Guiding Light discussion thread

[alwaysAMC]

LOL - I really am.  I keep finding myself going to random episodes back in the late 80s and early 90s just to see things, but then I keep reminding myself to stay on track with 1995 

Please register in order to view this content

[cassadine1991]

Was Jeff Ryder really that horrible of a HW???

[P.J.]

I don't think there's anyway to truly evaluate Ryder's tenure, it was so brief. I'm not sure anyone left with that overblown cast full of duds could've done much with it.

wait---did anyone tell you Michelle Forbes was also on GL? 

[alwaysAMC]

Ensign Ro - NO!  Who did she play and when?  She's such a great actress - I loved her in the last season of Picard, as well as Season 2 of True Blood.

[Contessa Donatella]

Dual role on GL Sonni & Solita

And, most recently on Battlestar Galactica as a major player ADMIRAL!!!

 

[Mitch64]

If ever there was a time for a serial killer to strike Springfield that was it....I think Kyle is so weird, control freak and pervy( I can't get over him forcing Roxie to a screw and his early fascination with prostitutes..) that I would have made him the secret serial killer framing Cane Harris for his crimes, as he slowly poisons boring Maeve to get rid of her.

Anway, its funny, Long, when asked about how the fans still hate what she did with the Bauers, (after telling them they need to get over it) said that even if she wanted to get rid of them, she couldnt' with Jeff Ryder who knew and loved so much of GL history...(it never showed.)

Blake is really Curlee's creation...Long did not know anything about Roger and Holly and Curlee had to pressure her into going along (as someone said above they asked Zaz to play Alan and he turned them down...) To Long's credit they brought Holly back for Christmas, after the Blake reveal and she tried to kill herself, and Long saw MG (with her hair up to look older no less) and was "That woman is SEXY" so wrote her back in.

I'm in the minority, but I never thought SS' Blake was that great...I mean, she was funny in a campy bitch role (but she always looked to me that she could go, as my grandmother would say, "Bear hunting with a switch") but I never thought she was raised by Ed. LK's Blake was more vulnerable and screwed up and seemed more to incorporate being raised fairly normal until the [!@#$%^&*] hit the fan (she always came off as a decent person who kept screwing up her life as opposed to purposely selfish and mean. )

[P.J.]

YEP. As Contessa mentioned, Sonni/Solita from '87 to late '89. I knew once you mentioned TNG there was something I was forgetting. 

[alwaysAMC]

Ugh - I'm in late March 1995 right now and there are only partial or short clip episodes.  I think I hit the time when the OJ Simpson trial preempted things, which is highly annoying haha.  I hate missing episodes.

I just met a few legacy characters, so I assume:  Ed and Eve, who work at the hospital and she just found out she's pregnant.  Lillian who also works at the hospital and seems to be hiding a secret.  Henry, Vanessa's father...  

Dinah is so messy and I'm enjoying it more and more.  The actress is coming into her own.  She's trying to seduce Roger right now and Blake just listened in on their phone call.  Blake vs. Dinah is a fun watch.

I'm really enjoying everything I'm seeing so far except the character of Fletcher.  He seems to be the patron saint that everyone reveres.  He just left the newspaper and everyone is begging him to come back and threatening to quit if he doesn't return.  Alexandra seems to have a history with him and is jealous of Holly wanting him again.  What turns me off is how the actor just yells his lines a lot - it's annoying.

I really love watching Alan-Michael realize how he's falling for Lucy and is working to fight his feelings by enforcing the 'no relationships in the workplace' thing.  He's so jealous of Brent and Lucy.

Oh how could I forget BSG too - one of the best TV shows of all-time!

Please register in order to view this content

Another reason for me to go find a late 80's episode just to see her on GL!

[Contessa Donatella]

The soap actor/SciFi actor overlap is literally immense! And, I'm adding Babylon 5 & Rebooted Battlestar Galactica in with the entire Star Trek franchise. B5 had Zimmer, NLG & Lane Davies.  Wasn't Zas in a Trek? And, if you enjoy Forbes then you need to see her as a very gray, very powerful Admiral in Galactica. Although I am a sucker for the Bajoran ear jewelry. 

YaSSSSS!!! 

She does not disappoint. 

Okay, so, you never watched AW? 

[P.J.]

ST:TOS Episode 1 The Man Trap  He's the first Enterprise crew member killed ever, IIRC.

I just adore Henry, and Henry and Vanessa's relationship. Arguably, one of the best father/daughter duos ever.

LOL...while Fletcher annoys me to no end from '92 on (he and Vanessa had a brief, BRIEF fling, and he is the most annoying, clingy and sanctimonious lovah ever...) there was a time that he wasn't so bad. I think they often just didn't know what to do with the character (and much like ATWT's Tom Hughes) whenever Jay Hammer got material, he chewed scenery like he was Kim Zimmer.

[P.J.]

Even with Ed in her life, Chrissie had an unstable childhood at best. There's the back and forth between Ed/Holly/Roger, Ed's alcoholism, Roger raping Holly, Holly going to jail for shooting him, Rita resented her during her marriage to Ed, etc.  then however they explained Ed losing contact with her after Holly moved to Europe.

I thought SS excelled at both sides of Blake, the one that wanted to be "normal" (ie, not Roger's daughter) and the ruthless schemer who was gonna get what she felt she was due. I do agree--LK had a more open vulnerability, if coming off slightly more ditzy (as opposed to outright schemer).

[Contessa Donatella]

3rd opinion, Stringfield's Blake to me is just fine, no better, no worse. Okay. 

I just realized you said PICARD!!!!! The last of the newer of the Trek franchise that I totally & completely went crazy for!!! SO GOOD. 

[alwaysAMC]

Sadly, no.  I've seen their intros and love them, but never got a chance to watch AW before it was cancelled.  I made that ranking in my signature back in 2007 I think.  I should probably update it, because GL might just find its way higher now!

Please register in order to view this content

 

Spot on - he is too much and just needs to calm down and stop screaming all his lines for no reason haha.  Good to know about his fling before with Alexandra, makes this make more sense to me.

Does Alan-Michael have any kids at this point?  He hasn't mentioned any, and he seems lonely right now, sadly pining after Lucy when he knows he shouldn't go after her.  I feel for the guy haha.

[Mitch64]

My hatred of Fletcher and my annoyance with Hammer's acting is second only to Dea's Buzz...and yes, Zimmer and even Deas on occasion could get away with chewing the scenery, Hammer could not. (not to mention if I read one more interview where he mentioned Fletcher's cute buns!)  But he truly wasn't always like that earlier in his run..he and Zimmer actually had a nice fun friend chemistry together and he and Claire were good. 

They threw Fletcher at all our divas and none of it worked. Bev, Marj, Maeve, Maureen...I actually think he might have been good with Parker's Maureen when she had a crush on him (really Mo????)

[kalbir]

Maureen/Fletcher was probably fueled by Maureen being jealous and insecure about Holly's return into Ed's life, but I could be wrong about that.