3 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

My issues with Lucy were her being brought in to replace Harley and just them trying too hard at spunkiness, quirkiness, what have you...if the show hadn't been so alienating to me at the time due to so many cast exits and focus on the wrong people, I probably would have been more receptive. I grew to accept her more during the Brent story as the character had more of a purpose, even if as is often the case on soaps that was done via assault.

Julie I didn't mind as much because she was just a generic ingenue and I thought JS did an OK job - she was very good at sincerity, or so I thought at the time. I remember being involved with the Hart/Julie relationship the first time around. By the time she was with Dylan I'd started to lose some interest in the show.

I probably should have been more annoyed as she replaced Sam, someone I liked, but I guess even then I must have known the show had written Sam into a corner.

What’s funny is I liked Julie okay when she was still friends with Bridget and I first watched Lucy when they’d already worked out a lot of the writing/acting kinks and she was friends with Bridget. Seems to be a common denominator haha (I definitely don’t blame Julie for not wanting to be Bridget’s friend anymore.)

Funny thing about Julie is there was one day they had a stand-in and it was Mira Sorvino.

Sam had that quirky nerdy side that I liked and lots of connections between Harley/Dylan/AM/Ross. It’s too bad they didn’t follow through with the law school plot and make her the second lawyer in town.

1 hour ago, MLH said:

I thought there was one that focused on someone's Bridal shower, but it got cut for some reason (something from the news). I only remember Kat, Michelle and Bridget trying to get the decorations up and talking about their fantasy wedding.

hmmm. Maybe Blake's? Although maybe Kat's gone by then. Eleni?

56 minutes ago, CrazySexyQ said:

In my binge-watching, Billy really stands out. He's usually giving one-liners and a backup to Josh, but I really love how he comes across. He's generally nice but has a rugged edge. He doesn't mind breaking some rules. Was Billy a huge character in the 80s or just a romantic foil for Reva and Vanessa? I read that Jordan Clarke always kept his other job as a handyman while working in daytime(not sure how true that is)

Jeffrey is scum. He's no better than Edmund at keeping Hope from Michelle. I don't know how this guy became the show's lead.

I'm going to regret asking...but Jeffrey kept Hope away from Michelle?

Billy is a pot-stirrer in the '80's and early '90's. While he's not the patriarch of the Lewises per se, I think his arrival kind of energizes both Josh and Trish, who were a family unit, but didn't have a lot of conflict between them. He also antagonizes Alan, and later Reva. He's actually the Big Bad in the first go-round of Josh/Reva. (He's either sickened that Reva is sleeping her way through his family, or obsessively jealous, take your pick.) When Kyle comes to town, he takes him on. When Billy comes back in '89, he becomes Roger's foil. (While almost everyone else in town also is, he's really the one who sort of enjoys the thought of taking Roger on.)

And of course, he brings out a more sympathetic, rootable side of Vanessa.

When Jordan returns in '97-ish, he's more of the support character. He's there when family needs him. I caught some silly scene when he's helping Bill break out Olivia from a nut hut or something, which is kind of funny...but a little sad, knowing he used to be a force to be reckoned with. As much as Zaslow or Deas were always lauded for their work, Jordan deserved lead emmy consideration for his work as well. He won a supporting actor emmy around '06-'07, which was long overdue, imo.

2 hours ago, MLH said:

Only weddings I liked was Reva/Josh one in 89 and Billy/Vanessa one where they were all dress up in old time clothing from another era. It was funny and romantic.

LOL...OMG...Billy and Van's first wedding was entertainingly chaotic. I wish I had rewatched it before their final one, as I really didn't get why Billy was waxing poetic about "spontaneous weddings" at the time.

I think comedy really requires a light writing touch, and everything McTavish did usually stank of overkill. Much like Nola's spaghetti western fantasy of shooting "Quint", there's stuff that sounds funny on paper, but just doesn't play that way on the screen. While I'm giving up criticizing **** for Lent, foodborne illnesses and the consequences thereof, are by their very nature, not funny. At least if you're older than five. You can write a "disaster scenario" wedding without toilet jokes.

I still wonder if any wedding for a couple who had so little impact and a story that fell so flat has ever cost this much. Stunning visuals and gorgeous wardrobe in many cases. I often think of these clips whenever I think of a GL wedding (and the couple aren't even in many of them!), but I wish they could have used that cash for a better purpose.

The fun entrance for Louie also reminds me that a character who often seemed to be there for light relief got a depressing side exit. I guess at least he got an exit.

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 1 - YouTube

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 2

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 3

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 4

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 5

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 6

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 7

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 8

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by DRW50

Such lush visuals. And when they went to Peapack everything looked drab and shabby.

But it summed up GL at the time -all style and no substance. A bunch of characters with little history on the show, most of whom would be gone and forgotten.

They obviously spent a lot on that wedding and I don't think the ratings showed any uptick.

Kurt was dead later that year.

13 hours ago, P.J. said:

LOL...imagine Nola and Vanessa doing a riff of Old Acquaintance. OMG...

LOL!..."What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?" Im surprised McTavish would have loved that and you know Maeve and Lisa would have gotten into it!

7 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I still wonder if any wedding for a couple who had so little impact and a story that fell so flat has ever cost this much. Stunning visuals and gorgeous wardrobe in many cases. I often think of these clips whenever I think of a GL wedding (and the couple aren't even in many of them!), but I wish they could have used that cash for a better purpose.

The fun entrance for Louie also reminds me that a character who often seemed to be there for light relief got a depressing side exit. I guess at least he got an exit.

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 1 - YouTube

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 2

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 3

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 4

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 5

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 6

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 7

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 8

I think it's mostly about anointing Mindy as a pretty pretty Princess. She and Kurt hadn't even been dating that long.

Aside from Trey and Sloane's wedding on Capitol, it has to be the most opulent wedding CBS ever aired and that P&G ever produced.

11 hours ago, GL95 said:

Sam had that quirky nerdy side that I liked and lots of connections between Harley/Dylan/AM/Ross. It’s too bad they didn’t follow through with the law school plot and make her the second lawyer in town.

I always thought at the time Wheeler took over and recast Marina with that simpering cutie girl, that we didn't need another Cooper and they should have brought Sam back as a lawyer. With Dinah back they could have been "sisters" and of course, Dinah would be jealous of the hardworking Sam. Of course at this time I would have made the Marlers the core family (Coopers were never meant to be core, sorry Hurst and the Bauers were un savable at this point) as JVD earned the right to be the patriarch of the show.

"When Jordan returns in '97-ish, he's more of the support character. He's there when family needs him. I caught some silly scene when he's helping Bill break out Olivia from a nut hut or something, which is kind of funny...but a little sad, knowing he used to be a force to be reckoned with. As much as Zaslow or Deas were always lauded for their work, Jordan deserved lead emmy consideration for his work as well. He won a supporting actor emmy around '06-'07, which was long overdue, imo."

Jordan we know had his issues, even Maeve had a hard time working with him...I think he was just glad to have a job, and for once GL did the right thing by keeping him around (with an out for them.) What made Billy great was he was one of those characters, like Nola at a certain time and India in her return, who just liked to stir sh*t up, and did it with a twinkle in his eye. You need those kind of characters, not bad, not self righteously good, who just liked to throw a wrench into something out and watch everyone scarmble. I think that is why he worked so well with self controlled Van, he needed her to keep him centered and she needed him to remove the stick that sometimes got up her ass.

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by Mitch64

11 hours ago, P.J. said:

While I'm giving up criticizing **** for Lent

LOL! I don't believe you 😜

10 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I still wonder if any wedding for a couple who had so little impact and a story that fell so flat has ever cost this much. Stunning visuals and gorgeous wardrobe in many cases. I often think of these clips whenever I think of a GL wedding (and the couple aren't even in many of them!), but I wish they could have used that cash for a better purpose.

The fun entrance for Louie also reminds me that a character who often seemed to be there for light relief got a depressing side exit. I guess at least he got an exit.

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 1 - YouTube

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 2

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 3

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 4

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 5

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 6

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 7

GUIDING LIGHT-- From Here to Infinity, part 8

Wow - I've only seen the first clip and I'm already in love with the fall colors and outdoor setting. I've never really seen scenes with Kyle/Reva, but gosh when he's summoning her to come to him, that's kind of hot haha.

But... who are those people dancing strangely in the woods in the first 30 seconds of that first clip? That is so odd haha. I'll have to watch more of these clips later today when I have time!

Oh, gosh. Kurt and Mindy's wedding.

I'm guessing it was a way for them to try and compete with nighttime TV shows like Dynasty. (The Lewises--and the Buchanans on OLTL and the show Texas--probably would never have existed on daytime without the popularity of Dallas).

The whole Kurt and Mindy marriage was a terrible mistake, IMO. Kurt had zero ties to anyone else on the show. They repeated the "marriage vs career" flop storyline that sunk Kelly and Morgan. So of course they ended up killing Kurt off, with zero impact on future stories.

I'm sure at the time people loved the wedding (I thought it was total cringe, but people like that stuff). It's just really annoying that other than Alan Michael and Harley and Reva and Josh (the first wedding), few if any couples got a really special wedding after that.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by DeeVee

6 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

Oh, gosh. Kurt and Mindy's wedding.

I'm guessing it was a way for them to try and compete with nighttime TV shows like Dynasty. (The Lewises--and the Buchanans on OLTL and the show Texas--probably would never have existed on daytime without the popularity of Dallas).

The whole Kurt and Mindy marriage was a terrible mistake, IMO. Kurt had zero ties to anyone else on the show. They repeated the "marriage vs career" flop storyline that sunk Kelly and Morgan. So of course they ended up killing Kurt off, with zero impact on future stories.

I'm sure at the time people loved the wedding (I thought it was total cringe, but people like that stuff). It's just really annoying that other than Alan Michael and Harley and Reva and Josh (the first wedding), few if any couples got a really special wedding after that.

I was just going to say...

After watching more of this wedding, I'm amazed at how wonderful it all is! But, after researching some of these characters, I'm so confused by how much money and focus they put on this wedding! Kurt had zero ties to anyone (no parents, siblings or otherwise), and then he dies like 7 months later? Then you have Calla and Jessie, who I see are Lillian's sister and niece, but they had just joined the show like a month prior to this wedding and left only a year later. That seems... odd. I don't know that we ever hear about them ever again? You'd think if Beth had an aunt or cousin, they would have recasted and brought them in later maybe.

All I can say is wow, John Bolger looked quite handsome in his wedding attire! 😍

7 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

I'm so confused by how much money and focus they put on this wedding! Kurt had zero ties to anyone (no parents, siblings or otherwise), and then he dies like 7 months later? Then you have Calla and Jessie, who I see are Lillian's sister and niece, but they had just joined the show like a month prior to this wedding and left only a year later. That seems... odd. I don't know that we ever hear about them ever again? You'd think if Beth had an aunt or cousin, they would have recasted and brought them in later maybe.

This was one of the major problems with GL during the mid-80s. They cut most of the characters from the Dobsons/Marland eras (some left voluntarily, like Robert Newman and Chris Bernau). They introduced a bunch of new characters, most (except for the Lewis clan/Reva and Alexandra) who flopped and were out of there very fast. And, of course, Charita Bauer passed away, which was a major blow to the show.

Even some that succeeded (i.e. Lujack) lasted a short time because of problems backstage.

Not a good period for the show. And, no, I don't think Calla and Jessie were ever mentioned again.

55 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

The whole Kurt and Mindy marriage was a terrible mistake, IMO. Kurt had zero ties to anyone else on the show. They repeated the "marriage vs career" flop storyline that sunk Kelly and Morgan. So of course they ended up killing Kurt off, with zero impact on future stories.

Kurt was cute...he was fantasy boyfriend material for girls and gay boys at that time, but he really was just a hunkified Rick, with no history or ties to anyone on the canvas. Mindy hadn't even been on that long..but it also was weird...the Four M's were college students one day, and then the next Phillip is being played by a handsome guy who looked about 35 years old who is suddenly shirking his "executive responsiblities" to play polo... Rick is in Med School, Beth has a career...doing "something" at Sampson and Mindy is getting a princess wedding, to a guy who basically fits the Prince Charming suit. They must have thought it filled a fantasy for the young demo, but having them as college students having young people storylines(however dramatic those were) made them more relatable. Even being a Shayne, Roxie was more relatable..she was working at Company and going to school and trying to make her way in life.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by Mitch64

4 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

LOL! I don't believe you 😜

Wow - I've only seen the first clip and I'm already in love with the fall colors and outdoor setting. I've never really seen scenes with Kyle/Reva, but gosh when he's summoning her to come to him, that's kind of hot haha.

But... who are those people dancing strangely in the woods in the first 30 seconds of that first clip? That is so odd haha. I'll have to watch more of these clips later today when I have time!

Someone else will know more than I do but I think those are extras (the guy on horseback saying this sure beats wherever in Canada they came from may have been on before, I don't know - I have never brought myself to watch that whole story introducing them where Kyle had sex with Roxie when she had amnesia).

2 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

I was just going to say...

After watching more of this wedding, I'm amazed at how wonderful it all is! But, after researching some of these characters, I'm so confused by how much money and focus they put on this wedding! Kurt had zero ties to anyone (no parents, siblings or otherwise), and then he dies like 7 months later? Then you have Calla and Jessie, who I see are Lillian's sister and niece, but they had just joined the show like a month prior to this wedding and left only a year later. That seems... odd. I don't know that we ever hear about them ever again? You'd think if Beth had an aunt or cousin, they would have recasted and brought them in later maybe.

All I can say is wow, John Bolger looked quite handsome in his wedding attire! 😍

He did look stunning there - I'm sure today someone would say he "outmogged" the groom (although the people saying that don't watch soaps).

Bolger is one of the most gorgeous men on GL, or any soap. I'm not surprised he never really caught on as Philip the way Grant did, but you never get bored watching him.

Soapcentral's bio claimed that Jessie and Simon had a son offcamera (named after her father?) and that Lillian would mention visiting Calla, but those bios often had some fancruft. I never heard any mention of them, even though it would have made sense to bring back Jessie later on (Beth likely would have ended up screwing her man).

Calla is a flop of a character, remembered only for a VD shame story, and was likely just brought on because Lisby Larson was a big name on Texas, the previous Kobe/Long soap.

I can't remember if I showed you this before (if I did my apologies) but it is one of my "favorite" Jessie scenes - Simon decides to woo her with a puppet.

Guiding Light - Jessie has a date with a puppet (1986)

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by DRW50

45 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Bolger is one of the most gorgeous men on GL, or any soap. I'm not surprised he never really caught on as Philip the way Grant did, but you never get bored watching him.

Not his fault, he just wasn't GA's Phillip..he should have been someone Alex brought in to run the company who...I don't know, had actual business experience. He could have still been at odds with Simon (Alex looks so stupid here if she thinks this Flock of Seagulls guy could be Brandon,the Root of All Evil's son.

But he was doomed to fail just because of the writing. He had WAY more chemistry with MKA than he did with JE, and they never had him in scenes with MOL, so who knows there. His Phillip spent time writing that stupid novel and it just looked crazy that India (who was madly in love with Phillip) or Beth would even consider Simon or Jackson before him. He just tutted Alex constantly and his Phillip was just there.

54 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

Calla is a flop of a character, remembered only for a VD shame story, and was likely just brought on because Lisby Larson was a big name on Texas, the previous Kobe/Long soap.

Ha.. I remember watching the reveal at the Student Center TV lounge and everyone in hysterics...Didnt dumb Jessie go running out into a field or something when she found out?

55 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I can't remember if I showed you this before (if I did my apologies) but it is one of my "favorite" Jessie scenes - Simon decides to woo her with a puppet.

May you rot in soap opera hell for digging that up! : )