13 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

This may be what Pilgrim is best known for:

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/10/sydney-holland-george-pilgrim-sumner-redstone

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!

15 minutes ago, chrisml said:

So George Pilgrim's biggest claim to fame is that he was a side piece AND he was in an episode of Red Shoe Diaries? I'm not knocking the latter as a lot of soap actors did that show, but the delusion is high with this person. Red Shoe Diaries and Skinemax shows were where former/soon-to-be soap performers went when they couldn't get hired on the soaps. And I'll take Anthony Addabbo (RIP) who also did RSD over this Pilgrim person any day. 

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.

12 minutes ago, Kane said:

It turns out to be much dumber than that.

The purpose of this little side adventure was to introduce the mystery man, though I believe the original plan for the character may have been different from what ultimately ends up happening.

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

1 hour ago, alwaysAMC said:

Ohh, she's Beth's mom!  That's great. I really like Lillian, but she doesn't seem to have any strong tie to the current canvas, so hopefully this changes. I don't know if Beth comes back though.  Currently they're not divorced, or I guess if they are, Phillip hasn't revealed that yet. Maybe that's why he's just floating around Springfield though, because he's on the rocks with his family right now...

I love that you're obsessed with the openings like I am. 

usual, and very colorful background that includes significant work as an actor. His credits include a three year contract as the original J Chamberlain on CBS's longest running Soap Opera of all time, Guiding Light, which was filmed New York City."

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).

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

Or Cris Leblanc (who did have a brief part on GL...).

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

 

36 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

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

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?

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.

 

46 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

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?

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.

8 minutes ago, P.J. said:

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.

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

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

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.

Oh, cool! I have to check that out.

2 hours ago, P.J. said:

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).

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. 

58 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

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.

 

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.  

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.

 

1 hour ago, Speed Racer said:

Annie's the only real reason to watch GL from mid 1996 through 1997.  

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.

5 hours ago, alwaysAMC said:

Back to Hart, this whole Dinah/Roger/Hart storyline is really getting terrible. They’re so far gone and just want to kill each other; the drug they keep giving each other is silly, and now Hart just got shot in a gun struggle with Roger. I really thought this was a ploy by Dinah and Hart to make Roger think he killed his son, but then they bury him literally in the park where he got shot (dumb), and Roger went to go dump his car, leaving Dinah alone and Hart’s arms start coming out of ground and he’s shown alive. Dinah is surprised and happy to see he’s not dead.  But really??  If this wasn’t some game and he really got shot, you’re ok just burying him and pretending like nothing happened, which saves Roger from being thrown in jail? You wouldn’t try and call the cops and save Hart’s life? You just slept with him and realized you’re actually liking him, why not try and help him?  So dumb.

 

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.

5 minutes ago, chrisml said:

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. 

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.

57 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

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.

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.

36 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

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.

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.

45 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

 

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. 

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. 

 

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.