Guiding Light discussion thread

[chrisml]

I was not watching when this Matt/Dinah stuff happened, but it just feels emblematic of how mean-spirited and icky GL got in the last few years. So many stories seemed designed to be cruel and to tarnish couples or beloved characters. 

[Speed Racer]

Hello, all! I’m new here, but not to GL.

I agree with many here that GL really started to tank in 1994; I’m here with the ideas for a redo of 1994.  Frankly, my ideas are better than what the writers and JFP came up with at that time.  How could they not be?  Sheesh.

I’d start in March 1994, roughly at the apex of the Vanessa/Bridget/Peter custody trail. GL tanks rapidly afterwards.   I’m splitting this into three sections/posts for easier reading.

A quick aside….I do need to mention that Reva is never reintroduced, nor is Mike Bauer. Can't strand either one.  People here have spoken about Ed’s sanctimonious @ss.  I agree, but Ed doesn’t hold a candle to Mike’s sanctimony.  Mike Bauer is a jerk (there, I said it). BTW, Buzz has an unexpected fit of PTSD, waves a gun around and accidentally shoots daughter Lucy in the head.  She dies.  Buzz is carted off and is not seen again.

See?  Told you my ideas would be better - LOL.

During 1994, four new contract characters are introduced.  Of those, two were known about previously and two are brand new characters.

 

SECTION ONE:

Amanda Spaulding (Kathleen Cullen) is reintroduced in March 1994.  Stays initially for about six weeks, then is brought back permanently (along with son Matthew as portrayed by Frank Beaty!) in August 1994.  She comes to town to warn everyone that Alan is in the process of taking over Spaulding from his jail.  (Reminder, this is right after Alex regained control from Roger and Jenna.  In fact, Alan was trying to wrest control from Roger and Jenna when he started his secret mission).

Alas, Amanda's too late; Alan had already succeeded in the takeover, but it was unannounced.  (This means there was no need for the idiotic Mr Toshua story that involved Roger, and no need for Alan to grovel/scheme at the feet of Blake and Vanessa for their Spaulding shares).   In my GL of 1994, Alan and Alex are quickly at odds; Roger gets suprised as Alan and Alex gang up on him during the battle).  Oh yeah – an incidental - because Buzz is off the canvas, there's no stupid game show storyline line for Buzz and Nadine.

Amanda’s story is limited AT FIRST. She re-acclimates, rebuilds relations with Alex, Ross, Josh, Vanessa.  Starts to build ties with Alan-Michael, Ed, Holly.  By January 1995, Amanda takes the helm at the Spaulding Foundation at Cedars (a big deal later due to Roger and Annie), and very reluctantly gets reinvolved at Spaulding, to help Vanessa deal with Alan, Alex and Nick, protect Alan-Michael and protect/play mentor to son Matthew who very much wants to work at Spaulding.  

What becomes very interesting is the budding relationship she has with ED as 1995 progresses. Amanda and Ed get married by the end of 1995. Amanda moves into the Bauer house and over time becomes the Bauer matriarch.

Having Amanda in the Bauer kitchen makes all sorts of good sense.  She and Ed have similar dispositions.  She is a bit of a wounded dove, which appeals to Ed (though she is tougher and more self assured now).  

Just think of the endless, legitimate story and character opportunities this presents. Possibilities:

1. A-M and Matthew become fast friends and remain that way.  A-M always needed a male buddy – Matthew would be perfect.  Uncle/nephew connection, too.

2. Alan-Michael now spends much time at the family compound - the Bauers - and benefits from the Bauer influence.  Amanda encourages friend Hope to visit periodically, which she does.  (AM and Gilly are an item, so you see Gilly at the Bauers as well).

3. Rick has reservations about A-M (due to history and to Phillip), but not Matthew.  He and Matthew also become friends.

4. Michelle's reaction?  Bridget's?  Blake is left out in the cold. Her reaction?  Does she trust Amanda? Ross is very comfortable with Amanda being with Ed.  Why wouldn’t he be?

5. The Bauer-Spauldings (Amanda, AM and Matthew) develop the true, long-lasting family bond that perhaps isn't possible outside the Bauer manse.  And it’s a familial bond, not a business bond.  Not part of this bond are Phillip, Alex and Alan.  Nick doesn't care.  Sensitive writer and eternal Golden Boy Phillip, however, cares a great deal upon his return to town.  Jealous and very upset by his outcast status, Phillip strikes out but at whom?  He wants the relationship with his parents that A-M now has with Amanda, Matthew, Hope.

6. Does Phillip sacrifice his relationship with Rick due to A-Ms new found home at the Bauers?  Does Rick undermine A-M?

 

[chrisml]

I was listening to a Locher Room interview from four years ago with some GL writers.  In it, David Kreizman said one of his unsuccessful stories was the Sebastian story. He said he couldn't play it correctly because Peter Simon wouldn't come back to the show at that point. I remember people liking Doug Hutchison (before his real life nonsense) but not caring for the storyline. Is this accurate? Again, this is a case of me trying to keep up with GL but not watching much of it.

[DRW50]

I was also not really watching by this point, but that's also what I remember.

I want to agree, but this is a case where I don't really care. It seems more character-driven than many stories by that point - once you get past all the generic fantasy land material Vanessa and Matt had in the late '90s, you have two very incompatible people, one of them being a woman who wanted to be in control after being hurt by men, another a construction worker and prostitute (even if the show tried to clean that up, he was a prostitute - no shame in it, he needed the money, etc.) who was thrust into a world of wealth far beyond his imagining. Then you have the weird vibes Dinah/Matt always had. 

[Speed Racer]

SECTION TWO

Initially, Amanda is there for Ed to lead the foundation, but also to help Ed deal with Eve’s decision to recommit herself to the mental institution in Clayton.  Eve recognizes her own mental demise in November 1994.   She tells Ed that she wishes to break all contact with him, which he abides by.  Lillian, Michelle and Bridget visit Eve often.  Annie Dutton, whom Ed has recently hired, is assigned by Ed to be Eve’s advocate and traveling nurse.  Eve becomes the heroine of the show for a while.  Viewers become increasingly sympathetic as they watch Eve’s sad and sometimes horrific experience while in the institution.  Unlike Olivia de Havilland’s experience in The Snake Pit (whom Edson resembles), Eve does not get better and dies.  GL’s PSA effort for 1995.

It is Annie’s oft-proximity to Eve that spins Annie into a mental descent of her own.  She becomes the nutcase we all know and love (there is no Marian Crane btw).  We learn of Annie’s previous mental slips, which she masked with illegally sourced prescription and non-prescription drugs (via Rick, of course).  Lillian finds this out, but Annie blackmails her.  Rick doesn’t know that Lillian knows.

Roger also finds out early, and in turn, blackmails Annie.  He tells her to sabotage Amanda and Cedars Foundation.  He also tells her to ruin Ross.  Annie proceeds to do so, but as she waffles, Roger's goon provides her needed, but purposely limited quantities, of “medication”.

Yes, Josh and Annie are a couple, and remain so throughout 1995.  Annie is tight with Marah and Shayne.  Annie is in bad shape by early 96; it isn’t until Spring 1996 that Annie’s ties to Rick and drugs becomes apparent.  Josh ends up in a protracted legal battle with Rick.  There are “extenuating circumstances” of course. Like Annie and Roger.

 

 

[DRW50]

Welcome. I'm always glad to see new people here. Some fascinating ideas. I did like Toby Poser but I would have brought Kathleen Cullen back too - and Frank Beaty playing a Spaulding would have been a great addition to the family.

[Speed Racer]

SECTION THREE

A new, married couple is introduced.  Let's call them David and Amy...nice, upstanding WASP-like names for two people who aren’t.  They are a solid match and deeply ionm love with each opther for some eyebrow-raising reasons!  They laugh A LOT when in each other’s presence.  In a break from the typivcal soap tripe, David is not after ppower or money.  He is after sex.  And lots of it.  He is a sex addict.  He also is a very successful traveling salesman of high-end medical equipment.

Conversely, Amy has an average sex drive. Interestingly, she very much appreciates that David is able to relieve himself of his “tension” before taking her to bed.  So why is she with him?  Kicks.  She likes his crafty, wily mind and thoroughly enjoys watching David take advantage of people.  After all, she likes taking advantage of people herself, mainly for attention, but sometimes for money and stuff. (David taking advantage of people affords her with more opportunities to do the same. As a traveling salesman, David greatly appreciates Amy’s perspective and loyalty).

Nobody – including the GL cast and viewers – know that David and Amy are married.  He is introduced first, in June.  Amy appears starting in September.

It is David (not Matt Reardin) who rescues Vanessa in June 1994 during her boat-in-a-storm saga.  Vanessa falls hard for the guy, finding him intelligent, charming, sexy and endearing.  Viewers are joyfully reminded of the brazen, lustful Vanessa of long ago.  She retains her intelligence, business drive and status at Spaulding.  She no longer needs to prove she is desirable; with David around, it’s obvious that she is!  He makes her feel likke to only woman on planet Earth…  Papa Henry's reaction is particularly notable, lol.

Amy is portrayed by none other than 28-year-old Toby Poser!  She is told that Amy is roughly 35 years old, and will remain that age for the next decade or so.

[Khan]

I'm honestly stunned to hear people liked Doug Hutchison/Sebastian.

And I'm sorry the storyline didn't play out the way David Kreizman had anticipated, but how do you even go forward with a story like that if you don't know whether or not Peter Simon will return?  At the very least, try and get Bob Gentry or Mart Hulswit to return!

[chrisml]

I know more about Hutchison because of all the media attention he got for his relationship with a teenager than I do for his work on GL. 

Kriezman's answer felt a bit passive aggressive since Courteney Simon was another writer on the panel. The only thing I remember about the Sebastian storyline is that I saw a scene where someone was being held prisoner in a cell. Don't remember who was being held captive. Holly? Or was she holding Sebastian hostage? Who knows!?!?

[Khan]

I think it was?  IIRC, Sebastian lured her into some underground cell in Santo Domingo.  Of course, what I REALLY remember was the whole storyline devolving into an excuse for more airtime for Nancy St. Alban and Jordi Vilasuso, lol.

[Contessa Donatella]

Wheeler waited, overlong IMO, for Peter Simon to return when she should have recast Ed & moved on with story, although I object to part of said story. And, to try to get Peter Simon she even got Courtney Sherman Simon to try to talk him into it.  At any rate, yes, what you've said is consistent with what happened. 

[chrisml]

I was researching another topic but I looked for some Guiding Light things and came across these articles. One is a minor article from 1983 about a cast baseball trip. The other is a 2002 article from Television Quarterly article celebrating the 50th anniversary of the show. 

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[Contessa Donatella]

Thanks for sharing!

[P.J.]

Agreed. While I felt that Matt screwing Dinah was simply a titillating  plot point, the best thing Wheeler/Kriezmann ever did was take a torch to that marriage. While having a fling at the time would've fit in perfectly with Vanessa's history, marrying a prostitute was not. (although honestly, I don't think Matt dropped that little tidbit until after they'd married.  If anything, Vanessa would've had divorce papers drawn up by the end of the business day once that came out.) 

The most heinous thing they did in later years was have Reva go along with Jonathan and convince Lizzie that Jon and Sarah had died for a year. Reva was pretty much always insufferable, but that went beyond the pale. And I don't really think she ever got called out on it.

 

You know, while I know people love Mike---what I've seen, I agree more with you. There's a point in the early 80's where he's casually dating Trish, and they have a falling out because Alan gives her a bracelet. Granted, Alan's on the prowl (because he was always on the prowl back in the day), but he doesn't even give Trish the chance to explain before giving her an ultimatum. Meanwhile, he's pretty oblivious to the fact Hope's become a drunk.

[Contessa Donatella]

Like, really, come on, Reva didn't get called on things as a general rule. I mean unless you had access to some alternate "Rip Reva A New One" feed.