Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

That's a great idea - seeing Benjamin as Silas again would have been fascinating.

Geez I had totally forgotten Pilgrim was tied to that mess.

[Mitch64]

I read the book, "Unscripted, the Epic Battle for a Media Empire..(yadayada) having no idea that good ole J No Dot would be a supporting character.  He probably thinks its a badge of honor!

Speaking of, the GL writers could have used a book like that to maybe give them an outline of a real family fight over a corporation...instead of, the, "Oh, Alan Michael, you have drawn up papers to own all of Spaudling..." or, "Let's vote for Harley Cooper as CEO, sure, she totally unfit for the role with no experience...but gosh darn it she is good gal!"

Long was planning it. There was a scene where H.B. goes to talk to Bert, but she is out of town(Charita's illness) and he ends up talking to Maureen about his family and his estranged kids, that you could tell was written for he and Bert. When H.B. first came to town he wasnt the jolly Santa/Col Sanders figure..he was a bit more edgy and earthy and world weary...it wasnt until later  that we got the "YeeeeHaww," everytime he came into a room.

[P.J.]

They got back together after Alan-Michael's birth in 81, then Alan goes to jail in '82 (I think for helping Roger) and Amanda's left in charge of Spaulding. Then there's something about Alan being kidnapped out of jail (and framed to look like he broke out and fled the country.) Hope is all rah-rah Alan, and Amanda feels like an idiot for believing in him. At the end of '82, Amanda is voted out as president of Spaulding (she, Ross and Josh form LTA), but it seemed like Alan and Hope were okay. But by May '83, Hope is a big ol' blacking out drunk, and Alan is licking his lips over Trish. 

So...it was just lazy writing? Hope's bored and Alan is addicted to creepin'?

Eh...well, Curlee would've been wise to avoid writing Julie Cameletti then, but que sera, sera. I think a troublemakers can be rich too. 

[P.J.]

It's interesting, I just rewatched Quint and Nola's engagement ball, and Mindy ends up faking an injury and lands in the hospital (that's where she meets Beth.) There's a scene with Mindy and Bert, where Bert is basically reading her the riot act about being a brat in the hospital.  So, maybe Long was thinking about heading in that direction, with casting Bert as some kind tamer/mender of the Lewis family. At the beginning, HB was not the revered patriarch they turned him into. Josh was at odds with him, Trish had been at odds with the family over marrying Andy, and there seems to have been some kind of break between HB and Billy, which led to Billy leaving Lewis Oil.

[Mitch64]

I loved orginal recipe HB, who was a complicated man at a loss on how to deal with his kids without their mother. He was a total a**hole sometimes and was mean to Josh, and vied with Billy on hating/lusting after Reva.  The family was much more complicated and interesting then, (Mindy HATED Reva, Reva wasn't much inclined to like Mindy, Van was a wild woman who Billy was turned on by, until she became a boring housefrau) and I have no idea if it was Jeff Ryder or who, but they became cartoon and buffonish while being the main family in town NO ONE could beat.

I get why turned HB into the sage patriarch (I am sure he was headed that way and Bert would have been the catalyst) as there was no older person to take the mantel..Henry was...Henry. The problem was, HB was more fun as a crotchey old codger and he was fixated on the Lewis family (like Sarah was with Reva) and could not be that community center the show needed.

Julie was just an out and out biotch, while Bridget was a bad girl with a heart that we were supposed to root for (there was no rooting for Julie, even though I loved her nastiness.) Julie seemed the prototype for Dinah, but we were supposed to feel for Dinah, and well, you just couldnt.

[Soaplovers]

In regards to the Lewis family, I wonder if Robert Newman leaving at the end of 1984 threw a wrench into plans Long/Kobe had for the Lewis family since him staying would have continued the whole Josh/HB/Reva situation with Billy fighting against Reva being in the family with Trish trying to be peacemaker.

Since Josh was gone, and Kyle coming onto the show trying to take over Lewis Oil caused a shift in how the family was written since the Lewis family united against an outside enemy.

[DRW50]

It doesn't really make sense for Julie to become as nasty as she did just because she cheated on Dylan and got dumped, but I do enjoy the material. It helped that she hated Lucy, and so did I at that time. 

Speaking of that, Suzy Cote and Jocelyn Seagrave are on Locher Room tonight at 7:30 EST.

[Mitch64]

Totally agree..it was like Babs on ATWT,,I don't care how many time Marland trotted out his rules...her turn to bitch was on a dime, but well worth it to cause trouble in the Hughes family. Julie was cheaper entertainment, as she was not part to the core and you didn't have an investment into her rivals like you did Babs vs Margo, but it was just as much fun seeing her hate on Lucy, cause who the hell didn't..and cause  trouble with uh "Nero divergent" Frank!

[Contessa Donatella]

Lucy? Sonia Satra? I always hated her. I never knew anyone who didn't hate her.

[P.J.]

I agree--it was a more interesting dynamic, before they all became Reva worshippers. RME.  And I adore sage Grandpas HB and Henry. What surprises me on rewatch is that aside from a couple of years, HB isn't really a permanent fixture in town. 

Julie managed to be boring in both extremes, as the doe-eyed ingenue and the frustrated bitch. And as much as I liked WM and GT, Dinah never quite turned the corner and became likeable. The show never really found either of them a good leading man.

[DRW50]

I did think Gina and Rob Bogue worked, but I wasn't watching regularly. 

I don't really remember feeling like Wendy clicked with much of anyone, whether family or romantic. Maybe Kevin Mambo, early on.

[P.J.]

It's like wondering which came first, the chicken or the egg. Do HB and Reva even get married if Newman stays? Or was that the story they wrote for his exit?    

[P.J.]

I didn't like Bogue. Maybe as someone totally new he might've worked. As Mallet? Nope.

[DRW50]

I do end up thinking of his Mallet as a brand-new character. 

[Vee]

I thought Robert Bogue was great. I don't understand why no other soap has picked him up.