Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[SoapDope]

Sad to say I saw that film when it first came out. But in my defense I was only about 10 or 11 at the time. 

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[DRW50]

Among other soap names, you have Larry Gates (looking the same as he did on GL...) and Ruth Warrick as husband and wife.

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[Paul Raven]

@DRW50 thanks for posting.

Those live NY shows of the 50's were bursting with soap names. Probably everyone in that cast had done a soap. 

It's often our only chance to get a look at some of those performers.

[DRW50]

That's a good point. I guess we need to appreciate any scrap.

[Paul Raven]

Was that anything to do with Marland? He had written for Ed for quite a while before the switch.

I think it came from the higher ups - same as the decision to fire Adam, Barbara and Steve.

Ostensibly it was due to Hulswit balding and weight gain, but didn't he say something in a Locher Room interview that he was a strong union supporter and clashed with producers on some issues?

That was back in the 50's when Irna was still writing I think andif the show was based in LA she adhered to that. But later on, maybe not so much.

Selby Flats as a name actually suits what we saw in the  the Peapack era.

[SoapDope]

I have not watched that interview with him yet. I will have to go back and check it out when I have time. I would also guess with Rita gone, they wanted to re-invent Ed with different actor and pair him with Maureen.

[Faulkner]

The best of this genre are leaving us so quickly. 
 

 

[SoapDope]

Wow, we were just discussing her. R.I.P. 

[Soaplovers]

I've been watching the last few weeks of her stint head-writing Guiding Light (December 1979) and I understand exactly why Douglas Marland said that GL was the only soap he ever inherited that was in excellent shape.

Those last few weeks neatly resolved the Holly prison story, revealed Roger was still alive, Rita revealing her affair to Ed, and Diane starting her full descent to the dark side. 

It's no wonder why Marland's first few months on GL is thought of in such a great way because he had inherited a strong show... and that was due to the Dobson's.

RIP

Edited January 6, 2024 by Soaplovers

[BetterForgotten]

GL was unquestionably Bridget and Jerry’s most consistent and best work by most accounts. Their era is such a highlight in GL’s vast history and one I’m always glad to discover more of. 

Bridget seemed like quite the eccentric character herself, and her life story a compelling narrative in itself. May she RIP and thanks to her for her many great contributions to this genre. 

And despite what Marland would later think of him, I think Allen Potter was an excellent EP who really brought GL into the modern age. He never gets any credit for his contributions either. 

[kalbir]

I think its safe to say that GL's best EPs in its final 30 years were Allen Potter and Robert Calhoun.

[Mona Kane Croft]

What I've seen of the Dobson era at GL seems wonderful.  GL truly had a unique identity among the soaps at that time -- not a copy of Agnes Nixon's style, not as plotless as Harding Lemay's AW but still very character driven.   Does anyone have an explanation as to why the Dobson's style on ATWT seemed so extremely different than their work on GL?  It did to me, anyway.  And then when they created Santa Barbara, that show was an entirely different animal with all that comedy and camp, with dialogue full of irony, that frankly got tiring fairly quickly at least for me.   Was Santa Barbara actually what they really wanted to do at Guiding Light?  Or at ATWT?   Why was the Dobson's work on GL so wonderful, while their later work seemed to have little in common with their material at GL?  Anyone care to speculate?

[dc11786]

I don't think it would have stayed in Five Points. Legally speaking, Irna Phillips isn't the sole creator of "The Guiding Light." Emmons Carlson won a court case in the mid-1940s where he was given a significant share ownership of the original series. I believe the show originally folded in late 1946 in part because Phillips wanted a show that was her own. I believe the court case declared that the intended production move to Los Angeles was halted.  As you probably know, the show is off the air for about seven months between the end of the Five Points era and the start of Selby Flats setting in June, 1947. 

Phillips had been very enthralled with Hollywood and shifted several of her shows to California as she had relocated herself. "The Right to Happiness" also introduced a stroy involving an actress and her daughter which was set between Hollywood and the midwest. 

I'd be curious if the shift back to the midwest had anything to do with "Another World." Like did Irna and Agnes decide to change the locations in order to facilitate easier transition for Mike and Hope Bauer and potentially other visiting guests. 

I'm also sorry to hear Bridget Dobson has passed. 

[Soaplovers]

From what I understood from their time at GL, the Dobson's came up with the overall plot and the monthly/weekly outlines of what was to happen.. and the script writers were given free range to do with the material what they wanted.  

Also, I think GL had a more youthful approach going by the time they took over in mid 1975 so they spent a good year or so modernizing/fixing the show.  I wish we could have seen episodes from their first year or so of their stint on GL to see what they had to work with.

ATWT, on the other hand, had a more stodgy and conservative vibe to the show.. so the Dobson's had a lot more work to do in order to fix it.  Plus, when the Dobson's did outlines at ATWT, the script writers might have been less skilled at making the day to day scripts come alive. 

The ideas from the 1980 and early 1981 were intriguing ideas, but the day to day episodes seemed stodgy and old fashion.  Even the scenes with James/Barbara were kind of formal and lacking any passion in the 1980 episodes I saw. From what others have said on here, they only went to this soap because they felt they had to.. not because they wanted to.  I think the Dobson's would have been more at home at Search for Tomorrow then at ATWT.

Santa Barbara was created outside the P & G world.. so they had less rules to abide by and they went mad scientist on their creation.   Agnes Nixon had said she created OLTL with ABC because she felt stifled by the P & G world and wanted more freedom to do a soap her way.. and I think Santa Barbara was the same for the Dobsons.

Edited January 6, 2024 by Soaplovers

[Contessa Donatella]

I've just learned 2 new things for my character creation file. At GL, add Rita Stapleton. At ATWT they were the first to pair Tom & Margo as a romantic couple. 

1. They really really wanted to be at GL. The Hursleys, especially Frank, had told Bridget over & over that no one would pay her to write a soap for them. That was while she was writing GH for them. Later, Bridget had enough confidence to take that for what bunk it was. But not then. She was quite surprised to learn that people at P&G had noticed her (#1) and were just waiting for her to be ready for her own show to helm (#2) and were more than ready to pay her, handsomely. (#3) She spoke of getting good advice from P&G company men, like Bob Short, maybe. 

2. They did not want to be at ATWT. 

3. When NBC called them out of the blue & offered them total creative control for a new show, blank slate, blank check, etc. I think it really moved them in a way that nothing else ever had, or ever would. I think their state of mind was different about SB. I'd love to know what Michele Val Jean or Patrick Mulcahey would say about them at SB.