Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[Khan]

Well, he wasn't stupid, lol.  He knew that daytime had become so youth-oriented that the only way to STAY relevant in ANY storyline was to be paired with younger actresses.  He wasn't willing to be relegated to talk-to status like Charita Bauer just yet.

[Joseph]

I always wondered why the Missing Bauers didn't go to Bert's Funeral? I remember when The Hughes Patriarch died in 1986 the whole family came including Penny, and they remarkably got to keep her true to character yet Hope didn't come to her Grandmother's Funeral for example, also it would have been a good chance to see her interacting with the Spauldings

[Khan]

Best answer?  Gail Kobe didn't give a [!@#$%^&*].

[Vee]

Don Stewart was still doing D-grade movies like recent new MST3K classic Carnival Magic in the early '80s filmed well before his axing, running around with his shirt off playing the super-virile psychic medium to a talking chimp (it's worse than it sounds, and the new MST had a ball with it). I suspect it's absolutely true he felt he was too much of a stud to be relegated to 'old' leads like McKinsey or Tina Sloan who were actually age-appropriate.

[Chris 2]

I don’t know about the stupid part, if leaving really was his choice. He worked another 17 years in television, but only averaging about one part per year, according to imdb. And these weren’t exactly lead roles; they included subbing as Lionel Lockridge on “Santa Barbara,” doing one of the “Unsolved Mysteries” re-enactments, and appearing uncredited as “Head Waiter” in the TV movie “People Like Us.” I’d argue that he would have been better off staying with Guiding Light for another contract, even in a diminished capacity.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Chris 2

[zanereed]

Regarding Stewart's departure (and this is pure conjecture on my part based on what I've read in articles and have gleamed from this very thread) - Stewart was definitely fired by Kobe, and by that time it was because (as stated previously) he wasn't willing to be featured in the Alexandra/Mike/Lillian love triangle, even though Pam Long was very willing to write for Stewart. Some have stated that was because Stewart and Beverlee McKinsey did not get along well, but I have never been certain on that. Regardless, Kobe apparently had enough and fired him.

As others have stated previously in this thread, Stewart wasn't well liked among some of the cast, and apparently had been riding on the extreme popularity he had during the 1970's (at one point he was the most popular actor on TGL) - for instance, he didn't tend to learn his lines very well. And yes, he apparently never liked the women he was paired up with, which supposedly caused constant headaches behind the scenes.

Like @Chris 2says above, I always believed if Stewart would have played ball with Long/Kobe in 1984 and had done the proposed love triangle, and therefore survived the rest of 1984 and 1985, I think he would have continued on the show for much, much longer.

Doug Marland never liked Mart Hulswit, because Hulswit was critical of the writing at that time. I think @vetsoapfan can quote the exact phrase that Marland used for Hulswit...? I guess it was Marland who convinced Allan Potter finally to fire and replace Hulswit, even though Potter was apparently hesitant to do so.

@Khananswered it.

[Sapounopera]

If Mike had stayed in the 80s, there would not be much need for Ross in TPTB's minds. Perhaps not even Ed, since he could be the town lawyer and the Bauer patriarch as well. 

[vetsoapfan]

After Hope Bauer gave birth to Alan Michael, Don Stewart gave an interview in which he said it was a major mistake to "make the show's number-one leading man a grandfather." He felt it aged Mike unnecessarily. Stewart claimed that the writers had originally intended for Hope to lose the baby, but changed their minds after the audience reacted so negatively to Amanda's miscarriage. TPTB did not want to incur the audience's wrath again. 

Then Stewart opined about Mike's romantic life. The show was flirting putting him together with Trish Lewis, and he said that he didn't understand the reasoning behind that, considering her youth made Trish age inappropriate for Mike. He said that he and the more-age-appropriate Deborah May (Ivy Pierce/Renee Dubois) had had good rapport and chemistry, and he was sorry to see  Mike's blossoming relationship with her suddenly dropped. (These comments surprised me, because the general theory among fans had always been that Stewart had actively campaigned to have Mike paired exclusively with much-younger female co-stars.)

Very possibly, particularly when TPTB knew they were losing Charita, they might have wanted Stewart to remain in order to provide a glimmer of continuity, but it's hard to say. P&G/Kobe/Long/whomever, gutted almost all of the pre-existing cast in 1983 and '84, so I doubt they cared too much for continuity or the desires of long-time viewers. The show might have fired Stewart even though Mike had years' worth of storyline potential left, the way it axed Hope, Hillary, Amanda, Justin, etc.

Right. Marland (in an uncharacteristically mean interview) said that the show preferred going with a "younger, sexier"  Ed. He called Hulswit a "dodo," and threw Lenore Kasdorf under the bus by announcing that SHE supposedly loathed working with Hulswit and found him icky. I hate to be blunt, but Hulswit was a lot cuter and sexier than Peter Simon--or even Marland, himself, LOL--so who was DM to snipe?

Nobody among TPTB at the time seemed to understand or care about TGL, its core and its audience. This is was why it was allowed to be decimated so quickly and so completely.

[Chris 2]

I didn’t find any of the Eds particularly sexy, lol. Peter Simon was a good looking guy when he was a younger leading man on “Search for Tomorrow”. But he seemed considerably older - and balder - by the time I saw him as Ed in the late 80s.

I thought it was interesting that Charita Bauer and Don Stewart were first- and second-billed in the closing credits, respectively, in the early 1980s. Then they were followed by the rest of the cast alphabetically. I’m always interested in stuff like that because daytime usually doesn’t often do special billing - it’s either tenure based or alphabetical. I remember Victoria Wyndham was first billed on AW after awhile, but I know it wasn’t just based on tenure because Constance Ford, who had longer tenure, came after her. The General Hospital credits in the late 70s through the 80s had the long scroll of all the cast members once or twice a week (listed by tenure), and then on other days they had static credits, with only certain cast members credited on their own frame. It seemed like it was a big deal to get promoted to those static, short credits, and it was reserved for the show’s longtime players (John Beradino, Emily McLaughlin et.al.) or the big stars (Anthony Geary, Tristan Rogers).

But I digress.

[TVFAN1144]

I wonder since Don Stewart nixed being paired with Lillian and Alexandria was when they later decided for Lillian to have a dalliance with Ed

[zanereed]

I think you are right. Had Mike stayed on, there wasn't much for Ross Marler to do at that point except to interact with Philip.

I really wish I could see what Pam Long's original story projections were for the Alexandra/Mike/Lillian triangle were. I do know, for example, that it likely was to have been Mike who was supposed to defend Lujack when Lujack was accused of killing Andy Ferris in early 1985.

I don't know if *any* of these are true facts or rumors, but what I've gleamed over the years is that the love triangle was supposed to cause conflict between Lujack/Beth. I guess I could see some of that starting in the spring and summer of 1984, but I'm not sure that ever came to true fruition. Mike would have been paired with Lillian through late summer/fall of 1984, but supposedly would have went with Alexandra to Barbados during the Susan Piper/Brandon Spaulding storyline in late 1984 when that storyline reached its conclusion, much to Lillian's chagrin. I don't know who Mike would have been with by Christmas. I assume still with Lillian...? I also don't know if the Ferris murder was planned that far in advance, but I think either that or some other event would have finally put Mike and Alexandra together for a possible engagement. I don't know if a wedding would have eventually happened, but my own fanfic would have been for the old soap cliché of having their wedding being interrupted by a back-from-the-dead Alan Spaulding.

Stewart apparently had issues with Mike being paired with age-appropriate Jennifer Richards in 1980, which was Marland's original idea. I don't know if Stewart and Geraldine Court didn't get along...? I agree that Stewart did have chemistry with Deborah May when May was on the show as Renee Dubois, but when May returned as Ivy Pierce a couple of years later (again, I don't know if that was because Marland was trying to placate Stewart or bringing May back as a new character was Marland's own idea), I don't recall them having as much chemistry (which is probably why May was written out).

[victoria foxton]

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 Character Profiler - Holly Lindsey

[vetsoapfan]

Actors should never have the power to dictate storylines, IMHO, no matter how popular they are. If everyone tried to do that, it would be anarchy behind the scenes.

After TGL killed off Leslie Bauer, the show never really found a suitable love interest for Stewart's Mike Bauer again. Various characters were tested or rumored to be in the running (Anne Jeffers, Ivy Pierce, Jennifer Richards, Trish Lewis, Lillian Raines, Alexandra Spaulding), but none of those potential or proposed matches panned out. If a triangle had developed, I would have gone with Jennifer/Mike/Alex. The mileage from Mike and Alex alone could have run for years, fueled by Mike's contentious relationship with Alan. In the long-run, however, I would have had Mike end up with Jennifer, tying Amanda to the Bauer family. This could have caused more friction between Mike and Alan, with Amanda being both Mike's stepdaughter and Alan's daughter. (Yes, I know TIIC tried to rewrite history and claim that Amanda was Brandon's child rather than Alan's, but that was all total BS and impossible in accordance to what we had already seen play out on screen. Amanda was Alan's daughter, period. I will die on this hill, LOL!)

Edited February 18, 2022 by vetsoapfan

[zanereed]

This is where I figured Pam Long was originally going with the love triangle. If Mike and Alex had eventually become engaged, that alone would have provided years of story. Mike would be marrying the sister of his long-time nemesis (who was still presumed dead, of course). Even if they didn't end up married, the lead-up would be fascinating. Would Beth be supportive of this marriage because of the effect it would have on her mother, causing friction in her relationship with Lujack? Would it serve as an impetus for Hope Bauer to finally return to Springfield for the wedding? Hope's father would be marrying her former sister-in-law. Alan-Michael's aunt could potentially also be his grandmother-by-marriage. I don't know if Long would have gone there, though. I also don't know if Christopher Bernau ever intended on returning to the show before he did in 1986, but as I stated above, it would be entertaining (if not a cliché) for Alan to return from the dead during the actual wedding ceremony. 

[Soaplovers]

I always assumed Long kept the door open for Alan to return..and maybe she was setting it up with the Mike/Lillian/Alexandra triangle...with Alexandra/Mike becoming engaged which motivates Alan to come back to settle scores he had with both..and he could have still utilized India for help.