Guiding Light discussion thread

[Soaplovers]

From what I remember, there was build up in 1994 for Dinah coming for a visit.  There is a scene where Ross and Blake are waiting at the airport for Dinah...Ross excited and Blake nervous.  And then she wasn't on the plane and Ross was wondering what happened.  Only to find that Vanessa had asked Dinah not to come to Springfield because she was afraid it would hurt her case if Dinah was in town.

This is most likely why you saw Ross tear into Vanessa on the witness stand...and why when Dinah came back in early '95..she had an axe to grind against Vanessa.

Dinah was justified in her anger toward Vanessa in '95.  She had soft moments with Henry...and had a typical older sister interaction with Bill.  And I liked that she gave a bit of hell to Blake...karma based on how Blake was to others.

I do recall Vanessa/Matt were supposed to be a fling...and it would have been better if it stayed a fling.  It limited both characters.

I don't recall what the plan was for Vanessa post fling..but I do recall the writers had wanted Lucy and Matt to be paired..no chemistry..imho.

I think had the actress that played Julie opted to stay...I think she and Matt would have been interesting.  Especially since Bridget vs Julie had been brewing for 3 years.

[Contessa Donatella]

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Today is August 11th & in 2009, 15 years ago, in Peapack, NJ, GL had their last tape day. And, after the last shot was in the can, Ellen Wheeler, on a megaphone, conducted a roll call, the name of each & every member of the cast & the crew, was called out, one by one, and they came forward when their name was called & people clapped & there was a sweetness to the moment but also it was bittersweet, of course.

[P.J.]

LOL...Julie/Bridget could've been epic, had not there been a revolving door of Harts. JS was much more interesting as a tramp than the boring teen.

That could be. At the point I picked it up (which seemed to be right after Nick and Mindy's wedding), Vanessa didn't even know Ross was Bridget's lawyer. I skipped around a bit, and Vanessa was hyper-focused on the case. After the hearing, she was so pissed at Ross that refused to go to his wedding to Blake.

I don't mind that Vanessa and Dinah's relationship is so complicated. It lets Dinah avoid the trap that Reva's kids fell into (which is being "normal" after such a chaotic upbringing, ie terminally boring). And what's never quite expressed (at least from the spotty rewatching I've done) is that Vanessa sees the same self-destructiveness in Dinah that she herself had at that age.

It's just that they almost acted like '86-88 with Dinah didn't happen. Granted, Vanessa left at the beginning of '88. But Dinah had a lot of time with Ross, and when Vanessa returns to town in '89, she and Ross are in touch with Dinah and everything's good. But then in '94 Ross is blaming Vanessa for having a "almost non-existent" relationship with his kid. I also don't know if Dinah ever did, but if she'd thrown it in Vanessa's face that she was a better mother to Mindy and Dylan than her, that I could've understood. I just don't think Mindy and Dinah were in town at the same time other than '87.

LOL...yeah, Blake saw exactly what trouble Dinah was. It takes one to know one..

I don't know why Vanessa/Matt was more than a fling either. I don't see chemistry, but I know that's subjective. All I can think is that some of GL's pairings were low watt anyway (Ed/Eve, Nick/Mindy) and it was to move the plot along. 

I didn't realize it until recently---Billy doesn't have a serious love interest other than Vanessa for his entire run. I do not count Reva, although I will concede Nadine, depending on the definition of "serious". I know there was Selena, and they tried some kind of triangle with Holly & Buzz, which just seems inconceivable to me. Some of that is timing. But it seems like Reva got a new love interest every year over the same period.

 

Edited August 11, 2024 by P.J.

[Soapsuds]

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[AMCOLTLLover]

Ugh not that clone!!! I hate this storyline! I can’t say which story I hate more. Reva’s clone or Marlena being possessed from Days.. ugh 

[Mona Kane Croft]

P&G had invested in the expensive camera technology that allowed them to shoot twin/doppelgänger scenes almost flawlessly.  So I bet they had set out mandate for all three of their remaining soaps to use it as often as was believable.  From the mid-80s until the mid-2000s we got Frannie/Sabrina, Lily/Rose; Marley/Vicky, Rachel/Justine; and Reva/Dolly. Any others from P&G during that period?

Even if some of the twin storylines were pretty bad,  I will admit many of those scenes were amazing.  One in particular -- when Sabrina came up behind Frannie (with both of their faces toward the camera) and touched Frannie on the shoulder.  That one about blew my head off!  I think that scene is on YouTube someplace.  

[P.J.]

And yet, it was better than the years of San CristoHELL. A low bar, to be sure...

[Contessa Donatella]

I was totally against the second location, San Cristobal, bel, bol. (AW & DAYS have it too.) but to me, the clone is worse. 

[Franko]

Pictured, Kim Zimmer and an 18-year-old Guiding Light fan suffering from terminal boredom.

[Contessa Donatella]

Paul Rauch, a company man if ever there was one, argued AGAINST GL doing the clone. And I would suggest that it's not like the twins because it's more like science fiction & also is based on an immoral act. 

[Mona Kane Croft]

I agree, it was getting close to science fiction and definitely was not a good fit for GL.  I put it on the list of twin and doppelgänger plots, because it is two characters with the same face and uses the same technology to produce on camera.  We could classify them twin/doppelgänger/clone plots, I suppose.   But the real focus of my post was that P&G had purchased the camera technology, and pushed their soaps to utilize it.  Which they did.  

[Contessa Donatella]

Yes, I understood the point you were making. 

[vetsoapfan]

I think there's enough room at the bottom of the toilet for many of TGL's heinously-awful plots, LOL. San Cristocrap and the clone excrement have a lot of competition clogging up the drain, alas. 

I wonder if we all listed our choices for the Top 10 Worst TGL Plots of All Time, how many stinker stories would overlap and appear on the majority of lists.

[P.J.]

Challenge accepted:

Dolly

Chelsea's stalker

The Dreaming Death

San Cristobell

Jeffrey O'Neill 

Reva the Amish

Ben Reade Serial Killer

Cyrus

Paul Valere

Infinity 

disHM, the two plots with Carrie Nye, the ridiculous Cottage from Hell and the mega-history rewrite of Billy/Josh/Buzz/Ed/Alan's pasts. 

[vetsoapfan]

Oh, dear God in heaven. That was fast.

I'll have to think about this.