Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[NothinButAttitude]

Ok. Thanks! 

[BetterForgotten]

It's hard to imagine that Lynn Deerfield played Holly for 6 years and virtually nothing exists of it.

 

Maybe that's exactly why I could never imagine anyone but Maureen Garrett playing Holly. I wonder if the change in actresses was seamless or if it took the audience a while to accept Garrett. 

[DRW50]

 

I'd like to know that too. 

 

I know Maureen said that Lynn would come to the set for a while and watch her scenes, and she thought this meant they were going to fire her. 

 

The uploader said Roger was in this episode and it may have been when Holly was dating him.

[NothinButAttitude]

Thanks for answering that, @DRW50. 

[zanereed]

 

Michael Zaslow started on TGL in April of 1971. Holly wouldn't be involved with Ed until a year or two after this. She was mainly involved with Roger initially.

Edited November 11, 2016 by zanereed

[DRW50]

I wish that more of that period was available. GL was always a little looser than ATWT, but still, Roger must have been jarring for viewers, even if Zaslow had so much charm and in that period was likely able to come across as the basically OK guy who was a bit of a rascal (always popular with older female viewers). I get the feeling that the cupboard was somewhat bare at GL by the early '70s, as other than Mike, Peggy, Bert and Ed the heavy drama seemed to involve new or new-ish characters, like Sara, Joe, Charlotte, Leslie, etc. That must have made it easier for viewers to accept Roger and the Norrises (well that and Barbara Berjer being familiar from ATWT). 

Edited November 11, 2016 by DRW50

[zanereed]

Well, some TGL episodes from 1973 are still sitting at the UCLA archive doing nothing but likely rotting away. Those would be fascinating to watch. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever get to see them.

 

I know that 1970 was still a transition period for TGL, with some long-term characters leaving (Paul Fletcher, Johnny Fletcher the following year, etc), and the Norris family essentially settling in. Stanley was the first arrival in 1969, and then the Barbara, Ken and Holly followed thereafter (and Andy a few years later). Roger certainly wasn't the same person initially as he was during his 1978 to 1980 run. In fact, looking at the show between 1964 and 1971, there really wasn't any consistent core family other than the Bauers. Adding to that, the adult Ed was still only 4 years into his run by 1970, and Mike had only just returned to the show in 1968. In both cases new actors were playing the roles (Mart Hulswit beginning in 1969 and Don Stewart in late 1968), so you are probably right, Carl - it might have made the new Norris family easier to accept?

Edited November 11, 2016 by zanereed

[DRW50]

 

I hope the episodes can be shown at some point. If only P&G gave a damn. 

 

I really enjoyed the cast on display in the '66 episodes that are on YT - Paul, Robin, supporting figures like that Jane woman and her husband. Of course most of them were on the way out. I would think they were all popular with viewers as well. 

 

Don Stewart's Mike seems to have been popular almost immediately, and Barbara Rodell's recast Leslie seems to have been as well, so I guess that have helped ease the transition, along with other new characters becoming viewer favorites, like Sara or Joe. I guess that may be one of the reasons why even if the show wasn't seen as being great it didn't really run into trouble until the mid '70s. 

 

There are some stories that sound very weak and un-GL to me on paper, like the whole Lesley/Stanley thing, that I wish I could actually see to gauge for myself. And others I'd love to see just because they sound like a blast, like the Charlotte/Tracy Delmar saga. I'd love to be able to see Nancy Addison and Victoria Wyndham (although I figure Wyndham was gone by the time the Charlotte/Tracy stuff really got going) playing uber-bitches, or in Tracy's case, neurotic and desperate. 

[zanereed]

I really doubt we'll ever get to see those 1973 episodes ever. As you said, P&G don't care at all. Even if they did, I wonder what the cost would be to de-archive those films, plus the cost of transferring them. Also, who knows that the condition of the film prints are at this point? It's a shame, as those films are likely the only remaining footage from 1973, other than the episode that thankfully Roger Newcomb/Soap Classics put on the "Bauer Family" DVD set.

 

I think one of the primary reasons for Don Stewart's popularity that continued well into the 1970's was his looks. I don't think he had as much chemistry with Lynne Adams (or Kathryn Hays, not sure on that one since she played Leslie so briefly) as he did with Barbara Rodell.

 

Yes, some of those storylines I would love to see at least some episodes to get a glimpse as to how this played out. I too was always curious with how Leslie ended up with Stanley Norris when Mike wasn't available. And I would definitely love to see any episode with Nancy Addison as Kit Vestid!

[Paul Raven]

Remember that GL was still 15 mins up till 1967 (along with SFT) so the cast would have been very small with one or two storylines. There wasn't room for much else apart from characters who interacted with the Bauers.

 

Often those characters stayed as long as they were useful and then dropped to make way for new characters who could provide new story for the core people.

 

Unlike recent times when characters stayed on way beyond their use by date,either as window dressing or in totally improbable stories.

 

The expansion to 30 mins allowed for more characters eg Sara,Joe and later the Norris family.

[zanereed]

Very true, Paul. I tend to forget the time period. Although initially there was at least one other family besides the Bauers. Back in the 1950's it was the Bauer family, the Roberts family (via Meta, of course), and the Grant family. Then, it seemed in 1955 a shift from the three families to just the Bauers, with Joe being killed off and Richard and Laura Grant being written out (even though Kathy Roberts would last until 1958 and Dick Grant until around 1962). Then, you are definitely correct - the Bauer family was the core family with characters who interacted with them.

[John]

George Pilgrim was Horrible as J Chamberlin

[DRW50]

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[Mitch]

LOL..that is great, I love that Zimmer and Newman can make fun of their crappy stories of the later years.  But they were right, the original Josh/Reva/HB stuff with Billy being a total d*ck was great, great stuff!

[Soaplovers]

Josh/reva were on way too long....i guess the downside of supercouples are the ways writers have to come up with plaudible stories to break up and make up characters.  They were an example of many super couples that had that happen to them.  by the last episode, I cared less about them reuniting...then Ed/Holly...Billy/Vanessa...and alex/fletcher