Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[AMCOLTLLover]

Maybe I’m too young but I actually enjoyed Guiding Light during the 2000’s and especially 2004-2007! Between 2008/09 I just loved Bill and Lizzie !

But the whole Jonathan and Tammy Lovestory made me fall back in love with the show! They brought that show back to life for me! I was so devastated when Tammy died:( 

[MichaelGL]

That whole look of the Bauer home, while not traditional, really helped to make GL and the Bauer's feel like home. That fireplace, the kitchen, all iconic. It made GL stand out from the other soaps, and made the Bauer's also stand out compared to your typical soap family that the show should revolve around.  Gawd I miss that show 

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[j swift]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that I learned on this thread that the Spanish-style Bauer house was purchased by Ed during his upward mobility period while married to Rita, as it was in close proximity to the Spauldings, and thus explained how Phillip and Rick became friends.  It certainly would have stuck out like a sore thumb among the tutor mansions of Springfield, but it had that 70s orange glow that was so popular on daytime.

As I recall around the same time, on One Life to Live they started weaving in some Spanish architectural elements into the sets. 

[Mitch64]

The house was actually supposed to share backyards but it was actually the house that Hope made Alan buy so they were not living in the mansion. Rita liked that the back gate (haha) made it convenient for Alan to.."stop by."  It was later retro written to be the Spaulding mansion, but they kept that pretty consistent to the end.

[j swift]

I don't quite understand what you mean (except for the double entendre about the back gate).

Are you saying that Hope made Alan buy a new house so that they didn't have to live in Brandon's house, and then retroactively that house became known as the Spaulding Mansion? 

Because I thought Alan grew up outside of Springfield, somewhere closer to Chicago, and moved there to start the computer division of Spaulding.

Or, did you mean that Hope made Alan buy a new house after his marriage to Elizabeth was over?  And she unfortunately shared a backyard with her Uncle.  Which leads to the question of why the Spauldings didn't participate more often in the Bauer BBQ?  I know Phillip and Alan-Michael attended, but one would think that the Spauldings would have more a historical association to the backyard shenanigans, given that they were neighbors for more than thirty years.

Edited April 22, 2022 by j swift

[Contessa Donatella]

Well, I know I'm not too young! But, I enjoyed lots of the 2000s. I would have to pull out just about everything 2003 & 2004 & that's because that is the ConWest tenure, John Conboy EP 2002-2004 and Ellen Weston co-HW 2003 & 2004. I could draw a line through everything from Sandy, through the sock puppet, Maryanne Carruthers, Ben Reade as a sex worker & then suicide, Eden the madam, young adults tunneling, destroying the history & character integrity of 5 vets, and everything having to do with Marty West. Then I am a happy camper. I was not bowled over with the earthquake, mudslide & Life of Lorelei but I didn't hate them either. Later I loved Otalia, Jammy, etc. & Tammy's death was crushing.

[Khan]

Well, the Eli Simms story pretty much changed all that, lol.  IIRC, the writers at the time retconned the Spauldings' history, claiming that Brandon Spaulding lived in SF all along -- and was friends and/or colleagues with Bill Bauer, Henry Chamberlain, H.B. Lewis and Tom Reardon -- even though it had been previously established that Alan was the first Spaulding to live there.

[j swift]

I only followed that story in SOD because I was more a SB fan at the time, but didn't H.B. and Henry also both move to Springfield after their respective sons moved there in the 1980s?  Making it impossible that they all knew each other, let alone went fishing together?

Edited April 22, 2022 by j swift

[Khan]

Yes, but I think the writers explained that H.B. and Henry would often travel to SF for business and other purposes.

[j swift]

Yes, I forgot how often in both Springfield and Llanview oil companies would randomly set up headquarters in suburban towns, hundreds of miles away from their refineries, (as well as maintaining a European office).

Because what mid-western town doesn't have a university-medical center, a multi-national oil company, one country club, and a honky-tonk bar?  As well as, one nondenominational church, a disco/jazz club, some random gang violence, and a modern high rise hotel.

Edited April 22, 2022 by j swift

[Sapounopera]

In some early 80s episodes it looks as though Amanda is living alone in the house where Alan and Hope would later move. Was this Lucille's house?

I also remember reading that Ross bought a carriage house for his new bride Carrie. Was this Ben and Amanda' former residence? 

Alan's mansion and Ross's home were in the same estate? Sounds weird.

Another question... were Spaulding offices at some point moved to the same building where Towers was? BTW who owned Towers?

[Contessa Donatella]

Paul Rauch was EP at GL at the time when CBS insisted that the show dramatize a story about a clone being made of the heroine Reva Shayne. Rauch let it be known that this was a mistake since GL was known for being about families & a character-driven drama. He thought that other shows could pull it off but not this show. In fact, the network persisted & against all who were against the idea, did a story of a clone, a serum to rapid age her since Josh had no interest in a child Reva, and a dismal maudlin story when Reva returns & Dolly the clone realizes she really isn't wanted & wants to end her life. Rauch thought that GL never got past this misstep. Rauch thought this was a good example of what happens when executive pressures win out over creative persons. Among other things he thought it created a lack of focus to get so far away from its roots. (Donna adds that fans for ages had thought that PR pushed the idea of the clone because of his involvement with some stories at OLTL when he was there. Fact was this time PR was on the side of the angels.)(Her Stories, Levine, pg. 213)

[Mitch64]

Alan lived in a mansion...one that Rita..even though she lived in a cool house with a pool, etc, and was married to a doctor, lusted after...(also, the Spaulding lifestyle...) Since this was Marland writing, Hope was a sappy bore and didn't want to live in the mansion (where it came from, either Brandon or if Alan bought or built it, I don't know.) as she wanted to leave the trappings of uber wealth behind...(though she did not seem to mind living an upper middle class lifestyle...) and they bought the house behind Ed;s house..which Hope actually liked (bad move to live behind your sexy and always wanting more aunt..)  It later was retroed during Long that it was the Spaulding mansion (and the Spauldings being there all along) which shared a boundry with the Bauer house, and Alex was at several BBQ's etc. Oddly, during Taggert's time with Joan/Alex and the start of Marj/Alex it is mentioned that the Spaulding lived in Chicago again.

[j swift]

I want someone to write the definitive book of soap opera sets and how they evolved with the plots/writers.  It is the part of the canon that always fascinates me because the sets tell the story of the financial success of a show, they are often a time capsule of the interior design trends of the time, and they are often handed down (or re-worked) from generation to generation regardless of the actor, writer, or producer.

Or maybe someone could start an archive like @slick jones?

Edited April 24, 2022 by j swift

[Spoon]

I found the first half of the clone story very good.  Joie Lenz was captivating as teen Cleva, and RN had some really great scenes portraying his grief and desperation.  At the end of the day it was just another lame doppelganger storyline.