Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[All My Shadows]

I'm loving what I've been seeing. I started with the infamous 3/06/79 episode and have just been watching whatever comes next. It's still an era of seemingly simple human emotions that, in actuality, are so complicated. You have Alan Spaulding the big businessman, but his story is still about who he is as a person and what makes him tick and how he makes bad decision after bad decision. The majority of the characters are "normal" people living "normal" lives that are filled with soapy dramas. It might've been getting the same "old-fashioned" criticisms that were heaped on ATWT at the same time, but there's a vibrancy on GL that I don't see in the same era's ATWT.

As far as the availability of the Dobsons' GL, is there anything prior to 1979 out there besides the recent '78 posting plus those two DVD episodes from '77?

[KMan101]

 

I feel like even early Reva was GREAT. Such a different kind of character. Not sure exactly when it turned into The Reva Show but she was pretty dominant I feel in the very late 80s (88 comes to mind). I feel like the 90s were worse for that. All Reva all the time it felt like.

 

Agreed on Elizabeth. So fascinating. That's the thing, SO many characters were just ... fascinating. You really feel like you know them. Everyone had layers. It wasn't 'good or bad'. Grey. GREY is always far more interesting to watch.

 

It really bothered me Hope never came back. Same for Mike. Especially when Alan Michael was so prominent from 87-96.

 

It really was like a character study. It was true DRAMA. Not camp. I mean, I love me a campy show but not when it's a parody of itself. Soaps felt like they became a parody of themselves.

Edited July 11, 2020 by KMan101

[Bill Bauer]

All soaps tend to devolve into a one-woman show: AMC (Erica), AW (Rachel), DOOL (Marlena,  then Sami), ATWT (Carly), GL (Reva), etc. I don't get why that happens. Since soaps began, there was always the ensemble soap(TGL, Against the Storm, One Man's Family) and the one-woman soap (The Romance of Helen Trent, Stella Dallas, Ma Perkins) and there was the two subgenres.  However, the long-lasting soaps such as the ones mentioned in the first sentence started out as ensemble pieces and then slowly changed to the one-woman show. In the case of shows like GL it took a very long time to devolve (or evolve depending on your viewpoint) into a one-woman show. I LOVE ensemble shows and HATE one-woman shows so I tended to lose interest in the shows after a while. 

[KMan101]

 

I agree. As Janet's World Turns in the last year or two was a bit much. I don't get it either.

 

Like how GH is now 'The Sonny Show' (well it has been since the mid 2000s). It's obnoxious (that being said I'd rather it be 'The Laura Show' but no one should dominate)

 

I think I give AMC a pass because Erica just always entertained the hell out of me, lol. And I felt like she deserved to be 'the star' and especially since Susan was so loved on the set and cared about the show so much it felt less obnoxious to me but I can see why it's a turn off.

 

I was definitely tired of the Days of Sami's Life, especially around 2009/2010 when she became some weird supermom. 

Edited July 11, 2020 by KMan101

[Bill Bauer]

To each their own. Some people like that focus. I'm just not a fan. It probably doesn't help that most of the characters they tend to focus on I find unlikable but, again, that's just me. I wish you hadn't reminded me of Janet. I had successfully repressed that memory. Thankfully, I had largely tuned out by that point. 

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[KMan101]

 

LOL sorry about Janet!

 

I mostly agree with you though. I can see why it's a turn off, especially after you got to see the 'better' years when it was an actual ensemble. I think a lot of fans who jumped onboard in the 80s and 90s are used to the focus on a certain character but it was definitely not always like that. I prefer an ensemble, for sure.

[SoapDope]

 

I agree. I wish at some point Mike and Elizabeth had found their way back to each other. Even if it was off camera and mentioned by Phillip. Hope not returning never made sense at all as you said since Alan Michael was prominent. The problem when new writers come in they ignore the past and make a mess of things with quick flash in the pan storylines. Y&R is a prime example of that after the loss of Bill Bell. 

[All My Shadows]

I always have to remind myself that Hope last appeared in 1983 and wasn't killed off, because it makes no sense whatsoever that she was never brought back. She was easily the strongest link between "old" Guiding Light and "new" Guiding Light. I know Elvera Roussel participated in some events when the show ended - did she ever speak about ever wanting to return or if they'd even asked her about returning? They could have even went after Robin Mattson after SB and signed her before AMC got her.

[KMan101]

 

Yup. Exactly this. They ignore the past and make a mess of things. 

 

I almost am kind of glad certain characters were left in our memories, because how damaged would they have become? Hope would probably be an entirely different character. Just, the wannabe writer in me sees so many opportunities for her and Mike and other characters so it's always frustrating when they fail to mine the past. And when they often do they do it badly, lol, so ...

[Bill Bauer]

 

 

Not bringing Mike and Hope back NEVER made sense.

[BetterForgotten]

I mean, by the time anyone cared, they were likely being told by CBS and P&G that those characters were too “old” in age and that “no one would remember them.” 

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[KMan101]

 

That's very very true. I have no doubts that occurred more times than not. 

[Bill Bauer]

 

I guess they didn't have much faith that their viewers stick around for any significant length of time. Or that most of them struggle with senility. 

[BetterForgotten]

GL had also gotten to an odd point in its last 15 or so years where it felt like they only considered Reva and Harley as their tentpole characters. If you weren’t connected to those two, you usually warranted little investment.

 

That’s partly why the early 90’s is looked back on as the last great era, it was the last time the show felt like a full ensemble piece.

[SoapDope]

Soaps like Days and GH always used their rich histories to drive storylines from time to time, but GL and Y&R never dove into their histories prior to the 80's. Y&R pretty much ignores the 1970's except for the Jill/Kay feud. Most viewers of Y&R and GL mainly know stuff 1983 -forward.