Guiding Light discussion thread

[GLATWT88]

I wanted to get some perspective from long time fans or viewers that started watching GL pre-2003. I read somewhere that the years 2003-2005 are usually where many point to as the beginning of the end for the show. The Maryanne Caruthers storyline usually highlighted as a very low point in the soap. I started watching around 2003 and was new so didn't have the background knowledge of the characters yet or history so I wasn't bothered by the stories going on. Do most agree that these years or some of these years were really rough for the show? 

[DRW50]

 

They were bad years for the show. Retconning Ben as being sexually abused to tell us that people who were sexually abused as children go on to be killers was one of the moments I knew I would never forgive the show for. I wouldn't say it was the beginning of the end. That for me started when Maureen died, and many would say it was when the Bauers were decimated in 1983-1984.

[BetterForgotten]

Conboy’s tenure in general killed any hope you might have had of GL ever being a somewhat respectable show again.

 
Conboy killing what was left of the show’s budget didn’t help either...

[Khan]

Frankly, there are longtime GL viewers who still believe that Leslie Bauer's death was the beginning of the end.

 

 

And then to have it end with Ben committing suicide?  The entire storyline was irresponsible.

 

 

Agree.  He was just so wrong for that particular show.  So very, very, very wrong.

Edited June 7, 2020 by Khan

[~bl~]

The reason people couldn't stand the Maryanne plot was it rewrote the backstory for many of the characters as it took place in 1977. We know what Ed and Alan looked like (even if you weren't watching in the 70s, they were already in Springfield by that time.) Alan was raising Philip and president of Spaulding Enterprises, he was not that young, same with Ed, he was raising Freddie and Chrissy aka Rick and Blake and was already a qualified doctor and not on his first marriage. Billy was off screen in Tulsa, raising Mindy, Josh would have been starting or already at Berkley in CA, and much younger than the rest. Buzz though was thought to have died in Vietnam during the war, which was already over prior to 1977. When Buzz returned to Springfield in 1993 NO one recognized him (not Ed or Billy who were regulars at the time). Billy and Buzz were in the same story and Billy was married to Nadine who was still technically Buzz's wife as he hadn't died, so why would have Billy ever married Nadine if he knew Buzz was alive.

 

The parts about Ben I agree with you that made me so upset.

 

 

[Khan]

The Maryanne Caruthers mystery (which GL swore was inspired by the movie "Ghost Story," although I beg to differ) was a virtual rip-off of the Eli Sims mystery from 1983; but even the previous storyline, IMO, didn't rewrite established GL history as egregiously as the one with the Caruthers sisters.

 

Moreover, you have Carrie Nye back on the show after twenty-some-odd years, but NOT as Miss Piper?  Here was a perfect opportunity to (lure back lapsed viewers and) revisit that particular story -- and, I dunno, maybe bring back the Black Spauldings or even resurrect Hillary Bauer? -- but instead, GL, you chose to waste her return on THAT [!@#$%^&*]?  Really?

[GLATWT88]

Thank you for your insight. I remember very little about Ben as I started watching around May 2003 and the character died in July 2003, but I just watched a youtube video compiling the characters storyline. I recalled the very end of it with Ben in the hospital and a few things before. I wasn't aware that Ben had a major connection to the canvas and I can understand why it would upset fans. I saw that the character was SORAS in 2001 and that Conboy was HW from 2002-2003. Does anyone know if this storyline was the intended direction for the character or if this was Conboy's doing and was the death inevitable because the character was beyond redeeming, did Matt not want to continue in the role so they decided to kill off the character or was it just overall poor judgement. 

Yes, I read that the show was asked to take a big budget cut in 2005 by P&G. Had ratings changed dramatically since the last time GL had it's budget set or was P&G just trying to kill off an already dying show.

 

I was watching episodes from 2003 and I was surprised how rich the show still looked in comparison. The sets, the extras, the overall visual aesthetic. I guess as a newbie to soaps I didn't realize there was so much more going on behind the scenes because the show did look cheaper in the 05/06 episodes I revisited recently. 

[Bill Bauer]

 

 

Count me as a part of the last group. Although I thought the 90s were great for GL, I consider "the beginning of the end" to be that 1983-1984 time period. That's when the foundation of the show was compromised. It just took a while to completely collapse. 

[VanessaReardon]

But everyone says that killing Maureen Bauer was the final nail in the coffin. lol GL was killed many times. 

[GLATWT88]

 

 

I did see that Carrie played a character on GL before (not sure of the character's impact), but it would seem logical to bring her back in that role. I know that it changed up the histories of the characters, but I thought Carrie played the role well. I don't remember the exact story anymore but wasn't Carrie the one that killed her niece, so what was the exact motivation of seeking revenge on these men of Springfield exactly? 

How bad was that really? 

[Khan]

 

Once the storyline was rewritten -- originally, the men WERE responsible for Maryanne's death, but viewers balked -- all her motivation, along with much of the rest of the story, was out the old window.

 

 

Without Maureen, the Bauers, who'd been GL's central, if vastly neglected, family, lacked a matriarch, the virtual backbone of any quality soap.  Even if she hadn't been used properly in years, for longtime fans, it was still good to know that Maureen (and Ed) was around to provide that much-needed moral compass for the other characters on the show.

Edited June 7, 2020 by Khan

[GLATWT88]

 

Thank you so much! I love GL because it has such a long history and I thank all of the long time viewers and the researchers for sharing so much information with me. It seems like GL had some missteps on it's long journey and I may have missed its high point, but I feel like their was still something special there (at least in the characters) that made it very enjoyable for me when I started watching in 2003. I can't say the stories were the best of all the soaps I watched at the time, but definitely my favorite. Luckily, we have YouTube to look up some great stuff from the past, but would be nice if the collection was respected and easily accessible on a streaming platform.

 

Can anyone share public perception or personal perception of the Santos family. I also was viewing the profile of Carmen Santos and it was a story that wrapped shortly before I started watching. The whole mob element with the Santos feels a little like GL was trying to ride the wave of its timeslot competitor GH but I may be wrong. 

[RavenWhitney]

Conboy's appointment of his friend of Dorothy, Ellen Weston, was a nail for sure.  CBS forcing Wendy Fischman's stories, primarily Clone Reva, was a nail. Megan McTavish getting near Springfield was a nail.

The final nail was ELLEN WHEELER! 

[Bill Bauer]

 

I don't think P&G or CBS had the nerve to pull the plug so they called Ellen Wheeler in to do it for them. 

[VanessaReardon]

Killing Maureen was insignificant. She was boring.