Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[vetsoapfan]

 

Yes, but since no Hannah Bauer actually existed in the canon TGL universe, I'm glad Stuart ended up playing Meta. I never understood why the show dragged in all these newly-created "fake" Bauers, when they could have mined the established family tree.

[zanereed]

 

Agreed. There was no need to create a new side of the Bauer family, when they had Bauers out there that they could bring back at any time to fill the void.

 

Since we're discussing Meta, does anyone know if Ellen Demming (Meta #2 on TV), was still acting during the 1980's? If so, they could have easily brought her back when they decided to finally address Bert's death. She was a very capable actress if given good material to work with (the episodes I've seen of her from the 1950's best illustrate this - she was more of a supporting player in the 1960's and 1970's).

 

And @vetsoapfan: I still remember when Richard Van Vleet was cast as Ed in 1984 versus bringing back Mart Hulswit. Van Vleet was so miscast as Ed that it made me long for Peter Simon to return ASAP.

[Mitch]

Scary thought...close to the end TPTB were considering making Jeffery a Bauer...kill two birds with one stone...("he's a Bauer so he is important and look, we are rebuilding the family") and that token heavy girl was going to be Rick's when he donated his sperm in college or some such crap.

[victoria foxton]

Oh gross! they were going to make Jeffery and Ashley Bauer's. Thank god GL was cancelled before that could happened. It's a real shame how the Bauer's were treated. 

 

image: http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/eww.gif

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 2018 by victoria foxton

[cassadine1991]

Who thought it was a good idea to decimate the Bauers? Weren't they the core family of the show ever since it was still in Selby Flats? I have a question who was part of the original cast of characters? 

[Soaplovers]

Instead of having Johnny Bauer as a 3rd cousin...why not have had him descended from Trudy bauer..and had Mary Stuart in the 80s be Trudy Bauer?  The character was on in the 50s and lived in New York...so i could habe seen Mary Stuart playing Trudy as more east coast, yet warm and in your face... and her branch could have been bought on as well.

 

Still I loved Meta being on in the late 90s...and I liked how she took over for Ed in trying to steer Blake in the right direction.  I kind of liked that the show ended with Frank and Blake dating since the two had ties since the early 90s as friends.

[zanereed]

 

A loaded question. From what I recall, it was actually P&G that wanted them removed as the core family initially in the early 1980's, and at first I believe they tried to put the pressure on Doug Marland. Doug, of course, did not let that happen.

 

Fast forward to 1983. At first it would seem like Pam Long and Gail Kobe had it in for the Bauer family. In some ways, that might be true. They killed off Bill Bauer, if for no other reason than to prop up the Eli Simms Bauer/Chamberlain/Reardon/Spaulding/Annabelle Simms storyline. They wrote out Hope Bauer in late 1983, when Elvera Roussel did not want to play Hope as an alcoholic (which is a shame, because I thought that was a great storyline to play, especially with the history of alcoholism in the Bauer family). However, when you look back at 1984, Pam and Gail insisted on writing Bert's leg amputation in for Charita to play (even though I believe Charita initially resisted it). Ed and Maureen were on quite a bit regarding Maureen becoming the hospital administrator, Rick was there as part of "the Four Musketeers", Hillary was involved with the "Dreaming Death" storyline, and Mike was around, though he didn't have a great deal to do on the frontburner (with Hope no longer in Springfield and Alan having been killed), but that changed during the summer as Pam Long positioned Mike into a Mike/Lillian/Alexandra love triangle (with Warren Andrews on the periphery) that was likely to have an affect on the Beth/Lujack romance.

 

Then, a string of bad occurrences happened: Peter Simon decided to leave and Ed was recast with Richard Van Vleet (who did NOT fit the role of Ed, even though Van Vleet played Chuck - also a doctor - on AMC), Hillary was killed off in order to prop up the Susan Piper storyline (UGH), and Don Stewart (Mike) was fired by Gail Kobe for being unwilling to work with Beverlee McKinsey (among other things). They never bothered to recast Hope and Mike (which they really should have, especially when they brought back Alan Spaulding in 1986), so it was just Ed, Maureen, and Rick left of the Bauer clan. That never really changed until they SORAS'd Michelle, and Mike returned briefly in 1997 for the 60th Anniversary.

 

 

Agreed 100%. Trudy was truly the forgotten Bauer. Once she moved back to New York, she was never mentioned much again. She never returned for Papa Bauer's funeral, which I found a bit strange, so I guess the writers completely forgot about her by that time. But you are right, her time in New York could have made her much more brash then she originally was (yet, as you say, done in a pleasant way). Or, she could have come back for Bert's funeral at the same time as Meta. So you would have had two matriarchs: a warm, sensitive one in Meta, and an assertive, overbearing one in Trudy. Like you said, Trudy could have brought along her own clan (a son or daughter to start with, etc.). Plus, I would have purposely made Trudy single (Clyde having passed away some years prior) to potentially pair her up with with either HB or Henry.

 

They could have even brought a reason as to why "Aunt Trudy" wasn't seen or heard from much - perhaps she and Clyde purposely isolated themselves away in NYC, even being ashamed of their midwest roots?

 

If you are talking about the TV version of TGL, then it would be Papa Bauer, Bill Bauer, Bert Bauer, Trudy Bauer, Meta Bauer Roberts, Joe Roberts, Kathy Roberts Grant, Dick Grant, and probably a few other people I'm forgetting (Joe's son, Joey, Dick Grant's parents, etc.).

 

If you are talking about the radio version, that cast differed greatly until 1948, when the Bauers were introduced. The original central characters/family in the first 10 years of the show were the Ruthledges and the Holdens.

Edited January 12, 2018 by zanereed

[amybrickwallace]

Does anyone know whatever happened to Mart Hulswit? 

[vetsoapfan]

 

An on-line biography of Demming claims she retired from acting in 1974, and I have never seen her in anything else, but I do not know for sure if she did any more acting after TGL. Not a lot of information is available about her.

 

I thought she was a good actress too, and although Meta eventually became more of a minor, supporting player, I still loved seeing her. I felt the same way about Emily McLaughlin of GH, who went from being the show's leading lady to not much more than a bit player, but I adored her and wanted her on the show. I was saddened and  annoyed when Meta stopped appearing on TGL. Ditto, Jessie Brewer on GH, BTW.

 

I had the same reaction as you did when Van Fleet showed up in Springfield, calling himself Ed Bauer: if we could not have our Mart Hulswit back, Peter Simon would have been better than Van Fleet. UGH.  The show screwed  up big time by casting both PS and RVF, although VF was even a worse choice..

 

I would have put a bullet through my TV. No Bauers at all would be better than this.

 

Great answer to all those comments.

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Edited January 13, 2018 by vetsoapfan

[antmunoz]

 

Gus was supposed to be the son of Selena Davis and the late Miguel Santos. The whole Gus investigating Danny Santos storyline would’ve ended with them being revealed as half-brothers.  Selena’s past relationship with Miguel was exposed for just this reason (remember when Maria Santos pushed her down the stairs as “revenge” for Selena’s tryst with Miguel and for hiding her son from him?).  Selena eventually admitted that her son was a lawyer and that she’d always known his whereabouts (???).   This was odd after her years-long search for her other abandoned child, Drew Jacobs.  Patti D’Arbanville (Selena) had gained weight and was fired (a fate avoided by Kim Zimmer). Gus was rather hastily rewritten as the son of Alan Spaulding and some random nun. It never worked.  I liked Gus but he didn’t need to be tied to anyone, and Harley didn’t need to have been married to three of Alan’s sons. 

[Khan]

Years ago, I came across a rumor that Claire Labine had plans to re-introduce Trudy Bauer as a homeless woman...but I can't say for certain whether that WAS what she had had in mind.

[NothinButAttitude]

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[victoria foxton]

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The Reva clone saga.

Edited January 15, 2018 by victoria foxton

[vetsoapfan]

Ahhh, videos from 1953. The great Irna Phillips was writing the show back then. The good old days.

 

EEEK! Videos from 1998 with Cleva! The not-so-good final years!

 

LOL!

[soapfan770]

Don Stewart was unwilling to work with Beverlee McKinsey? That's a darn shame, I wonder why. Was Stewart intimidated by McKinsey? I knew Zaslow and McKinsey couldn't stand each other off-screen but still were able to make an amazing presence together on-screen.