Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Soaplovers]

I think Rick and Abby had somewhat filled the void of a tentpole esque couple..and kept the Bauer kitchen in focus.  If the writers had written for them past 1998, I think the actress playing Abby would have stayed.   Sadly the show put all their eggs into one basket (i.e. Cynthia Watros) and didnt think that she'd leave.

[Bill Bauer]

 

I don't understand why they got rid of Abby. Are you saying the actress chose to leave?  I agree in time she could have become a tentpole character and she and Rick were a good couple. I really liked her and she was proof that you could be a sweet character without being boring. 

[chrisml]

I was a kid when Maureen died and I was devastated. I still remember it to this day so I never looked at GL the same way again. It killed my affection for the show.  In doing research after the suck up to JFP podcast, I found many viewers at the time expressed similar reactions. I even found an interview with Marcy Walker where she talked about being used by JFP as a big hire to save her job because the network was not happy with JFP's choices. I was always drawn to Maureen, and JFP did that a lot. She would come onto a show and rip out its emotional core and/or fire someone the viewers had a strong emotional connection to. After Maureen's death, I never watched consistently until a few months of the MArian Crane story and then the Cynthia Watros stuff. After she left, I watched off and on (mainly off) until PAS was fired. After that, I gave up on the show.

[Khan]

I'd say I could enjoy anything from GL right up until, oh, maybe 1995?  Then, after that, it gets dicey.  VERY dicey.

[amybrickwallace]

Poor Judi Evans has suffered more tragedy in the past 6 or so months than she ever had to play on any of her soaps. Here's the latest:

 

https://people.com/tv/days-of-our-lives-star-judi-evans-diagnosed-coronavirus/

 

[Mitch]

Ellen Parker's Maureen reminds me of Ina Garten (well, without the drinks and the gaggle of gay friends) They both had a similar and calming prescence..which, if shown to a focus group in individual scenes out of context..would seem boring, especially if they don't know the show. Show me a clip of Mo in the kitchen vs...someone else up to no good or dramatics and yes, its seems dull, but that kind of character, as I said was needed.

 

I agree that Rick and Abby were on their way to tent poles..but the show was so invested in Jeva's lastest dumb ass storyline, San Crud, and the mob that they were overlooked (remember Abby's transplant storyline was truncated for San Cristobal crap.

[BetterForgotten]

Patrick Mulchaey Tweeted again about working with Curlee and Demorest, and how hard it was for him when this partnership dissolved due to external reasons. He says he still has a hard time speaking about it:

 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2020 by BetterForgotten

[amybrickwallace]

Thanks for sharing the tweets. Patrick Mulcahey really is one of the most underrated writers of the genre.

[BetterForgotten]

Something definitely happened behind the scenes at GL/P&G around 1994 that caused a lot of hurt feelings. Curlee never returned to writing again, and the ending of that experience left Mulcahey hurt. He continues to praise Curlee/Demorest as the best HW's he ever worked with alongside Doug Marland, so I don't think it had anything to do with his relationships with them, but the entire corporate culture of soaps (and P&G specifically) seemed to really tank around '94.

Edited June 10, 2020 by BetterForgotten

[VanessaReardon]

Thanks. I’ve never really cared about having an unpopular opinion. Maureen was dullsville. It’s too bad that Ellen Parker couldn’t turn the Emmy that JFP got her into a golden career. 

[RavenWhitney]

While the whole story of Nancy's departure have never been revealed, it was said at the time it may have partially had to do with a pregnancy.  P&G did bring Stephen back to GL for several months. He then went on write for ATWT and AW in addition to OLTL and AMC.  Nancy later revealed that she worked for a year or more in 1995-96 as a story consultant for ABC soaps but left when she got pregnant again. She and I exchanged correspondence after GL was cancelled and she said she was offered a writing position at GH but declined because she wanted to raise the kids.  

[chrisml]

Is this around the time Marcy Walker was brought on? Marcy Walker was angry with JFP over how JFP used hiring Walker to save her job as EP and then gave her a nothing character. Has Mulcahey ever talked about working with JFP on GL?

[Mitch]

I will never understand why PG never offered Curlee a consultant position for their soaps? Hell, if I was Laibson when I got the show I would have moved heaven and earth to get her over as a consultant or writer...offering a schedule that worked for her and protecting her from the corporate bullshit.  By the time Rauch came along PG and CBS had changed so much they probably didnt know who Curlee was.

[titan1978]

When she left was the beginning of the era of network suits making creative decisions for their shows in a way they never had before.  They wanted to dictate story and make major creative decisions in ways that wasn’t normal up to that point.

 

It had to be difficult to love a story or a character and be told by a network suit that they just don’t like it so nix it.  And I think JFP is very aware of network politics.  Her GH is nothing of not everything Frons wanted daytime to be.

 

In that great interview in this site with Curlee, she mentions resentment about the way she was “handled“ towards the end.  I have an interpretation of that to be possibly the kind of thing that makes you never want to deal with network politics again.

[Forever8]

Another reunion I know some people might pass on 

 

Paul Anthony Stewart (Casey - Loving; Danny - Guiding Light) and his co-stars Laura Wright (Ally - Loving; Cassie - Guiding Light; Carly - General Hospital) and Nancy St. Alban (Michelle - Guiding Light)

 

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