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Guiding Light Discussion Thread

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11 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

LOL - I thought the same thing. Not to mention just a week ago, Blake was falsifying her passport to help get Cassie out of the country and they were both about to get arrested LOL. Hello, Cassie! I actually just looked it up and you could get up to 25 years in prison for that. I know 1999 was a long time ago now (ugh), but I bet it was still pretty bad.

Cassie was never one of the bright bulbs of Springfield, but did she never listen to Springfield gossip either? Lol. And it always annoyed me when characters said, "I can't imagine how you feel", after some catastrophe. Because usually, about six months before, they went through nearly the exact same situation. LOL.

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17 hours ago, P.J. said:

I think of Nadine as who Reva might've been if Reva hadn't gotten the supreme break of marrying money and bewitching the Lewis men. I wouldn't call Nadine smart, but she had enough insight into behaviors to understand how to manipulate her kids and Billy.

I also believe that it's possible they were trying to create another Reva because they knew Zimmer was probably going to leave at the end of her next contract.

We make fun of Josh and to a lesser extent RN, but Reva would have never worked without Josh. The backstory, the star-crossed love--that's what made Reva bearable. You look at her early scenes and they're kind of like nails on a chalkboard. She was basically a cliche. But once it became about her and Josh, she became a real person. She rode that even after RN left the show for the first time.

Nadine didn't have that. She came across as a really awful person who ditched her kids and came back only because one was moving up the social ladder. She helped to make Harley's behavior more understanable, but for herself, I could detect nothing.

I liked Jean. She had a lot of presence and sparkle and she could be funny, too. They just never found a way to write Nadine to give her some depth. If you're going for creating a long-term character, you really have to do that. Some characters they go too far (I would say that happened with Blake, going from delicious manipulator to dull housewife) but you have to find the balance.

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Any time I think about Nadine/Jean, I just think back to Megan McTavish's "memoir" and how (allegedly), Jean went to Megan asking for more story and Megan just thought "Nah, you're annoying, I'm just going to kill you" (paraphrasing). So funny LOL - I felt bad for Jean though.

That damn memoir is what got me to start watching GL last year, so I'll give it that )

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Every once in awhile, you would be reminded that Nadine had abandoned both Frank and Harley thus putting Frank in the position of parent to Harley. One particular conversation was Christmas 1992 where Frank goes to visit Nadine whose happily hosting Christmas for Billy's family and she happily tries to invite Frank to stay.. and he lays into her for abandoning him and Harley.

Ironically mid 1993 to mid 1995 was probably the only time where the show does actually try to give Nadine more layers... and seeing how Buzz basically strings her along gives the viewer a bit of insight into what caused Nadine to become the person she became after he was believed 'dead' in Vietnam.

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1 hour ago, alwaysAMC said:

Any time I think about Nadine/Jean, I just think back to Megan McTavish's "memoir" and how (allegedly), Jean went to Megan asking for more story and Megan just thought "Nah, you're annoying, I'm just going to kill you" (paraphrasing). So funny LOL - I felt bad for Jean though.

I think Megan McTavish is giving herself to much credit. I truly believe that Jean Carol's exit was due to Kim Zimmer rejoining the show. Once they made the decision to pair Reva & Buzz together, there was no place for Nadine. As Reva would take over as the love interest for Buzz, and working in the diner.

Though I thought Soap Opera Digest had a brilliant idea of Nadine coming back. She stumbles back into the diner and says "I was kidnapped by aliens, and held hostage in a UFO!" - that would be brilliant plotline, and the storyline possibilities of Nadine trying to convince people she was kidnapped by aliens would be endless.

It is a real-life situation as there are thousands of people who claim to this day, they were kidnapped by aliens.

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16 minutes ago, TheyStartedOnSoaps said:

I think Megan McTavish is giving herself to much credit. I truly believe that Jean Carol's exit was due to Kim Zimmer rejoining the show. Once they made the decision to pair Reva & Buzz together, there was no place for Nadine. As Reva would take over as the love interest for Buzz, and working in the diner.

Nadine/Buzz had never really been treated as a proper pairing so I don't think the show saw her as in the way. If anything, Nadine could have just returned to scheming against Buzz and his latest true love as she did with Jenna.

Nadine had barely had any story of her own for two years before being killed off. At the time Jean Carol spoke about how little she'd had to do and that she was going to leave if she didn't get a storyline.

Regarding Nadine being brought in as the new Reva - I can't see that, mostly because Pam Long, I believe, brought her in, and to Pam Long, there was only one Reva. Reva was heavy on the canvas from very early on with extensive backstory and motivation, whereas I think Nadine was mostly carried by Jean Carol and served the plot.

Edited by DRW50

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I haven't seen a lot of Nadine, but for some reason I see her as a mix of early Opal Gardner and Nola Reardon (if she had ended up marrying someone like Floyd Parker).

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On 5/28/2026 at 1:56 PM, Soaplovers said:

A story element that survived in the late 90s and 00s after Billy left prison and would always give advice to Vanessa in the same way that Vanessa would give advice to Ross. My favorite Billy and Vanessa post marriage talk was when Vanessa wouldn't tell the police where Dinah

Ironically enough, Vanessa spent a fair amount of time in their first marriage telling Billy that he needed to stop fixing things for Mindy, to varying degrees of success. I do appreciate that after Jordan returned, the show didn't play any kind of acrimony between Billy and Vanessa. Sure, it was probably mostly due to circumstance, but it made the reconciliation at the end possible.

2 hours ago, DeeVee said:

I also believe that it's possible they were trying to create another Reva because they knew Zimmer was probably going to leave at the end of her next contract.

We make fun of Josh and to a lesser extent RN, but Reva would have never worked without Josh. The backstory, the star-crossed love--that's what made Reva bearable. You look at her early scenes and they're kind of like nails on a chalkboard. She was basically a cliche. But once it became about her and Josh, she became a real person. She rode that even after RN left the show for the first time.

Nadine didn't have that. She came across as a really awful person who ditched her kids and came back only because one was moving up the social ladder. She helped to make Harley's behavior more understanable, but for herself, I could detect nothing.

I liked Jean. She had a lot of presence and sparkle and she could be funny, too. They just never found a way to write Nadine to give her some depth. If you're going for creating a long-term character, you really have to do that. Some characters they go too far (I would say that happened with Blake, going from delicious manipulator to dull housewife) but you have to find the balance.

RN does deserve a lot of credit for their popularity. I'm fairly certain Reva would've been a memorable character, simply because Long just poured story into her. But as iconic without "Always, Bud"? Eh....

In some ways, Nadine is hamstrung by Harley and Frank and her abandonment of them. It was easier to soften Reva before she had kids. Nadine was older, and had been gone from her kids' lives for like fifteen years. I don't know if Long and later Curlee thought it was too big a hurdle, or if it was easier to have Nadine as the catalyst to explain all of Frank and Harley's problems. If anyone ultimately made Nadine expendable, it was more likely Buzz. Buzz got the chances at redemption that Nadine never really did. And having two dysfunctional parents on screen seems a little redundant, especially if you need to free up money. Carol had probably escaped the chopping block for the previous two years.

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20 minutes ago, P.J. said:

In some ways, Nadine is hamstrung by Harley and Frank and her abandonment of them. It was easier to soften Reva before she had kids. Nadine was older, and had been gone from her kids' lives for like fifteen years. I don't know if Long and later Curlee thought it was too big a hurdle, or if it was easier to have Nadine as the catalyst to explain all of Frank and Harley's problems. If anyone ultimately made Nadine expendable, it was more likely Buzz. Buzz got the chances at redemption that Nadine never really did. And having two dysfunctional parents on screen seems a little redundant, especially if you need to free up money. Carol had probably escaped the chopping block for the previous two years.

Nadine's mistakes with her kids were always there, while Buzz mostly got away with it. Another reason I disliked Buzz for a number of years. I think Jean also played the heartbreak of what she had done more than Deas ever did with Buzz.

On soaps, especially back then, I would often feel I needed to choose a side, but I never did with Vanessa and Nadine. I suppose it helps that we were clearly never meant to root for Billy/Nadine and Nadine was clearly going to pay.

That whole situation was very sad when you think of what would become of Billy soon after marrying Vanessa. I'm glad that the show did let Billy be contrite for his mistakes and not judge Vanessa for moving on, as you mentioned. This is, sadly, not common on soaps.

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2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Nadine's mistakes with her kids were always there, while Buzz mostly got away with it. Another reason I disliked Buzz for a number of years. I think Jean also played the heartbreak of what she had done more than Deas ever did with Buzz.

On soaps, especially back then, I would often feel I needed to choose a side, but I never did with Vanessa and Nadine. I suppose it helps that we were clearly never meant to root for Billy/Nadine and Nadine was clearly going to pay.

That whole situation was very sad when you think of what would become of Billy soon after marrying Vanessa. I'm glad that the show did let Billy be contrite for his mistakes and not judge Vanessa for moving on, as you mentioned. This is, sadly, not common on soaps.

I suppose I should be grateful the show didn't marry Vanessa and Fletcher. I'm not sure you were really supposed to root for them, but Fletcher was probably the guy who was "perfect" on paper for Van.

sigh I do love the exes-who-can't-get-over-each-other trope. :) When it's done well. :)

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I always remembered how this soap in particular had exes that actually became good friends such as Billy/Vanessa, Vanessa/Ross, Holly/Ed, Reva/Billy, even India/Phillip would banter with one another.

I also liked that two of those couples ended up reuniting at the end of the show (Billy/Vanessa & Holly/Ed).

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It's Maeve's birthday!

Maeve KinkeadGuiding Light's Maeve Kinkead Opens Up About Jordan Clarke's Addiction

"Sophie's Choice" New York Screening and AfterpartyThinking of Mom! — The Locher RoomMaeve KinkeadActress Maeve Kinkead attends the 19th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on ...

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It's a big one too, 80.

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5 hours ago, P.J. said:

It's Maeve's birthday!

Maeve KinkeadGuiding Light's Maeve Kinkead Opens Up About Jordan Clarke's Addiction

"Sophie's Choice" New York Screening and AfterpartyThinking of Mom! — The Locher RoomMaeve KinkeadActress Maeve Kinkead attends the 19th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on ...

Aww, Happy Birthday! Love her.

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I’m up to August 13, 1999.

Phillip and Harley prepare to take their baby home from the hospital, but first visits Alan one more time in his room. They introduce their baby to him as Alan Cooper Spaulding, his namesake, which genuinely surprises and pleases Alan. A reporter interrupts them and asks if Alan wants to comment on SanCorp’s abilities to overtake Spaulding Enterprises, and Phillip kicks the guy out, but they realize Ben has leaked to the press about Alan’s medical issues and leaving the company. Phillip tells Alan not to worry about it because he’ll take care of Ben. Meanwhile, Max showed up to the hospital and Susan gives him the cold shoulder, saying he is too mean to her because of their age difference and he needs to be nicer, which gets to him, but she walks away. Another day at Company, Susan is still giving Max a hard time and when one of his friends joins them, the friend makes fun of Max for hanging out with ‘jailbait’. Max tells the friend off and to go away, which makes Susan happy. He then confides in her about Jesse/Drew having a hard time because Jesse isn’t Jewish, which makes him wonder why Drew would want to adopt him since he’s not Jewish.

Josh, Billy, Jim and Matt call Danny over and tell them about their plan to rescue Reva. Danny says he wants no part of it, but they insist that he and Michelle are key to making this work because they need to get the guys into the palace discreetly. Danny then tells them how Michelle already wanted to get involved by going down to San Cristobel for the masked ball, which excites the guys, thinking a masked ball would make it even easier to get in. Cassie and Michelle then come in demanding to know what they’re up to. They reveal their plans and Michelle gives Danny a hard time for changing his mind just because the guys convinced him and she couldn’t. Cassie insists that she goes down there with them to help, but Josh says she’s staying in SF with Billy because it’s too dangerous, which she balks at but finally accepts. Blake later reminds Cassie she couldn’t go down there anyway since she doesn’t have a passport.

Michelle visits Drew to borrow a dress for the masked ball in San Cristobel. Jesse walks in to grab something he left behind when he moved out, but Michelle asks what’s going on, so they tell her about Jesse moving in with Buzz for a while. Jesse then announces he got a temporary job offer at an art gallery in NYC, which shocks Drew. On her way out, Michelle privately tells Jesse to do whatever it takes to make things right with Drew. Jesse then tells Drew he doesn’t want to leave, but he needs to while she figures out what she truly wants. Drew cries and says she just wants him to be there, hold her and kiss her, which he does. They have sex and cuddle in bed, saying they love each other, but Jesse still says he’s going to NYC which makes Drew angry. By the way, Jesse no longer has his chest scar from Maureen’s heart which is annoying since they’ve seemed to forgotten about that. Jesse says just because they slept together doesn’t mean their problems go away. They continue to argue and Jesse leaves.

Reva goes to Edmund and asks if he’s figured out who was responsible for her getting stabbed, but Richard walks in and announces the guard who committed suicide left a note about how much he hated Catherine, leaving everyone to believe he did it and there is no longer a threat to Reva’s life. Richard apologizes to Olivia for once thinking it was her, and also being unsure about their future until he finds his son. She says she understands, while Edmund continues to pressure her privately, saying she must get more friendly with Reva and execute their plan. Edmund and Richard leave to do archery, which was a really cool location shot here, and Richard confesses he’s in love with Reva because she is still Catherine to him. Edmund reports back to Olivia that Richard is still madly in love with Catherine, so it’s very important she stay the course with their plan. Meanwhile, Reva confronts Olivia about the weird vibe she’s giving off and Olivia finally tells her that they used to be friends, but Reva could tell Olivia loved Richard and was jealous of her. Reva got angry at Olivia’s pining after Richard so she had her banned from the palace. After Olivia leaves, Reva has a flashback to where Reva tells Olivia she’s the only one she trusts and asks Olivia to take Jonathan, so they hug and Olivia walks away with a covered stroller. Startled, Reva rushes back to Olivia and tells her about the flashback, demanding that she tell her what happened to Jonathan since she last had him. Olivia still denies knowing anything, but Reva threatens her by saying if she doesn’t talk, she won’t let Olivia get out of the palace alive. Olivia finally agrees to tell her, which she does off camera that we don’t see, and Reva is shocked and says she has to tell Richard because it’s his child too. Olivia begs her not to, but Reva goes to Richard anyway and gives him a hug. She cries and says she wishes she didn’t have to say this, but Jonathan is dead! Olivia then makes a private call and tells the mystery person that she didn’t tell Reva everything. Richard doesn’t believe Reva, but she says he died when he was a year and a half old due to a tragic illness. Richard says she’s putting on an act just to be able to leave with no strings, but Reva insists she lost a child just like he did and she feels sad. Reva says Jonathan was very sick and there were complications, and when Richard asks for more details, Reva says she wasn’t there when he got sick, she had already left San Cristobel at the time and gave him to Olivia. He storms down to Olivia and Edmund and demands to know what she did with Jonathan. She weeps and tells him she never could tell him that Jonathan died because she couldn’t bear to see him in so much pain. She says she buried him in a beautiful rolling meadow behind her house. Realizing she kept this secret from him for years, Richard tells her that he hates her and storms out, leaving Olivia devastated. Edmund then tells Olivia that she will help him or else he’ll have her charged with murdering a royal son, but Olivia says he’s the reason Reva turned her baby over to her, because Reva was scared of Edmund. Later, a distraught Richard tells Reva to go home and be back with Josh, because with Jonathan gone, she has no reason to be there. Reva asks him why he’s doing this, but he admits it’s too emotionally difficult to see her all the time. She wants to still understand why she gave her baby to Olivia and they agree to visit his gravesite later. Reva is able to make a call to Josh and tells him about Jonathan being dead, and then says she’ll be coming back home to SF that night on a plane, which pleasantly surprises Josh. Josh then tells Jim about Reva coming home, which excites Jim that they don’t have to carry out their mission, but Josh says he still won’t believe it until she’s home. Reva and Richard then try to find Jonathan’s grave based on Olivia’s directions, but they can’t find a grave marker and realize there isn’t a grave there at all. An upset Reva demands to know what’s going on and says she can’t leave San Cristobel until she does know.

Carmen gets word that Danny is preparing the family yacht for a trip to San Cristobel, which upsets Carmen because he’s spending more time on Michelle’s problems with Reva than the family business. Danny and Carmen then fight about it and Danny pressures her about when the family will finally go legit, and Carmen says soon, but she doesn’t trust him anymore. In order to trust him, she says he needs to take bearer bonds into the country when he takes the yacht because they’re behind on some payments which could get them in trouble. He says no, but Carmen says if he doesn’t, no one will see or hear from Reva ever again after she makes a phone call to her contact down there. He finally concedes, but makes her promise they will go legit after this (which of course she has no intention of doing). After Carmen leaves, Michelle comes home and she tells Danny about Jesse/Drew having problems. She says she loves that she and Danny have no secrets between each other and she kisses him, but you can tell Danny feels bad not being able to tell her about the bearer bonds.

Pilar and Bill hang out and he assures her that he’s no longer mad about her hanging out with David, which relieves her. She then confides in him that she doesn’t have much experience with sex, but Bill says that’s ok and they can take their time until she’s comfortable. Later at Company, they’re having lunch and Matt walks up. He tells Bill that Vanessa wants to talk to him about a job offer at Spaulding in Europe. Pilar gets up and leaves so they can talk, but she’s visibly upset and runs into David outside and tells him Vanessa is trying to find a way to separate Bill from her for good. She is nice to David and says they can hang out any time he wants, and we later see David recorded their conversation. He then tells Pilar that she better go back to the Santos mansion and retrieve anything that’s important to her, because they’re about to have an unexpected visitor show up, which she assumes is the police, but he won’t confirm. Inside, Bill thinks the same, telling Matt he’s not going to do that because he knows it’s a way to keep him and Pilar apart. Matt says he understands and will report back to Vanessa and then he leaves. Bill walks outside and sees Pilar and David talking and doesn’t seem to like it. Bill tells David they don’t know each other well and they’re not friends, but David apologizes and said he thought they were all closer friends and leaves. Pilar tells Bill he should be nicer to David, and he tells Pilar he’s not taking the Europe job. Pilar rushes out, saying she has to go and take care of something which confuses him. Bill goes back inside and confronts David about what they talked about, because of Pilar’s change in attitude. David says nothing, but as Bill brushed his arm, the tape recorder falls out of his jacket and Bill demands to know what’s going on. Frank then shows up and takes the recorder, saying David stole police property and he’s going to take him in, which really covers for David. Bill leaves and David tells Frank he needs to get over to the Santos mansion so they can follow through with their plan. David then runs into Vicky who says she wants to apologize.

Pilar shows up at the Santos mansion and tells Carmen and Danny to get rid of anything incriminating because David gave her a heads up. They tell her she’s crazy for trusting a cop, but Pilar sees all the bearer bonds and says they need to get rid of them. Pilar says she’s going to take them so they’re not caught, which distresses Carmen, but they realize they have no other choice. Bill then shows up demanding to know what’s going on, but Pilar takes him away, along with the secret bearer bonds, and says she’ll tell him later in private. Michelle shows up, just as Frank and the police show up, and she demands to know what’s happening and why Pilar rushed out of there, but Danny stays silent. Michelle tells Danny she feels like she’s on the outside again and doesn’t like it. Carmen tells Frank off and says there is nothing there he should be interested in. Back at Company, Bill and Pilar, still carrying the $2M in bearer bonds, walk in as David and Vicky are having a cordial conversation. Pilar goes to David and thanks him again for giving her a heads up and she kisses his cheek. After she leaves, Vicky stands up and leaves, saying she can’t put herself through that, but a torn up David says to himself he wishes he could tell Vicky the truth.

While in Chicago, Holly mentions Sam and Ross jokes with her about how cute it is she’s feeling smitten over this cowboy. She then brings up Blake, saying it’s clear he’s still in love with her. Ross tells her to stop and he pivots back to Sam. Ross asks her why she’s so scared to go on a simple date with a simple man, which she laughs at. Meanwhile, Blake and Cassie visit Harley and meet her little baby Alan. Blake mentions she hasn’t been able to get a hold of Holly and is really curious who the man is that she left town with (not knowing Ross was going with her to discuss business). As she leaves to try calling Holly again, Cassie starts to worry that Ross might have been the guy and she tells Harley about how they used to be married before. Harley thinks that’s crazy, but Cassie lets it slip that Blake is pregnant with Ross’s baby just as Blake walks up and overhears. Blake is annoyed with Cassie, but quickly gets over it and they download Harley on how she and Ross had sex in the bathtub and what the current situation is with her feelings. Blake then talks about the mystery guy again, with Cassie and Harley giving each other looks, and Blake then says it must be Sam. Harley and Cassie agree that it must be Sam, just to cover their thoughts about Ross. Blake then says she’s suspicious of Sam and they have no idea if Hart really knew him or not, so she’s going to get to the bottom of this. Blake calls Holly again and she finally answers. Blake asks who she’s with and Holly jokingly says a handsome man, to which Blake asks if it’s Sam. Blake warns her to be careful, but an annoyed Holly says she’ll see any damn person she wants and hangs up. We then see Ross privately calling someone, asking them to continue investigating and finding out everything they can about Sam. Later, the businessman comes to negotiate,  but Holly is resistant and Ross pulls her aside to ask why she’s ruining her deal. He starts to think Sam is the reason, because Sam convinced Holly not to let her passion go, which Holly seems to be agreeing with. She decides not to sell The Journal and the businessman gets angry and storms out. Meanwhile, Blake goes to the stables and finds parole papers and believes Sam is a former felon, which scares her more. She rushes off to Chicago to find Holly and magically is able to find her hotel room. Ross and Holly are celebrating her decision, but Holly tells Ross he can’t tell Blake that Sam had an influence on her decision, and just as Blake walks up to the door, she hears Ross say he promises he won’t tell Blake about their secret because it will only hurt her. They walk out to go to dinner as Blake hides and a shocked Blake then says to herself that Ross and Holly are having an affair!

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