Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[MichaelGL]

I'm thinking the decision was more of the EP at the time, Robert Calhoun, rather than Long's, just a guess. Long seemed to find a comfortable mix between the GL of yore and the GL of that decade by bringing back characters such as Holly, Roger, and Blake during her time on the show. When Long left in 1990, the show seemed to have just a significant amount of past characters from before 1983 when Long took over.

For why they never bought back CP, I guess we'll never know, it'll be one of daytimes unsolved mysteries. Is it certain that maybe CP didn't want to return? I would think that around this time, his guest appearance on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, that maybe he was looking to explore primetime or other venues of Hollywood.

[shadow]

Don't know if Vanessa had PPD, bt she did become addicted to tranquilizers shortly after giving birth.

Just remembered that Vincent Irrizary (Lujack( and Kristi Ferrel (Roxie) were a hot item for a couple of years during their tenure on GL ihe eighties.

[DRW50]

Yes, that's mentioned in her Digest interview around 1985. I think she said no comment.

I was thinking of actors who were on the show when Long started moreso than other past actors. She had no real experience with Maureen Garrett or Michael Zaslow, but I can't remember anyone who was on when she started ever returning, even when they probably should have, like Hope. But that might just be a coincidence.

Edited March 13, 2011 by CarlD2

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Nancy Curlee said that Long had no idea who Roger and Holly were, and it was her insistence that convinced Long to write them back in.

In the 89/90 episodes, Curlee and Trent Jones were both Long's Co-HW's, she was the main HW, but she wasn't HW-ing by herself, as is often mistakenly reported for her second stint.

[DRW50]

MichaelGL did you watch any 1988 episodes? I've seen a few but haven't watched in order (as I am trying to do with ATWT right now, including watching ones I've seen once or twice in the past). Did you see any weird stuff going on during the strike? I've heard that there were issues and changes, like with Sonni/Solita (I can't remember if Johnny being cured of cancer by a bright light was the strike material), but wonder just how odd it was. AW's strike material was VERY random and odd, including...let's have Felicia go to Vegas and put on some sort of big tent talk show! The Dirty Dancing troupe visits Bay City!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I thought Johnny being cured by a bright light was Long?

[DRW50]

I can't remember. For some reason I thought all that and Roxy's breakdown was around the strike, but you're probably right.

[MichaelGL]

Carl, I haven't gotten around to 88, I'm trying to avoid some of Joe Willmore's tenure as EP, because to me, the show didn't really gain any true focus until Calhoun became EP.

You asked about the storyline involving Roger taking photos of Reva, so far I haven't seen much of the storyline on the episodes posted.

[DRW50]

Would you say Wilmore or Kobe were better?

[Khan]

I thought she was okay. Phillip definitely needed a "kid sister" around to keep him occupied. (Who knows? Her presence might've spared us from some of his more ridiculous storylines during the late '90's and '00's.) However, from a looks standpoint, I could never completely buy Suzy Cote as Justin and Jackie's daughter. I wonder, too, whether she would've stayed longer, had Grant Aleksander not decided to leave in '91. Outside of her relationship with Dylan and infatuation with Daniel St. John, the writers just didn't know what to do with her.

[Khan]

Definitely Kobe. I know she wasn't every cast member's, or even audience member's, favorite. At the same time, though, Kobe, in tandem with Pam Long and Jeff Ryder, seemed to whip the show back into shape after the post-Marland period threatened to tear the show asunder.

Edited March 13, 2011 by Khan

[DRW50]

Didn't Culliton help Long early on? I only remember Ryder from his solo run.

What do you think was worst about the show after Marland (and before Long)? Just meandering, or confusing? The story about Mark seems very confusing to me on paper.

[Khan]

If for nothing else, I give then-EP Allen Potter and HW's Pat Falken Smith, L. Virginia Browne and Gene Palumbo credit for not truncating or dumping completely the storylines Marland had set into motion shortly before his departure. Unfortunately, b/c he was no longer there to steer the writing, the stories did become a knotty, confusing jumble, b/c no one apparently knew how to resolve them. It actually took the team of Richard Culliton, Carolyn Culliton and Gary Tomlin to tie up loose ends, particularly where the Mark/Mona story was concerned, to bring momentum back to the show.

[DRW50]

I should watch some of that, what is available. Mona was the one who pretended she couldn't speak, right?

Were Alan and Hope still together at this time?

Do you agree with those who feel Long wasn't any good without Culliton?

I was also going to ask if you were watching during the 88 strike and if anything seemed strange to you at the time.

[MichaelGL]

That’s a tough question Carl, considering both did considerable damage to the show, and perhaps Kobe more so than Wilmore. However I can’t deny the significant good Kobe did for GL, which far outweighs the good Wilmore did for the show, such as casting, production values, and simply injecting the show with much needed energy. Most importantly, Kobe was an EP with focus, an EP who set the overall tone of GL during her years. This differs from Wilmore, who simply didn’t appear to have a clear and overall tone for the show, and let the revolving door of writers set it.

Whether the good Kobe did for the show outweighs the bad, is debatable, but you can’t ignore that she did help the show in some way after the Marland era.