Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Spoon]

Speaking of slaps, there's the infamous Ed slapping daughter Michelle during the Maryanne Carruthers mess in 2003.

 

 

[P.J.]

Billy slapping Mindy is a turning point in '90. And I feel there was a slap between Holly and Blake during the Ross thing.

[DRW50]

When written correctly or played correctly the antagonist will often have a sizable following, although this can go too far. It's why having a balance and allowing your heroes to be called out by other characters is so important.

Speaking of that, I did not realize Sonni got a lengthy montage when Michelle Forbes left, or that Pam Long was willing to showcase Sonni/Josh so much for her farewell. The care taken reminds me of when Anne Heche left AW a few years later. Given that Sonni was brought in an as interloper, it shows just how much respect the show had for Michelle's talents and how much she captivated viewers in those two years. 

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Oh I think Holly gives Blake a smack in the mouth. I think it was during Liz's early days as Blake as that is when they become estranged for a good while, although I may be wrong.

Edited 16 hours ago by DRW50

[alwaysAMC]

Thank you for the great background and summary - very helpful!  Yes, very odd they never brought her back, but at least J mentioned her, so not truly forgotten.

Ah interesting, I guess I never realized that CBS was a bit more conservative/old-fashioned in a way, at least pre-2000 or so.

It's funny, I wrote that about slapping, and then a few episodes later, Vivian storms into the Spaulding mansion and slaps Alan. It's like I spoke it into existence. 

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[P.J.]

I thought it was Sherry Stringfield, but maybe it was before Blake slept with Ross. 

[DRW50]

That could be it too. I just remember a slap at some point. That would have been around when she was made at Holly for "ruining" her one-sided relationship with Alan Michael.

I don't know if you will be getting to 2000 (if you do - buckle up!) but there's a character who was intended to be Stacy.

[P.J.]

Women slapping guys is a little more common. 

I grew up with CBS, so it doesn't seem strange to me. If you got a slap, you usually really deserved it.

[alwaysAMC]

Ohhh yes, these were exciting!  What year was this?  Another added bonus, watching Tangie lurk around like a thief with that black beanie.

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I'm happy to hear I'm not alone in my thoughts over Gilly's exit and Vivian's first and likely only contract storyline. It was just a shame. On one hand, I'm glad they decided to finally write for this family (as Gilly was sorely underused in 1995), but then on the other... that was what they decided? Sure, it was a bit soapy, but oh so gross. They could have come up with something better.

[P.J.]

It's hard to remember, as Holly and Blake always seemed to be on the outs over something.

[alwaysAMC]

Haha I guess so, and in this recent case, Alan absolutely deserved it (many times over, honestly).

[DRW50]

This was late 1993, right before Roger is shot. 

[alwaysAMC]

Haha, love to hear it, and thank you! Yeah, I just write down thoughts/notes as I'm watching in this viewing journal I'm keeping.  So, you get my raw, honest thoughts in the moment without me having to go back and remember or curate anything.

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Watros is great, and I've liked her from the beginning, so I'm excited to see her evolve and shine even more as Annie continues to descend.

I'll keep an eye out for that scene.  I have to say, Rick cracks me up, there are times when he makes jokes and you can tell the actor is having fun with it and cracking himself up. He's endearing.

Let me suffer!   

So funny how big Josh's hair is in the 80s. Sign of the times, I guess.  

I can't wait to finally see the Sonni storyline and watch a younger Michelle Forbes shine. It's on my list, I will go back in time eventually and do this  

[chrisml]

Michelle Forbes really captivated GL viewers so it was smart of Long to take advantage of that. When I looked back at news items and letters to the editors, I found so many letters to the editors/columns upset she was not nominated for Best Actress the year before she was nominated for supporting actress.  I read somewhere that they had planned a major storyline with Sonni and Roger but that it never came to pass because Forbes wanted to leave the show. I wonder what they had in mind.

[DRW50]

It could have been interesting, given that she and Alex were friends. I imagine he would have ended up bringing out her Solita personality. 

For all the talk of crazy fans, for a long time fans did seem willing to embrace the rivals of...well, Reva's rivals. (no wonder Kim felt insecure as it happened three times with her) You don't seem to get as much of the tribalism until the "Manny" era.

I guess some might say "Matessa" too, but as I could not stand Dinah in those years, I am not one to talk about their fans if they managed to repeatedly put the kibosh on a Matt/Dinah pairing. And at least that did not seem to involve death threats.

Edited 15 hours ago by DRW50

[Mitch64]

Maeve Kincaid said in interviews that she misses slapping Jordan Clarke's face..something along the lines "He knew how to take a slap!"

 

Or voodoo dolls..LOL!