Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[GMac]

She was the one good thing about that last year.  I'd like to see her somewhere too...

 

[DRW50]

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[DRW50]

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I'd forgotten how damn annoying Regis and Kathie Lee were.

 

I guess she paid attention to that billboard...

Edited April 17, 2016 by DRW50

[AArredondo02]

To all GL thread forum readers, 

 

Here are some of the ideas that could have prolonged GL's 2009 cancellation.

 

Joey Roberts, Meta's stepson, could have come back to Springfield years later as a doctor and play Dr. Joe Werner's storylines to give Meta plenty to do during the seventies.

 

Meta could have been a mother figure to Joe's son, T.J. in addition to Sara.

 

Bruce Banning, Meta's husband, could have been a longtime Bauer family physician and family friend who had  married Meta and provided her with two stepsons, Mike, and Bill, from his first marriage to his deceased wife, Dr. Mary Leland, and they could have played Mike and Ed's stories respectively, so Bert wouldn't age so drastically.

 

As you already knew, Dr. Mary Leland Banning took care of Mama Bauer when she was dying during GL's early years on radio. I wouldn't put it past her to make Meta the godmother of Mary and Bruce's two sons.

 

Mike Banning could play Mike Bauer's stories, and Bill Banning (named after Bill Bauer who Bruce and his first wife, Dr. Mary Leland Banning, named as the godfather of young Billy) could have played Ed Bauer's stories.

 

Dr. Steve Jackson could be a father figure to young Dr. Bill Banning after Bruce's death making Meta a widow once again. Steve and Meta could be paired off. The backstory Steve could have had was that he and Bruce both came up in the medical profession together starting when they were medical students. Steve could have built a medical career in Europe to explain Stefan Schnabel's accent and return to Springfield as Cedars' Chief of Surgery.

 

Jed Allan could have been a Mike Banning recast if Don Stewart was no longer available. He could have given Marj Dusay's character, Alexandra Spaulding, so much material to work with, and they could have lasted all the way to the end.

 

Meta could have stayed on being a grandmother to Mike and Bill's children, Hope Banning Spaulding,  Alan-Michael Spaulding, Dr. Rick Banning (Papa Bauer whose first name was Friedrich could have been the namesake as well as the godfather), and Michelle Banning.

 

Ben and Maggie Scott . Maggie could have been a niece of Bruce, and daughter Peggy could have turned to Meta  or/ even Bert for motherly support after the death of her parents.

 

Mary Stuart could have still taken over the role of Meta from Ellen Demming 

.

Instead of relying on the Bauers and aging them, a similar family, the Roberts/Banning family could have been introduced and used for many, many years down the line.

 

As for the Bauers, you know who I would have them playing the roles of Bert and Bill's sons, Mike and Ed:  Justin and Ross!

 

The Marlers wouldn't exist.

 

Ross  (instead of Mike) Bauer could have played Ross Marler's stories starting in 1979, and Dr. Justin (instead of William/Edward) Bauer could have played Justin Marler's stories starting in 1976. That way the actors portraying them could be young enough to be Bert and Bill Bauer's sons.  Bill would still have children out of wedlock, but his illegitimate children, Lainie Kincaid, could have played Hillary Bauer's stories, and Paul Kincaid, could have returned much later to play Ben Warren's stories to give Ross and the Bauers so much to do.

 

Phillip Spaulding would have had an opportunity to be a Bauer, and so would his descendants. Justin's daughter  and Phillip's sister, who would be Samantha, could leave town with Justin following the death of Phillip and Samantha's mother, Jackie, in 1983, and return in the mid-1990s to play Michelle Bauer's stories.

 

When Phillip and his family return to Springfield in the mid-1990s, he could have been a guardian to his younger sister, Samantha, who would have been playing Michelle Bauer's storylines.

 

Michelle (changed to Michelle Banning) would come later during the 2000s as a rebellious teenager who would come and stay with Meta and Rick.  Fletcher could have lasted a little bit longer when Michelle's biological mother, Dr. Claire Ramsey Reade, returned with Fletcher as her new husband and Meg as her stepdaughter. Meg being much closer to Claire could have cause friction with Meg's mother, Holly, and give Maureen Garrett so much to work with. Michelle and Holly could still have the special mother-daughter relationship they have always enjoyed. Fletcher possibly being Michelle's father could have been explored as well.

 

A bullying storyline could have been introduced with Meg being harassed at school due to her having Down's Syndrome, and Michelle sticking up for her and being her protector.

 

That way the Bannings and the Bauers could have had longevity along with Guiding Light.

 

I'm interested to know what'd you think? I'm looking forward to reading your comments.

 

Edited April 17, 2016 by AArredondo02

[cassadine1991]

If only Procter & Gamble gave a damn

[MichaelGL]

So I'm watching scenes from GL on youtube from 1990, and it's very interesting to see this GL versus the one that it became under JFP/Curlee. With Calhoun/Long at the helm, it seemed like there was some potential of a AC/Mindy romance, or even a Mindy/AC/Rick triangle, you also had Josh/Harley, and Blake/Alan-Michael, all of which would change for the next year or so with AC/Harley, Blake/Ross, Mindy and the intro of Nick, Beth/Rick/Phillip and Josh being written off. You had Sam Marler also in some pivotal storylines under Calhoun/Long compared to JFP/Curlee. 

[DRW50]

I think Rick, Philip and Rick were due to actors wanting to leave, but even if they weren't, I can't see JFP ever having any use for Rick (although she did bring him back, so maybe I'm wrong).

[zanereed]

Anything was better than what we eventually got in "The Peapack Years".

 

Basically, most of your post highlights that time-honored tradition in soaps, SORAS. It was always one of Irna's favorite tools to use on her soaps. It made a complete WTF mess on ATWT in 1966 when Dan Stewart (and Paul Stewart, too) were suddenly jolted from kids to grown men, and Dan being a doctor! Even Bob Hughes jumped a few years back in 1960 when Don Hastings assumed the role. The list goes on and on...Russ Matthews on AW going from a troubled child to another grown man with a career as a doctor within months!

 

Even Harding Lemay in his book admitted that he purposely aged Jamie Frame and Michael and Marianne Randolph in order to add some conflict into the storylines of their respective parents. I never understood why this concept stayed so popular of a soap opera "tool" for so long.

 

In the case of the Bauers, they probably could have survived if Don Stewart had been willing to play ball and play out the love triangle that Pam Long wanted to write for Mike Bauer. Also, Charita Bauer's death really did shock Long and Gail Kobe, as none of them realized how sick she really was. Killing Hillary Bauer was absolutely pointless, though.

Edited April 29, 2016 by zanereed

[NothinButAttitude]

Who was in the love triangle with Mike that Pam Long wanted to write? 

[vetsoapfan]

Lillian Raines and Alexandra Spaulding.

[NothinButAttitude]

Thanks! I wonder who Mike would've ended up with in the end. My own choice would've been Alex. Lillian was too much of a drip for me.

[vetsoapfan]

I, too, found Lillian rather bland, and an ongoing romance between Mike Bauer and Alexandra Spaulding could have provided many more sparks...not to mention storyline possibilities. Some sources have indicated that Don Stewart was not the easiest person to work with, and  if that is true, I would have accepted a recast rather than having the character disappear forever from the canvas. Axing most of the Bauers in the 1980s was akin to eliminating the Walton family from THE WALTONS, or the Bunkers from ALL IN THE FAMILY. Springfield was never the same after the family was decimated; there always seemed to be a hole where TGL's heart should have been. Killing off Maureen several years later was incomprehensibly stupid, and the final nail in the coffin IMHO.

[zanereed]

From what I've understood, Mike Bauer's triangle with Lillian and Alexandra would have created conflict with Lujack and Beth's relationship. I, too, would have loved Mike and Alexandra being the end game, though, as it would have meant that Mike would have been marrying his enemy's (Alan) sister. That would have also been confusing, I suppose, as Alan Michael's grandfather would have been married to his aunt :-) Regardless, it could have continued the Bauer/Spaulding conflict for years to come, especially if Hope had been brought back.

 

I actually think that if Gail Kobe hadn't been forced to recast Ed Bauer (meaning Peter Simon had stayed), that they eventually would have recast Mike. They probably would have sent Mike off to Washington as originally written for a mission, then brought him back a few months later with a new actor. I think that was just too many recasts in too short of a time period, and Gail probably decided that Ed was the one Bauer they needed to keep since he had family ties being married to Maureen. Mike didn't have any at that point.

 

Speaking of Mike Bauer, I wonder why Mike never ended up with Trish Lewis? That romance was on and off in 1981/1982 and just never went anywhere. Did Stewart reject that pairing as well?

Edited April 29, 2016 by zanereed

[NothinButAttitude]

I wish that the show would've brought back Mart Hulswit in later years because even though Peter Simon was my Ed, I prefer MH's version as he at least had a backbone. 

 

I remember very little of Robert Gentry's 97-98 return, but how did everyone like his version of Ed?

[vetsoapfan]

I never read any comments from Stewart criticizing the Mike/Trish pairing, although in one interview he did remark that Trish was around Hope's age, which might raise some eyebrows. Speaking of age, Stewart said it was a mistake for TGL to make their "number one leading man" a grandfather so soon, but perhaps since Amanda had recently lost her baby on-screen, the show did not want Hope to miscarry as well, hence the successful birth of Alan-Michael. Stewart did give praise to Deborah May, and remarked that she and he had had good on-screen chemistry, which the show ended up not really capitalizing on.

I never liked Peter Simon's "listless, depressed" Ed, but at least I found him to be less awful than Richard Van Fleet's "hair-model" Ed.

 

During the 1960s, Robert Gentry was quite good as "angry, hot-head" Ed, and had very good on-screen chemistry with the actors who played his family members, particularly Charita Bauer. When he made his surprising return to TGL in 1997, I had high hopes for the actor and the character, but the show barely used him, clearly had no idea how to feature him effectively, and let him drift away before Gentry could make any sort of impression on viewers who had never seen him during his initial run 30 years before. Still, I preferred him over both Simon and Fleet, but not as much as Hulswit, who, to me, was "the" definitive Ed Bauer.