Wow. A year without GL, and now ATWT is gone too. CBS Daytime will just never be the same.

So I have two questions...

#1: I noticed the average rating of GL for the '88-'89 year was a 6.2 but the average rating for '89-'90 was a 5.4, nearly a drop in a million viewers. I know 1989 was a banner year for GL especially the first half up to Josh and Reva's Cross Creek wedding, but we don't hear much about the second half. Did weak storylines like Blake and Gary Swanson, Dana Jones' murder, and exits of characters like Alan, Sonni/Solita, Will and later Reva cause viewers to drop GL over time?

#2: Did Billy and Roger ever interact after Billy was released from jail? Or was Zaslow gone by this point so they didn't even bother for a scene with Parlanto's Roger?

Billy and MZ's Roger were both on the show at the time of Vanessa's funeral. I can't remember if Roger was there. That was when Billy was first put in a halfway house. Roger might have been in Italy with Vanessa, I can't remember.

I think Roger and Billy were both at the 60th anniversary ball, but they probably didn't interact -- I think Roger mainly was with the Holly/Fletcher story and Billy was mainly there as Reva's date.

Zaslow was gone not long after this and Billy wasn't seen much until the time of Vanessa's homecoming and HB's funeral. I don't think Parlato was involved in those stories.

It's too bad they wasted Parlato in that impossible situation. I would have enjoyed seeing him as someone like Ben Warren (although Hunt Block was good), or perhaps as Brandon Spaulding's illegitimate son.

Edited September 27, 201015 yr by CarlD2

As much as I loathe Wheeler I never doubted her sincere passion for GL, that being said I don't want her ever working in daytime ever again.

I hear ya. I know she was a very hard worker and passionate about GL. I do struggle though because while I know that the switch to that god awful Peapack format bought the show an extra year and a half, and I'm happy all of those people were employed that much longer, it was still a lame brained idea. I struggle with wondering if GL would have been better going off the air a few years earlier while it still had some shred of dignity. The last year and a half was very painful to see.

It's too bad they wasted Parlato in that impossible situation. I would have enjoyed seeing him as someone like Ben Warren (although Hunt Block was good), or perhaps as Brandon Spaulding's illegitimate son.

Thanks for the info, I remember Roger seeing Vanessa off wherever she was hiding and the funeral but didn't recall Roger's reaction to seeing Billy.

I think a Roger recast could have worked with a stronger actor but once the truth came out about Zaslow's exit even Parlato himself said he felt sickened by being deceived. I actually remember Joan Collins herself hinting a Roger recast was in the works for her as a love interest but of course that never happened. At the time I imagined someone lile David Bailey, Quinn Redeker or even Randolph Mantooth(by appearance alone) in the role of Roger. Never understood those who wanted Charles Keating or Anthony Herrera to play Roger in the early 00s before Roger died. Both are great actors and I could see the temptation with Keating but both actors had played their respective villains in their own way fit.

I do not remever any Billy/Roger scenes after he came out the Halfway house.

Roger went from Holly to Jenna, to Dinah and that horrible triangle with Hart and then Amanda which is when Parlato came aboard and quickly left when Roger left town with Amanda.

What is the point of being sick - if you can't watch your soaps??

From an early '95 Update.

Edited October 18, 201015 yr by CarlD2

That picture of the Spauldings pretty much says it all.

It's a nice photo. They all look very dapper (Rick would look even better with a bit less hair).

I had forgotten Wendy Kaplan filled in as Eleni. I don't remember that. I often forget exactly when Melina K left.

Discovered this gem covering the early Kriezman/Wheeler period for GL, a time when I still held out a little hope for the show. It's a lengthy read, goes in depth about subjects we've discussed much already but still none the less great for its time period. Smith didn't wonder long either--in his 2005 Best and Worst column he named GL as worst show.

THE SHOW THAT CRIED WOLF...

...or IF THE SOAP IS SO CLEAN, WHY ARE THE RATINGS SO DIRTY!

written by Tom Smith

November 23, 2004

Guiding Light fans, we are in trouble.

After spending the better part of a decade flickering against the encroaching darkness, the light is brightening in a big way. Deadening gimmicks like time travel and clones are gone. "Exotic" locales like San Cristobel have been dispatched, as the focus returns to good old Springfield. The mob? Well, there are characters that kind of have ties to the mob "Danny and Tony" but stories that have the mob as a focal point are pretty much over.

And while GL is not in the league of, say Y&R, when it comes to showcasing veteran characters, they're finally starting to shape up. The "All Jeffery, All the Time" show has been cancelled. In its place is something resembling equal division of air time for characters and story. No more feast or famine for Reva, she's actually in a front-burner storyline without taking over the show. There is air time for Josh, Ross, Blake, Phillip, Harley, Beth, Buzz--even Billy and Holly! There is air time as well as more recent characters like Cassie, Edmund, Danny, Tony, etc.

Even the younger characters have major story lines. But, in a novel retro twist, the young characters are just that: characters. Attempts are being made to give previously flat one-dimensional goody-goody Tammy and off-the-shelf bitch Lizzie some actual depth. Even despicable snake JB is not without potential sympathetic value.

In short, new Head Writer David Kreizman and new Executive Producer Ellen Wheeler are doing their best to revive the spirit of what made Guiding Light the greatest of Irna Phillips' classics and the genre's most durable creation. They are bringing back moral complexity. In Kreizman/Wheeler's world, there are reasons and motivations that cause characters to act the way they do beyond plot points.

Phillip's descent into madness is the culmination of decades of emotional turmoil, suffering and strife. Lizzie's selfishness/vapidity is a convenient cover for a warped childhood. Gus is torn between finding a place in his family and the woman who saved him at his lowest point. Reva's guilt over leaving her son behind causes her to keep reaching out to him, despite the awful things JB has done. And Reva's affection for Sandy causes her to keep reaching out to him, even though he's the one who lied about being her son in the first place! And Josh's love for Reva causes him to assume his role as chief protector, even though he she knows by now there's no protecting Reva from herself.

Not all attempts at shading in gray are equal however. In one of their most daring moves, Kreizman/Wheeler decided to touch the third rail that is Roger Thorpe, by having the character die off-screen, and revealing he has a long-lost son named Sebastian. Alas, despite some very good scenes with Holly's inner turmoil, and various townsfolk reaction, the story has thus far been a major bust. After spending weeks on a story connecting Roger to some rare gold coins that has gone nowhere, now we're stuck on some sideshow where Sebastian's main goal was to kidnap Holly and hold her hostage, so he can get Ed to treat him for the same disease Roger had. Doug Hutchinson's ummm what shall we call it?... energetic "I want to live!" speeches aren't helping either.

Still, major credit goes to Kreizman and Wheeler for making a priority of putting the character back in character-based drama. And they're doing it while putting forward intriguing plots that keep me interested in where the show is going next, even if I don't always like the current location.

Complex characters + interesting storylines + equal air time + less gimmicks = SOAP. Long-time readers know one of my major problems with daytime dramas is well, doing pretentious things like labeling themselves "daytime dramas". For years, GL have been trying like mad to be anything but a soap: CSI, Ghost Story, The Godfather, Friday the 13th, The Towering Inferno, anything but a soap! With the renewed focus on small-town life, and the intermingling of a few families and how they affect each other, Guiding Light is a soap again -- and a mighty good one. So, why are the ratings so awful?

With GL making rapid improvements in the creative department, it is only natural to want similar improvements in the ratings department. But months after positive changes begin to take effect, there is no appreciable gain in the Nielsen ratings. Oh, those nagging Nielsens! Why do they vex us so? Do viewers really care if their favorite soap is in first place or last, as long as the show goes on? But if the show is in or near last place, it probably isn't going to go on much longer. And that's why we obsess. As always happens when a show's ratings don't match the quality, there are multiple theories that arise to explain the situation. Current popular excuses include the fact that not every affiliate airs GL in the afternoon, and a general lack of promotion by CBS.

First things first: GL has been airing out of its daypart in many major and minor markets for years. It hasn't been on in Sacramento for years. It has been on at 10am in New York City for years, and, in fact, was a day behind the regular CBS schedule until March of this year. Yet, the show was still able to increase ratings nationally during the Annie saga, and (ugh) even during part of the clone story. Ratings remained in the 3's despite schedule changes. So, affiliate rescheduling is not unbeatable. In fact, it may help, as the affiliates have a better idea of what works in their own communities, and place GL in a time slot that will get better ratings.

General lack of promotion? Sure, as there is a general lack of promotion for all CBS soaps. Yes, CBS tosses an occasional prime-time spot, but most promos are confined to daytime. That's been the way it is for years now. It would be nice if we could get more promos in prime-time and cable networks to entice lapsed and potential new viewers over to our show. But weak promotion didn't cause viewers to flee GL, and I don't think it will get them back in and of itself. I believe the real problem is deeper than unbalanced advertising or the affiliate shuffle. It's not fun for me to say this because if I am right, then GL, and perhaps several other soaps are doomed, end of (pardon the pun) story.

As I stated earlier, GL has been weak for the better part of a decade now. There have been good storylines here, fits and starts of quality there (B&E's first year, much of Millie Taggart's work in 2002-03), but its never really come together. More often than not, we've been "treated" to drastic character re-writes, playing fast and loose with history, ridiculous plot devices, and boring couples. And just when it seems things are on the right track, then a new set of writers/producers come in and destroy everything all over again. Even now, I know I wonder when the other shoe is going to drop? When are they gonna blow it? When is David Kreizman going to be out and Leah Laiman going to be in? I enjoy Guiding Light now, but how long will it last? I wonder.

I think after suffering through an endless string of bad stories, and repeatedly having the rug yanked out from under them, the majority of lapsed viewers just aren't going to come back. How many times have we heard about great new creative teams, exciting new directions, and a return to the things that made GL great? And how many times has it been a total fraud? I believe many people are saying to themselves: "GL is the soap that cried wolf. You just can't trust them to get it right in the long run. It's easier not to watch." Unfortunately, now that GL is being beset by the real wolves of low ratings, it may be too late to get anyone to listen.

In conclusion, I hasten to add that GL is not the only soap in this predicament. DAYS, GH, and especially OLTL instantly spring to mind as soaps that are still crying wolf, still giving their audiences lots of empty promises, and precious little payoff. Amazingly, whenever the topic of falling daytime ratings is approached, we hear the standard excuses: viewers are busy, there's lots of demands on their time, there's cable TV and the Internet, etc. Yet many people in the business make actions that don't match their words. They act as though they have all the audience, no competition, and all the time in the world to keep playing around with a formula that should not have been drastically altered in the first place. Perhaps if they actually bought the excuses they constantly fall back on, they'd get down to business, before it's too late if it's not already.

There. That's a nice cheery holiday column. "Hey, happy holidays! Guiding Light is gonna die! Enjoy that turkey!" Hey, I'm ruining my own holiday with this stuff too, you know. Let's be positive. Shemar Moore's back on Y&R, so GL's ratings should go up, right?

Edited October 12, 201015 yr by soapfan770

I like that idea -- when a soap seems to improve it's "crying wolf." I'd never thought of it that way before.

They make a lot of good points. GL's ratings did go up some on 2005 and 2006 didn't they? Or is it just that others went down?

I never really thought Phillip's breakdown made a ton of sense though.

I like that idea -- when a soap seems to improve it's "crying wolf." I'd never thought of it that way before.

They make a lot of good points. GL's ratings did go up some on 2005 and 2006 didn't they? Or is it just that others went down?

I never really thought Phillip's breakdown made a ton of sense though.

GL's ratings actually did go up, not a lot but they did recover from its losses under Conboy/Weston in 2005. I know as Reva's cancer story reached its climax in the fall of '06 GL managed to score big surpassing both AMC and OLTL in the ratings for a few weeks there.

Phillip's breakdown didn't make much sense to me either. I could understand an angry Phillip coming back to town with a plan of revenge for Olivia and Alan but instead in those final months and weeks leading up to the shooting we got a way OOC Phillip who was trying to be a psychotic Alan Jr. Thank god they finally managed to save the character by show's end.

I always wanted to see some kind of balance between the sanctimonious a$$ Phillip was for years and the psycho he became in his last months before the 2004 departure. The 2009 version was probably the closest we could get, although I also thought that the stuff in 1987 when he destroyed Alan was also pretty good.

Although that scenario sounds great it would have been as likely as Alan-Michael reconnecting to his Bauer roots. I didn't like the way though Phillip was written from 2001-2004 though. I know Phillip one of the good guys but sheesh he did become too self-righteous. Even though Rick&Harley sucked royally, I didn't understand why Phillip was so angry or why he accused Rick of getting back at him for Meredith. Nor did I understand why Phillip suddenly became so dismissive of Olivia so far as to refusing to believe her about anything like Emma being his or Lizzie staging her accidents. His return at least restored to Phillip something I could recognize from what I saw in the late 90s.