Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[NothinButAttitude]

 

I feel the same way; however, I know a lot of people loved WM's Dinah becoming a heroine, and hated when Dinah was made a bitch again when Cassie came on the scene. I didn't mind it because Dinah was so good at being bad. She was a character that didn't need to be declawed when she was. 

 

I wish the show would've kept Bridget around to soften the blow of Maureen's absence, but once KZ returned, this show wanted to scrap all things Bauers/Reardon and return it to the Reva Show. Sucks b/c the years Reva was missing in action was some of GL's best written. Love Reva but I always felt she was force fed and was like a ship w/o a rudder. She was all over the place. I said some time ago on here that Reva needed a damn career to center her. 

[Mitch]

Yes, and she, like Buzzard was best as part of an ensemble...I don't think  she was so bad when McTrash and Laibson were there but as soon as Rauchie was on the scene, he felt that it was OLTL and that Reva was the Vicki character, and Reva was not meant to be the center of the universe..( and I hate comparing Reva to Buzz but Buzz ate the show for several years....)

 

I think Cassie, after Richard's death should have been a bitch on wheels. LW just makes a great snarling bitch that I cant believe they never went there.

[vetsoapfan]

 

While I personally never liked Reva, as the years went on, she became unbearable to me; a real dead weight that sank the show. It was not Kim Zimmer so much as the endless focus on the character, and all those PAINFULLY-AWFUL storylines dumped on her. Reva the Ghost! Reva the Amish Amnesiac! Reva the San Cristocrapian Queen! Reva the Clone! Reva the Blind! Reva the Illegal-Immigrant Savior! Reva the Time Traveler! Reva the Porty Goddess of Every Man's Desire!

 

UGH! What a nightmare. 

 

Come to think of it, perhaps I would prefer to watch shoot-outs in the Bauer kitchen, LOL.

 

I would have freely and eagerly bestowed Luke Evans upon you or anyone else who could have made Reva just go away!!!

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[MichaelGL]

The writing for Reva is what did it for me, not so much her presence. Reva from 89-90 was a prime example of the show giving Reva a good meaty storyline, but not allowing her to eat the show. 

[Soaplovers]

Reva from 1983 to 1985...and 1989 through 1990 were her best years...when she wasnt being shoved down everyones throats.  She was fromt burning...yet other characters had a chance to shine.

 

I liked the Bridget/julie/kat trio of the early 90s.  It was the last time the show truly had younger characters with decent talent (outside the brief time Joie Lenz played Michelle).

[NothinButAttitude]

^ 

@Soaplovers, I think it was criminal how GL decimated their younger characters the last decade post Michelle/Drew/Bill/Jesse/Danny.

 

Lizzie, Coop, Marina, and Tammy should've been handled so much better. Tammy nor Coop should've been killed off. Ben too. Marah & Shayne shouldn't've been written off. Marina should've never been paired with Alan Michael, who was once believed to be her daddy, or Mallet, who was her godfather. Blake's kids should've been SORAS'd towards the end when Phillip returned. They could've added so many layers to that story as they were affected by Phillip's escape.

 

Even though the good twin/bad twin trope is played out, they should've had Kevin be the good twin, who was much like Ross, and Jason be the bad twin, who was a spitting image of grandpa Roger. A few years ago when I was doing the fanfic blogs on here, I plotted out a story with Jason targeting Phillip (via Spaulding Enterprises) for causing Ross' death along with him targeting Rick (through Leah) for his hand in the incident.

 

I also plotted a story where Kevin wanted to be a doctor like Rick, who was once believed to be his father, while Blake wanted to push him into law as he mirrored Ross so much. Blake would of course protest Kevin's choice as it'd be a reminder of how she cheated on Ross along with fearing Kevin might want to replace Ross with Rick. In the end, I wanted Rick/Kevin to form a surrogate father/son relationship much like Blake had with Ed, who was once believed to be her father. 

 

GL missed so many opportunities of good stories the last decade due to poor TPTB. So many stories could've been revisited and wrote themselves if only people would've done their homework and thoroughly studied the history. 

[InLoveWithSoaps]

There was also Peter who could have easily been brought on given he was the center of attention for so many characters. I agree with you, especially Marah who was MIA from 2004-2009 outside of a quick Thanksgiving visit by my favorite actress to portray her.
I accepted a lot of stupid Reva stories but I'm glad I never had to see the psychic one. Maybe it could have worked with Nola. The cancer was probably one of the best Reva stories of the last years, but boy did I hate that Jeffrey nonsense afterwards, especially the pregnancy 3 years post-menopause. Also the clone, whom apparently was created out of a lab with no pregnancy involved, was what it was but nothing will ever be more ridiculous than Reva in the pilot-free airplane. Some of the worst scenes I saw on this show.

[NothinButAttitude]

I didn't care for Jeffery/Reva either. Like I said, Reva needed a damn career to center her. They should've either put her at Lewis, Spaulding, or had her back at Springfield Journal, which is what she did for a small stint in the 80s. 

 

I miss the days when jobs created arcs on these shows. GL getting rid of WSPR in the mid 90s with Gilly was crazy. Those days when Roger, Holly, Fletcher, Nick, and Gilly were at the paper and news station was some of the best storytelling. 

[kalbir]

Nobody answered me earlier re Robert Calhoun.

 

From what I've either watched when it originally aired, or rewatched online years later, it seems to me that Robert Calhoun laid all the groundwork but Jill Farren Phelps got all the credit. The 1991/1992 brief ratings rise was under her watch if I'm not mistaken. 

[DAMfan]

I hated everything Jeffery.

 

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[vetsoapfan]

 

Of the two producers, Calhoun was certainly the Soap Savior and Jill was the Soap Killer. Many producers have coasted on the success generated by others over the decades, JFP being one of them.

 

Me too. I cheered when he was killed off, and hurled across my screen when they rehired Bradley Cole.

[kalbir]

 

That was why I asked earlier if Robert Calhoun left GL on his own choice or if P&G terminated him. In hindsight, if it was a termination, that was a stupid move on P&G's part. 

 

Add to the producer coasting list Laurence Caso (off of Robert Calhoun and Douglas Marland), and to a lesser extent Edward Scott (off of H. Wesley Kenney).

 

 

Edited March 5, 2017 by kalbir

[cassadine1991]

Did DePaiva leave on her own or was she axed? Also why didn't any of the Reardons came back on-screen for Maureen's funeral 

 

I thought they planning on bringing back Marah with Martha Madison?

[Skylover]

I am sad this soap ended back in 2009. I wish I'd had the chance to watch it.

Edited March 6, 2017 by Edward Skylover

[kalbir]

 

I believe Kassie DePaiva left GL on her own choice. She was part of a cast purge in early 1991 that also saw the departures of Grant Aleksander, Beth Chamberlin, Robert Newman, and Michael O'Leary.