Guiding Light discussion thread

[teplin]

[zanereed]

 

As @teplin correctly states, Stewart considered the character of Alexandra "too old" for Mike Bauer, when in reality McKinsey and Stewart were the SAME AGE (McKinsey only being a few months older than Stewart). Therefore, he was unwilling to work the planned triangle between Lillian/Mike/Alexandra. That's a shame, because I do think McKinsey and Stewart had chemistry, and that pairing would have made for years of story. Consider Mike eventually marrying (or potentially marrying) Alan's sister, with so much bad history between Mike and Alan! That marriage alone would have been a great reason for Alan to return to Springfield (to either stop the marriage or contest it), as well as Hope (to stop her father from marrying a Spaulding, as Mike tried with Hope only a few years prior).

Edited January 15, 2018 by zanereed

[vetsoapfan]

 

But the absurd thing is, when the show flirted with the idea of having Trish Lewis as a potential love interest for Mike Bauer, Stewart said in an interview that she was too young. No actor should have the power to dictate storylines or on-screen couplings, based on their own personal preferences. Look how damaging Tony Geary's dictates were to the character of Luke Spencer and GH. If given my druthers, I would have wanted Stewart to remain on TGL in a major capacity, but like George Reinholt before him, smetimes even the most popular leading men need to be relieved of their duties.

 

Jed Allen and McKinsey would have been grand, if you ask me.

Edited January 15, 2018 by vetsoapfan

[zanereed]

 

Agreed. Allen and McKinsey would have been fantastic together.

 

I just don't think Stewart was ever happy with anyone that they paired him with (except, as you said, Deborah May as Renee DuBois, but I don't remember there being much chemistry between them, either).

 

It's funny you mention Stewart and Reinholt. Both so similar during their time on their respective shows - they both debuted in 1968, both were in the top (or at least in the top 10) of favorite leading man polls in the various soap publications for years, and both were given major roles in their shows. However, it appears both had massive egos as they gained that popularity. Stewart probably lasted as long as he did on TGL with his attitude because he apparently didn't get involved in as heated disputes with the writers/producers as Reinholt had. Also, it's tough to believe now, but shows back then took huge stock in popularity polls, and Stewart was a huge attraction for TGL. I recall that the show did not want it revealed that Stewart was married in real life for several years, so as not to alienate his female fans.

 

With that said, I did like Don Stewart's Mike Bauer (he's my avatar, after all). Mike was likable, charming, and he and Mart Hulswit were absolutely believable as brothers. My family loved him because he grew up in Nebraska (as we did). Plus, my grandparents loved Stewart's singing. I think had Stewart just cooperated in 1984 and gotten through the drudge of 1985, he would have eventually gotten good story again with the return of Alan.

Edited January 15, 2018 by zanereed

[vetsoapfan]

 

Yes, the reason George Reinholt popped into my head when writing about Stewart is that, if the stories about them are true, then both men shared similar attitudes and behavioral problems as their popularity soared. More than likely, the actors knew that their huge and devoted fan base offered them more security and protection than the Average Joe. (I do wonder, however, if Stewart would have lasted so long on TGL if he had had to work with the likes of Paul Rauch and Harding Lemay.)

 

I agree that if Stewart had just reigned in his complaints and gone with the flow, he might have survived producer Gail Kobe's and writer Pam Long's massacre of the cast, but no one knew how long they were going to last, and it's hard to bite your tongue and remain quiet when the work environment you dislike may go on indefinitely. It is rare to find actors who are different types, like Stewart and Hulswit, but who work so well together and who actually "feel" like brothers, so Stewart's departure, even if it ended up being understandable, was a blow to TGL.

 

Do you remember when, years after Stewart left the show, we heard Mike's voice over the telephone during a  brief phone conversation? The actor chosen to play him had a bit of a southern twang, which was totally wrong for the character. I took this scene as a hint that perhaps the character was headed home to Springfield, but alas, that never happened. A much better voice-only replacement was the actress chosen to play Hope when we heard her speak to Alan-Michael on the phone, explaining why she would not be coming to his wedding to Harley. Only through her voice, the unidentified actress really made the audience feel Hope's pain about how her life and relationships had been when she left town.

 

Since even TPTB knew how unhappy the audience was about losing the Bauers, it's unreal to me that no producers ever brought at least Mike and Hope back.  There were so many many mind-bogglingly stupid decisions made on this show during its final decades. No wonder fans are still annoyed at the cluelessness and incompetence exhibited by those in charge.

Edited January 16, 2018 by vetsoapfan

[zanereed]

 

YES!!! It was 1989 (during the whole Roger returning storyline), and Phillip called Mike in DC to query about Adam Malek/Roger, or something to that effect. What I remember most about it was - as you say - the wrong type of voice for Mike, and also the odd bit at the start of their conversation that went something along the lines of, "Mike Bauer - hi, it's Phillip Spaulding. Do you remember me?" That line I howled at. It just seemed like an odd thing to say, since Phillip and Mike had such a strong history together - of course Mike would "remember" Phillip! I can't believe that Pam Long didn't purge, or at least alter that line. I also thought that they were getting ready to bring Mike back at that time to help investigate the Adam/Roger mystery, but for whatever reason, they decided not to.

 

There were so many chances to bring Mike and Hope back over the years to continue playing off of story.. In my mind, Hope was Alan's one true love, and any capable actress could have played off of Ron Raines as a foil for Alan. Plus, the fact that they never seemed to address the "Bauer" side of Alan-Michael.

 

I really wish Paul Rauch would have found a way to keep Stewart on in 1997, after he returned as Mike for the 60th Anniversary Celebration. Mike still knew many of the people in Springfield at the point (Alan, Alexandra [although now played by Marj]). I even loved the little "nod" of history by having Mike being escorted around the event at times by a gleeful Lillian (which was probably an idea of Tina Sloan's - she was so good at addressing those types of little things).

[vetsoapfan]

 

Phillip's line to Mike would have better if he had said in a wry tone, "Mike Bauer, it's Phillip Spaulding...I'm sure you remember ME."

 

My first, cynical thought was that the writers had not studied the show's history, and had no real knowledge of the characters' past interactions, but who knows? Pamela Long had mentioned at one point that she wanted Meta to return because, "She had so much happen to her." That made me believe that Long, like Douglas Marland, Claire Labine, Pat Falken Smith and a few others, had finally been professional enough to brush up on the show's rich past. She certainly knew little about Springfield when she wrote the dreadful Girl in the Lake and Brandon Spaulding is Alive crapola...but maybe the weird dialogue just came from a careless scriptwriter.

 

Anyway, I am tired of shows not being able to fix major mistakes before they air. All shows should have a continuity person.

[cassadine1991]

Much better writing than today's soaps

Wonder why no one brought back the Ruthledges and the Holdens

[vetsoapfan]

 

In its final years, the show did bring in a day-player named "Rev. Ruthledge," to whom Josh Lewis remarked, "Your grandfather was a legend around here." Supposedly it was a nod to the past. However, there were continuity errors the writers ignored. Rev. Ruthledge had only had one daughter, so once she married Ned Holden, her children would not have carried on the Ruthledge family name. As well, Dr. Ruthledge never lived in Springfield. He lived in Five Points.

[cassadine1991]

Interesting. Did any of these writers know the history of this show?

[j swift]

 

I would like to offer the comparison of the characters of Mike Bauer and Bill Horton.  Both were leading roles that did not age well with their shows and both left huge holes in their wake when they left the canvas.  However, Ed Bauer and Micky Horton might never have aged into the avuncular characters they became (given their misspent youth) if their older good-guy brothers hadn't left town. 

[vetsoapfan]

 

Well, anyone who has ever even taken a glance at the show's history would know that it began as a story about Rev. Ruthledge and his flock, but aside from that fact, I doubt that the writers knew much about the character and his family background. Or perhaps they just figured that no one in the present-day audience would know, or care, about history from the 1930s and '40s.

 

I do appreciate when soaps take a nod to the past, but as a purist, it bothers me when they don't take the time and trouble to get it right.

 

Many years ago, there was a Gold-Key comic-book version of the soap Dark Shadows, in which the character of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard referred to her brother Roger Collins as her husband. HELLO? Her husband? The lazy, clueless writers nominally attempted to use important characters from the TV series in their comics, but did not do any research on them. If nothing else, since Elizabeth's name was "Collins Stoddard," the writers should have figured out that anyone with the name Collins would not be her husband; her spouse's name would need to be Stoddard. Many years later, the former editors of the comics said that they had wanted to give the writers "creative freedom" to do as they wished, but this does not mean the scribes had the right to trash or ignore canon history and facts. Imagine if new writers on Grey's Anatomy had  Meredith Grey being accused of racism by a disgruntled patient, and Meredith replied that she certainly was not racist; her best friend Cristina Yang was African-American. The audience would have a fit, and bombard the studio with angry letters, reminding TPTB that Cristina Yang is of Korean descent. She's not black.

 

If new writers do not know the history of a series, they should not carelessly dip into it.

[vetsoapfan]

 

I would respectfully disagree about the Mickey and Bill Horton situation. Mickey was the older brother, and regarded as a good person throughout Days of Our Lives' early years, whereas Bill had a much more troubled life and caused his family and friends a great deal of grief. It was Bill who broke the hearts of women like Susan Martin and Laura Spencer. It was Bill who ended up in prison for the death of his sister-in-law Kitty Horton. It was Bill who raped Laura, his other sister-in-law, and fathered her child Mike, which would tear the family apart when the truth came out. Yes, Mickey did have an affair with his secretary Linda Patterson in 1970, but that was after years of enduring Laura's distance and the emotional limitations in their marriage. (Laura was in love with Bill and never able to completely commit to Mickey, which naturally hurt him. It was his feelings of rejection that led him to Linda's bed.) Although he was wrong to cheat, Mickey was a decent older brother until he finally found out that Laura and Bill were having an affair and that Mike was Bill's biological son. That's when Mickey had a nervous breakdown and tried to kill Bill.  I didn't see Mickey as a negative character for any of this. Bill had been the one to precipitate all the heartache and drama in the first place, by raping Laura many years before. I would describe Bill Horton as the troubled, "bad-boy" younger brother who caused his good-guy older brother Mickey a lot of trouble.

 

(Actually, all this was great, absorbing drama, because although Bill was in the wrong in so many ways, neither he nor Mickey were painted in simplistic black-and-white strokes; they were both multi-dimensional characters with understandable motivations. Even though Bill's behavior was wrong, we could feel his pain too, and this is what makes drama captivating.)

 

 

Edited January 17, 2018 by vetsoapfan

[zanereed]

Mike Bauer wasn't a "good guy" initially, either. He married Robin Lang while still a teenager (it was later annulled), which inadvertently led to the death of Karl Jannings. When he was in his early 20's, Mike  pressured Julie Conrad into having sex before marriage (which she waiting for). He got Julie pregnant with Hope, but wanted Julie to give the baby up for adoption as he didn't want anything interfering in the pursuit of his law degree. Basically, Mike wasn't very noble with his attitude towards women at this point in his life.

 

Of course, later on Mike had the infamous affair with Leslie Bauer while Leslie was still married to Ed. He had a rather chauvinistic attitude when Leslie wanted to return to college. He had another affair with Elizabeth Spaulding Marler while she was married to Justin.

 

In my mind, both Mike and Ed Bauer both had their own issues. I just think Mike was probably the more stable of the two brothers.

 

The other thing I thought of after watching some shows from 1979 last night - I wonder why they never tried pairing Mike Bauer and Sara McIntyre at all?

[vetsoapfan]

 

I had to cut short my previous post because real life got in the way (and I HATE when that happens, LOL). Just now, when I returned to follow up my comments about the Horton brothers with my personal take on the Bauers, I see that zanereed has already written an eloquent post which more or less sums up my own thoughts.

 

During her brief tenure as TGL's head writer, Pat Falken Smith wrote a great scene between Mike and Sarah, in which the characters acknowledged their longstanding friendship and how valuable it was. Although I had also flirted with the idea that a Mike/Sarah romance might be nice, I accepted the fact that some folks just have better chemistry and more durability as platonic friends.

 

Oh, how I wish Pat Falken Smith had remained with the show throughout the 1980s! We would have gotten wonderful character moments, sophisticated romance, adult themes...and avoided The Dreaming Death, ghosts, and the like.