Guiding Light discussion thread

[DRW50]

January 1974 Daytime TV Stars. Deborah Channel reviews GL.

THE GUIDING LIGHT - A SOUND SHIP...BUT IT'S OFF COURSE

The Guiding Light is so well acted, directed, and produced that I think one forgets, perhaps willingly, that its story situations, at least these days, are repetitious and badly plotted. You'll notice that I'm not saying that The Guiding Light is badly written - as a matter of fact I always find the dialogue sensitive, often intelligent, and character relationships in terms of the writing, uniquely compelling. But it does have one of the dullest "plot cores" on daytime TV.

It's utterly tiring to tune in every day and find at least three or four simultaneous subplots of marriages on the rocks, or marriages coming back together. So insensitive is the plotting in this respect that one begins to get confused about which marriage-going-downhill one is watching. It's almost like a Carol Burnett parody of a soap opera: at one time the plotters had the gaul to have Mike Bauer (Don Stewart) and Leslie (Barbara Rodell) fighting for their marriage, against the wicked pretenses of Dr. Jackson (her father, played by Stephan Schnabel), while wicked Charlotte Waring (his ex-wife, played by Melinda Fee) also fought to keep them apart, while Janet and Ken Norris (Caroline McWilliams and Roger Newman) were struggling to get back together after the lascivious Roger Thorpe caused jealousy between them, while Ed Bauer (Mart Hulswit) fell in love with Janet Norris and finally married neurotic and immature Holly Norris (Lynn Deerfield) on the rebound, while Charlotte Waring was also coming between Dr. Joe Werner (Anthony Call) and his wife, Dr. Sarah McIntyre (Milette Alexander), while Barbara Norris (Holly and Ken's mother, played by Barbara Berjer) was teetering on the brink of marrying Adam Thorpe (Robert Milli). It's all like one great big parody on the state of marriage, using every soap opera cliche in the book, and it simply doesn't work as good story because there's no meaningful variety provided by the plotters. The writers even have Dr. Stephan Jackson involved in a strained relationship with a bizarre ex-wife who has turned up on the scene.

I think The Guiding Light is a good example of what happens to a serial which is too old and too good ever to lose its hold on viewers, but whose writers no longer have a grip on their creative inspiration. Characters on this show still have tete-a-tete scenes in which important human connections are expressed by competent and realistic words. But the higher creative levels of structure and story that produce the true meaning and worth of a serial, have all but disappeared on The Guiding Light.

The ship, however, is a sound one, even if it needs some new commandeering and some new waters to float in. The Bauers will always be for me the classic American family, even more so than the Hughes of As the World Turns. The Bauers, in being second and third generation transplants from original European parentage, have always seemed more realistic. More than any other actor, Charita Bauer, who plays the mother, Bertha Bauer, deserves the credit for the continuity of the family mannerisms and ideals. One feels always a sense of confidence in watching Miss Bauer perform, even when you begin wondering how she can ever keep all of the various marital problems of the other characters straight in her dialogue. Her attitude and her abilities, to my way of thinking, is the best that afternoon television can produce...and that's saying a lot, for the shows can produce some very good talent, like Jacquie Courtney's for example.

I could go through a detailed list of the other actors' abilities as well, but this is one show where the acting is on such a consistently high level that it would take forever to discuss everyone's talent in detail. Anthony Call and Milette Alexander, as the Werners, make great sense in every scene they play together...almost like the quality of romantic acting one always expected in the movies of the era of cinematic excellence, the 1940's. Caroline McWilliams is especially good in slow scenes with another person - her style of acting produces an almost slow motion account of what a human relationship between two people is all about, even though only reflected in a conversation. Barbara Rodell and Don Stewart are both able to project compelling characters individually - Leslie, for example, is a believable "sweetheart" type and Mike is excellent as the standard-bearer of the family name - although as a couple they seem to be somewhat less than comfortable with one another on camera. I liked them more when they were haranguing over the telephone on the subject of their impending marriage than as they are now as a couple, somewhat less than exciting and truly in love. I'm sure this is not the fault of their individual talents; as a matter of fact, it's my feeling that this is a deliberate trick on the part of the writers to create the believable seeds of yet another marital breakup on the show. Psychologically, as portrayed on the screen, Mike and Leslie were never meant for one another.

Stephan Schnabel, like his famous father, pianist Arthur Schnabel, is an impeccable actor. One never sees his performance, only his character - and that, dear reader, is what good acting is all about.

My congratulations to Melinda Fee for being able to cope with a character who should have been gotten rid of long ago - who, for that matter, should never have been allowed to exist. Actually, the writers of The Guiding Light, as well as all serial writers who like to fall into the cliche of creating black and white characters like Charlotte who are either all evil or all good, should pay more attention to the Watergate Hearings. They'll discover, as have millions of Americans, that some people may do terrible, evil things, but they are seldom completely evil and terrible themselves. There really is no such thing as a totally bad person and the kind of writing that produces a Charlotte type in the world of serials is really perpetrating a hoax on millions of viewers.

The Guiding Light does have other cliches that are annoying. There is, for example, much too much head-shaking over problems, and dilemma-wrinkled brows. Granted, such "brows" are necessary in a medium where heartbreak is king, but only when these mannerisms are important to the story. Every scene need not fade out with a tearful expression and a sense of impending doom. Compared with other serials, this is a device which is overused on The Guiding Light.

One last word of praise to Mart Hulswit and Lynn Deerfield, as Ed and Holly Bauer. Their quiet and impressive handling of a difficult story situation some months back - where Ed and Holly would meet and would try to lose their individual insecurities with other people in a relationship that was precious, fragile and seemingly doomed - should win them an Emmy Award, if the Emmy Award people were watching, which is doubtful.

The Guiding Light is a good show, but it could be an excellent one. Let's hope it acquires, once again, creativity in plotting and story motivation.

[DRW50]

Thanks so much to saynotoursoap. I'll just link the first two parts and you can see the rest on Youtube.

Random Tony beefcake in the first clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2viJqAJhK5s&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSi49wCdxh0&feature=autoplay&list=UL2viJqAJhK5s&lf=mfu_in_order&playnext=2

[Mitch]

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Thank you for the Tony Reardon beefcake (though I never remember him being so skinny??? He must have filled out in a few years) I would have dropped those damn grocery bags. Never understood why they let the actor get away only to replace him with the vastly inferior Frank Cooper and Frankie D (Tony would never high light or feather his hair.)

There is some of that creaky Marland dialogue and I forgot how shitty the sets were at that time. The boardinghouse living room looked so generic..however, better then Peapack, would much rather have seen sets like that as opposed to the closets they were filming in.

I remember this well, Diane Ballard is about to get hers...loved that bitch and they should never have killed her off. I remember endless shots of the suitcase in her closet!

[DRW50]

You can see the carriage house, briefly, when Carrie and Ross are dining - I guess they redesigned it later.

I love Diane. She is so intelligent, a little too intelligent, and the way she keeps digging in is riveting. The scene where she kept asking Alan about Elizabeth's delivery, and finally he has to get her to stop. I don't know why they wrote her out. This type of character could have fit in for years. I can see her going toe to toe with Reva and trying to convince HB or Billy that she was Alan's victim.

I never knew that Phillip was jealous of Jackie and Justin having their own child. The boy who played him was starting to become a decent young actor. I'm not sorry they recast but I wonder why they never brought him back when Grant left in 1984. I guess he was too young.

Tom Nielsen is not much of an actor, but he tries very hard in the scene with Nola. Such beautiful work from Lisa Brown.

I liked all the Carrie stuff too. What did you think of her?

[Mitch]

Liked Crazy Carrie, screwing the delivery boy, but hated "normal," Carrie and her health food stuff she was talking about, This was one of Marland's first times where he took a sexual viable conflicted guy (Ross) and had him totally wuss out for a less then attractive chick. Sorry, the Carrie actress worked and works as a villainous Tracy, but not as some sex pot a good looking guy like Ross would fall totally for. I remember one horrible scene where she convinces Ross to take up "jogging," and they both have matching track suits!!!!

I hate to admit that I would have hated to see Carrie in therapy to merge her personalities..Marland's therapy scenes were tedious. The only good to come out of it is if she came out of it conflicted and kind of bad...dumped Ross and became a semi bad person.

[rcsnj]

Jarrod Ross was the actor who played Phillip in those scenes. I believe Jarrod was killed in an auto accident in the 1980s. He lived in Milltown, NJ, which is the town next to my hometown East Brunswick.

[DRW50]

I didn't know that. That's awful.

[saynotoursoap]

Jarrod's death was a rumor. His real name is Jarrod Kaplan, and he is a drummer for the band Trillian Green. If you Google Priscilla Hernandez and Jarrod Kaplan, there is a link to a good picture of him from within the last few years.

[DRW50]

I'm glad he's still doing well. He looks so similar now to what he looked like then.

Edited November 10, 2011 by CarlD2

[rcsnj]

Thanks for alerting us that he's still alive. I remember either The Sentinel (a weekly rag) or The Home News (a daily rag) announcing he had been killed in a car accident while still a teen. So glad he's still alive.

[DRW50]

Oddly enough I remember this scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frl4sbr_Gn8

[DRW50]

I think these are already online in other forms but I decided to mention them anyway.

Edited November 11, 2011 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7BQy8fFa74

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPHl8RhUxoc&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

[Mitch]

Who is this Chuck guy??? LOL..I have to say it, but Rauch's and E & B's GL was entertaining, if more stupid and boneheaded then it was under Curlee. I would have to say I would watch it every night up until the mob and San Crud took over and I couldnt stand it. I wonder why the change in direction. Before, even if you didnt like the stories or the way people acted it involved the core families and legacy characters, and then that stupid island came and Rassie and Manny...