Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Chris B]

I don't know if I've seen more than one or two episodes with Rita, but she looks gorgeous in that picture. Reminds me a bit of Marissa Ramirez from GH and Y&R.

[DRW50]

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[DRW50]

When expository dialogue attacks. Good idea, bad dialogue.

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[DRW50]

Wow, Gilly had one of these too. I never knew. It's a good promo, better voice acting than the other one.

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[DRW50]

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[Khan]

[DRW50]

Oh good. I wasn't sure if those were already in circulation. I didn't think they were so I posted them. The person also uploaded several others.

That opening scene of Annabelle just reading and reading, as the action plays out - it is one of those scenes which probably was very complicated to film, but feels effortless. That's true of a lot of the early stuff for Phillip/Beth.

Edited December 15, 2012 by CarlD2

[Khan]

Who cares if they are? It's ALWAYS good to revisit when GUIDING LIGHT still was damn fine soap opera.

Edited December 15, 2012 by Khan

[DRW50]

I really love JE's work as Beth, especially some of this stuff. She's a wonderful actress but sometimes she overeggs a little. Here she seems very pure and strong. I can see why she won an Emmy, even if she probably wished she never had.

[Soaplovers]

What I liked about Beth was that while she was an ingenue, she wasnt so sickly sweet that you wanted to barf. While she was nice, she also could stand up for herself and gave as good as she received. I dont know if that was due to JE playing the part, or if the writers wrote the character like that.

[Khan]

I think it was a little of both. Judi Evans didn't portray Beth as the typical, dewy-eyed, sweet-as-sugar heroine, and the writers responded to it. And really, even when Beth Chamberlin portrayed Beth later on, from 1989-91, I saw Beth the same way, but perhaps a bit shell-shocked from her kidnapping and subsequent inability to speak. It's only when Barbara Esensten and James Harmon Brown brought BC's Beth back during the Phillip/Harley era that Beth became a completely different -- and frankly, less endearing -- character, with the "victim aspects" of her character way overplayed.

[DRW50]

When they made Beth a vixen/neurotic bitch, BC always overacted it. She got better later on but still I felt like she was overworking. I think she got a better balance at the end. Her 89-91 run, while a little dull, does seem better to me. I wish they hadn't taken Beth so far over the edge.

There's such a sweetness, earnestness, believability about Rick/Mindy/Phillip/Beth. It's hard to believe how much they all changed within the next six months or less of these episodes. You'd almost think they had totally new writers and producers.

[Khan]

One, I don't think "vixen" or "neurotic bitch" were BC's strong suits; and two, I feel like she struggled particularly because the one-eighty in Beth's character was plot-driven and rooted not at all in what she had known and played before. Who was this person calling herself Beth Raines Spaulding anyway? Where had she come from? What had happened to her between '91 and later on to merit such hideous changes to her personality and character?

Edited December 15, 2012 by Khan

[DRW50]

I think they thought they explained it by saying she'd been in an abusive relationship, which was just offensive.

[Khan]

Offensive, and again, not at all rooted in character. No way in hell would JE's Beth have hooked up with a low-life thug such as Carl, not after what she went through to get herself and Lillian away from Bradley.

Edited December 15, 2012 by Khan