Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[zanereed]

 

I'm laughing right now picturing 6'3" Jed Allen as Mike Bauer staring down at 5'11" Peter Simon as Ed Bauer!

[DAMfan]

Alan Spaulding played by  Christopher Bernau was suppose to be killed off the first year but he was so popular with viewers and the writers understood what they had with Chris they changed their minds. 

 

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[robbwolff]

Falken Smith was at Guiding Light for a very short time -- perhaps late September to late November 1982. I don't really recall much of her stories aside from the introduction of Mona/Rebecca; the formation of Los Tres Amigos, a company founded by Josh, Ross, and Amanda; and a house that was being moved crashing into the Reardon's boarding house, leading to the introduction of the restaurant Tony & Company.

[victoria foxton]

Thanks robbwolff.

[Soaplovers]

I wonder how much of what Pat faken did were her ideas...or if she went off Marlands outlines.  Though I do think he didnt like the Company crashing into the bording house element when asked about it so that could habe been Pat's idea.  Still she wad there a short time and no way to know if she truly got GL or not.  She made a huge mess of Ryan's hope though.

 

Out of all the characters Pam Long inherited from previous regimes ...I think she wrote Vanessa, tony, and Nola the best during that 1st stint of hers.  I think she even wrote the Reardons better then Marland did...imho.  i think Gail Kobe hindered her to be honest....there wad an interview posted here awhile back from early 1984 where PambLong admitted her dream was to write about characters discussing life, etc...while drinking coffee...or doong laindry..but that she founs it hard to squeeze that in with the call for plot plot plot.  

 

And i will say that Marland was decent...but the 1st year or so of his stint was finishing/carrying on the Dobson stories....and he diluted Amanda, Hope, Rita, and Katie..imho.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

 

Really?

 

From what I've seen of Long at GL, the Reardons were the last thing on her mind. I feel like her time at GL focused heavily on the Shaynes, Lewises, and Beth/Phillip/Lujack. 

 

I agree that Tony & Vanessa got story, but Nola got tossed sh-t. Jonathan the wiz kid, Nolarobeics, etc. All those stories were not that great. 

[cassadine1991]

Would anyone would've liked if Pam Long was asked back around 2002/2003?

[victoria foxton]

Yes! Pam made mistakes during her first run. But her second run was good. 

[BetterForgotten]

But how much of that second run was Long? Robert Calhoun had just come off a lauded stint EP-ing ATWT, and Nancy Curlee was Co-HW and said she and Long shared "responsibilities" for stories during that time. 

 

I think Curlee even wrote Josh and Reva's wedding episodes, amazing enough. 

 

What Curlee told us in 2009:

 

Toups: In 1989, you were promoted to Co-Head Writer. What was your role in that position under Head Writer Pamela K. Long?

Curlee: We shared responsibilities for stories. I was able to put the Roger/Mindy/Billy/Alex story in motion, which had great legs, I thought, and focused on actors I particularly liked. I did a lot of the layout of the week, which meant breaking the stories down into episodes.
 

Edited December 17, 2016 by BetterForgotten

[Soapsuds]

That was one of my favorite stories of all time on GL.  Nice to know she wrote it.

[Soaplovers]

 

I will agree the last months of Nola's stint was not up to par...but up till Nola giving birth to AJ was pretty good.  As a family unit, the Reardon's had a lot of family scenes up till 1985.  Plus, their establishment Company was the center of a lot of gatherings and interactions amongst alot of characters.

 

I would say Nolaoebics had potential..and what confused me was annabelle in that story.  Nola always had these far out ideas that made sense to her..and not to a lot of people..so I actually accepted that element for her....Annabelle...not so much.  I would have bought Mindy helping out moreso then Annabelle.

 

 

[NothinButAttitude]

I do agree (with that I've seen) that Nola's last good story was AJ's birth. Everything else went down the tube afterwards. Sucks b/c I Quint and Nola still had much life to them as characters. 

 

Seeing as Nola was a busybody and nosy, what they should've done was put her over at the Springfield Journal as a journalist with Fletcher. That's what they should've done. It would've made sense anyways as Nola left the show telling Bea & Henry that she was gonna write a novel during her time abroad with Quint. 

 

Quint could've easily taken a job at Springfield U and followed in the footsteps of his idol, Mr. Renfield. 

 

 

[DRW50]

 

When saynotoursoap used to post here he'd say that she actually made the Reardons a believable family and made Bea a believable mother figure. I haven't seen enough to say, but I do think Tony was more tolerable under Long. It often seems to me in the clips of Quint and Nola up to that point (Long) Nola is clustered with two family units (Quint's and the Reardons); Long seemed to sort of focus more on the Reardon side and move Vanessa elsewhere, and shrink the Quint group (although I think some of that group, like Nola's friend, were already gone).

 

I wish I could see more of Smith's writing as I've mostly just heard about it. I know a while after they had random stories like Tony and a ballerina, but I think that was Browne. 

[NothinButAttitude]

 

But I've always seen Bea being believable in all the clips that I've seen. She always seemed consistent with me. She called Nola on her sh-t, could be a bit flustered at times, but always came off as lovable and down to earth. Again, from what I've seen, Long didn't seem to invest in Quint and Nola that much. I do think that she tried with Jim, Tony, Annabelle, and Hillary but she got all rid of them in due time with Bea. 

[DRW50]

 

I think she was a bit "Oh Nola!" with Marland, a bit silly, and I had a hard time imagining her as a mother of 5-6 kids. I also thought the Tony/Nola relationship was tough to watch. I don't know who improved it, it may have already improved by the time Long came.

 

I think the guy who played Tony quit. I'm not sure about Harley Jane Kozak. Probably not. I think Bea was let go after Long left.