Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[vetsoapfan]

ITA about the modern era, absolutely, but the early 1950s under Irna Phillips and the later 1950s and 1960s under Agnes Nixon were also halcyon years. I was shocked when the show fell into disrepair in towards the middle of the 1980s. It had been so good for decades, and I had just taken its quality for granted. 1985-88 were unwatchable years, IMHO.

[P.J.]

Wow...I'd forgotten GL had such a mass exodus. In a little less than a year, they lost Reva, Josh, Philip, Beth, Rick, Johnny, Chelsea, and recast Alan-Michael with Rick Hearst. While Johnny and Chelsea are negligible, there's a lot of history tied up in the other characters. Major upheavals like that usually leave shows floundering.

[Khan]

Granted, my memories of GL only go back as far as 1981 or so, but I definitely agree with your assessment of the Irna/Agnes years, @vetsoapfan.  At the same time, though, I'm not sure I agree with you that 1985-88 were unwatchable - at least, not for me.  There's still much about that period that I love and love as much as I love everything that came before and after it, too.  In general, I love anything and everything GL-related* from its' earliest days on radio to, at least, 1998-99, which was/is the point I stopped being a regular viewer of the show.

 

(*Although Megan McTavish's crap really tried my patience, lol.)

Edited March 3, 2024 by Khan

[vetsoapfan]

After the incomprehensible cast slaughter of 1983-84, and with a noticeable shift in tone and (IMHO) quality, I found the "new," unnecessarily (again IMHO) rebooted version of the show to be painful to watch. To me, Springfield felt like a foreign landscape in the 1980s. I realize that losing Bert Bauer was unavoidable, but in a few years, we had a new, miscast Ed, and saw Bill Bauer, Mike Bauer, Hillary Bauer and Hope Bauer killed off or written out. We also lost stalwarts like Sara McIntyre, Justin Marler, Kelly Nelson, Amanda Spaulding, Nola Reardon and others. I don't think any soap should gut its core family, a huge portion of its cast, and historical foundation so quickly.

That being said, I think all the changes on the show resonated differently for viewers who had watched it in the earlier decades (1950s-1970s). Those who came aboard in the 1980s more readily accepted all the new people on the canvas. For those viewers, that's just how the show was.

[kalbir]

I don't remember Johnny departure, was it sometime in Spring 1990 after the Chelsea stalker storyline wrapped up?

The timeline for the characters you listed were July 1990 Reva car accident and Alan-Michael recast; January 1991 Josh, Rick, Chelsea departures; February 1991 Phillip and Beth departures. Also January 1991 was the HW change from Pamela Long to Nancy Curlee.

The Calhoun/Curlee era was January-July 1991 and while I enjoyed that era, the ratings didn't reflect the quality of the show.

[Khan]

Don't get me wrong, @vetsoapfan, I can understand (in retrospect) how viewers who'd been watching the show for decades felt or might've felt about all the changes that took place on-screen and off- throughout the '80's.  I also wouldn't suggest that the quality during that time was as good as or better than the previous decades.  Whenever I re-watch stuff from that period, however, I feel about as much nostalgia for back then as I do whenever I re-watch anything from Marland's period, or even the Dobsons', if that makes any sense.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I loved GL - the good, the bad, the ugly, the HIDEOUS - because, in the end, GL, like AMC, feels the most like home to me, regardless of who might have been the HW, EP or principal cast members at any given time.

[soapfan770]

That’s correct about Johnny’s exit. After the whole Looney Rae Rooney story wrapped up Johnny found out Roxie had recovered and dumped Chelsea to go be with her, with Johnny leaving in May 1990.

1991 GL was fantastic but I do think the high number of fan favorites that departed put a damper in the ratings. At least the show did stabilize in ratings for a few years there. 

Edited March 3, 2024 by soapfan770

[kalbir]

The 1991 improvement in ratings came not long after JFP arrived. While JFP first year was still good, I feel that it coasted off the groundwork laid during the Calhoun era and the ratings improvement was helped by ABC's big three tanking at various times during that year and Days being in their post-supercouple/pre-Reilly mess era.

[P.J.]

Granted, it's not a calendar year. I was a little iffy on when Johnny departed, because what I'm catching some eppys aren't around (sigh--huge bummer when you're into a story).  

Watching May '91, and in literally ONE episode, Alex is hit with three revelations--that Mindy miscarried Roger's child, that Alan-Michael and Henry have uncovered Roger's embezzling, and that Roger has another son. People rave about her blitzkrieg at the Country Club, but hearing Bev McKinsey growl "I want to rip out his lungs..." is FABULOUS. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Okay, which day in May '91? I gotta go see. 

I looked forever trying to find the date of An Alex dinner party that had Bev with the best departure line, which was, "Will someone please pass the damn salt to Beth?! 

[P.J.]

lol...the episode is 5/14/91. Although I guess i oversold it a bit, it's one soap opera day that she puts it all together, starting 5/10.

[Contessa Donatella]

Thanks! 

BTW, do people here know about the SCTV send-up of Iris & Vivian, with Catherine O'Hara doing Bev?

[vetsoapfan]

I think soap fans are experienced with sudden cast purges and tone shifts on our favorite shows, regardless of what decade we began watching. All of us have been frustrated about losing the characters whom we "met" when initially tuning in. I may not have liked the Shaynes, the Coopers, the Santoses and the Winslows, and their loss would not have difficult for me (it would have been a relief, TBH), but other viewers, who first found TGL in, say, 1985, wouldn't have cared much about the legacy of the Bauers and their friends, either. We all want to keep our familiar version of the shows at least semi-intact.

It makes perfect sense. That was "your" period and incarnation of TGL, just as 1950-1982 represented mine. 

Actually, although I could no longer watch TGL and ATWT on a regular basis after a certain point (what I saw as destructive changes were too painful), I continued to record them from time to time, scan through eps to catch my remaining favorite characters, and keep up with current storylines in hope of dramatic rejuvenations. I stuck with "y stories" through the good, the bad, the ugly and the atrocious, until the bitter end, LOL!

So I totally get where you're coming from.

[Paul Raven]

The news that CBS is considering a new soap and consequent posts about bringing back beloved soaps in some sort of revamp got me to thinking about GL.

How about a reboot that went back to the original 1937 radio show.?

Set in a diverse inner urban area, with the lead character a minister of  a non denominational church (Rev Ruthledge) his daughter (Mary) and Ned a young man with a blank past. 

The Kranskys a migrant family with a daughter out to make a better life for herself. (maybe revamped as an Hispanic family with the parents illegal immigrants) Ellis Smith a mysterious artist with a nihilistic attitude.

All of this sounds as relevant or more so as any modern soap. Mix the inevitable social issues with traditional soapy love affairs and secrets.

Diverse casting-the Rev and Mary could be black. The Jacob Kransky character could be gay etc.

What do you think?

[DRW50]

I think that's a wonderful idea. 

I had been thinking lately about adapting Meta's story, only in my version Chucky would live.