Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[John]

Kim Zimmer talks Mutuality of Contract at 17:50

 

Please register in order to view this content

 

[DRW50]

Is this Rita Lloyd in the Stayfree ad around 13 minutes? 

 

(I think Bob Hastings is in the ad around 23, and Anthony George around 34)

 

Please register in order to view this content

 

[Mitch]

Kimmer seems totally cool in this. I would love to sit down for some beers with her and listen to her uncensored stories!

 

[vetsoapfan]

 You are correct on all three counts.

 

 I'd love to know whom she rattled on OLTL, to get fired early. And someone should ask Zimmer now, after the fact, what she really thought of all those crap-tastic stories dumped on Reva over the years (the clone, the time travel, the ghost, etc.)

[Soaplovers]

 

I do know she didn't Peapack... hence why Reva always acted drunk cause the actress was drinking heavily during that time LOL.

 

It's interesting that GL dressed Reva in such yucky clothes when Reva of the 80s/90s/early 2000s was such a fashion label lover.  I know the actress put on weight, but it was like the show didn't care to feature Zimmer in the best possible light.  Her wardrobe improved quite a bit during her year long stint as Echo where they dressed her in blazers and her clothes were fit properly.. and she looked much better.

[j swift]

That's all in her book.  It's instructive when Ms. Zimmer writes that she understood the criticism of the clone story but she really appreciated the screen time.  We assume that actors share the audience's taste but I will attach this as a reminder that it is not always true.  

Please register in order to view this content

[DRW50]

 

They never seemed to know how to style Reva for most of Zimmer's last stint on the show. As people have mentioned in the past, the attempt at some kind of upscale pseudo-soccer mom look she often had under Rauch never really suited her either. GL seemed to have some really good wardrobe and hair people in the '80s, compared to some of the other soaps, and they seemed to know what to do with her. I remember the scenes where she was running around and got hit by Josh's car - she had that green cloak and she looked stunning.

 

Anyway, I finished that October 1986 episode, and the mourning for Beth became much more real as it went along. The visit from IQ (wasn't that his name?) and that girl (I don't know who she was) helped, but the most powerful moment was Jessie reading the letter Beth wrote to her when she and Philip were on the run. It was beautifully written - it sounded a lot like Beth and it also painted a picture of the purity of her love for Philip at that time, a picture that the cheesy (if endearing) made up flashbacks of her dancing with Bolger at "their" prom could not. Bolger also did well in that scene, with his wistful stares. 

 

I also really liked the scene near the end with Philip and Lillian looking at the sky and Philip saying he knew Beth was out there somewhere. It played into the obsessiveness he would feel a few years later in proving she was alive. 

 

Didn't Grant Aleksander return just a month or two later? I wonder why they didn't just wait. 

 

The other stories in the episode just felt so flat...Jessie/Simon (I don't get the Simon appeal) and Fletcher/Maeve/Reva/Kyle. Leslie Denniston was a competent actress but never should have been cast in a lead role. 

[Soaplovers]

 

I did like Maeve/Fletcher.. and by 1988.. she was more of a strong supporting character than a lead character so I think the show sensed that as well.  I do recall one of her last episodes before the death of her character had her having lunch with Blake.. and her instincts instantly knew that Blake was hiding something and was going to find out what her story was.. and than bam.. she had the helicopter crash and passed away.

[j swift]

Remember this?

'Sex and the City' Costume Designer Patricia Field Joins CBS Daytime Drama 'Guiding Light' as Consulting Costume Designer

Posted, 2002-08-09

NEW YORK, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Emmy award-winning costume designer Patricia Field, best known for her work on HBO's Sex and the City, has been named Consulting Designer to Guiding Light, the CBS daytime drama, effective Monday, August 12, announced the show's Executive Producer Paul Rauch.

 

I don't recall how she dressed Reva

[MichaelGL]

Reva was dressed pretty well IMO. It was the younger set she was a total MISS on, most notably Marah. 

[DRW50]

 

Yes. I think they took advantage of "ooh Marah's a fashion designer" to offload the worst. I think Marina had some howlers as well. 

 

That's interesting. I wonder if killing Maeve was a strike decision or it was down to Long/Calhoun. I can't remember. Didn't they do the "never found a body" with her? 

[Soaplovers]

 

The actress decided to leave..and it was during the writers strike so the scabs killed her off... and no, her body was found and she died at Cedars.  Pam Long had said had the actress opted to leave while she was head-writing, she wouldn't have killed her off.

[DRW50]

 

Thanks. I guess since Long created Maeve she might have been reluctant to go that far. I'm trying to remember what other strike issues she had. I know some felt the Sonni/Solita story got completely out of control.

[Soaplovers]

 

Blake was the other one Long had mentioned.  The actress was cast, but before she was set to film.. the strike happened.. and Blake was still introduced and Pam Long was surprised since the scabs had no outlines or direction on where the character was going to go... so Blake spent the time talking on the phone to someone mysterious and wondering around a playground acting tortured... and when Long returned from the strike, she asked who Blake was talking to and why she was so tortured.. and the scabs didn't know.. they were making it up as they went along.. so Long/Curlee had to do a plan B.  Rumor has it that if this hadn't happened... Roger/Holly might not have returned since Blake wasn't supposed to have been Christina.. but who knows for sure.

[DRW50]

 

Thanks. I'd forgotten. For some reason I thought Long had her planned as Christina from the start but this makes more sense.