Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[AArredondo02]

Pairing Mike Bauer with Alexandra Spaulding during the early eighties and having years worth of story is a typical post on this forum. It makes sense given Mike's history with the Spauldings. Mike's daughter, Hope, was married to Alan Spaulding and gave birth to Alan Michael Spaulding. In hindsight, what would it be like when Mike never left Springfield and finally marries Alexandra, and during the nineties,  they have a conflict due to Mike siding with his grandson, Alan Michael Spaulding, over Alexandra making NIck (Alexandra's son) Spaulding Enterprises President instead of Alan Michael. Roger Thorpe could be a thorn in Mike and Alexandra's side.  Hope could come back as an obstacle, disapproving Alexandra as a stepmother. If Elvera Roussel were unavailable, then Robin Mattson or even Julia Barr would have been suitable recasts. One of the posts I came across was Ross and Blake breaking up, and Ross marrying Hope, becoming a tentpole couple alongside Alexandra and Mike. Mike and Ross would have their law firm in town.  I could also see Fletcher and Hope or Buzz and Hope. As for Blake, I would say pair her up with Frank Cooper.

 

[slick jones]

We watched the Thin Man Marathon  on New Year's Eve..

[vetsoapfan]

 

Buzz and Hope?

 

BUZZ and Hope?

 

Oh dear God in heaven, please no. The Bauers have suffered enough!

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[j swift]

Ben McFarren and Alexandra Spaulding?  Taking a second nip at the Spaulding tree of love? lol

 

 

[vetsoapfan]

 

Well, that's cool. I had my own Classic Movie marathon over the holidays, and watched many vintage favorites like The Thin Man, It's a Wonderful Life (naturally), Little Women (the 1933 version with Katherine Hepburn), and several others. It was wonderful. 

[Soaplovers]

I'm loving the episodes from summer of 1984...there is a lot of Bert, Hilary, Ed, Rick, and Mike being featured strongly in their own stories plus being support in others.  It's a shame the momentum loses steam by that fall.  I liked Mike being featured fairly early in the Susan piper story....still think it's a waste Nola didn't play some part in that wtory...cpuld you have imagined scenes of Susan piper and No la?  Or even scenes of Reva and No la?

 

I did happen to see the scenes where Hilary is killed..and faintly remember watching it with my mom when I was very little and my mom being surprised at Hilary being killed.  A shame since she was a great character and would have been fairly active as a b auer, a young anti heroine, and a nurse at cedars...plus when holly/roger/Blake came on in the late 80s....she would have been used effectively.  A shame.

[zanereed]

 

I completely agree. Even with the loss of a great deal of long-term characters in 1983 (Sara, Adam, Justin, Amanda, Jennifer, Bill Bauer, Hope, etc.), there was still as much focus on the Bauers as anyone else at the beginning of 1984. Bert had her amputation story, Hillary was in the thick of things with the Dreaming Death (which I was was never a fan of) and then at the beginning of Susan Piper, Ed and Maureen were involved in all the goings-on at Cedars, and Rick was heavily featured with the storylines involving Phillip, Beth, Lujack and Mindy. Although Mike wasn't used heavily at the beginning, Pam was still using him as a supporting player in other stories before building up his love triangle with Alexandra and Lillian. Plus, as someone stated earlier, there still seemed to be a community there. When there were events, several of the cast were being utilized. Even with Alan gone by the summer, events were being set up that looked promising. By the fall,  however, it completely loses steam. Without Mike or Alan around, the whole Brandon Spaulding reveal completely bombs. It has no weight to it because the cast involved (other than Alexandra) have zero to do with Brandon. Plus, as you stated, Hillary's death was useless in the long run. Maybe Marsha Clark would have eventually left to do something else, but I don't think she was looking to leave at that point. Plus, if she makes it to 1989 unscathed, as you stated @Soaplovers, she could have been used prominently in the "Roger returns" storyline, as she and Roger had a fling back in 1978.

 

By the way, for those curious of how MIke and Lillian interacted, here's a sample from July 1984 (they have about three scenes together total):

 

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Edited January 19, 2018 by zanereed

[Mitch]

 

 

The summer of 84 I think was GL at its best. It had great energy with newbies but they were all tied into the core which had story. SF was as  posted upthread,  a community and you could imagine it was a place with history. They had serious stories, campy stories, adventure, young people middle aged people and old people.  Personally, I hated Cullen's pasty faced Amanda...(she was a perfect Marland character for him to write) and Rousell's Hope...(I never understood why people only wanted that actress back as Hope..I thought she was a dud also.  Because of all this, it hit number 1. And then..it abruptly changed tone...with a focus totally on Reva and the Lewises and it just became sillier and colder. I would love for an insider to write the how and why that happened and why, when the ratings dropped out of No. 1..it didnt change?

 

 

It was bad enough that the entire family of trailer trash moved into the Bauer house for a bit under Wheeler..(really, the Chief of Police while an idiot should have made enough to live outside the Boarding House...) but have Buzzard making on Hope???AGGGGHHHHHH. She'd have to be drunk!

 

 

[zanereed]

 

Ah, but I thought Rousell's Hope under Pam Long was written much better, unless that was a carryover from Browne or Culliton? I liked Hope with an alcohol problem, plus she finally had some spark to her. Too bad Rousell didn't want to play Hope that way, though.

 

I'm not certain if the whole "Buzz and Hope" idea stems from Hope being played by Robin Mattson again, which would have put her with Deas yest again. But, as you correctly state @Mitch - that would have definitely made Hope a drunk...again

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.

[Mitch]

I remember liking the Cabin Mystery until it all went to hell and it had no lasting impact...(besides stopping Hillary's pulse.) It would have been fun to have had Nola and Quint move into the cabin instead of Tony and Annabelle...(they married those two off way too fast..) who should have had a triangle on their own with the brother as a separate storyline. Nola starts seeing thing but because she is Nola no one believes her...and she teams up with a reporter...(NOT Fletcher, I hated the actor and the character) to uncover..Quint is kind of jelly...(though the reporter and Nola are just friends...for now..)so he joins in despite not believing her. I would have had Quint quit being a caricature at that point and drop the ascot etc. The pay off would have to be something big like Alan  was alive or Roger..NOT stupid like Brandon..dont know if Zaz was avail then but I would have had Chrissy come back then as Blake as a college student to worm her way into the Bauers but fall for Phillip instead of India ...yea we all love her but she was too old for the foursome at that time and should have been dealing with the adults. Etc. I hated the Hillary actress but would have just written her out and bring a new actress back later. Imagine Mr. PIPA camping it up against Nola!!!

[amybrickwallace]

Former GL producer John Conboy has passed on, according to a tweet from Judith Chapman (ATWT, RH, GH, DAYS, Y&R).

[Mitch]

Too bad...he couldnt have been that old right?  

 

Hated his GL but rip...is anyone consoling Marty West???

 

[Khan]

Oh, Mitch, lol.

 

Here's the thing about John Conboy as an EP: he ALWAYS brought a glamorous, refined touch to whatever show he was tasked with running.  However, gorgeous actors, atmospheric lighting and tasteful set and wardrobe designs don't mean a damn if you don't have good writing to back it all up with.  He had that with Bill Bell, of course, at Y&R; and later, with Peggy O'Shea and Henry Slesar at CAPITOL.  Otherwise, though, he might as well have just stayed home.

 

I think I've mentioned this here before, but it seems Pam Long and Jeff Ryder DID mean for the Cabin Mystery to have more of an impact on the canvas -- specifically, where the Spauldings were concerned.  There was a plan to introduce Brandon and Sharina's offspring, integrate them with the rest of the family and with Springfield, etc.  However, P&G got nervous about the idea of there being AA Spauldings and forced the two to drop the plan entirely.

Edited January 20, 2018 by Khan

[Mitch]

I heard Conboy put the nail in the coffin of GL's budget. God, remember the Gay Rave he did and that Neon Fashion Show of Marah's!!!Soaps are so hapless when trying to be "hip"..just tell the damn story people!

 

P & G were a bunch of idiots. Later on they should have made Toby Poser Vickie Spaulding instead of Amanda..(I think Poser was of mixed heritage right??) I loved Poser over Cullen's drab Amanda, and I could even think that Amanda redefined herself and was acting so flamboyantly to hide that drab girl who was locked in the attic, but I could not get over that this 25 year old had an affair with Ross in the past, which would have had to been when she was 15!

 

A campy fun vixen Vickie bugging the crap out of Alex and strutting around town as a balls out powerful mixed race woman would have been fun. My fave Amanda/Poser line: Alan: "He tried to kill me!!!" Amanda walking around the lab not the least bit interested..."Who hasn't???"

[Khan]

 

Basically, yes.  He went WAY over budget and that, plus the steep ratings decline, pretty much guaranteed GL would never, ever recover.