2 hours ago, CrazySexyQ said:

Which version of Manny are you watching? I loved almost everything about them from the start. Until the Michelle recast. But I agree about the compound feeling like it is in its own world. But I suppose it was to make Michelle feel isolated.

I liked San Cristobal at first, but it wears thin.

The only silver lining is the introduction of Jonathan, which came long after the story wrapped. I've been reading your analysis of Kim Zimmer's book (my eternal gratitude for that), and it's incredible that she didn't want TP cast originally in the role that gave Reva and her new life as an actress.

Oh yes, her story about TP getting cast was so interesting, it makes me want to see their chemistry and his story ASAP. I'll eventually get there :)

I'm currently in Feb 1999, so the very start of Manny. In Nov 1998, Budig left as Michelle just as she and the recast killed Danny's brother Mick. Danny then comes to town looking for his killer and that forces Michelle/Danny together for the first time. I'm just in that very beginning part of their story, where Carmen is now on and they're about to get married under the church. Great point about making Michelle feel isolated though. It makes sense and I think they definitely accomplished that. I'm such a big Budig fan and loved her Michelle, but even more so really loved Michelle and Jesse's love story, so I'm bummed that it's ending, but I think the chemistry got lost with the Lenz recast.

7 minutes ago, GL95 said:

Ultimately I don’t see AM/Gilly being more than a short-term thing as she showed with Sid she’ll leave someone if they do something that goes against her principles. But there were a lot of possibilities to do something with their chemistry that woukdve been far better than AM/Tangie or having AM chase Eleni a second time. Admittedly I will always have a soft spot for AM/Lucy as I started watching right before the rape and AM realizing his feelings drew in my 15 year old self and AM was my TV boyfriend quickly. Then I got drawn in and wanted to grow up to be as poised as Holly/Maureen. Rick/Maureen were my standout memorable actors I remembered (I stopped watching 2004 when I joined the Peace Corps.)

If he’d stuck around I actually feel llike Gilly had a good chemistry with Nick and I like the thought of them as rival reporters who become a couple but compete for scoops. Nick has a solid role if you take the idea someone had (sorry forgot who!) and have Fletcher killed by Marion/Brent. Leaves that newspaper reporter hole.

I don’t think they’re an endgame couple but think giving AM/Blake a kid would have had a lot of possibilities. I’ve said it before I think, but I feel like having Blake show she’s grown by actually telling Ross the truth about her slip up with AM and Ross forgives her because he really did give her reason to believe it was over and ultimately appreciates she came clean. Then Blake finds out she’s pregnant with AM’s baby but they eventually all work out a custody agreement that works. It keeps Blake/AM/Roger tied together without Blake/AM being a couple. (Though I like the AM/Blake chemistry with Liz/Rick. It’s lighter than SS/Rick but there’s a fun affection always there that I enjoy and I wish they didn’t stop them being confidantes/friends.)

Great ideas! I especially like the idea of AM and Blake having a child. And very cool on the Peace Corps, such a great service.

We'll always have that bond, starting our GL journey in early 1995 and immediately falling in love with AM and Lucy, and Rick H :)

I like the idea of Gilly and Nick. I actually ended up really liking Nick and Susan, but right as they were solidified as a couple, they left the show. I felt short-changed in that experience, especially in not getting to know more about Susan outside of her HIV status. You root for her to live through Marian's reign of terror, but then right as she wakes up, they pretty much leave town. Oh well.

So what did you think about Holly and her downward spiral post-Fletcher/Meg? Were you a fan of the Nursery Rhyme Stalker or did that go too far as a Holly fan? I'm still in the thick of it, and curious how she gets redeemed after all this mess, but sounds like you continued to really like her.

14 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

Great ideas! I especially like the idea of AM and Blake having a child. And very cool on the Peace Corps, such a great service.

We'll always have that bond, starting our GL journey in early 1995 and immediately falling in love with AM and Lucy, and Rick H :)

I like the idea of Gilly and Nick. I actually ended up really liking Nick and Susan, but right as they were solidified as a couple, they left the show. I felt short-changed in that experience, especially in not getting to know more about Susan outside of her HIV status. You root for her to live through Marian's reign of terror, but then right as she wakes up, they pretty much leave town. Oh well.

So what did you think about Holly and her downward spiral post-Fletcher/Meg? Were you a fan of the Nursery Rhyme Stalker or did that go too far as a Holly fan? I'm still in the thick of it, and curious how she gets redeemed after all this mess, but sounds like you continued to really like her.

It’s nice to find the non-Lucy/Sonia Satra haters! When I watched early Lucy I get it some-and Sonia Satra was a complete novice who was trying to play down her age when she first joined. I think by the time AM/Lucy have their second round that SS is much better and she and RH have great chemistry and seem to have a lot of fun together even through all the high drama. A lot say Lucy was just a Harley stand-in, but I’ve said before she’s to me written to be a blend of what attracted AM to all his past loves-Harley’s spunk/Blake’s business acumen/Eleni’s guilessness. Also being Buzz’s kid who was raised by him she’s the “good” love interest of AM’s who has a higher tolerance for amoral behavior especially things in the past.

At the beginning I remember rooting for Holly/Fletcher but moreso because I was rooting for Holly to break her toxic tie to Roger. On rewatch Fletcher annoys me-I feel like my brings viewing likely makes him worse than a few times per week. Holly/Fletcher domestic bliss bored me quickly and remember Niursery Rhyme Stalker being one of the moments that made me start to turn on the show. (I always loved the Holly/Blake dynamic so that story really bothered me.). What’s funny is in my memory the Nursery Rhyme Stalker and Matthew Bomer’s wackadoodle run as Ben Reade happened much closer together than they did. There’s just something about Maureen Garrett I found memorable/intriguing. My early soap was Y&R and the attractive but more real appeal of a lot of GL actors drew me more towards GL. It’s funny-I watched B&B, Y&R and ATWT from a crazy young age because my mom did. GL was my first and only show I came to on my own.

14 hours ago, GL95 said:

It’s nice to find the non-Lucy/Sonia Satra haters! When I watched early Lucy I get it some-and Sonia Satra was a complete novice who was trying to play down her age when she first joined. I think by the time AM/Lucy have their second round that SS is much better and she and RH have great chemistry and seem to have a lot of fun together even through all the high drama. A lot say Lucy was just a Harley stand-in, but I’ve said before she’s to me written to be a blend of what attracted AM to all his past loves-Harley’s spunk/Blake’s business acumen/Eleni’s guilessness. Also being Buzz’s kid who was raised by him she’s the “good” love interest of AM’s who has a higher tolerance for amoral behavior especially things in the past.

At the beginning I remember rooting for Holly/Fletcher but moreso because I was rooting for Holly to break her toxic tie to Roger. On rewatch Fletcher annoys me-I feel like my brings viewing likely makes him worse than a few times per week. Holly/Fletcher domestic bliss bored me quickly and remember Niursery Rhyme Stalker being one of the moments that made me start to turn on the show. (I always loved the Holly/Blake dynamic so that story really bothered me.). What’s funny is in my memory the Nursery Rhyme Stalker and Matthew Bomer’s wackadoodle run as Ben Reade happened much closer together than they did. There’s just something about Maureen Garrett I found memorable/intriguing. My early soap was Y&R and the attractive but more real appeal of a lot of GL actors drew me more towards GL. It’s funny-I watched B&B, Y&R and ATWT from a crazy young age because my mom did. GL was my first and only show I came to on my own.

It really is nice! :) I thought she gave amazing performances during her rape storyline with Brent. Once when she was telling Bridgett, then AM and then when telling Buzz. I posted early last year the exact dates/episodes when I was first watching, but I really thought she was so good. A few months ago, I watched the Locher Room interview with her and Rick Hearst and you could tell they were close friends back then. It was a great reunion to watch.

I hear ya, Holly/Fletcher were boring and rarely even used throughout late 95 after they got married and through 1996/early 1997. It was sad to watch them only pop up once a month, but I never bought into the relationship. And then he's now to blame for her downward spiral. I thought his exit was almost a slap in the face to Jay Hammer. I do love Maureen though, and agree on her relationship with Blake (although I never saw the early days when apparently she wasn't always there for Blake. This is something that keeps coming up right now in my early 1999 watch - how she never was a good mother to both Blake and Meg).

On 1/29/2026 at 11:52 AM, DRW50 said:

In this broken world we need the core values of GL more than ever - morality, yes, but also respecting brokenness and healing, and the wildly different people that make up daily life.

I love this, and it perfectly captures what GL was and why, thought its ups and downs, I loved it more then ATWT. The Bauers were an immigrant family that made good...and matriarch Bert Bauer was a shrew who grew into the town rock, while her daughter in law (who believe it or not ran away from SF to shack up with someone) grew into that role, an Berts sister in law grew from a troubled woman into that grew into that role, and all the others along the way who had wild sometimes unsavory pasts evolved to support their families and others (H.B. Henry, Ross, and yes, even old Buzzard.) GL was messy, with a big old heart, and Springfield was a place you could be a little weird!

16 hours ago, GL95 said:

Nick has a solid role if you take the idea someone had (sorry forgot who!) and have Fletcher killed by Marion/Brent. Leaves that newspaper reporter hole.

That was me, and I agree, Nick and Gilly would have been interesting. My story would ave had Roger framed for killing Fletch, Nick would have of course belived it, Gilly who worked with and against Roger, doesn't and they both are at odd with that, and trying to keep the jouranl together as Holly goes off the deep end with guilt .

@GL95 , I was a big fan of Maureen Garrett's Holly too. There was something about the character that I found very relatable, and like you, I wanted to grow up to be just as poised as her too. I found Garrett to be very memorable and intriguing to watch as well, and her scenes with Michael Zaslow were magic. I know winning an Emmy doesn't define an actor's abilities, but it still boggles my mind that Garrett was never awarded an Emmy. For me, she was one of the most gifted actors working in soaps when I watched. There was just such honesty about her work.

The thing that bothered me the most with the Holly and Fletcher pairing was that once they got married, the writers stopped putting Holly in Roger's orbit and vice versa. I think there was a lot of missed opportunity there, and while I do understand why some fans didn't want Holly and Roger paired as a romantic couple, I do think the characters should have orbited each other in some way, if only because their history and chemistry was so strong.

One of the reasons I got hooked on Guiding Light was because it just felt more real to me than other soaps, not to mention the acting was top-notch. I started watching it during the summer of 1988, and by the time 1996 rolled around, it just wasn't the same soap.

Instead of strong, character driven stories that explored human emotions, the writers relied on farfetched plots that compromised legacy characters such as Reva, Beth, and Holly.

I imagine it's very challenging at times to come up with compelling storylines as frequently as soaps demanded, but so many of you have done just that on this message thread.

Annette

3 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

I do love Maureen though, and agree on her relationship with Blake (although I never saw the early days when apparently she wasn't always there for Blake. This is something that keeps coming up right now in my early 1999 watch - how she never was a good mother to both Blake and Meg).

Holly was a better mother than she was given credit for. She wasn't Maureen Bauer warm-and-fuzzy, but she really backed Blake up, through all her schemes that backfired, and would try to get her to see what she was doing was wrong/selfish/self-destructive. It was mainly the thing with Ross where she wasn't, but Blake really did start out to hurt her mother.

10 minutes ago, GL Oldtimer said:

I imagine it's very challenging at times to come up with compelling storylines as frequently as soaps demanded, but so many of you have done just that on this message thread.

I don't think it's difficult to come up with storylines as long as you can write from character and not from a need to chase trends or to beat the competition. Unfortunately, the "suits" don't see it the same way, lol.

35 minutes ago, P.J. said:

Holly was a better mother than she was given credit for. She wasn't Maureen Bauer warm-and-fuzzy, but she really backed Blake up, through all her schemes that backfired, and would try to get her to see what she was doing was wrong/selfish/self-destructive. It was mainly the thing with Ross where she wasn't, but Blake really did start out to hurt her mother.

The thing that got Blake so mad at Holly that she went after Ross initially was something Eleni overheard Holly say (that Blake called immigration on Eleni)and not that Holly went out of her way to tell Eleni. When confronted to repeat it Holly didn’t lie, but it Holly had actually kept the secret even though she disapproved. She also kept the secret that Blake faked the AM pregnancy that led to their marriage and even convinced Ross to keep the secret even though Ross at that point was fairly fatherly towards AM (mainly through Phillip).

I believe Blake held onto the grudge that Holly kept Roger from her growing up. It’s sort of funny because Holly at least tried to support Blake more than a whole lot of the parents on the show but got a lot of hate and anger for it. (I actually think because Blake knew Holly ultimately wouldn’t bail that Blake knew she could be more hostile.)

2 hours ago, Mitch64 said:

I love this, and it perfectly captures what GL was and why, thought its ups and downs, I loved it more then ATWT. The Bauers were an immigrant family that made good...and matriarch Bert Bauer was a shrew who grew into the town rock, while her daughter in law (who believe it or not ran away from SF to shack up with someone) grew into that role, an Berts sister in law grew from a troubled woman into that grew into that role, and all the others along the way who had wild sometimes unsavory pasts evolved to support their families and others (H.B. Henry, Ross, and yes, even old Buzzard.) GL was messy, with a big old heart, and Springfield was a place you could be a little weird!

It’s funny but I watched ATWT before GL and kept watching ATWT through 2004ish as well, and my memory of basically anything non-Carly/Jack is nonexistent outside of very hazy memories whereas I remember a lot more about the general GL plots. I think because I felt more attached to the characters.

2 minutes ago, GL95 said:

I believe Blake held onto the grudge that Holly kept Roger from her growing up. It’s sort of funny because Holly at least tried to support Blake more than a whole lot of the parents on the show but got a lot of hate and anger for it. (I actually think because Blake knew Holly ultimately wouldn’t bail that Blake knew she could be more hostile.)

I think along the same lines. That because of the rape, Holly didn't want Blake to think of herself as Roger's daughter, which created some kind of fascination with him in Blake's mind. Holly and Blake also had issues during her relationship with Phillip. Phillip wanted to give Blake WSPR as a wedding present, and she in turn wanted to work there with Roger. Holly ended up buying it out from under Phillip, due to a clause in the charter that allowed any employee of the station (Holly was already managing it) to have first dibs (sort of) to buy it.

Blake would turn to Roger when her ass was in trouble, but he was a fixer, not really a supportive parent.