Guiding Light discussion thread

[glatwt]

Does anybody have a YouTube link for when Nadine came to visit Harley in heaven after Harley was in a coma from being shot?

[Khan]

 

Yup.

[Contessa Donatella]

And, now, he is again.

[katie_9918]

Anytime they tried to give Justin Deas lead actor material he managed to ham it up to kingdom come, but I thought he was pretty valuable when he was relegated to supporting material. Unfortunately, he wasn't relegated to supporting material nearly enough to make him worth the loss of Maureen Bauer in my opinion. And I agree that Nadine was also a much more valuable character to keep around than Buzz, who Brent Lawrence actually had a reason to have a beef with rather than randomly having to kill like what happened with Nadine. 

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I really do very much enjoy watching both Marj Dusay and Ron Raines as the '90s/'00s Alexandra and Alan, but they both play completely different characters than the characters who were originally conceived as Alexandra and Alan Spaulding. 

 

I remember when Marj first appeared as Alexandra. I was about thirteen years old and was well aware of recasting at the time, since my grandmother let me watch the show with her every once in a while and I distinctly remember being aware of both the change from Elizabeth Dennehy to Sherry Stringfield as Blake and the change from Carl Evans to Rick Hearst as Alan-Michael, but when I realized that Marj was playing Alexandra, I remember bursting out, "That is NOT Alexandra!" And my grandmother was surprised when I said that. 

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks Marcy Walker actually fit in well with the cast and simply was not served well by the conception and writing of the character. Then again, she was doomed from the beginning in that she was hired and then the writers were told, "Oh, hey, come up with something for this big get that will help us regain ground against the return of Luke and Laura." As if. 

 

Another character that I thought actually generated a lot of low-key chemistry with just about every other character he had any kind of significant screen time with was Patrick Cutter. I know it's certainly subjective and others may disagree, but I thought he was the only character that Barbara Crampton's Mindy registered with at all, other than MOL as Rick Bauer, but by the time he returned, it was far too late for Barbara Crampton, who'd been stuck with VI and fighting with MD for too long. I also enjoyed the cop shop scenes that the Cutter character was able to help continue for a little while after the loss of Mallet. 

 

And speaking of Vincent Irizarry's Nick, as an Alexandra fan, I was always so grateful that the show took the time and trouble to develop a warm relationship between Alexandra and Susan (practically the only thing they did develop about Susan Bates), because it would have been the easiest thing in the world for Nick and Susan to get together, Alex to breathe hellfire once again because she didn't approve ONCE AGAIN, and Nick and Susan to leave because of it. While I think Susan was always meant to usher Nick off canvas, I was so glad as an Alexandra fan that Nick and Alexandra parted ways on-screen warmly and fondly, with a real mother-son relationship. I know at least one of Alex's later absences was explained by being off with Nick and Susan, but I really appreciated actually seeing that Nick and Alexandra were good with each other, after so much time of not being good with each other.

[Contessa Donatella]

Personally I'd like to have both Deas & Dusay.

 

 

 

[katie_9918]

 

We did have both and it didn't do much for the show at all. In fact, I think the show's insistence on OTT Justin Deas hurt far more than nearly anything that wasn't all Reva all the time (though all Reva all the time, along with no one else - JONATHAN - I particularly cared about, was what finally led me to give up on this show around 2005 until 2009 when I heard Grant Aleksander was coming back as Phillip and I thought, surely Phillip can finally unseat Reva and pop-up barnacle Jonathan as the "star.")

 

They showcased Deas far too much and they gave Dusay the wrong kind of material, because she gave some wonderful performances as Alex when she was being written and directed to BE that character. 

 

There were some times I absolutely ADORED Deas and Dusay on GL, but Deas never should have seen Lead material after Ryan's Hope and Dusay at times needed a very short leash that obviously no one on GL or AMC bothered to give her unless she asked for it. 

 

As for Ron Raines, they took the easy way out of playing to a natural bombastic ability of Ron Raines, which was NEVER Alan Spaulding's style. Alan was always subtle, a necessary quality in a man who was plotting to overthrow a tyrannical abusive father who had nearly complete control over all the family assets.

 

I still miss the subtlety of the '70s and '80s, especially watching beyond 1997 or so. 

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[Contessa Donatella]

I was happy with those GL giants.

[katie_9918]

Bernau and McKinsey were GL giants. 
 

Dusay and Raines were serviceable recasts because we couldn’t have the originals. 
 

Deas, frankly, was not worth the investment that Jill put into him and the mistake of hiring him was worse than her decision to let Frankie die on AW because the reverberations of Buzzard lasted a lot longer than Frankie‘s death did. And even that death wasn’t as graphic or as troubling as Nadine’s was.

Edited October 20, 2019 by katie_9918

[Contessa Donatella]

 

Oh, I agree!

Still agree, although I have to give Joan Collins a special place as Alex for 6 months. I was leery of her and then she delivered as one of the hardest working in daytime.

Now, here I don't agree. I flat-out loved Justin Deas on ATWT, on SB, and on GL. But Jill was so wrong about Frankie and about Mo!

 

[Contessa Donatella]

I posted it at the end of this thread.

[Mitch]

Oh my God...you are my soul mate with your hatred or Buzzard! 

 

I agree, Deas when reigned in made some good support in later years. Deas played Buzz as kind of tired and trying to steer the young idiots of SF to not make the same mistakes he did, but then someone would have to give him a big SCENE and chewing gum and flapping his arms I would hate him all over again. I think people in the industry loved him more then the audience did.. Patrick M thought he was the greatest and loved writing for Buzz...and I think others did too.  I also think Marj when Alex was written correctly and she had direction could do quite well as a different Alex.  The problem is that Marj did not really have any warmth with any of the younger actors like Bev did. Alex was scary as she could be a nuturing woman and turn into the Queen of Hell in a flash without ever raising her voice. Thats damn hard to do.

[Khan]

I don't blame Justin Deas so much as I blame the writing, which wasn't doing anyone any favors.  Same goes for Marj Dusay.

Edited October 20, 2019 by Khan

[KMan101]

 

I'm pretty sure. Doesn't he sing opera or something? lol

 

But watching Raines and then going back to Bernau and Pilon, it's startling how much they sound alike at times. Even in the face I can see why they recast with him.

 

The problem with Marj and Ron were they just weren't Bernau and McKinsey (shoes just too hard to fill), but if I were a casting director, I totally understand why they cast them.

 

I've also been watching ATWT and AW and notice Jensen Buchanan wasn't nearly as tragic in the beginning. They at least tried to keep her like Anne's Vicky initially. Same for Beth Chamberlin as Beth on GL. 

 

The problem is, over time, they're written terribly. They don't even try to keep them in character and just write them however they want.

 

Just some observations. I'm personally surprised how well they used to recast. It's too bad it all fell apart.

 

And Ron could play that Alan. It's frustrating because, looks and sound wise, he's a solid recast. He's just very different overall. It's weird. LOL.

 

And YES, Dusay COULD do well as Alex. She was NEVER McKinsey, but I absolutely see why they cast her. It went downhill after she returned from AMC. But the writing was never very good for her Alex after that anyway. REAL direction goes a LONG way. Dusay gets a bad rap but I think she was more than capable. They just failed. And I guess she could have made different choices later on. But when Alex is written as a cartoon ... I think Dusay could have sold the Joan Collins material, personally. 

 

A lot of these older actors and actresses seem to feel they needed to ham it up. Susan Seaforth Hayes has said it. Robin Strasser. They're all capable of stellar performances but it gets lost when they're hamming it up like a cartoon.

 

Justin Deas isn't a lead actor, IMO. I never understood why Phelps was so hot for him? But then they'd give him actually good material and he'd be more understated and I'd come around but then he'd lose me again. It was just too much.

 

And yep, the Jonathan saga and Reva show (look! she's going through paintings! look she has breast cancer AND she's pregnant!") turned me off massively but we lost a lot around 2003/2004/2005 and the show just never recovered, sadly. Everyone was fleeing a sinking ship.

Edited October 20, 2019 by KMan101

[Soaplovers]

I thought Beth Chamberlin was a decent recast during her first stint 1989-1991.. she was more subtle, had a sarcastic tinge when delivering her lines, and had a backbone... She was a more softer Beth than JE's.. and I could buy that due to the 3 year period where she was mute and lost her memory. 

 

When they bought her back in 1997, she started out fine.. and than the show wrote her as OTT.. and the actress went all out with that... but I will say that the last year or so of the show when the show was writing Beth like Beth again.. Chamberlin was able to play that.

 

Dusay started out in late 1993 with a different take on Alex.. and it worked, but eventually the writing made her character a one note shrew.   I do agree that her Alex wasn't as warm as Bev's Alex... and during Joan Collins' brief stint as Alex, she was more like the Alex of old.

[Contessa Donatella]

Right, Khan, they didn't really write for Marj. She had sink or swim.

If you ever see BC in one of her guest shots like L&O:SVU, she is strong in them! She's done several. One with Treat Williams.

 

Agree with you about Joan Collins' 6 months. People at the show really took to her & so did the members of the soap press that I know.

 

Marj was pretty good the last 3 days' with Alan's death. And, Grant was superb. Plus, the members of the cast who got Grant back, well, it was great that they did that! The show needed "King Phillip" back. And, they made that happen!