Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

I think they should have brought Nick in but made him an ally to Alexandra or at least more respectful to her (he spent most of his time spitting venom at her, or at least that's how it seemed to me at the time). He and Mindy never should have been put back together after Kim Simms left. He should have stayed with Eve or been paired with Tangie.

April 1994 SOD. K-III Magazine Co. This is around the time that mean mean wicked Julie won the beauty contest Lucy was supposed to win. Poor Lucy! I loathed Lucy at this time and I remember laughing and laughing. One of the more entertaining parts of GL at that point.

Edited November 22, 2010 by CarlD2

[SFK]

Jocelyn looks so different from how I remember. Then again, I only really know her from PP. On there she kinda reminded me of a poor man's Jennifer Beals.

[DRW50]

That's not a very flattering photo. She did look harder-edged and more unique on PP, with the short hair, but she was quite pretty on GL. I really liked Julie, even when she was sweet. When she turned bad, I was kind of annoyed at first, but when she went after Lucy and gave story to Frank/Eleni, it was worth it.

Edited September 8, 2010 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

Tina Sloan tells a story about Buzz and Lillian. It's got a surprising twist.

http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/specials/tinasloan.html

[soapfan770]

Ahh Julie, poor Julie. She vied for Dylan and Hart yet failed so epicly. Bridget interrupting her wedding to Dylan announcing Julie's affair with Hart the night before was early 90s GL at its finest. Dylan burning down their house was even better. Did Mallet even mention her at all upon his 2005 return?

Although I didn't much care for the whole Frank and Julie thing, it did at give some life to Frank and Eleni. That pairing only seem to have life with Melina Kanakaredes, and after she left and the role was recasted, it was comatose time whenever Frank and Eleni were on-screen. I think that's also why they were back-burned for so many years afterward.

That was a nice little story there by Tina Sloan. Even though I pretty much gave up on GL back in '06/'07, it seems so weird that the show has now been off for a year come next Saturday.

Edited September 9, 2010 by soapfan770

[soapfan770]

Found this article appearing in the defunt Soap News regarding the then upcoming Reva clone story. You'd never see something like this in soap mags ever again.

[DRW50]

I guess we can see a reason why they didn't last long.

I didn't mind the clone story that much, I have to say. I think because I saw Josh as a control freak and I bought he would try to keep Reva even from beyond the grave. Zimmer was annoying at first as Dolly but then got much better. I do think that the ending was a copout. While Zimmer did a good job in the death scenes, I would have preferred Dolly just move to some hot place, perhaps Rio, in homage to Josh thinking Reva was on a travel tape of Rio (was it Rio?), and then she could have popped up again every few years, like Serena on Bewitched.

The drama between Frank and Eleni at the time I felt carried the show during some dull periods. Melinda was so powerful as Eleni when Eleni would stand up for herself. I have never cared for Melina in anything else. Sometimes I wonder if it's because I am still waiting to hear the Greek accent again.

I have some of that on tape somewhere...

[soapfan770]

Yep they only lasted a couple before folding without any fanfare. Their editorials could be quite good, but they were buried under the fourth-rate recycled content. Probably why its long forgotten now.

The clone story got better when it started poking fun at itself. Oddly enough, it was mentioned in 2004 by Reva when she was telling Josh how she didn't want her psyhic powers to dominate her life anymore(a story not to be retold ever )

I liked Melina and the first couple seasons of Providence but after that, eh. I loathe the CSI franchise so I really have't seen her work much on CSI NY.

[DAMfan]

A year and NO Light and now no World there and now CBS leave us wih broken hearts.

[MichaelGL]

Today really made me think about GL and how much I miss it, of course it would be expected.

It's insane how it's been a year since it went off the air, yet feels as if it happened only yesterday.

[DRW50]

I feel the same way. I also remembered how much more Wheeler, for her many faults, seemed to care about GL. Even when I did get some great stuff I wanted in ATWT's last year, I never sensed a lot of caring from Goutman. I felt that strongly in the finale.

[KMan101]

Say what you will about Wheeler, but she poured a lot of time into GL and seemed to really care for the show and it's actors. I feel towards the end of the show, we saw a LOT of familiar faces return. I mean, A LOT. ATWT only brought back more recent "favorites" and bad recasts (Gwen/Will/Lucy/Mike/Simon). Frannie returned for 1 episode. Only real return was John Dixon and that was likely only because of Elizabeth Hubbard. Goutman seems to have burned a lot of bridges with the ATWT cast. Wasn't that the soap that old favorites were reluctant to return to?

[DRW50]

Yeah. I often wonder if Lisa Brown would have returned if asked, since she's close to Martha, or if they never even bothered to ask. I also wonder if they bothered to ask Rosemary Prinz, who was never mentioned in the show's last year, even when her mother was buried.

Wheeler made many mistakes and she should have done a better job actually giving the returning favorites more story but she did bring them back and she let us say goodbye and know most of our old friends were well. The cheap format also enabled stuff like Lisa Brown ad-libbing some great moments. And again, while I wish the story had had more time, she gave Vanessa a happy ending I had long ago given up on.

Edited September 18, 2010 by CarlD2

[MichaelGL]

The thing is, unlike Goutman, if the show needed a particular character to return, Wheeler was willing to go the extra mile to bring that person on, be it Peter Simon, Grant Aleksander, Lisa Brown, etc. Goutman seemingly didn't give two sh!ts because he indeed did burn plenty of bridges.

Wheeler despite her many faults, did give the show an extra year or two after 2007.

[Marley]

As much as I loathe Wheeler I never doubted her sincere passion for GL, that being said I don't want her ever working in daytime ever again.