Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[soapfan770]

Compared to the other early 1950s soaps I have seen (The Bennett’s, SFT, LOL, Hawkins Falls) it’s amazing how well polished GL’s TV set was, like it was ready for primetime at time. 

[SoapDope]

https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/james-lipton?clip=111887#show-clips

 

You can click on the tabs at the bottom to go to the soap discussions. I went back and watched a bit more after I posted and he tells the interviewer " I implore you to move on and and ask more important questions"  He does go into Guiding Light with more depth and about Irna". I don't know if he was just getting bored talking about soaps, embarrassed, wanted to brag about what he considered his big projects  or was on a tight schedule. It just a comes off kind of snotty in places for me.

[victoria foxton]

I found most of his HW on Captiol generic and boring. He certainly wasn't on Aggie and Bill's level. 

[SoapDope]

He comes across a self important and conceited. Most people found his writing terrible. 

[Paul Raven]

Delaware News Journal Oct 1981

'Guiding Light' actress is fired Kristin Vigard, Morgan on "Guiding Light," has been fired. Vigard, who had been a personal favorite of the show's head writer Doug Marland, was late to the studio one time too many. Jennifer Cooke is her replacement and will be on screen shortly. As for Marland, he says, "When Kristin was good she was very, very good, and when she was bad she was awful. John Wesley Shipp (who plays Morgan's husband Kelly) had far too many scenes with Kristin when he might as well have been playing alone. An actor can't do a love scene by himself, although John always did an excellent job. As for Jennifer, she's a beautiful girl and she'll be a wonderful Morgan." Marland, who is off to the Canary Islands to shoot some location footage for "Guiding Light" revolving around Mike and Alan, says there's no truth to the rumor that he's about to split from the soap opera: Soap notes "I have worked on a plot for a cable soap opera which is being marketed, but it has nothing to do with 'Guiding Light.' GL's my first love and I'm not going anywhere." 

[Forever8]

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[Bill Bauer]

 

 

His acting was just as bad as his writing. 

[wonderwoman1951]

wow!

 

not surprised that marland felt that way, and might have said as much privately. kind of shocked that he told the press. although, he was fond enough of john wesley shipp that shipp’s character on ‘world turns, doug cummings, was the only character he would name after himself. (can’t remember where i read that:)

[kalbir]

@Soapsuds Thank you for the link to the 1979 episode. Episodes of the Roger/Holly storylines from 1979 and 1980 are such a treat, as those storylines set in motion so much of what we saw a decade later during the Calhoun era.

[Soapsuds]

You're welcome. I believe these were the episodes that were released on DVD in Europe. I wish we would've gotten them released in the States too.

[zanereed]

Mike Bauer showing his disdain for Ben and Hope by shoving his hands firmly in his slacks pockets .

 

[zanereed]

This was a great episode illustrating how good Zaslow and Bernau were during this time period. Roger is getting darker and darker, while Alan is getting more and more conflicted - having a conscience - thanks to his involvement with Hope. To be fair, Alan is still Alan, but Bernau never went down the path of "mustache-twirling".

I wish the previous episode was available. In that episode, Roger first breaks into the Spaulding Mansion, hunts around some of the drawers, and grabs some cash he finds in one of the drawers. This episode has a call-back gag, as Roger offers Alan some of that same cash back around the 0:56 mark 

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. There was great interaction here between Ed and Mike, as well.

[redontop4]

This was a good interview although there was so much more Alan could have asked about. Two things stood out to me:

 

1) Nancy Curlee praised Jill Farren Phelps as "incredible" and had a number of nice things to say about her before adding that they were both "young and ambitious" and sometimes "emotions ran high." Alan, of course, did not follow up on that.

 

2) NC divulged that she wishes she had kept Maureen alive by having her slip out of Springfield with Roger's help. She made it sound as if it was her choice not to do this, which suggests that she, as co-head writer, had say as to how Maureen was written out after JFP decided to let Ellen Parker go. Imagine if NC had chosen to let Maureen live, albeit off-camera. Would have been much easier to reverse JFP's bad decision down the line.

[Mitch]

I think NC (and I may be giving her too much credit but I don't think so) was being generous and in her southern way, not throwing JFP under the bus. I took it that she wished she *could* have written it that way...(but most likely was given the mandate to KILL KILL Mo) I do think that actually doing that would be problematic...as Mo would never leave her kid and friends and family to think she was dead. Roger would look more like a heal if he let Michelle think her mom was dead...(he could care less what Ed thinks) The other way would be that she was in a coma and spirited away by Roger..who say Roger came to the cabin after the Ed confrontation... and Roger in his Roger way, tries to make Mo see that Ed is no good for her and that he can take her and Michelle away from all of this...Mo says something like, "There is nothing I would like better to just disappear right now.." and then with more Roger badgering she then runs out, gets in her car and slides off the road. She is knocked out and Roger, feeling guilty and again in Roger's way, thinks he is honoring her wishes wisks her off somewhere...)

 

I know E & B had a plan for bringing Parker back with a woman who led a hard life  who got her heart and had plastic surgery to look like her..but I think that ranks up there with the clone.

[bboy875]

I agree that having Maureen ask Roger to help her get away would have been too out of character. I do believe NC decided not to say certain things in this interview. An interview she gave after the show's cancelation was announced I read somewhere on this board. I remember her saying that killing Maureen was Jill's decision, and the writers had no say in it. She also says in Alan's interview that she was allowed to do what she wanted near the end, but in the past interview she said the interference burnt her out, Stephen didn't like the way tptb (sounded like a number of suits) treated her and it was a big reason why they left. The show became too uneven for there not to be interference, so i think she just didn't want to go there this time. Would've been nice had he asked what she planned to do story wise had she stayed, and asked Stephen what the hell happened in 1994 and what he thought about his firing later that year. Great interview though