Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[P.J.]

I guess my main critique of the "friendship" is that it tilts heavily in Reva's favor. Some of that is due to timing (as Reva's dead when Billy starts up drinking), but Billy's constantly her cheerleader. I know she rarely had a close woman friend to confide in (other than Abby, I could only remember her sisters.) While she and Vanessa are usually on good terms, (which is it's own WTF) I wouldn't call them close. 

I think Billy was just as guilty of seeing the Reva he wanted as opposed to who Reva was. He was hung up on "fun" Reva. (Nadine is the knockoff version.) SeriousReva need not apply. 

I think Billy always measured himself by HB and Josh. He wanted to fill HB's shoes, but he knew HB admired Josh's independent streak. So Billy came up short both ways.

[Khan]

To me, GL's Reva and AMC's Erica had the same problem: neither could be friends with women, because both were the type to flirt with every man in the room without even being aware that they were flirting or that the men they were flirting with belonged to other women.  Women don't respond well to women who behave like that, IMO.  (Which makes Melanie Wilkes from "Gone with the Wind" all the more remarkable to me, lol).

[Contessa Donatella]

I've been thinking about Douglas Marland. He left 3 shows either angry or under a cloud. At GH we know why he was angry at Gloria Monty. At GL we know why he was angry at Allen M. Potter. We don't know what happened at Loving. We do know that it was bad enough that after he left Agnes Nixon removed his name as co-creator credit, which we would typically think is unheard of. I feel pretty sure that it was against WGA rules to do so. Before Loving a soap journalist told him not to do it. She told him that he & Nixon were such good friends but they worked very differently & he'd be taking a chance at losing the friendship because something might happen. Then, as far as we are able to tell, something did. The mystery intrigues me. Oh, and Patrick Mulcahey is his only protege & he always calls him Douglas, never Doug. Similar to Pete Lemay not liking Harding & preferring Pete. 

[Vee]

I too always thought it was wild that every man in that clan wanted (and got!) Reva. The Jordan Clarke/Kim Zimmer stuff only got more interesting as they got older, even in the Wheeler years.

[Contessa Donatella]

Typically on our soaps it is a man who is irresistible, can bed any woman he wants but at GL, it was Reva. No one could resist her. Simply every single man wanted her. And, as we know most of them HAD HER. 

[P.J.]

I think every show had that woman, the one every man just found fascinating. GL had Reva, Y&R had Nikki and Cricket, ATWT had Lily. 

 

[Contessa Donatella]

And according to Goutman, Katie, the sweetheart of Oakdale. As if.

[wonderwoman1951]

on the one board, katie was known as “the vagina no penis could resist.”

[GL Oldtimer]

I really liked Reva and Josh. In fact, it was their wedding at Cross Creek in 1989 that got me hooked on Guiding Light. I thought they shared a wonderful chemistry together and I was definitely invested in their love story. I remember being pretty devastated when Reva's car plunged into the water.

I do think the pairing lost a bit of that spark through when Reva came back after being presumed dead. For me, there were too many convoluted obstacles written to keep them apart, and then when they finally did get back together the payoff just wasn't there because their happiness was so fleeting. As a viewer, I got exhausted by their love story. Of course, I realize that a happy couple makes for a boring soap, but their constant together/apart routine just made me disinterested.

Annette

 

[Sapounopera]

Reva was the end of Guiding Light. Pamela K. Long and Gail Kobe destroyed a beautiful show and turned into a trashy soap. 

Things changed only when... Reva was gone.

When she returned in the 90s, her stories were beyond stupid and the show became a joke. 

[prefab1]

This might actually be a point in GL's favor, because compared to Nikki, Cricket, and Lily, Reva IS much more interesting. Post-Amish Reva, I'm not sure if I ever bought her as the sex goddess whose milkshake brought all the boys to the yard, but I could definitely buy the idea that men would be attracted to her DGAF attitude, sense of humor, and interesting experiences. 

I thought their arguments were much more realistically written than their reconciliations (which felt dictated by fan campaigns, not character logic). So over the years the show managed to convince me that Josh and Reva were much better apart. When the show ended, I really wanted to see her with Jeffrey--a man who seemed to actually like and respect her--but I knew I wasn't going to get that because the Josh/Reva superfans were still so vocal. 

[P.J.]

 

ugh...that name make my jaw clench. Katie---aka FlufferNutter.

 

Exhaustion is an apt description. I at least stuck with their story until, gosh, the 2003? wedding. The one where they ended up honeymooning in San Cristobel, and they didn't even get to honeymoon in peace.

[DRW50]

1999 or 2000, I think. 

The best part of that was the returns.

Nikki is the most interesting to me of those four (even if I often loved to hate Nikki, especially in the '90s), but I agree Reva also had moments of being very compelling. And I never hated her overexposure in her return years as much as some fans did. I just had to stop around Jonathan because I found him unwatchable.

I will credit Newman and Zimmer for, IIRC, not being all that into a reunion either. The show did have them get back together when the show ended but it was extremely low-key. 

Jeffrey's end was odd to me - essentially playing Spy vs Spy with Edmund. As someone who thought Bradley Cole's best chemistry was with DAM (at times they almost had too much chemistry), I suppose it is fitting.

Edited August 20, 2024 by DRW50

[P.J.]

I'd concede on Cricket and Lily,  and Nikki certainly never had Reva's attitude, even if she was sex on a stick back in the day. I just always found Reva just thisside of grating.

there were so many, I can't keep track. LOL and I'm way too lazy to look it up.

[vetsoapfan]

WORD!!!

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