Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[cassadine1991]

She said several weeks ago on her radio show that she does with Lilly Melgar, she auditioned for Marah in 2002 and 2009 Edited May 15, 2014 by cassadine1991

[~bl~]

The role of May was supposed to be a redhead also per the original casting...so I think they would have gone with a different actress. For years, I've wanted to get my hands on the Labine breakdowns that we never got to see.

[DRW50]

Lisa Brown refused to return with Paul Rauch there. I'm just glad she came back for the end. The soap press was so busy making fun of Ellen Wheeler for crying and for being a Mormon that they never said anything about all the work she did to get people to come back for the end.

As for the Labines, I would have preferred them at ATWT. In theory their style should have fit GL, but the "wacky" comedy and the mobsters just didn't do for it for me. Blake becoming the new Lucy who was the new Delia felt jarringly wrong. And they had big tonal problems.

Edited May 16, 2014 by DRW50

[NothinButAttitude]

Why did Lisa refuse to return under Paul Rauch? Was there bad blood between them? I know (through the grapevine) that Maeve Kinkead and Paul Rauch supposedly had bad blood too from their AW days (alleged sexual harassment), so I am interested to hear what Lisa's issue was with them.

It was clear that Ellen did love the show, and I love how she (unlike her mentor, Chris Goutman) listened to fans and brought back fan faves at the end. I just think that Ellen should've never been EP. Being a director is the role she should've maintained. I wish that GL would've snagged someone like David Shaughnessy (before he leaped to B& or Ed Scott to be EP of the show in its final years. Hell, even Valentini would've been good (budget wise).

And I would've loved to see the Labines at ATWT too. I would've loved to have seen what Claire, Matthew, and Eleanor would've done with Lisa, Lucinda, Kim, Babs, Margo, Tom, and Bob. I think she would've had a field day with those characters and churned out great stories for them.

[DRW50]

He was EP in her last year or two on the show and I don't think she was happy with his firing Michael Tylo and the hideous Buzz amnesia/Nola stalker plot.

[Khan]

Exactly, Carl. According to an interview with Brown and Tylo, I think, Rauch's predecessor, Michael Laibson, had plans not only to reunite Quint and Nola but also bring back Mrs. Renfield for some big, action-adventure-heavy story that was supposed to be reminiscent of their "glory days" in the early '80's. However, because GUIDING LIGHT was in so much trouble in the ratings (I think it was during the Laibson/Megan McTavish era, in fact, when cancellation rumors first began to swirl), Rauch, in tandem with incoming HW's Barbara Esensten and James Harmon Brown, felt they needed to concentrate on stories and characters -- such as Annie/Reva/Josh and Matt/Vanessa -- that were surer bets (at least from their point of view) in bringing viewers back to the show. Hence, Quint and Nola's reconciliation, which had been in the works, was dropped; and Rauch simply let Tylo go. (IIRC, Tylo hadn't signed a contract, which made it easy for the writers simply to stop writing for him.)

[NothinButAttitude]

That sucks. Why wouldn't Rauch think that one of GL's most popular supercouple didn't deserve story? And I hate to hear that they didn't even have Michael Tylo on contract. While I loved Reva/Annie/Josh saga, I think an adventure story with Quint and Nola would've been just as fun.

[cassadine1991]

I remember in an interview Lisa Brown said that Rauch fired her from GL

[Paul Raven]

I remember Ellen talking about bringing back past characters in the final weeks 'because that's what the fans want'. If that was the case , why not bring them back before the show was cancelled??

[DRW50]

She did bring back some people for visits, and she helped get people like Maeve Kinkead back, but that's a fair point.

[katie_9918]

And a lot of vocal people continue to insist that Jill Farren Phelps did more damage than Laibson and Rauch did. I just can't with that.

[Aback]

Thanks. I remember watching this live with my now estranged brother. I always wondered if they had any plans for that video Annie shot to resurface someday, provided CW would come back in the role.

[cassadine1991]

I shared that video with CW and she said how she loved working with KZ

[DRW50]

The 1996 episodes being uploaded are now up to May 1996, with Lucy and Alan-Michael marrying at Universal Studios, and Philip returning (in the Frankenstein costume).

The wedding was hugely panned in the soap press as silly and tone deaf. I have to admit I liked it.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD9ZQME7mFfaEid7Qowlq9Q

[NothinButAttitude]

Thanks! I've been waiting for someone to post Alan Michael/Lucy's wedding. This just reminds me why I hate the fact that GL didn't make a bid to bring Rick Hearst back as AM in the end. I would've loved one last run as him as AM.