Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[cassadine1991]

Too bad it never went down that route

[soapfan770]

For some reason I really recall Annie getting involved with Tom Wiggin's character and him helping her escape after her kidnapping of Lizzie went up in smoke but by that point Annie's story was a D-plot compared to San Cristobel and the Santoses junk at the time. Even my beloved Jesse&Drew adopt Max story got more airtime than Signy Coleman's Annie's final days.

Buzz/Holly/Billy was funny but pushed aside. Ross and Tory started out good but fell apart with that ridiculous Romeo guy and cliched writing. Taggert wrote up a nice build-up for Ed and Holly allowing them to get back together but Weston and Conboy quashed that by putting Garrett on recurring and once they drove Simon off, all bets were off. I don't think Holly had any appearances between Ross' funeral in March 2006 until August 2009 they pretty stopped writing for that angle of the canvas. Remember when Blake was in a coma for an eternity?

[Mitch]

I just think that writer's didn't know what to DO with Holly. She was a mature woman who was neither good nor bad. Reva lost much of her dual nature on the second go around and if it was't for Zimmer curving some of her line readings and giving the side eye, Reva would have been a total cartoon...(and if not for the fact that the other actors seemed to love to give Zimmer hell in her scenes...) Van kept her bitchy edge but since she really had no storylines it was easier to keep her truer to her nature. But look at Carmen, total cartoon and Marj's Alex..a screaming hyperventilating shrew. They just didn't know how to write realistically for women of that age. Also keep in mind that Holly was so tied to Roger (at least in the writer's mind) that it was hard to write anything else. To Rauch's credit I think he was the one who kept Holly, Blake and Ross on contract no matter what.

I do wish they would have had Roger just die off camera, where we find he had bought up so much of the ever multiplying Spaulding stock and he gives his stock and wealth to Holly. That would have made Holly and Alan have to interact and he would try to seduce her to control the stocks. RR would finally have a woman of his own age (he looked ridiculous with the younger women) and as I said, the only woman besides Watros that he had chemistry with was MG (I do think that Zimmer and he had chemistry but it was a friendly one..not sexy.)

Holly and Buzz never worked...they threw them together just because of their "age," (though not as bad as putting him and Marj together...Alex wouldnt give that troll a second look, and Marj was what, 20 years older then Deas?)

[zanereed]

Mitch,

Here's how I would have handled Michael Zaslow's illness and Roger, going back to 1997. If I'm the EP of GL and MZ comes to me and says he isn't sure what's wrong with him and needs to figure it out, I grant him that time off and I tell the writers that Roger needs to be written off the canvas for the foreseeable future - write his absence in as a mystery. Everyone loves a good mystery, right? YMMV, of course.

Basically, I think I'm stealing for your earlier idea in this thread. Meaning, Roger suddenly disappears from Springfield. Basically, Amanda asks Blake if she's heard from Roger. Days prior, Roger told Amanda he had business to take care of all of sudden, and he leaves. He doesn't tell Amanda where he's going, who he's meeting, why he's leaving, or when he'll be back. He just leaves (which could have all been done off camera). Blake says she hasn't talked to Roger in a while, either. They both begin to worry as the days pass. It's just like he vanished completely.

The next few weeks and months result a "Where's Roger?" mystery storyline, which would culminate in Amanda, Blake and possibly Holly investigating and finding some flight records which indicate that a small plane that supposedly Roger was on crashed in some remote location, killing all passengers - including Roger. Now, the mystery isn't solved as far as the "why" of Roger's disappearance. However, since Roger did not leave any trace of evidence other than the fact he was on the flight, Roger is once again declared dead. Amanda leaves Springfield (if they chose to write her out), and Blake and Holly get on with their lives...

...that is until (as he did with "One Life To Live") Zaslow could find a way to work in order to finally allow the writers to effectively write Roger out of GL, and use Zaslow's real life illness as the way to do it. You could educate the audience, have PGP in conjunction with Zaz's Angels to allow for donations to be made, etc (And screw the "wizend old man" comment). This would allow Zaslow and Garrett to share some final, heartfelt scenes together. They would have knocked it out of the park.

Basically, a few months (or whenever Zaslow could return, even briefly) after Roger is declared dead. Holly receives a cryptic phone call from Adam Thorpe, Roger's father (either a brief or long-term stay for Robert Milli as Adam) asking Holly to a private hospital wherever the writers chose - maybe it's in Oregon, where Adam was last known to reside. It could be anywhere. Holly gets a strange feeling in her gut about why Adam called, but she does it, no questions asked - leaving Fletcher to take care of Meg at a moment's notice (and Fletcher wondering what is going on).

Holly arrives at the hospital and meets Adam. She's not surprised that it's not Adam who is the patient. She looks straight into Adam's eyes and firmly states, "Where is he, Adam? Where's Roger?" Adam tells her to prepare herself, as he takes her to see Roger, who is now in a wheelchair. Roger tells her his condtion (ALS). He realized something was wrong with him when he was in Springfield. He had tests done privately, and when the doctors told him his condition, he fled Springfield and went to see his father. He didn't want anyone to see him like this - not Amanda, not Blake, certainly not anyone he regarded as an enemy (Alan). He faked his death carefully so that no one would ever learn the truth. He had no choice in getting ALS, but he does have a choice in how he will die. No one except his father and Holly will know about his condition.

Holly - feeling so many different emotions at this point - asks why Roger would tell her? Why now? After a heartfelt pause, Roger tells her that he loves her, he's never stopped loving her, and he couldn't love anyone - including Amanda - like he loves Holly. He never intended Holly to find out his condition. He wanted everyone in Springfield to remember him as he was, not the way he is now. He admits that he couldn't stop thinking about her - he became selfish - he finally had to see Holly one last time. Adam was glad to make the call to her.

Roger tells Holly that he's truly sorry for everything he put her through over the years. He tells her that he revised his will once he was diagnosed, and upon the time of his death, that new will shall be sent to Springfield to be read. Basically, the majority of his Spaulding stock will go to Holly, with the rest going to Blake. He will make sure Holly is taken care of financially. Holly tells her that she doesn't need his money. Roger looks up at her and just says, "Please accept this. For me." Roger insists to Holly she cannot tell Blake about his condition. He couldn't bear Blake seeing him like this. Roger and Holly look at each other one last time (both saying "I love you" and giving the audience closure between them) and Holly leaves, an emotional wreck.

Holly returns to Springfield feeling incredibly numb, her emotions spent from her time with Roger. Fletcher and Blake keep asking where she was, why she left, but she refuses to say anything (although she's very tempted to say something to Blake, but she keeps flashing back to Roger's plea, so she stays silent).

If Zaslow could still work, then the next part of the story is that Blake doesn't leave it alone, and traces where Holly went. She goes to the hospital herself. She finds Adam, who is shocked - yet very glad - to see her. Adam assumes that Holly told Blake about Roger, but Blake is in the dark. She pushes through Adam and finds Roger. She's stunned, but so happy to see her father alive. Roger at first thinks Holly went back on her word, but is relieved when Blake tells him that Holly told her nothing (which infuriates Blake). Roger tells Blake he never wanted her to see him like this. He loves her very much.

From there, Blake returns to Springfield livid with Holly. Adam would eventually come to Springfield to let Holly and Blake know that Roger passed away peacefully.

But then, there would be the issue with Roger's new will, which would have been filled with other surprises for the citizens of Springfield.

Roger might have finally been gone, but he wouldn't soon be forgotten...

Edited February 28, 2014 by zanereed

[cassadine1991]

that would've been better than what we got onscreen

[cassadine1991]

29 years ago today Charita Bauer (Bert Bauer) died and 12 years ago today Mary Stuart (Joanne Gardner, Search For Tomorrow; Meta Bauer, GL) died

[Vee]

Claire Labine talked at length in a WLS interview about the various aborted Holly stories in her time at the show - the Buzz and Billy triangle, the lesbian thing. I always thought the idea of bi/lesbian Holly lusting after a straight woman was a step back. I did like her with Jordan Clarke and Justin Deas.

[DRW50]

The sound of that Holly/Olivia story kind of put me off too.

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[sungrey]

Good news for fans of Aubrey Dollar (Marina): CBS has a show called BATTLE CREEK, about detectives cleaning up crime on the streets of Battle Creek. I live about an hour and change northwest of the real Battle Creek, so the premise might be a bit overdone... Aubrey is playing an office manager, presumably at the police station.

It's straight to series, meaning no sweating about a pilot.

Enjoying all the Holly talk, by the way. What a criminally underused character and actress.

[dc11786]

I had started watching in the fall of 1998 so I only saw Roger in the Soap Classic Christmas episodes that CBS use to air every year.

Does anyone remember what month Maureen Garrett's contract expired? I remember we saw Holly fairly regularly until the tail end of August 2003. She was around for Ben's death and was still working on Reva's talk show during the start of psychic Reva. Then we only had two more appearances from Holly under Conboy/Weston. She appeared at Ross and Blake's Christmas wedding, didn't she? And then she popped up in a random February 2004 episode where she told Ed she was always around if he needed her. Then, we didn't see Garrett until the end of September 2004 when Blake received news of Sebastian's arrival and Roger's death.

I thought the start of the Roger story was good. Sebastian seemed to be a good catalyst for drama, which the show really needed. I thought the references to Santa Domingo were nice, and the ultimate goal of the story was neat: to have Ed Bauer save Sebastian from the illness that killed Roger. That should have been interesting, but everything fell apart so quickly. Ultimately, Wheeler should have recasted Ed Bauer if Peter Simon wasn't willing to come back.

Garrett once said she left the show in 2005 because of the Sebastian story. The major crux of her story with Sebastian ended in January, 2005, but I remember Holly hung around until May. There was that brief attempt to tell a Spaulding takeover where Blake and Sebastian aligned themselves with Josh, while Holly decided to sell some of her shares in the Journal to Alan in exchange for Spaulding stock. I thought that was a story with a lot of promise, but then Holly stopped appearing, Sebastian was kicked out of town, and they shipped Blake back to backburner.

[cassadine1991]

came across this, just thought I should share it

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Edited March 6, 2014 by cassadine1991

[NothinButAttitude]

OMG that made me tear up. Oh how I wish my beloved Roger and Holly would've gotten closure like this. A story like this could've been critically acclaimed and MG, LK, and MZ would've killed it. I would've loved too for Roger's will to have a lasting impact on Springfield. Especially on Ed & Alexandra.

[DRW50]

Is that Trish getting down to Jennifer Holiday at 2:16?

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[slick jones]

I've been reading the Who's Who section of Soapcentral, working on my cast list from GL, and I have a few questions for longtime viewers. Thanks for any help.

1. Was Bill Bauer the father of Simone Kincaed's son, Paul, or was Victor Kincaed?

2. a. Did Pam Chandler have a daughter?

b. Was her name Samantha?

c. If so, who was the father?

3. Did Hillary Bauer marry Fletcher Reade and have it annulled?

4. I have Claire Ramsey's injured brother's name Sam. Was it Sam or Jimmy?

5. Does anyone know the name of the actor that played Bruce Daly in 1988/1989? The character was Alan Spaulding's cellmate, a drug dealer, and the partner of Dana Jones to defraud Phillip, who believed she was Beth Raines. I was away at college and had a class when GL aired at the time.

6. What was the name of Jean Weatherhill's sister that Daniel St. John killed?

7. Who doubled as Marie Laval in the time travel story in 2001?

8. Was Richard Winslow's mother's name Jenny?

Again, thanks to anyone that can help. I'm going to start re-reading Julie Poll's GL book, so I'm sure I'll have more questions from the earlier days. Thanks!

[DRW50]

Jean's sister was named Carol.

You made me go and look through some 1991 GL stuff - I'd forgotten how much I loved Kimberly Simms as Mindy and that whole young female group (Harley, Mindy, SS Blake). A lot of that was dismantled by JFP in 1992 (that's when Harley and Mindy were made appendages of men, and SS left) and the show just wasn't the same for me.

Does anyone know who was playing Roger's henchwoman, Suzanne? She looks so familiar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM9MkbYFkmI