Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

There's an SOD article about headwriters' strike frustrations and IIRC Pam Long has things to say about how unhappy she was with how the Blake storyline was handled in her absence. 

[P.J.]

LOL...I've seen that---Vanessa calls her Maybelline. 

I didn't realize Billy/Nadine were exactly in cahoots to keep Ross/Van apart. I know Van is constantly asking Ross if he's involved with Holly, and Nadine kind of realized that she couldn't compete with Van and Holly when she wanted to crawl back to Ross. I thought Billy just kind of latched on to Nadine because she was the "party girl" side of Reva, when Vanessa hesitated to get back on the merry-go-round and realized Billy thought he was in love with Reva.

Fletch/Nola might've been interesting, she could've been stumbling on to stories that he was investigating or something. It would've been better than Nola/Buzz anyway. 

 

Elizabeth Dennehy, while an excellent actress, just didn't seem to fit on a soap. And surely not as Holly's daughter. I remember some horrid strike scene of Blake drawing faces on coconuts or something and thinking it smelled desperate.

 

Random thought---I don't really miss Josh when he leaves in 91 either. Billy, while occasionally really frustrating, is my favorite Lewis. 

Edited June 17, 2024 by P.J.

[DRW50]

I liked his relationship with Harley, which worked much better than it should have, but I didn't miss him either. I wouldn't have brought him back, although Robert Newman had his moments, especially in later years.

[kalbir]

When Blake Lindsay was introduced, was she always intended to be Christina Thorpe or was that something that was decided later? I think it was explained that she went by her middle name Blake and the last name of her former stepfather Mr. Lindsay.

For those who watched in the 1970s, did Christina have a middle name?

[P.J.]

Robert Newman is extremely likeable, don't get me wrong. But he's basically Reva's chew toy. 

[Paul Raven]

If she did, I doubt it would have been Blake.

Wasn't strike Blake making mysterious phone calls and when Pam Long returned they decided to make her Christina?

[bboy875]

Blake was originally a new character. When Chris Bernau became too sick to work, they wanted Michael Zaslow to take over as Alan, but Michael suggested they bring Roger back instead. The TPTB said no, because no one would believe that he survived the fall off the cliff. Curlee knew Roger and pushed to bring him back, so they did. Someone came up with the idea of turning Blake into Christina afterwards, which opened up potholes (like Ed not recognizing her). Then they decided to bring Holly back for a visit, but Maureen's performance inspired Long to bring her back full time 

[Soaplovers]

From what I understood from reading the SOD article post 1988 writer Strike.. Long had created the character of Blake and approved casting just before the strike started.

In fact, she was surprised/concerned once she found out that the character was introduced on the show since she didn't share what the outline was going to be for her character.

It was after the strike was over and no one knew who she was talking to in those phone calls that her being Roger and Holly's daughter became a thing (Curlee talked Long into it... I believe)

[bboy875]

I remember SOD interviewed writers about the mess they had to clean up once the strike was over. Long said she asked producers who Blake had those mysterious phone calls to and they told her they didn't know lol

Yes, I read this in different interviews Long and Curlee gave

[Vee]

I may be biased as a Trekkie (where she famously played another hyper-ambitious woman), but I really liked what I've seen of Elizabeth Dennehy's performance. Yes, she was arch and very different from SS, but there was a kind of fearsome intelligence and off-kilter sexiness (a la, yes, Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction) that really worked and seemed suited to Roger's child, even if she wasn't originally intended as that. I only saw so much of her with GA but I thought that might've really worked. Nonetheless, no one can argue with Sherry Stringfield's Blake.

Edited June 17, 2024 by Vee

[chrisml]

From what I've seen of Elizabeth Dennehy's Blake, I like her a lot as an actress. Her character doesn't make sense because she's always up to something but I didn't understand what. I also liked Nicolette Goulet as an actress, but Meredith is another character who confuses me. Seem to be a lot of characters around this time that do not make sense. Alexandra Neill's character is another one.

[DRW50]

It took a while for Sherry to settle into the role, so I could see Elizabeth clicking if she had had the chance. I think one of the issues might be the romantic choices for the character (Grant Aleksander was such a severe presence, and I can't even imagine her with Carl Tye Evans...).

I've always liked Alexandra Neill (due to her work on ATWT), but Rose just seems like a bit of a nothing character just there to give Rusty a story and be abused and die. Nicolette Goulet was stuck with such a poor part - the "strong female doctor" cliche soon reduced to the worst role you can give a female character (being passed between two men). 

The mid/late '80s feel so scattershot, especially with new characters, which just makes the show pulling itself together again for a few years all the more remarkable.

[kalbir]

@Paul Raven @bboy875 @Soaplovers Thank you for the info re Christina/Blake.

[Mitch64]

I agree that an affair was stupid. They originally brought back Nola to pair with Ed, but sourpuss Simon put up a stink and said that they are two different. That is why they had her making a bit of trouble when she found about Lillian. But a better idea would have been that Nola comes back to town as she is tired of expeditions and basically living Quint's life. Maybe she missed out on hearing about Mo's death as they were in someplace cut off from communication. Nola finds out she missed the funeral and blames Quint (I would even maybe have it Nola had the affair to punish Quint and Quint later tells Henry he was the reason the marriage ended to protect Nola) and moves back to SF for a bit to "save the family" and try to mother Michelle and she winds up getting in everyone's hair. But her discovery of the Ed/Lillian thing could have led to an earlier version of the Ed/Lil discussion at Mo's grave the last week of the show...with Ed finally taking responsibility for it too. 

While I did not like Fletch I thought he and Nola might be good, a crusading journalist that Nola is constantly trying to "help" with his stories and ends up getting kidnapped most of the time. I do think Brown gave off an eccentric earth mother vibe so it would be interesting to see her drawn to the baby, knowing what it was like to be different and everyone thinking your weird..and yes, much better then her and Buzz!

LOL..but we would not have had Rusty saying her name as only the cheesy guy like him could ..."ROOOOzzzzzzzzzeeeee!" Didn't Rusty date the infamous Rae Rooney too or was that Rick?

[Khan]

Kind of like how Roger was drawn to Meg.  IIRC, there was a scene where Roger spoke to the baby and said he understood how it felt to be "different" from everyone else.