4 hours ago, DeeVee said:

No. He was probably the least popular Ed. His recast coincided with the storyline where Ed made Claire pregnant with Michelle. I think that p!ssed a lot of viewers off. Clearly, they were trying to make Ed more conventionally attractive and less dour. Also, I think maybe some felt he was playing Ed as though he was Chuck Tyler.

As @Spoon pointed out, there were SO many major recasts around that time. There was nothing at all wrong with Bolger; as pointed out, he was handsome and sexy. But the storylines combined with the strangeness of the new actors worked against them, IMO.

This is the wine talking tonight haha - but Chuck Tyler being the father of Greenlee on a different show (GL) - wow, I love this 😁 You know what I mean... but I find it interesting, many folks here think the 94/95 and beyond ruined the show, but I hear so much now about the mid-80s being terrible... so what truly was the golden era of GL? Was it pre-1985... was it 89-93? Do we know much/care about the 70s? I'm enjoying reading about the 50s in those other threads, but haven't heard much about the 60s/70s of GL.

4 hours ago, DeeVee said:

Seriously, I can't think of any other soap wedding that even comes close to being this over-the-top. Not even any of Erica Kane's weddings. Cliff and Nina's--MAYBE. But no one was dressed up like a Disney prince.

I don't know - in terms of looking like prince and princesses, Erica/Dimitri and Edmund/Maria yes - but the whole fanfare and long-term location shoot like this one, definitely no.

Oh and what was "Infinity" - what is that term in relation to the wedding or storyline there?

31 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

but I find it interesting, many folks here think the 94/95 and beyond ruined the show, but I hear so much now about the mid-80s being terrible... so what truly was the golden era of GL? Was it pre-1985... was it 89-93? Do we know much/care about the 70s? I'm enjoying reading about the 50s in those other threads, but haven't heard much about the 60s/70s of GL.

In my life, GL had two golden eras: 1976-1982 EP Potter and HW Dobsons/Marland (I wasn't alive for part of Potter/Dobsons though) and 1989-1991 EP Calhoun and HW Long/Curlee.

I've accepted we'll probably never see Potter/Dobsons 1976-1978 episodes so any Potter/Dobsons episodes from 1979 and 1980 that surface are such a treat.

55 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

Oh and what was "Infinity" - what is that term in relation to the wedding or storyline there?

Someone else will remember in more detail than I do, but there was a whole storyline tying in a record label to help Lujack become a rock star while simultaneously hypnotizing Billy into shooting Kyle, the newfound half-brother he despised. Lujack died in an explosion helping to defeat them. Billy did shoot Kyle, IIRC, and went on trial, but was exonerated.

If you want more of a glimpse at '60s GL, there is an episode or two from earlier in the decade and then a chunk from summer 1966. This is near the end of the show still being 15 minutes and also when they were phasing the show from being in Selby Flats to Springfield.

The Guiding Light - June 1966 (Vol. 1)

The Guiding Light - June 1966 (Vol. 2)

The Guiding Light - July 1966 (Vol. 1)

The Guiding Light - July 1966 (Vol. 2)

The Guiding Light - July 1966 (Vol. 3)

The Guiding Light - July 1966 (Vol. 4)

I think there are a few later July 1966 episodes on that channel too.

As for what is the good or bad period of GL, GL was a rollercoaster for most of those last 25 years. In some ways that kept the show feeling punchy and more like a survivor than shows that are just consistent, but I would have loved a longer flavor of what is available of the Dobsons (late '70s to 1980) or from somewhere around 1989-1992.

GL surviving so long was a miracle. The show's whole existence, being revived so many times in radio, being the only radio soap to really survive the transition to TV, was a miracle. It can be difficult to pick a best and worst sometimes in that cradle.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by DRW50