Guiding Light discussion thread

[Soapsuds]

Stephen Yates, Ben Mcfarren could've been a Rick recast. I always liked him.

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Edited June 28, 2020 by Soapsuds

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Question is--will Alan actually take fan questions? B/c let's be honest, I see hardcore GL fans reaming Kreizman for all this sh*tty stories. 

[TV4Me]

When Beth Ehlers left GL the first time, it was because Phelps didn't offer her a contract. Her contract was up at the same time as Derwin's. Phelps and Derwin hated each other's guts. They were having a very public feud in the magazines, calling each other names. It was obvious why she didn't offer him a new contract. Beth was collateral damage since she was dating him at that time. When word got out that Ehlers and Derwin were leaving the show, the higher ups stepped in and offered them contracts. But, it was too late as they had already bought a house in Los Angeles. They were actually allowed out of their contracts a little early so they could move in.

 

When Beth left GL the second time, it was because Wheeler didn't offer her a contract. Wheeler had been dropping people from contract like crazy. Beth could not afford to go off contract. Many of GL's actors came from wealthy families and had money outside of their GL salary, Beth did not. She got the offer from AMC to play Liza and she took it. Unfortunately, Brian Frons wanted to focus his energy on trying to save SoapNet. He put the three ABC soaps in the hands of three showrunners. He fired AMC's headwriters, James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten, who had written for GL during both of Beth's stints. Brown and Esensten were the only headwriters who did not go on strike. They along with Addy Walsh, who also didn't go on strike, gave AMC a big advantage during the strike. So what did Brown and Esensten get for sticking their necks out for AMC? Fired. Frons brings in prolific failure and lifelong loser Chuck Pratt to run the show.  When Ehlers showed up to sign her contract after having to wait two months, Pratt decided she would play a new character created by him instead of Liza. Beth, being wary and smart, only signed for one year instead of a long-term contract. Pratt refused to write for this character he created. He gave her no family or connections other than Frankie Hubbard. He immediately ditched plans to put Beth's character with Goldin's character. He put Goldin's character with someone else at the start. He also ditched plans to put her character with Tad, something that eventually happened as a last ditch effort to get Beth to sign a new contract. Beth refused to sign a new contract. They did get her to stay for an extra month so she could air in September when the announcement of who would be moving to Los Angeles with the show was made. Even though Beth left the show in July 2009, ABC wanted to give the appearance she was still with the show. They sent her to Los Angeles in late August to attend the Daytime Emmys and then to New York to attend the AMC fan luncheon. They released statements in late September saying she didn't want to uproot her kids and relocate to Los Angeles, even though she left before the August announcement that the show was moving to L.A. This was ABC saving face after facing blistering criticism from the soap press about how they botched Beth's introduction by not announcing or promoting they had made such a huge casting coup, then wasting her by not using her. Interestingly, right before Beth was hired, ABC announced they would no longer be airing soap promos in primetime and were stopping print/magazine advertisements. 

[BetterForgotten]

Phelps and Derwin hated each other so much that she later hired Derwin at OLTL so he could stink up that show too in a front-burner romance with Erika Slezak?

[Kimmy]

Not sure about 1993 but Derwin came to love Phelps!  He did a nice long interview a couple of weeks ago and called her a lovely lady. He says he was proud to be an FOJ. 

[TV4Me]

I know Derwin and Phelps became friends at OLTL, but they hated each other at GL. 

[slick jones]

Another one?   

 

 

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[Kimmy]

Hmm. Really?  I don't think so. Absolutely no logical reason for those two to ever hate each other. That was an extremely successful run all around. 

[DRW50]

 

I agree that he was good, although I think by the time they recast Rick he would have been too old for the role. 

 

Seeing Grant's first episode reminds me again of how confused I am by Eve's last year or two on the show. 

[TV4Me]

It's true Kimmy. It was heavily reported back then. It's the reason Derwin was not offered a contract. He and Beth were willing to stay another year. Phelps didn't offer a contract, but higher ups stepped in when it was too late. 

[Soaplovers]

 

I always thought it odd the show lured Robert Newman back as Mallet and Harley were leaving.  A harley/Mallet/josh triangle would have been good...and we would have been spared Tangie.and maybe even been saved from Reva..who shouldn't have ever been bought back.

[TV4Me]

Another bit of house cleaning regarding the troll that keeps bringing up J R. Martinez. Beth did an interview. She was asked why she was never on. She explained that Chuck Pratt wasn't writing for her. She was asked why. She gave the reason, not her opinion. She explained why Pratt wasn't writing for her and J.R. Not what she thought, what she knew to be the reason. Someone called J.R. and misrepresented what Beth was said. J. R.  called/texted Beth, because they were friends and he had her number. She explained what she said and everything was fine. It was over in a few minutes. They were cool. There's a blind item in his book (which flopped by the way) that looks like it was written by the same person who wrote the lie-filled blind item in Zimmer's book. Same editor? Everything in it is wrong. Probably why they are blind items. If they were true, there's no need to make it a blind item (lawsuits). It's a story that J.R. told many times on talk shows, including The View with Beth sitting next to him, he told it to Jay Leno on The Tonight Show. He told it on other shows and in magazine interviews. It was a cute, funny story about their first kissing scene. He stuck his tongue down her throat and she recoiled in horror as anyone would do. Somehow this story changed to make it dark in the blind item in his book. It says they never did a scene again or spoke again. Obvious lies. They did scenes for months after that including making love, getting engaged, breaking up, and the dance marathon that were her last episodes. There was also the interview conversation, and lastly they were photographed smiling with their arms around each other two months after she left AMC at the AMC fan luncheon. When J.R. talked about writing his book, he said it would be about the great people he met at All My Children, including Beth Ehlers and Michael E. Knight. When the book finally cane out, there was no mention of Beth, just the nonsensical blind item. I guess the book's editor had different ideas about what the book should be.  J.R. also expressed sadness that Beth wasn't moving to L.A. with the show. More recently, he's liked Tweets mentioning her and him.

 

The idea that anyone here would impugn Beth Ehlers' character when she has done so much good in her life is crazy. She cares more about other people than she does about herself. She is selfless, a rare quality in the acting world. She has done endless charity work, been a volunteer EMT, a volunteer rape counselor. Meanwhile, the bitter old nasty rude shut-ins here have accomplished nothing good in their worthless wasted lives. You have never helped anyone and you think you can act morally superior? Your whole life is calling people names on a soap opera message board! Nothing is funnier than seeing elderly people trying to be cool by posting emojis and memes as insults: "Duh, am I doing it right kiddies, duh?" I can only imagine you buffoons on SnapChat.

[Bill Bauer]

 

I was confused by Eve's entire time on the show. I never got the character or what she was all about and there was something I found annoying about her. The last couple of years she did just kind of hang out. 

 

Does anybody know whatever became of Stephen Yates? 

[titan1978]

All these crazy Beth Ehlers rants are making me not like Beth Ehlers.

 

Which is totally not her fault.

[soapfan770]

 

The first I remember reading about Eve was back in 1998 when SOD posted all those old 1978 synopses on their website, and from what I read up(and later seen) she was she definitely a damsel in distress/"Perils of Pauline"  type character. I guess it was nice for Rita to have another family member in town but she was definitely too sweet with her share of stalkers on top of it. 

 

As for Yates after he left AW that was pretty much it for his acting career aside from a few prime time guest gigs. I think I remember someone saying Shipp and Kasdorf were good friends with Yates back then I wonder if they have kept it touch at all.