Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Vee]

I always felt Keifer's Blake was matronly and safe, at least in the late '90s.

[Darn]

 

I was watching a series of scenes surrounding Maureen's death in 93 and even then she was matronly. I felt like she was written to be more vivacious than Keifer's portrayal. And after a certain point they stopped trying. The age difference between her and Ross seemed to disappear.

Edited August 30, 2018 by Darn

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

 

It was not the best recast. Keifer got better, but it was Stringfield who owned the role.

[j swift]

Rita may have suffered from the same issue that I mentioned with Craig in the ATWT thread.  By the time she returns in 1989, the entire town of Springfield had moved on. So now Christina, (who Rita last saw as a child running through the hall of mirrors) is Phillip's age and they're getting married?  Lenore Kasdorf must have some degree of vanity because how old would that make Rita?  Maureen Garrett might have wanted to play the mother of a grown woman while in her 40's, but Lenore's career was built on playing vixens, so I could see why it would have been a more of a risk.  Her entire peer group would have been the elder generation on the show when she was introduced as a lead; it lacks appeal.  Also, Eve and Alan had left the show by that point, and Ed was in another orbit, so there wasn't a lot of history for Rita to play into.

 

I believe that Roger Thorpe and Iris Wheeler are the only two characters in the history of soaps to return after 3-5 years off screen and be successfully reintegrated into the story; and they both suffered dissatisfying endings. 

Edited August 30, 2018 by j swift

[Mitch]

See, I am against the popular opinion here. I think Strigfield's Blake was fun, but she was campy and lacked any depth...(plus, she looked so HUGE against skinny little A-M..) I do think that Keifer was warmer so maybe that is where the matronly comes up. The Bauers were a lost cause with Ed gone, ...Mob Michelle and O'leary's..unfortunate bloat and bad plastic surgery..combined with his relying on bad schtick in scenes...I would have just left Rick as the town doctor and made Ross and Blake the tentpoles..even move them into the Bauer house and have Rick move back to the Lighthouse or somewhere.  Ross was the patriarch of SF and I think Keifer has a nice warm personality..she would follow the GL reformed matriarch...Bert was a social climbing shrew, and even Mo had a "past" in New York, (we never saw it but it was mentioned.)

[Soaplovers]

I think Blake could have worked with Keifer playing the part.  Sherry's Blake had a sardonic sense of humor and was guarded/cold..  the Blake before her Elizabeth D (Glenn close lookalike) was cold, but tragic.  All three actresses bought out different facets of Blake's personality...but I miss the corporate Blake that Sherry played that Liz Kiefer couldn't play.

 

 

[Darn]

I can't believe Vincent Irizarry was popular as Lujack or Nick. He's super obnoxious in all the clips I've seen of him.

 

Was Joan Collins stint really not well-received? She's so good as Alexandra, closer to the Beverly McKinsey's Alex than Marj Dusay by far. I wonder why she joined one of the lowest rated soaps, anyone have any idea how much they paid her? Did her casting impact the ratings?

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

Yes, this is what didn't work for me with Keifer's portrayal. She did not come across as a woman with a background in business. In some ways she felt miscast. When they did the Wives Club episode in late 2002, where all Philip's ex-wives showed up to help Alex (now played by Joan Collins) regain control of Spaulding, having Keifer in that boardroom meeting just felt off. Like she didn't belong there. We never would have felt that with Dennehy or Stringfield in the role.

 

There was one episode in either 2000 or 2001 where Claire Labine had Blake baking scones for Ross and the boys. That's how much the character had changed from her days in the corporate sector. Esensten and Harmon Brown tried to give the character a bit of zest by having her become a romance novelist but that never really went anywhere and mostly felt like filler material.

 

Weston used Blake in some of the detective agency stuff with Harley which was mostly fluff. And Weston had Ross and Blake remarry at Christmastime in 2003. But when Kreizman and Wheeler took over they scrambled for her to be meaningful. She had maybe one good episode (when Ross died) but other than that the character was relatively useless the last five years. They didn't even age her sons or her daughter. In fact Blake and Ross' kids were hardly ever shown during Kreizman and Wheeler's regime, that's how unimportant Keifer's version had become, with no real purpose or story line  of her own.

 

She was signed to a six-month contract by producer Paul Rauch in the summer of 2002. She started airing in mid-to-late September. It was a big deal at the time. She was meant to boost the show's sagging ratings. I am sure she was quite expensive. Plus they were paying for all the publicity related to her arrival.

 

But she was dropped after three months, in late December. The official word was she had some book launch to do (she was still writing and publishing books like her sister Jackie Collins). But I think it's because her cycle was up (cycles are 13-weeks) and instead of continuing to pay her for the full six month period they just cut their losses and got rid of her because ratings had not gone up. They brought Marj Dusay back who I am sure was much less expensive. I liked Collins in the role, at the time, but looking at it now, she feels miscast. Marj was miscast too. There was only one real Alexandra and it was Beverlee McKinsey.

Edited August 31, 2018 by JarrodMFiresofLove

[Soaplovers]

 

The first several months that Liz K played Blake..the show had her playing PR with her and Vanessa clashing..and I give Liz K credit for trying..but she wasn't corporate material.  The show had her working at the hospital in mid to late 1993 for Eve as her assistant..and I thought (she should be doing PR for the hospital)..and than when she married Ross..she gor a job as a secretary for Frank's PR firm..and I thought to myself who is this person..where is the version of Blake that was an even combination of Roger and Holly...cold and ruthless like her father and sarcastic like her mother.

 

I can see why the show did turn her into a ditz because their attempts to keep Blake the way she was couldn't be done so after a year or two into Liz's stint..the she had to change Blake's character.  With that said, I did like the show having blake and Frank end up together..long term friends sometimes will turn to one another later in life.

[j swift]

Its odd because Blake was educated in Europe, like India or Kelly (OLTL), but she lacked all of their sophistication or ambition. 

 

Holly was married to Lord Lindsey and raised Christina in Switzerland.  One imagines that she went to boarding school at Le Rosey; among the elite like Christina Onassis (in fact, Christina O probably peer pressured her into changing her name).  She then went on to college and got an advanced business degree before moving back to Springfield.  I chalk it up to her messed-up writer's strike introduction, but Holly should have at least commented once on Blake wasting her education on being a glorified secretary.  In fact, it is a shame that I cannot recall one scene between Blake and Holly where they discussed how Roger affected both of their ability for intimacy.  They did a lot of blaming and lecturing of each other but they lacked the Rachel/Ada vibe that they could have played well.

 

It's also amusing that the first Blake looked like Glen Close's Alex from Fatal Attraction because there was always a side of Blake that would get a little "boiler bunny" when she felt betrayed.  I wonder if that was part of the initial pitch for the character?

[Darn]

 

Thanks. I'm surprised the ratings didn't go up. I think she's just great as Alex. And she seems to be relishing the material. 

[Mitch]

 

Remember she was a friend of Rauch's and he was "retired" at that time and the whole show was changed with new writers. The story was that Joan had an agreement that she would do a book tour but after Rauch left MADD wouldn't honor it and they agreed to cut ties. I doubt Collins had a 13 week cycle in her contract..she is way too savy for that. But I think the new regime Conboy, and Weston, saw Alex differently and weren't as good as Rauch in dealing with a diva.and I think it was really hard on Collins..she was front burner and she was not used to doing soaps, so I think both sides were just like..."bye now."

 

I LOVED Joan's Alex...her cool, sarcastic lines were perfect Bev Alex...and then Marj came in screaming and throwing chairs and it was back to Cartoon Alex.

 

[Khan]

Frankly, Beverlee McKinsey's shadow loomed too large even for the likes of Joan Collins.

 

Now, had they brought on JC to play a Von Halkein, or maybe one of Brandon's or Alan's former paramours from Europe, I think she would have done tremendous things for the show, and for its' ratings.

Edited August 30, 2018 by Khan

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

 

I loved Marj as Myrna on Capitol. But she was terrible as Alex on Guiding Light. I think when she came back at the end of 2002, she had just finished playing a cartoon villain on All My Children and she carried some of that over to Alex. It was dreadful...she butchered the character and Conboy let her do it. Wheeler didn't even try to reign her in. She should have been written off.

[vetsoapfan]

 

I agree, she was woefully miscast.