Guiding Light discussion thread

[DRW50]

Some clipsets with Cindy Pickett.

[DRW50]

(she's in the early clips of Enough is Enough).

1980 episode:

I forgot to say how much I loved that Helena/Justin scene. How far did that go?

Rose Alaio was just a wonderful and charismatic actress. I'm sorry no soap used her long-term.

[MichaelGL]

Thanks for the vids Carl. I've seen much of them, but oddly enough the woman shown arguing with Justin in the acting reel looks so different than the one in the vids you posted, and I'm quite positive the woman was Jackie due to the argument they were having.

[DRW50]

Is it the jail scene? I think that's Jane Elliot, as Carrie.

[Soapluvva]

[Soapluvva]

As far as I can recall, Mike Bauer's law partner at his firm was Peter Wexler (played by Michael Durrell). I came back as a viewer to "The Guiding Light" in the spring of 1970, and do not recall a character named Tom Halverson, nor the name Chris Sarandon in the crawl.

I don't think Rita Putnam (played by Anna Shaler) was Ira Newton's (played by Larry Gates) secretary. I seem to recall her as some snoopy TV reporter.

There are a number of omissions in that character summary (actually, more of an alleged plot summary).

For example:

No mention was made of Liberty Airlines.

No mention was made of Johnny Fletcher (played by Erik Howell).

No mention was made of Barbara Norris (played by Augusta Dabney and then by Barbara Berjer).

No mention was made of Adam Thorpe (played by Robert Gerringer and then by Robert Milli).

No mention was made of David Vested (played by Peter D. Greene and then by Dan Hamilton).

No mention was made of Mrs. Herbert (played by Rosetta LeNoire).

No mention was made of Hope's friend, Christie Rogers (played by Ariane Munker).

No mention was made of Deborah Mehren (played by Olivia Cole).

No mention was made of Karen Martin (played by Tudi Wiggins).

I note that concerning Leslie Bauer's being charged with Stanley Norris' murder, what really got her into trouble was being witnessed in the park on a rainy night by Charles Eiler (played by Graham Jarvis). He was walking his dog, when he spotted her running through the park, crying, and saying, "I could kill him!" Also omitted was Charles' wife, Betty Eiler (played by Madeleine Sherwood).

Does anyone remember that the second actor to play Stanley Norris (William Smithers) used to put his feet up on the office desk a lot?!

Regards from NYC!

Soapluvva

http://www.youtube.com/soapluvva

http://www.facebook.com/soapluvva

[DRW50]

Thanks for sharing all this with us. I never knew Graham Jarvis or Madeline Sherwood were on GL.

This has already been talked about a bit but can you tell us more about Olivia Cole's story?

[DRW50]

SOD covers GL's 1989 Christmas party.

[Paul Raven]

SOD synopses July 76

Mike is at Spence's cabin. From his position on the cot across the room, he observes Spence. Mr. Jeffers sits behind a small table loading a shotgun. His hands are shaking, he's perspiring and he has that nervous look of a man on the run. Mike observes this, and other things as well. He notices that behind the brash exterior there exists a very frightened man. Mike senses that he might be able to persuade Spence to give himself up. It won't be easy, but Spence is really not that certain about what he wants to do. He's just running scared and maybe, just maybe, he's now tired of running. Mike's hunch is correct. Spence is indeed tired of being on the run. He feels he's basically a good man who has just had a large dose of bad luck (first the man in the bar in Juneau and now, Leslie). He's really sorry about Mike's wife (he claims he didn't see her) as he is about the young man he killed in Juneau. Mike tells Spence that since his crimes weren't premeditated, the courts will probably go pretty easy on him. Mike gets through to Spence, and he agrees to return to Springfield and turn himself into the police. Before they leave the cabin, Spence tells Ann that Jimmy is alive. He left their son with David Rustin's family. They live in a small town, just outside of Juneau. Ann is overjoyed to learn that her son is alive.

Rita: Roger's Salvation?

Roger wants to give Peggy so much, but he can't, not with the burden of having to pay off all that money he owes Holly. After he's through sending her the monthly payments, he's left with very little to save. He needs a way out. But is there one? Yes... there certainly is. Roger suddenly remembers Rita... Rita and all that gorgeous money she owes him (while they were in Texas, they made a deal. Rita was to give him half of an inheritance she would soon be receiving). Better late than never, Roger thinks, as he dials Rita's number. He meets with Rita. She says she can't give him the money. She's been deluged with family problems (she's helping to pay her mother's hospital bills). Roger says he doesn't care about her problems. He just wants the money. She skipped out on him once before, and it's not going to happen again.

Dr. Ed Bauer sits in his office staring off into space. In his hand is a legal document from Holly's lawyer, stating that Holly's and his divorce will be final very, very soon. Judging from the look in Ed's eyes, it seems very obvious that he's having second thoughts about this divorce. He still cares very much about Holly and in recent days, it appears, they have been getting a bit closer. The brick walls they built around themselves are beginning to crumble. They've been touching, verbally, for the first time in months. During the last few days they've been sharing laughter and jokes, instead of more strained formalities. Ed now knows he has a difficult decision to make (to divorce, or not to divorce) -- and he only has till the end of July to make it!

This new closeness between Ed and Holly is also becoming quite obvious to their friends and family. Ed's mother, Bert, decides to give them a push in the right direction. She arranges a double birthday party for Ed and his and Holly's daughter Christina.

Rita gets a distressing late night phone call from her sister Evie. She can hear the quiver in her sister's voice as she says that their mother had another blackout spell. Rita makes a quick decision. She tells Evie to bring their mother to Springfield. She wants to have her admitted to Cedars Hospital.

Ann nervously stands by Mike's side as he dials David Rustin's telephone number. She can barely contain the anxiety and joy she is feeling. The moment she has waited for has finally arrived!! An can hardly believe it, but in a few seconds she'll be talking to her son Jimmy... Or will she?

Ann's stomach hits rock bottom when she hears Mrs. Rustin tell her that Jimmy is no longer living with them. He left home a while ago and they don't' know where he is. "But," Mrs. Rustin continues, "there's a good responsibility Jimmy hitched up with a boat and went out to sea. That's the one thing I remember most about Jimmy, his love of boats."

Guess Who's in Love?

Can it be? Can it really be happening? Can this super-independent Ms. actually be falling in love? Can Cupid's arrow actually have landed right smack in the middle of Rita Stapleton's heart? It's a loud, affirmative "Yes" to all of these questions!! Rita Stapleton is happily, glowingly in love... and the object of her affections... Cedars Hospital's chief-of-staff, Dr. Ed Bauer.

It's great to be in love, but not so great when the man you love is still married... and is now giving every indication that he might remain that way. Rita is not wearing blinders and she is quite aware of the rekindling of old feelings between Ed and his wife Holly. Rita's devious little mind goes to work, and she plots how to win this man for her very own. Let's hope Holly is up to sparring with the super-cool -- and quite attractive -- young woman.

Though her heart is filled with love, her mind is deeply troubled with the thoughts concerning her mother. Viola Stapleton is now in Cedars Hospital, undergoing a series of tests, that will hopefully put the finger on what is causing her blackout spells. Viola's doctor is the very capable Dr. Sarah Werner. Sarah tells Rita, and her younger sister, Evie, that so far they haven't been able to locate the cause of their mother's troubles.

Dr. Justin Marler, that esteemed heart surgeon (and possibly heart wrecker), has been trying very hard to reignite the fire that once burned between him and Sarah. It's not going to be easy. He can sense Sarah is still very attracted to him (her blush is obvious proof), but he also realizes she's very much in love with her husband.

It seems that Justin now feels he made the wrong choice. While they were in medical school together, Sarah advised him not to marry Jacqueline. She said it would be a mistake. But being a bull-headed son-of-a-gun, Justin didn't listen, and he went ahead and made that woman his wife. It comes as no surprise to Sarah to learn now (from Justin himself), that he and Jacqueline are divorced.

Time has become quite an important factor in the lives of two women in Springfield. Both Rita and Holly are watching the calendar rather closely. It's only two more days until Holly and Ed's divorce becomes final. While Holly ruminates, Rita plots. Holly knows she wants to try to make another go of her marriage. Rita knows that she has to make herself #1 in Ed's thoughts.

How does Rita handle the situation? Well, one way is to entice the young doctor by inviting him and his son, Freddie, for a swim at her pool, and then appearing before him in a rather skimpy bikini. It's quite an effective maneuver. Ed's eyes widen with delight as they gaze upon her luscious form.

While Rita and Ed take in the sun, Holly takes in her current situation... then makes a decision. She tells her mother, Barbara, that she's going to try to stop the divorce, but so far she hasn't been able to reach Ed, and let him know how she feels (Holly left word with Ed's answering service, but when the service located Ed at Rita's; Rita didn't tell Ed Holly called).

Ed and Holly finally do connect and they agree to meet the next day at his office. Holly arrives on schedule, but what she sees is something that causes an abrupt change in her plans. She catches Rita in Ed's arms and now knows Ed won't want to return to her -- he obviously has started a new life for himself.

What Holly doesn't know is that Ed was holding Rita out of comfort, not love. He was trying to ease her suffering after he told her that they discovered a cyst on her mother's brain and they have to operate.

Viola Stapleton comes through the surgery with flying colors. The cyst, which the doctors found to be benign, is successfully removed. Rita's mother can now look forward to a long and happy life.

It's a shame the same can't be said of Holly. At the same time that Viola is successfully pulling through surgery, Holly learns from Mike that her divorce is final. Upon returning to her home, Holly reflects on her loss and breaks down in tears.

To Pose or Not to Pose

Will Hope Bauer follow Ben McFarren's advice and rid herself of her inhibitions? Will she agree to pose nude in her art class? Surprisingly enough it seems as though the answer may be yes. Hope seems ripe and ready to shed her upbringing and become a freer person.

[DRW50]

So Joe Werner was still around at this time?

I wonder why they didn't consider keeping Sarah and putting her with Justin again after they killed Jackie off in 1982.

That stuff with the Holly/Ed breakup is the type of contrived soap writing that annoys me.

[Paul Raven]

I believe that marland wanted to keep Sara but CBS and/or P&G wanted the oldies out and Sara,Adam,Ed(Mart Huswit) and Barbara were written off.

[DRW50]

It's a shame. Honestly I can see why Barbara went, but I think they should have kept Sara at least. This was a canary in the coal mine as GL/P&G then went on to dump so many others in the next few years, including characters who could have driven story for a long time to come, like Justin.

I also think it was a mistake to kill off Jackie.

[~bl~]

Supposedly Jackie was killed off due to the recast not being liked.

Ed's birthday is in December, why would they have a birthday party for him in the summer.

I understood when reading about what was going on at GL why they dumped Adam and Barbara. Holly and Roger were both gone, so where was the story?

[jcar03]

I was watching TV last night and saw a commerical for FitRX, a wright loss retreat place and I swear the one "trainers" looked like Beth Ehlers.

[saynotoursoap]

For the same reason that Nancy Hughes' birthday was in October, but in later years they celebrated it in August. Poor continuity. GL and ATWT could have used Margo Husin Call.

From what I understand, Jackie was not meant to remain dead. She would have returned later when a suitable actress was found, but after Doug Marland was axed, and Justin was written out, later writers probably did not think much about her. I would have loved to see Jackie return when Phillip was at his lowest ebb. They could have mined so much out of that relationship, especially had Jackie become stronger and gone up against Alan. Cindy Pickett was a delight, but Carrie Mowery, the last Jackie, was too ineffectual.