Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Darn]

 

Soaps could be our comfort food right now but all it is is death, rape and redeeming serial killers! There is not one heartwarming moment left in any of these shows.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

And what used to look like blossoming romance has now been replaced by sex by a dumpster or countertop sex, which I guess would be considered a step up from dumpster sex.  And you know all these couches being used as makeshift beds are not due to spontaneity but due to budget restrictions.

Love in the afternoon, my eye!

 

I miss the feeling of comfort where you can fully delve into the world of a particular soap and actually care.

 

Now that I think about it, Maureen Bauer's non-funeral very much reminds me of what ATWT did to Nancy Hughes (Nancy's was worse), two of Nancy's children weren't even there. For their oldest character, who had actually spoken the first bit of dialogue for the series debut, it was a pitiful send-off.

[vetsoapfan]

 

I know. Soaps used to have an underlying, positive moral center. Villains would eventually suffer for their misdeeds. Since mobster-rapist Luke Spencer became a national sensation back in the early 1980s, soaps have glamorized and glorified even the most degenerate behavior, and allowed mass murderers, rapists, pimps, drug dealers and other scum to become the "romantic" leads. It repulses me. We used to have heroes like Mike Bauer,  now we have slimeballs like Sonny (gag me) Corinthios and Jason  Morgan.

[DRW50]

 

As bad as ATWT was at the end, I still preferred Nancy's sendoff to Maureen's. Beyond the strong scenes Ellen Parker had in her last few episodes I didn't feel like any of it was actually about her - it was more about Ed's "manpain," as they would call it today. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

I see your point but imagine if GL had given Bert Bauer the type of sendoff that Nancy Hughes got.  Maureen was an ascendant matriarch by Nancy had already been a matriarch for decades.  Her sendoff didn't match her significance to the show.  That's why I said that it was worse.

[DRW50]

 

From what I've heard (I never have watched the episode after what I'd heard about it over the years) Bert's sendoff was also pretty poor.

[vetsoapfan]

 

Bert Bauer, Maureen Bauer, and Nancy Hughes were all treated to poorly-executed, insulting send-offs by their respective shows. I suppose they had it better than Jessie Brewer from GH, who simply disappeared without mention after Emily McLaughlin passed away, but TGL and ATWT failed their beloved matriarchs and the audience by offering us the half-assed "tributes" Bert, Maureen, and Nancy received. I would like to believe that actors Don Stewart and Elvera Roussel would have returned to TGL for one episode out of respect for Charita Bauer, and I'll bet Rosemary Prinz and/or Patrudia Bruder would have agreed to come back for Nancy's memorial on ATWT. Lee Lawson and Lisa Brown should have been there when Mo died on TGL. But instead of seeing Mike, Hope, and Meta mourning Bert, we had a fake Ed and the likes of Warren Andrews (!!!) in her post-service scenes, even though Bert had loathed Warren. Instead of welcoming Penny, Don, and Ellen back to Oakdale to say goodbye to Nancy, we had to gag our way through As Katie Grieves. UGH!

Edited February 14, 2019 by vetsoapfan

[SoapDope]

After seeing the 1974 GL promo featuring a quick shot of Ken Norris........I wonder why the show never brought on Ken's daughter he had with Janet Mason ? 

[vetsoapfan]

 

Most likely, TPTB running the series never knew she even existed. The writers and producers during TGL's last few decades did not seen particularly knowledgeable of or interested in the show's rich history.

[SoapDope]

 

Yes, that's true. She could have been an interesting character with a good actress and writing. She could have had shades of her complicated father. 

Edited February 13, 2019 by SoapDope

[vetsoapfan]

 

Alas, after Nancy Curlee departed there was no more good writing (at least not on a consistent basis), and TPTB were hell-bent on offering the audience clones, ghosts, time travellers, effete princes and pretty-boy mobsters instead of complex, nuanced, interesting characters.

Edited February 13, 2019 by vetsoapfan

[Mitch]

That could have been interesting if she came and moved in with Aunt Holly...maybe she had a few issues like her father and Holly has a belated spurt of maternal care (like she did with Chele) and Blake becomes a bit jealous....or instead of that stupid Tory thing it was this girl who fell for Ross in a twisted father figure way like Blake did...

 

But whatever, there were tons of offspring/lost relatives to drive story from Stacie and a recast "J" , to Roxie, and I know it would drive longtime fan nuts. but I would maybe have had Hope marry offscreen and have kids, or Mike...(since we heard nothing from him since he left...) Maybe Mike and his wife come to town to take the place of Ed and Mo and they have college age kids...

[zanereed]

 

Bert Bauer's passing was handled POORLY, considering TPTB took over a year to figure out what to do after Charita had passed away. As you correctly stated @vetsoapfan, no appearance whatsoever from her son, Mike, who she was incredibly close to? Yes, Mike got mentioned in passing, but to not at least try to get Don Stewart to return was ridiculous. I think that Stewart would have returned out of respect for Charita, but I'm guessing no one even tried to reach out to him.

 

For Nancy...I've given Chris Goutman probably too much sympathy on this, since I'm thinking there was not enough time (or a proper budget) to get a proper service put together that would have included the extended Hughes family.

 

Maureen...that was all JFP, as I assume @DRW50 was alluding to - it was to prop up Ed, but then nothing came of it for Ed at all.

 

One of the best funerals TGL ever did was the funeral for HB Lewis. That was how you did it - invite former cast members to come back and honor the actor (yes, that even included Rebecca Hollen returning as Trish!!!). Another good one was for Alice on DOOL, although there could have been/should have been even more Hortons that came back for her service (again, I'm guessing budget was an issue?).

Edited February 13, 2019 by zanereed

[victoria foxton]

You're absolutely right over the handling of Bert/Charita's passing. Most of 1986 was a hot mess. This montage paying tribute to Bert/Charita to Dionne Warwick's "Extravagant Gestures" was a nice touch. 

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[Mitch]

God..Bert's passing was terrible and yes, GL was a [!@#$%^&*] show at that time. After the huge ratings drop when the show got away from the core...they should have used her death to bring Bauers back to SF.. Mike, Hope and Aunt Meta...Mike for Alex, Hope for Ross and Aunt Meta taking up dutie in the Bauer kitchen. But Kobe probably thought this was the chance to finally get away from the past.

 

I remember when they asked her why she waited a year she tried to hem and haw that it was painful to the cast and that she wanted Bert to always stay alive so Rick could get on the phone and say, "Grandma...I have a problem!" What an idiot.