Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

 

There were a lot of crazy rumors about this time period with Ehlers and with the love life drama backstage in general. I never have known how much was true and how much was fans stirring the pot. Zimmer corroborated a few, sort of. 

[VanessaReardon]

Ehlers is making 80 thousand a year now. How the mighty have fallen. 

Edited May 1, 2020 by VanessaReardon

[BetterForgotten]

That last decade must have been a real clusterfuck behind the scenes. Didn't Gina Tognoni and Tom Pelphrey also have a bad break-up (he cheated on her) that led to her destroying a dressing room? That was the rumour back then.

[applcin]

I stopped watching GL the last few years it was on but had seen BE since she had started and she had become my favorite. I went to one of the fan events at the height of the Gus & Harley popularity. I had a couple of pictures taken with both of them and I told Beth I had enjoyed watching her for years and thank you. She was touched and gave me a big bear hug. I thought that was very sweet of her.

I think I agree with the assessment that she was getting burned out. CBS/Les Moonves didn't give her flexibility to do other projects. I can understand frustration over her AMC experience. She wouldn't be the first actor who took a job thinking, or being told, the job would be a certain way and having it turn out otherwise. Think Marcy Walker on GL...did she not catch on with viewers because of herself or because the writing did her no favors? Also not the first actor who experienced a certain longevity and popularity and probably expected to at least be paired with other experienced actors. I mean, AMC wanted her because of who she was, not because she was some unknown ingenue.

Anyway, I was curious what she had been up to as I hadn't seen anything new for years. Glad to see she's doing something she's really happy and proud about.

[soapfan770]

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I think I remember that, and didn’t Kriezman want to pair them up on-screen lol? 
 

What a mess the last four years of GL was,   I’m glad the majority of the prominent actors from that era survived and have found some continued success in either daytime or elsewhere. 

[Mitch]

Hey,  80,000 aint bad and good for her for starting a career over and taking care of herself and her kids. I will give her this, at least she isnt going to the old Gus/Harley pump like CC is doing time and time again with whatsherfface.

 

Wheeler was the one who saw Bruno and NuMallet obvioulsy gigling in corners of the studio and saw there "amazing chemistry" and put them together, forcing Harley to be paired with that Chippendales Dancer looking guy, which Harley would never go for. I love Mormon Right wing Wheeler and her moral relativity..."Hey that guy cheating on his wife with another member of the cast is so cute with that girl, lets pair them up."

 

VW always seemed like such a pretentious b*tch to me..never got her popularity. While she can be too much sometimes, at least Zimmer never took herself that seriously!

Edited May 1, 2020 by Mitch
added

[Soaplovers]

I thought BE fit into AMC..and her character got better once she was paired with other characters outside of RPG's Jake.

 

Ellen Wheeler seems a sweet person and was decent as Marley/Vicki...but she should have stayed as director..not been a EP.

[DRW50]

I'm sorry GL got to the state it was in by its last decade (and going back further, since 1993), but I don't really believe anyone else would have been better as EP. ATWT had one who was, in the long and short run, much worse, in ways we're still hearing new elements about a decade later.

 

[kalbir]

In a way, I'm relieved I stopped watching live as of Fall 1992. It would have been painful to witness the destruction as it unfolded. Speaking of which, this month marks 25 years since JFP left as EP. 

[DRW50]

 

You made the right choice. I kept on, off and on, for many years, but finally gave up for good around the time of Ben's character trashing and then Jonathan's arrival. The best I can say is the show did at least have a much better ending, highly flawed as it was, than I would have expected of a show that had spent 20-30 years self-immolating. Sadly I can't say that for the other soaps canceled in this time frame.

[Soaplovers]

I do think 1993 had some good material...holly/Michelle bonding, roger/ed/holly at the cliff house, Jenna taking over Spaulding, Eve's breakdown and slow rebuild of her life, Julie/Dylan's wedding being crashed by Bridget with Eve as her only ally, plus Nadine's baby scheme being exposed.

 

I would say 1994 is when it started to decline for me.

[BetterForgotten]

None of her successors were any better. Laibson and McTavish tanked the show so bad they had to bring in Paul Rauch. That’s also when cancellation talk started to happen for the first time.

 

Initially, Rauch and the interim writers, Victor Miller and Michael Conforti, did add some momentum back to the show but it unraveled pretty quickly.

 

 

[victoria foxton]

I'm currently watching 1994. It's the Buzzard and Lucy show. 1993 was the beginning of the decline. But there was still a lot of good stuff happening.  Plus Nancy Curlee was still HW. 1994 was meh. Aside from the custody battle between Vanessa and Bridget. Everything else was forgettable. 

[Khan]

 

Agree!

 

You know, I can see why KZ isn't many fans' cup of tea.  As much as she can grate even on MY nerves, however, I also appreciate the fact that she never appeared to be phoning in any of her performances, nor was she someone who exuded disdain for the genre or the fans who cared.  I only wish more writers had made real efforts to give her material that didn't suck.

 

 

Frankly, I'm not even sure Wheeler was all that great as a director.  If she was struggling to find steady acting work, then maybe she should have transitioned into a new profession, one outside of the business.  IJS.

 

 

I think I might have bailed around that time as well.  I KNOW I was ready to quit when I caught a brief glimpse of Peapack and realized just how amateurish the whole production looked.

 

 

I think Michael Laibson would have been more successful, though, with a better HW.

Edited May 1, 2020 by Khan

[VanessaReardon]

None of JFP’s successors were any better. Very true. Laibson and Brent/Marion; Rauch and Clone Reva; Conboy and Maryanne Carruthers; Wheeler and Peapack. I’d take JFP anyday. So she killed Maureen. Maureen was a boring character and that decision was based on a focus group who said the same thing. The viewers thought Maureen was a bore. I know that I did.