Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

Thanks. Hillary seems to worship Kelly to such an extent that she probably would have never been able to allow herself to bed him anyway. 

I definitely wouldn't call that period anti-sex. There are other moments I'd forgotten like Carrie bedding Josh and a guy who delivered papers. It's just something so cold and clinical in the show's presentation. I think part of the issue is just a certain malaise through the P&G soaps, and their struggles to adapt to a new world for daytime. 

That may be why the most popular GL couple of this period was the one who relied the least on sexual conflict (Quint and Nola).

I get what you mean. I am going to assume Marland wrote the story this way to establish for us that this wasn't the "real" Carrie. Maybe that means if he and Jane had both stayed, we would have had exploration of Ross realizing he had never known, or loved, the real Carrie, something he did explore with Royce and Emily on ATWT (or his outlines explored, as he'd passed by that time). If we can only judge the story by what did air, I think it would work better if we'd seen more hesitation from Ross about their love story, him knowing deep down something wasn't right, and him falling apart when he realized the extent of her illness (maybe sleeping with a woman he meets in a bar). 

I can see why Jane thinks highly of the story, because her work is brilliant and this is the only time in her career she did not basically play the same character with different names and clothes. But I don't know how well it works as a part of GL, and I can see why Potter had enough.

Edited 8 hours ago by DRW50

[DRW50]

I remember a glimpse of them sitting together in the new opening credits from 1983. I would be interested to see when they became friends and if there was any acknowledgment of how much she despised him due to his scheming against Kelly (and because he didn't take Tony's karate class seriously enough).

Edited 7 hours ago by DRW50

[Paul Raven]

SOD critique of GL from 81, well into Marland's run. 

Edited 7 hours ago by Paul Raven

[DRW50]

Thanks @Paul Raven . I appreciate seeing some takes from the time.

Interesting choice to claim the Marlers were a "bedrock" of Springfield until Marland. I do think Marland underused Justin, although the poor recasting of Jackie was a big factor. Ross was a presence in story, even if it wasn't about him. Lainie was long gone - not sure if viewers cared.

Nothing against Ted Leplat, but what I've seen of him doesn't suggest the charisma Michael Zaslow brought to Roger. They also took years to get Roger to where Andy was from the start. Didn't viewers know before he even came to town that he had beaten Trish? The story is extremely unpleasant to watch. The blackmail aspect is the most interesting part, but that in no way makes the character viable in the long-term.

Edited 7 hours ago by DRW50

[chrisml]

The article @Paul Ravenmakes me wonder: Is the adoration for Douglas Marland something that happened in retrospect or was it always there? I ask this because my knowledge of his work comes from the later years of ATWT where the response to his work was often mixed. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Okay but what you just describe is as if it were a -- like drama extravaganza!!!