Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[vetsoapfan]

 

I was watching both DAYS and GH at the time, and losing DA as Susan Martin was a HUGE blow to DAYS. Her character was enormously popular, and always in the throes of major storylines. When the actress moved over to GH, Lesley Williams was just so...unfocused. It took them a long time to figure out what to do with her over there. TPTB often fail to realize that it is not just a performer, herself, who is popular, but rather a specific performer in a specific part. Paul Rauch fought to bring Janice Lynde over to AW, based on her popularity as Leslie Brooks on Y&R, but the problem was...Leslie Brooks was a multi-dimensional character in well-written storylines. Her AW was not. Neither was her OLTL character. Lynde never achieved the popularity anywhere else that she had had on Y&R, because the writing for her other characters just wasn't there.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

OMG. You are so right. She could've been the perfect Meg recast. 

 

I'm pretty sure even though Denise Alexander languished on GH till Marland's arrival, she still had better stories than what SB was given on B&B and DAYS. She was basically brought on B&B to be Bridget's incubator, who lusted after washed up Jack Wagner. If used correctly, SB would've been the perfect vixen the show needed at the time to rival the likes of KKL, Heather Tom, and Hunter Tylo. 

 

On DAYS, she was fire opposite Lauren Koslow, and it seemed like the show was gonna give Kate a new female rival. DAYS squashed that quickly by having her do nothing but be Brady's bedmate and putting poor Madison Ian Buchanan's dud character. I wish this show had the good sense of putting Madison with Lucas, thus causing Kate to fume over her business rival bedding her son, but of course they didn't do that. 

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Edited April 19, 2017 by Nothin'ButAttitude

[NothinButAttitude]

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[GH_Girl]

Dumb question, the Brent/Marion story... the audience is supposed to realize that Marion is actually Brent in disguise right? Obviously the characters don't realize it, but viewers were supposed to right? I am so curious how someone watching that story without knowing how it will go would have reacted.

[DRW50]

 

I think early on we didn't know but they told us pretty quickly.

[Bright Eyes]

Can someone tell me who the most senior actor in the cast was in 1986?

[vetsoapfan]

 

Jerry ver Dorn (Ross), who had started in 1979. By 1986, all the other veteran actors and characters had been slaughtered.

[cassadine1991]

Interesting because I wanted Kimberly McCullough on GL after she left GH in 2000/appeared on AMC in 2001

I would've loved to see LW's Cassie react to Tammy's death 

[Khan]

Kimberly McCullough might have been a good Dorie von Halkein.

[cassadine1991]

Was Chris Bernau off the show at that point?

[vetsoapfan]

 

I believe he had left in 1984.

 

Bernau did return later in 1986, but ver Dorn was the actor who had been with the show continuously, without interruption, the longest.

Edited April 21, 2017 by vetsoapfan

[Mitch]

 

 

Aggh did you need to remind me of Buzz and his snot! Justin Deas was a thorn in my GL watching time.(I swear he was on just to chase me away) up until the very end when they threw him into Van and Billy's wedding!!!

 

Disagree on the only "intact" family being the Coopers.  They had the Marlers there the whole time and Ross and Blake were the only couple I can remember having three kids produced in the same relationship (non withstanding the oddity of thinking that one of the boys was Rick's and that Christina was born and her parents were seperated.)  With the addition of Dinah and bringing in Roger's son (it wouldnt have been Sebastian in my world but...) you have a family unit with a matriach and patriarch with teenagers and all their angst, with adult trouble makers involved and the addition of appearences of sarcastic Grandma Holly.  If I were head writer I would have had Rick move into the lighthouse after he divorces Mel (they never worked, and with no Bauers around Rick worked best as a supporting actor like Frank) and Ross and Blake move into the Bauer house (the set was there, Blake basically grew up a Bauer tho the writers ignored it) and center the show around them as the core family. I thought LK would find her stride as a saucy sexy earth mother, and of course Ross had authentic ties to EVERYONE on the canvas, as opposed to Buzz being shoved into relationships as in being Alan's antagonist etc.  It would be nice to see a committed married couple who still liked to hit the sheets.  The recurring joke would be the Marlers kids being embarrassed by their parents "affectionate" relationship.

 

I don't remember, how was Holly responsible for Jenna's death? I didn't care as each time I saw her Buzzard was in tow and I cant forget those months we had of her over a vat of skin cream that was an actual freakin' storyline!

 

I liked Edmund and thought DAM was damn sexy, but never could accept a murderous psycho as a villain. His intro on the show was trying to kill a baby for God's sake!  However, I would have made him Jonathon's father.. I don't know how I would do it as how could Reva forget that..though I could see her tieing one on and having it off with Eddie and forgetting it...I mean, who wouldnt want to get it with Eddie being married to Richard the Dull?I just did not see he and Cassie together especially since they made him so bland.  I think LW works best as a brittle shrew so I woulda had Cassie gone "bad" and embarked on a sick sexual relationship with Eddie..do not tell me the girl did not pull tricks when she got off that stripper pole...she was straight out trailer trash and that version I could have liked.

 

I actually liked Beth and Coop, he was so boring but he perked up and their relationship was kind of sexy. It was nice to see a couple just having sex who liked each other but were not some great Twu Wuv...and really, who would not hit Beth she was looking great!

 

 

[NothinButAttitude]

 

@Mitch, Jeffery overheard Holly reveal that he was the father of Rocky. That caused Jeffery to go confront Jenna, which led to their death in the car. 

 

 

[Mitch]

So it wasn't really Holly's fault. It was Jenna's for being a ho bag who lies. And has terrible taste in men.

 

Damn, over hearing paternity, that happened every other week on Marland's ATWT!

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Basically. 

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It's what I said earlier. Had Jenna just told the truth from the start and fought Jeffery off with Buzz, the Coopers, and even Vanessa's (who was like a surrogate sister) help, it wouldn't've ended badly, but that's Jenna for you. She did have poor taste in men.