Guiding Light discussion thread

[Vee]

She's the only one who comes through with dignity, though Zaslow mostly manages it by just having fun with the ludicrously OTT dialogue. It's the maid with the baby abruptly walking in on the chaos and everyone going 'noooo!' that really makes me lose it though.

I'm a hypocrite, because I love those scenes with Janet monologuing! I think the difference is the portion I can remember at least (it's been a long time, so maybe other scenes are more histrionic) did not have everyone howling back at Janet like the monkey house.

Edited January 30, 2023 by Vee

[Mitch64]

I still say that Elizabeth, who had her own mental health issues, should have been the one to hide Phillip when he was "dead" and orchestrate the whole storyline from afar to find out who killed her son..in a gothic mansion that only exists in books and soap operas.  Finding out that Harley did not do it but Alan did she would return to SF to bring holy hell down on he and Alex, (who would of course be protecting Alan against her better judgement...)

God..I love this as dumb as it is...(Vanessa is the only one who has the appropriate reaction to the whole thing..it was sooo beneath her.) This is the turning point where I really disliked Marj/Alex...she looks like Heat Miser when she is telling Roger to shut up. Again, it is too bad..Marj could be quite good as a more Midwestern Alex...but she played what was on the page and like the rest of the former SB crew...couldn't resist chewing up a little scenery.  The storyline however was good leading to the Peter custody battle which involved all the vets (and a nice change from spending all out time on 5th Street for the Justin Deas show.) 

[kalbir]

There were four Friends of Jill from 1991-1993: Vincent Irizarry, Justin Deas, Marcy Walker, Marj Dusay. That same era also saw Mark Derwin become a Friend of Jill as I think she brought him over to One Life to Live.

[Vee]

She sure did.

[Contessa Donatella]

This is a change of subject. I do not really have anything to say about that appalling scene. But, for anyone who went to the Locher Room last week on Maureen's death, one scene we did not get to see was the scene with Michelle right after Mo read the letter & broke some china & then Lillian came in & there was that confrontation where Maureen said the famous "suburban joke" line. That's here 

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[Darn]

What happened to Dinah's kid Laura? I didn't even know she had one until about 5 minutes ago.

[Vee]

I still don't know!

[Contessa Donatella]

Happy Birthday, Kim Zimmer! 

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[Contessa Donatella]

Excuse me, for a minute, while I change the subject. This is ISO In Search Of 2 clips on YouTube.

(1) Roger visits Maureen's grave

(2) the catfight betw Cassie & Annie

If anyone knows either of those links, I would be most appreciative. Now, I'll return you to your regularly scheduled episode ... 

[victoria foxton]

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[j swift]

I hate to criticize because I know that Spaudingfield must put a lot of effort into their character guides, but the recent ones have contained less information about the history of the characters and it is more like a "greatest hits" compilation.  As we move further and further away from the cancellation, I think there is an opportunity to preserve the memories.  But, if soap historians are unfamiliar with the source material I think it requires more context in order to be a useful resource.

That being said, every time someone mentions re-running old soaps on streaming, I always think that my preference is for this type of edited format, rather than trudging through daily episodes. To me that would be like watching a comedian and knowing the punchline before every joke.

To those who may feel the need to respond about the expense, this is just an opinion, a wish, an idea.  Call me when you buy P&G and need to complain about the cost of the archive.  Until then, I don't really care about anyone's supposed expertise on this issue.

Edited February 3, 2023 by j swift

[Contessa Donatella]

I'm sure you realize that that method would be more work & really good people would be required to curate the storylines, or family histories, or chapters/books. Daily episodes would just require digitizing & cataloging. However, I think it might appeal as a more meaningful product from a marketing POV which might definitely count! 

[DRW50]

Hart accidentally hit her in the stomach with a door and she miscarried. At the time I remember finding the whole thing unpleasant, although Wendy Moniz played the hell out of Dinah's whole years-long downward spiral. 

There was some fan consternation at the time because of the bizarre door design which was remade solely for that sequence - otherwise she never would have been hit when he barged in (he thought there was a prowler).

Edited February 3, 2023 by DRW50

[Darn]

You don't have to announce a subject change, no one really cares lol

In an ideal world with limitless time and resources we'd have remixed episodes that consolidated a week's worth of episodes into one episode allow for a 52 episode "season". Imagine a 40 seasons 2,000+ curated episodes of All My Children as opposed to 40 years and 10k episodes. Impossible, could never happen, would divide the fanbases, cause riots, etc. but a boy can dream.

Thank you! Okay this is wild but I actually remember that door discussion back in the day! I recall the door debate and everyone hated Wendy Muniz. I'd never seen any of Cassie/Hart/Dinah story until just yesterday and I could have sworn in the scene where Dinah shot Hart there was a baby crying in the background. 

Can someone tell me how they cast that lughead Frank Grillo as Roger's son? So bizarre. Speaking of long lost children, while I think he's well liked by fans I also never got the casting of the milquetoast guy as Reva and Billy's son Dylan.

I'm all over the place, forgive me but San Cristobel was a carribbean island, right? Did we ever see any black people on this island? It's so funny watching mid-western white people barking at each other about "the people" and their rights yet never seeing said people. Bleach blonde Beth in her pastel suit skirt not only screeching histrionics at Richard because he hurt Edmund's feelings but talking far too expertly about the intricacies of the monarchy and their childhood. Three of the blondest whitest women all from the same small town married into royalty! It's absolute insanity. How long did the show live in both locations btw?

[DRW50]

The baby was Cassie's (with Hart) - Cassie having his child while Dinah could not was one of the things which sent her further into a point of no return, along with the period (if you can find any of this, please watch some just for how ludicrous it is) where she was left with scars from setting a fire to keep Hart with her. This went on for months, with Wendy Moniz forced to hold a napkin to her face rather than the makeup people having to spend a lot of time and money. 

Dinah was insufferable for Moniz's whole run, but the main difference for me between the first few years and the last few is that in those last few she was meant to be damaged, bitter, vengeful, and I could understand that and feel for her. In the first few she was supposed to be a heroine, and it just did not work, ever.

Grillo was cast after the actor before him left abruptly. I think if Hart had ever had any value to the show by those years beyond a piece of ass, they would have tried harder to find a better actor, but he didn't, especially after Michael Zaslow was fired. 

I did like Morgan Englund but you aren't wrong. There's some anecdote, I have no idea if it's true, that someone met his mother at a party and she told them she never thought he was going to be an actor either.

San Cristobel wasn't around that long considering how much it generated controversy at the time for hogging airtime and never going away - I think summer 1999 - fall 2001 (probably wrong). If there were any black people they were probably just extras. There's one somewhat infamous scene where Cassie gives her tiara "to the people" - knowing P&G by that point, if they had any black actors they would have put them in that type of scene.

Edited February 3, 2023 by DRW50