Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[alwaysAMC]

Wow!  That is very interesting... so that was 10 years ago, I wonder what the update is, if any.  But the fact he was in prison for 2 years blows my mind haha.  Thanks for sharing this!

Wow, I didn't know Anthony Addabbo passed away, how sad. Any rumors on what happened? His wiki says undisclosed, which sadly makes me assume suicide.  I remember him playing Dimitri on AMC for a bit, way back in the day.

Ahh interesting, ok now I'm intrigued haha.  I won't google it though, I'll let it surprise me.

[P.J.]

Tina Sloan held on for a lot of years (imo) just on the fact she was Beth's mom. (Beth was off canvas for two stretches, like 2-3 years and maybe five years the second time) Beth seemed to fill the traditional ingenue heroine space that had been Hope Bauer's. It's hard to even think of another pure heroine that grabbed the audience--maybe Morgan Richards between Hope and Beth---until Michelle grew up a decade later. She also seemed to be the only regular nurse the show had for most of the last 20 plus years of the show.

Beth does return, eventually.

The "My Guiding Light" theme lives rent free in my head. It's a lot easier to hum than ATWT's of the same era (which is da-da-dee-dum...da da daaa--ah" and a spinning globe).

[DeeVee]

Who did he play on GL? He was on ATWT during the 80s, but I don't recall him being on GL.

[Soapsuds]

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[DRW50]

When GL was announced as ending, Jeanne Cooper and Cris wanted to do small cameos. They appeared in one of the final episodes for a scene or two as guests at Vanessa and Billy's wedding - Jeanne was an old rich lady and Cris was her toyboy.

Thanks @Soapsuds I am not sure I've ever seen that before. Always nice to see (presumably) gay men interviewed as fans as they were often the dirty little secret of soap fandom. And I think that clip with Bert and Papa Bauer may be from one of the episodes that isn't around anywhere. I'd like to think it can appear someday. 

I guess that was Kristi auditioning for Jessie? Who was it people said she auditioned for and they gave her another part? Or was it they decided not to bring that character in and later brought Jessie instead?

[Speed Racer]

Hey Always AMC  -- am I to assume you enjoy times of colossal stupidity on soaps?  If so, you might find yourself thrilled with GL for the rest of 1996.  Lots of trains jumping the tracks.  Off cliffs, even.

Do keep an eye on Cindy Watros.  She and Annie get increasingly interesting.  Cindy steps on the damn gas pedal to notable effect.  IMO, Annie's the only real reason to watch GL from mid 1996 through 1997.  The rest is garbage.

 

[P.J.]

I don't think it was Jessie, unless they took a year to cast it. Kristi showed up the fall of '84, Jessie (Rebecca Staab) doesn't show up until October of '85, right before Kurt and Mindy's wedding. 

Funny they highlight Mary Kay Adams---I've been watching '85, and thinking they just don't know how to dress her. Everything seems frumpy or odd-fitting.

[DRW50]

Thanks. Now that I think of it someone may have said Kristi auditioned for India and they created Roxie for her.

[DeeVee]

Oh, cool! I have to check that out.

[alwaysAMC]

I just googled it and Beth returns in Nov 1997, so it'll be quite a while and I guess that does mean Phillip and Beth aren't ultimately together now on his return.

Granted, I haven't seen Lucy's intro into the show, but at least from 1995-1996, she seems to be a quintessential ingenue heroine.  But otherwise, yeah you're definitely right.

Lillian is definitely the main nurse and pal to Ed and Annie during this period. The other nurse, Dr. Sedgwick, who is the OBGYN, has made a lot of appearances during the Holly and Blake pregnancies lately.

Ok, so which one is the "My Guiding Light" theme - is that the one from the 80s/early 90s with the various clips and disco theme?  I only recently came across that one and it's definitely grown on me haha. I just never saw that one as a kid, so that nostalgic factor isn't there for me like the 90s one. I've gotta say, ATWT has a very iconic graphic with the spinning globe, but otherwise I've always felt like their openings were lackluster and behind the times. They didn't get an opening with the cast being featured until what, the late 90s/early 2000s?  It was very late. 

Did you watch any other soaps beyond GL and ATWT?  I've been wanting to see a thread about general soaps and their openings/theme songs, just to see what people think of various ones and what maybe their top 10s are. Of course I'm partial to AMC's early-mid 90s opening, but I also really love GH's mid-90s opening and the very classic Y&R opening. GL 90s is up there too. I strangely love Passions' opening too, but I think that's because I love the general autumn season and New England so much, and the song is catchy. 

Haha well I'd say I am very well-rounded in my tastes for soaps and storylines. I always prefer character-driven, but when I know the soap is just meant to be wild and crazy, then I'm ok with that too. Like I really enjoyed DAYS as a teen/young adult, so that's why I don't hate McTavish as much as others because I felt like her over the top storylines on AMC were usually entertaining (not always). But I also really enjoy smart, emotionally-driven soaps. So when a non-DAYS style soap becomes unbalanced, it starts to be jarring for me.

I have heard a lot of good things about Cynthia's acting and I know she won an Emmy, so I'm actually interested in seeing how that plays out. I was such a Josh/Annie fan in the beginning, but now that I see the writing on the wall with Josh/Reva, I'm resolved in the fact that Annie won't get her happy ending, so I'll prefer to see her go crazy instead. Very similar to how I viewed Annie on AMC (ironic, same name). She became way more entertaining and interesting when she got crazy.  

[chrisml]

I had forgotten about Jeanne Cooper and Christian LeBlanc showing support for GL. That's a classy thing to do as they did not have to do that. 

I have no memory of Anthony Addabbo on GL but I always liked him as an actor and thought he was attractive. He was perfect for Red Shoe Diaries and I don't mean that in a dismissive way. I came across some articles that criticized his firing from the show, but I think my only memory of his time on GL is that I knew he was on it.

 

[kalbir]

Annie psycho turn late 1996-early 1998 might have been one of the few bright spots in the final 15 years. It lead to Cynthia Watros pulling off the biggest upset in Daytime Emmy history, in that rookie beats four 15+ year veterans.

[alwaysAMC]

Quick update, now that I've seen the next episode... so it was all a ruse like I assumed. But still, Dinah just admitted to thinking Hart may have actually died because the plan went wrong, so it still makes zero sense the way she just casually was ok with burying him and letting him die.  So dumb. Also how could I forget how dumb it was when Dinah forced Roger to bark like a dog and Hart to quack like a duck when she was pointing a gun at them, pretending to be under the influence of the drug.

[DeeVee]

Christian has always been a big booster of the CBS soaps. His own most of all, of course. He also went back for a guest spot on ATWT as the Michael Baldwin character at one point. 

I know I've seen Billy and Vanessa's wedding at the end. I just hated those last few years of GL so much that I must have blanked most of it out.

TBF, it was the 80s and a lot of the clothes were hideous, especially for the rich characters. I was watching a party scene from 1985 today and each gown was uglier than the last one. Maeve had hot pink wings and Reva looked like she was on the verge of a fashion malfunction. The only ones who didn't look completely bizarre during this period were the younger, poorer girls like Beth and Roxy.

I love what I call "balls to the wall" storytelling on soaps but American soaps just don't have the guts (or the permission from the networks) to really go all the way. Passions came the closest, but for me it was too repetative and slow moving. For that kind of thing, nothing beats the Latin American telenovelas.

[P.J.]

Not that they didn't introduce "good girl" ingenues over the years they had Jessie, Dinah#2 (who was definitely more refined than Dinah #1, Jennifer Gatti, who walked like a linebacker), Samantha, Kat, Julie and Lucy. But none of them really seemed to have staying power. 

GL had plenty of doctors over the years. But after Hillary died and Katie left, any nurse was short term (like Charlotte Wheaton) or just a day player. Margaret Sedwick is just that a doctor. I can't think of another contract nurse until Annie shows up in the mid-90's.

This is the "My Guiding Light" theme (the first version, and IMO the best, which debuted in '83) They used it (although they later had a synthesized, faster version in the later '80's) until '91 when the Lighthouse opening debuted, which is also known as "Hold on to Love". The disco theme was just before this, and I'm not sure it even has an official name. 

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I'm not exactly sure when ATWT included the characters in the opening. The 80's had the globe, the '90s started out with the "Seasons" opening which had nature pics embedded in the letters. On quick perusal, it seems like ATWT didn't include the characters until 2000/01 with the video globe. They really clung to the spinning globe concept.

Over the years, I've been a fan of ATWT, B&B, GL and Y&R. I've watched Capitol, OLTL (after ATWT's cancellation) and GH, with no real attachment. I'm currently trying to watch BTG with mixed results. I favor ATWT and GL's openings, but remember Y&R's original sketches openings as iconic. I've always thought B&B's appropriate for context of the show, even if it never quite delivered what it seems to promise. BTG's is nice, but kind of lacks distinction, if that makes sense.