Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Lillian did catch a bit more heat than Ed did though. I just hate that there was no character on the canvas that called him on his sh-t. Not even Roger as you mentioned. Most of them just patted him on the head like 'poor Ed.' 

 

I would've been all for Roger calling Ed on his crap, as I always team Roger. It would've been nice to see Roger lord something over Ed's sanctimonious head for once. 

[BetterForgotten]

Holly was initially very disappointed and let down by Ed when she found about about everything, which I thought was pretty realistic (as she had always built him up as her "hero"). I don't think it lasted too long though. 

[cassadine1991]

JFP strikes again, couldn't they have asked the actors to appear for a few episodes? Wasn't KDP still available at the time Maureen died?

What was the reason for the Nursery Rhyme Stalker story?

[Soaplovers]

 

Holly lost her daughter Meg due to her indexisiveness over Roger..and Fletcher got fed up and left with their daughter.  Holly felt guilt..drank...blamed herself for being a bad mother...then viewed other women who neglected their kids and decided to punish them.

 

The riddles and methods she used were clever...but the aftermath was cut short...sadly...including a few scenes of holly and Annie befriending each other.

[robbwolff]

Rick's return wasn't a short-term visit. He stayed around until early 1991.

 

Sheri Anderson was head writer at that time and seemed intent on beefing up the presence of the Bauers through Johnny's family members. Of course, those weren't the Bauers that viewers wanted to see. As I recollect, Mary Stuart was even supposed to join the show in 1987 as Hannah Bauer.

 

Hope Bauer was slated to return in 1986. Then head writer Jeff Ryder talked about Hope returning in a Soap Opera Digest interview. I might be wrong, but I think he even mentioned Alan-Michael in that interview. In the same interview, he also discussed introducing Sarah and Rusty Shayne. Weeks later, Ryder was out and Mary Ryan Munisteri's disastrous reign began.

[vetsoapfan]

 

 

I SUPPOSE I could have handled having just those three characters on the canvas of TGL, as long as they were not crammed down viewers' throats 24/7, and as long as there were no stupid, campy, and/or offensive stories about clones, time travel, fictitious islands, and shoot-outs in the Bauer kitchen. 

 

 

 

 

To me, having Hulswit return as Ed would have sufficed too, but ideally, I would have wanted both him and Stewart back on screen as tentpole characters.

 

It was just so misguided to fire Hulswit in the first place. Marland claimed they wanted a younger, sexier Ed to play romantic stories, but...look at the lead on daytime's top-rated GENERAL HOSPITAL during the early 1980s: Tony Geary. Hardly the epitome of male beauty! TPTB didn't, and don't, understand that the audience responds to actors for many different reasons, and we are not all obsessed with six-packs and chiseled cheek bones. Hulswit was a cuddly teddy bear; quite adorable in his own way. Patriarchs, in particular, do not need to be sex-gods. The audience just wants them to be...endearing and comforting. 

 

On the show, to explain Charita Bauer's absence after she passed away, it was said  that Bert was out of town visiting Meta in Florida because Meta had had a stroke. After the character of Bert also died, it would have made perfect sense for Aunt Meta to return to Springfield to be with her family. Months later, Jeff Ryder, who was writing TGL when it dealt with Bert's death, acknowledged that the audience kept clamoring for the Bauers to return, but claimed there weren't even many of them to bring back. Only Mike and Hope. He had already forgotten about poor Meta, LOL. In any case, he had no interest in reinvesting in that family.

[zanereed]

 

Sorry, Robb. I didn't mean to single out Rick Bauer. I knew O'Leary was back long term at that point. I meant that the show could have brought back other legacy characters for the 50th, even if was for a short term visit.

 

I though both Hope and Mike were slated to return (in one form or another - I suspect recasts for both) in 1986.

 

Oh, gawd...Mary Ryan Munisteri...

 

Hulswit apparently rubbed Marland the wrong way. As was mentioned earlier in this thread, Hulswit seemed to be the only actor that Marland was ever negative towards in an interview from the mid-1980's. I had read somewhere that Potter fired Hulswit because he was so critical of the writing. Marland must not have taken kindly to that.

 

However, he could have been brought back in 1986 when it was a new regime. I agree, when it comes to the patriarchs, looking like an Adonis is not a prerequisite. Well, Don Stewart was an exception I suppose...

 

The one thing I was shocked by during the Nursery Rhyme Storyline was that they brought back Holly's brother, Ken Norris - still being played by Roger Newman! Although I think Newman was a writer on the show at the time, it was still nice to see the show dig back into its history and bring back a legacy character. It's too back they didn't do more with Ken. They could have brought in his daughter that he had with Janet and expanded the Norris family a bit more.

[vetsoapfan]

 

Marland was usually so affable and gracious in the press. I was shocked when he referred to Hulswit as a "dodo" in an interview.

 

At various times, TPTB paid lip service to the idea of Mike and Hope returning, but there could not have been serious interest in carrying through with it, because the show had many opportunities to bring those characters back but consistently failed to do so. In the early 1980s, Pamela Long said that she was interested in having Meta Bauer return, because "so much happened to her," but that did not pan out until 1996.

Edited December 15, 2016 by vetsoapfan

[vetsoapfan]

 

You are right: no one really cared about the newbie, "fake" Bauers suddenly retconned into existence. If Papa Bauer had had a brother Otto, nephew Jack, etc., we would have known about it decades earlier. As a viewer, I was annpyed at being presented with these characters instead of seeing the REAL Bauers back on my screen.

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I did not know that Jeff Ryder had discussed bringing back Hope before he was replaced as headwriter. I remember his comments in the press about how the fans kept demanding a return of the family, but that only Mike and Hope remained. He did not (in that interview) indicate he had any intention of bringing them back. I did not like Ryder's work, but I would have been appreciative of his efforts, if he had actually had Hope return.

 

Mary Ryan Munisteri...yikes! The show went through so many dreadful writers during the 1980s and '90s. They should have stuck with pat falken Smith, who had showed great promise when she briefly replaced Douglas Marland. Her scripts were great and I felt she "got" the characters and the tone/style/feeling of the show.

Edited December 15, 2016 by vetsoapfan

[~bl~]

Trudy, would have been the only Bauer that they could have brought back and created new family etc around her, as she disappeared decades earlier. Some imaginary Bauer would be annoying.

[vetsoapfan]

 

Yes, Trudy's branch of the family tree could have been explored and it would have played into established history. There were a few different ways the show could have reestablished the Bauer family, had they delved into the past.

[Soaplovers]

Was there a reason why Pat Faken Smith was replaced after such a short time?  

 

What fascinates me about Pam long was that she infused GL with a lot of heart and emotion....and was a good fit for the show...but sometimes her plotting was a little off if she didnt have a strong co head writer to help with the plotting.  Though I do admit I enjoyed both tv movies she penned for Dolly Parton

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[DRW50]

 

There was an item in SOD around 1986 or early 1987 suggesting a Hope return, possibly with Alan-Michael. I guess the show, heavy into the teen market and also full of a lot of women in her age range, decided to just age him and not bother bringing her back.

 

As for the Santos and the Winslows, I liked them more than I should have (other than Pilar, who always bored and annoyed me), because of the casting and because for their flaws I thought B&E did a decent job with their material. I thought the Labines were very tone deaf about what worked for the characters - Edmund as some sort of dark prince with Beth as his dim bulb enabler was unwatchable, as was Danny as the Sonny Corinthos of Springfield. And then after that it never really worked - likely it wouldn't have anyway. I will say I liked Danny/Cassie - it's a shame the show caved to pressure from "Manny" fans.

 

I do think it was a huge mistake to bring Bradley Cole back as Jeffrey. I know he had a lot of ardent fans but what charm and style he may have had as Richard was MIA in the truly disgusting Jeffrey (as was any chemistry he had with Laura Wright). David Andrew Macdonald was a much better lead in an antihero sense and continued to be a highlight of even the dumbest stories (like the "evil Will" tedium). He also had a great, great ass. 

Edited December 15, 2016 by DRW50

[katie_9918]

David Andrew MacDonald's Edmund was the closest this show ever came to another Roger Thorpe and I'll go as far to say that I found Edmund's reasons for his more horrific behavior far more compelling than I ever found Roger's.

 

He was the only character from those dark San Cristobel/Santos days that ever should have lasted more than nine months, in my opinion.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

I liked Edmund but no. 

 

Edmund was nothing like Roger. Roger was way too complex to emulate. Edmund was mustache twirling at best. He's nowhere near Roger on the spectrum of complex villains.