much.

[DeeVee]

I have to dig that scene up on YT. I'm glad they gave them some kind of happy ending, even if it was really late.

Interesting! I remember Justin and Sarah being involved, but I either forgot or never caught their backstory. The girl with money and social position of course turns out to be Jackie. He sort of did to Sarah what Vanessa did to his brother! I do remember Justin started out as not the greatest guy. Kind of a horn dog. It's only when Ross comes on that he becomes the "good" brother.

I only have some vague memories of Ben and Hope, mostly of when they were in a positive relationship. He certainly changed over time. "Chill" would be the way I would describe Ben (along with "handsome but kind of a yawn") for most of his time on GL, so hearing he once had a violent temper is very surprising.

[Paul Raven]

Seems like the Dobsons were aiming for a Joe/Sara/Justin triangle or, having decided that Joe would be killed off, Justin would be waiting in the wings.

But that never came to pass and I don't think there was much reference to Justin/Sara as time went on.That was something that could have been used later on but Doug Marland may not have known or cared. Also, when the show went to an hour they could add a lot of characters and not rely on the stalwarts, hence Jackie/Alan/Elizabeth.

And after Leslie died, Mike went into Dad mode with Hope. Hope/Ben never took off and Hope was replaced and then dropped and Ben moved on to Eve, whose romance with Tim fizzled and Jordan Clarke left (by choice?)

[Soaplovers]

Yeah, Ben and Evie don't start interacting in a 'we're going to pair them together as a couple' way until Feb/March 1977 when she recommends Ben paint a portrait for Jackie.  And Evie's working for Jackie so she and Ben interact and start to become friends.  That happens after Tim breaks up with  her and she's forgiven her sister.. and he and Hope break up after he covers for his younger brother for a crime that he had committed. 

Jackie does come onto the canvas in December 1976 and the first months are her trying to snag Mike while she and Justin seem to play a cat and mouse game with one another as he's trying to restart things with Sara again.

I often wonder if the Phillip story only came about because the show was going to be expanded to an hour.. and the Dobson's deciding that some of the new characters they were introducing could be tied to Justin/Jackie's back story.

[DRW50]

It's funny to think one of the only later mentions of Justin/Sarah was in The Guiding Plight. They had some decent chemistry in the 1976 episode put out on DVD.

[DeeVee]

Millette Alexander got the short end of the stick once they killed off Joe. The Justin thing was a non-starter. Then she was briefly married to Alan's corrupt lawyer and HE was killed off. She was paired briefly with Adam and that ended because she believed Holly over Roger about the rape. Definitely, Marland had zero interest in her except as the therapist for the many, many of his female characters who needed therapy. It's not odd she left the show.

One of the rare 1978 episodes on YT shows Alan going to Cedars for a physical check-up. He ends up with Sarah as his doctor. In between making mysoginistic comments about women doctors, he also openly flirts with her.

It's very obvious they were chem testing Sarah and Alan. It's a really good scene. Bernau is both obnoxious and charming and Millette is amazing, trying to be pleasant and profesional without rolling her eyes at him, but at the same time maybe a LITTLE bit attracted to him. An interesting what-might-have-been.

So it appears the Dobsons were actively looking for someone to pair her with, they just never found the right one for a long-term story.

[P.J.]

I thought Adam and Sara got married? Although I do not remember any mention of her when Adam returned for Blake's weddings.

But MA certainly got the short end of the stick storywise, as Marland's obsession with therapy reared it's head. 

Edited 3 hours ago by P.J.

[Soaplovers]

I think the arrival of the Spauldings (Alan/Elizabeth/Phillip) caused the erosion of Sara's character on the show since Elizabeth took over Sara's place in the whole Justin/Jackie story. 

Sara's brief marriage to another deceptive man sounded like it paled in comparison to the previous deceptive man story that she had played the decade beforehand.. and it was probably done because of the whole Alan/Jackie/Mike/Elizabeth cluster that took off story wise.  

I know the show had introduced Brandy, the woman Justin cheated on Jackie with... but I don't believe she lasted more than a year.. and didn't make much of an impression.

While the Dobson's were good at writing/juggling multiple characters/stories.. they weren't perfect though they did manage to make use of characters not in the front burner like Sara, Ann, etc.

I do know that Sara/Adam looked to be starting up at the end of the Dobson era with a jealous/regretful Barbara looking on.. which played out during the Roger/Holly rape story and Hollys prison story.   I don't know if Marland was as inspired by that story when he took over