Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Reverend Ruthledge]

Yes, that's true. ATWT had many more characters tied to the past when Marland came aboard than GL did. However, Bill Bauer was out there somewhere. It's strange that he didn't bring him back. Or Meta. Or Trudy, for that matter. But Bill would have had more of a relationship with the current characters at that time. But then, it's not just about bringing characters back. After all, he never brought back Donald Hughes nor Penny Hughes. But then he did bring back non-familial characters like Grant Coleman. And he was good at creating new storylines that had some kind of connection to past storylines (the Sabrina Hughes story). GL may not have had a lot of veteran characters still on, but there was definitely no lack of past storylines to mine from. I don't know. It just seems odd that Marland seemed more interested in the history of ATWT than the history of GL. But then, maybe it was that he wasn't at GL long enough to flesh those things out. 

[DRW50]

He did bring Penny and Don for visits, but not more. I wonder how much of the lack of older Bauers was down to P&G's ageism. Or if they didn't touch Bill after the viewer backlash to his 1977 return. Either way it's a shame. (and killing him off in 1983 was another mistake...)

[wonderwoman1951]

really makes me wish i had photocopied his gl longterm. anyone close enough to madison to drop by?

[DRW50]

It would be strange to imagine Mike with Marj's Alex. He might have thrown her out of the plane. 

You're right about Marland and the Dobsons. And even his brief 1979 ATWT run, in spite of some dullness like Bob and the ballerina, feels "right" in a way the Dobsons stuff doesn't to me. 

I know I shouldn't judge the Dobsons or Marland as we don't have their full run but what I notice most with the Dobsons and their GL material is how rich many of the characters feel internally, with several dimensions and believable decisions. Under Marland you get that to a point but everything feels more rote to me, especially when it comes to the female characters. Aside from a Nola or Vanessa or Maureen many of them seem lifeless. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Well, the dates may be telling. The first tenure looks like part of a year, then the Dobsons looks like 2 years, then his second tenure looks like 8 years. (Of course, we can never be sure of dates like this off of Internet sources.)

[P.J.]

His second ATWT run would've been 1985 to March 6 1993 (his death).

[Contessa Donatella]

What I had showed Apr '93, so close! Maybe he had shows continue to air with his credits after his death?

[P.J.]

I'm not sure when they changed the credits, or how long his story ideas where used. From what I recall, he was rumoured to have his stories plotted a year in advance. 

[DRW50]

IIRC the Kasnoffs were part of his story projections, so somewhere up to then I suppose. 

[P.J.]

eee....then again, I think he'd also laid out Carly's backstory

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[Paul Raven]

Doug Marland's first stint at ATWT was 13 weeks in 79.

I still maintain that it was a 'caretaking' position based on the facts that there was no publicity surrounding it. 

He was the writer that had helped GH turn around, so you think there would have been some hype about that, but nothing.

And during that time he made no major changes to story, merely playing out stories already in motion.

I'm sure he was paid handsomely but he had no real investment. In later interviews he never referred to it.

[Khan]

I, too, suspect it might have been a contractual thing.  P&G wanted the Dobsons to take over ATWT, and for Marland to take over GL, but the timing wasn't right yet.  I'd even venture a guess that Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt stepped down (or was fired) sooner than planned, and because the Dobsons still weren't ready to switch shows, Marland's 13-week stint was a stopgap measure in order to keep ATWT from being without a HW until the Dobsons' arrival.

[Contessa Donatella]

Supposedly he hadn't had a vacation & he indicated that if he walked directly into a new show without one that it would be ages before he got any time off, so they let him have a month in between shows. 

The Dobsons wrote both shows for that month. Like clockwork when that month was up, Marland stepped into the GL top writing spot & the Dobsons just concentrated on ATWT going forward. 

Maybe it's me, but that just sounds off. 

If Marlana was only at ATWT for a 13 week cycle, then why had he not had time off before he began it? And, same beginning, why was P&G unhappy with the situation at ATWT if it was what you've just described? IOW, not a serious HW effort on Marland's part? Just being a placeholder?

 

[DRW50]

Found some old scans. Sorry as I had a problem with my scanner for some of these.

 

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[SoapDope]

That magazine scan reminds me of the circa 1996 awful 'Newcomers taking over the show. NuPaul (John Howard) is show with Austin Peck. I don't think Howard did any other acting other than ATWT. I assuming he was probably some low rent male model they hired to attract younger viewers.

Re: The Dobsons. P&G screwed up switching them to ATWT. They should have left them alone to work their magic at GL. Marland was a perfect fit for ATWT that we would find out circa 1985.