Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[amybrickwallace]

How long did Anna Stuart temp for Maeve Kincaid? I know the latter was on maternity leave, but didn't they later write one of her pregnancies into Vanessa's storyline?

[John]

Sept 1, 1981-December 31, 1981

Maeve had left August 28, 1981 and returned February 1982

Edited December 16, 2014 by John

[amybrickwallace]

Thank you for clarifying the dates!!

Kristen Vigard has several albums up on venues like iTunes. Her original songs are more in the folk realm. Many of them just feature acoustic guitars. Her excellent rendition of Neil Young's "Old Man" also features piano, steel guitar and strings. An alto, she can dig down and reach some pretty low notes. "Child of Nature" is maybe the best example. I'd encourage any Kristen/Morgan fan to listen to the samples - there are some true gems.

[DRW50]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrC0EPsNTJE

Very clever to have Nola say, "if it's the last thing I do...which it won't be," and then cut to Joe, who is rapidly approaching the last thing he does.

I was always confused about whether Gracie was around when Nola was chasing Kelly. I guess now we know she wasn't.

I enjoyed that Jackie/Alan scene. Alan is so placid at this time, it's good to see some fire in him again.

Poor Trish saying Billy won't want to hear her advice. Of course Andy is a big reason, but general sexism was another.

[DRW50]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaZn-dgoDXg

Morgan's faces at Nola's good girl act amuse me.

It's nice that we're seeing characters try to find work and again seeing some of the class differences in Springfield, but Jennifer saying she would have done better with a college education is undercut by her being on her way to being an exec. At least Morgan pointed that out, I guess. It's just how soaps tend to go, especially in the post-Dallas era.

Tony and Nola were always so believable as siblings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gs4G73IGws

Vanessa is as hilarious as ever. "Another great milestone in history." And she is not too subtle in thirsting over Tony.

Alan writing that huge CALL RITA on his notepad is more than a little silly.

They really were setting viewers up for the stark changes to come in Carrie - not just her crimes, but her later rudeness and mockery of Amanda in her Carrie 2 persona.

[zanereed]

Thanks for alerting us to these episodes, Carl. I'm glad someone was finally able to post some episodes from this period, especially now helping to clarify exactly when Mart Hulswit exited the role of Ed and Kristen Vigard the role of Morgan. I hope the person that put these up has more from September. I think I still recall Peter Simon's first day as Ed Bauer, but I'd love to finally see it again after 33 years.

[DRW50]

How did you feel at the time?

[amybrickwallace]

When exactly did Peter Simon start on GL? I knew he'd had a long run on SFT before that, but I don't know what the gap was between his exit from SFT and beginning on GL.

[jam6242]

Peter Simon went to As the World Turns soon after he left SFT (which I think was in 1979). And he should be turning up on GL soon (assuming the clips continue).

Edited December 16, 2014 by jam6242

[robbwolff]

For some reason, I keep thinking that Peter Simon and Jennifer Cooke both started on the same day. I vaguely recall two voiceovers in that episode announcing the new actors. I think one of the voiceovers is during a scene at Cedars featuring Keith Charles as Kelly Nelson's father.

[saynotoursoap]

When I interviewed Allen Potter, he stated that Vigard was indeed terminated due to unprofessional behavior, though CBS strongly opposed the release due to her popularity with the audience. According to Potter, the situation was similar to George Reinholt at Another World in that GL's cast were complaining so vociferoulsly about Vigard's behavior, especially when she held up tapings, that he he had no choice but to terminate her. Unfortunately, Jennifer Cooke never attained the audience support that came so easily to Vigard, so GL lost either way.

[saynotoursoap]

Peter Simon left Search a little earlier, in 1977. He was replaced for a year by Peter Ratray, which was an interesting situation because Ratray was starring concurrently in the soft core porn film Young Lady Chatterly, a ubiquitous pay-TV offering in the early 80s.

[jam6242]

I remember Peter Ratray but had no idea about the film! Wasn't he sort of a teen heart throb? Seems like I remember seeing him in "16 Magazine."

[DRW50]

I never knew that. Wow. And this must have been playing when he had that oily role as the stockbroker on Ryan's Hope.

Thanks for more info about Vigard. I wonder if they may have been better off just having Morgan go on a break and helping her shape up.

[katie_9918]

I'm pretty ridiculously giddy about all these 1981 episodes hitting YT. I'm almost afraid to get TOO invested, because, you know, circumstances and all that could change at the drop of a hat. It would be REALLY fascinating to see Peter Simon in his first days as Ed. I think his earliest work as Ed that I've ever stumbled upon was sometime in '83.

The early days of Kelly and Morgan's wedding is fascinating to me as well. I saw a lot of their tortured pre-marriage stuff, and I know how it all ended, but I'm loving seeing some of the early marriage.

Seeing the wretched state of the last four standing (though B&B and DAYS aren't as bad off as Y&R and the perennially ridiculous-and-not-in-a-good-way GH are), I can't help but be thankful that GL still had a lot of goodwill going for it when it was canceled and the amount of material that's surfaced since then. Even Mike on YT is planning to go back and fill in full episodes around the years (1989-December 1994) for which he's only posted clips as yet.