Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[prefab1]

Which is astonishing, because the character of TJ has been on GH for 12 straight years now! We ought to have an excellent sense of his motivations, and he ought to have deep relationships with characters from all over the canvas. GL definitely had some problems writing for its black characters, but they were never GH-level bland. 

[Contessa Donatella]

And, why can they write such dynamic, dramatic, all encompassing writing for those ladies. All they can manage for TJ is writing him consistently as an excellent doctor, but no more. I don't get it. Is it harder to write for black guys than gals?!!

I just said something stupid. The gals in question are white. Only TJ, in his immediate group at least, is a POC. D'uh.

Edited September 20, 2024 by Contessa Donatella

[vetsoapfan]

Same here.

Sigh.

Legend has it that that my very first, complete sentence uttered as a baby was, "And now, The Guiding Light!"

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I have probably watched all the major soaps broadcast during the last 60 years or so, and eventually gave up on and drifted away from the vast majority of them before the end.

The Guiding Light and As the World Turns were the exceptions. I stuck with them and recorded their episodes regularly until cancellation, even though the material was painful, and even though I often just fast-forwarded through entire episodes at a time.

 

 

[ClassicsSoapFan]

Same here!

Papa Bauer, Bert,Mike and Ed, Peggy and Leslie,  Pa Hughes, Nancy and Chris, Bob and Lisa  were like old family friends to my parents ,grandparents and to me growing up!

[chrisml]

I gave up on GL years before it ended. I would come back in every so often, but I rarely stayed a consistent viewer for very long. The Ellen Wheeler era just ruined it for me. I know the Conboy era gets the most flack, but I could at least enjoy it on an episode by episode basis even if the overriding stories did not grab me or make sense. Wheeler came in, and for me, there was a meanness and creepiness that she added that I found unsettling. I know Jonathan is the prime example of this, but other characters became so hateful and unlikeable. 

[MichaelGL]

Nancy Curlee's Guiding Light is what drew me in as a viewer. Hamp, Gilly, David, Alan Michael, Bridget, Roger, etc, such a awesome array of characters portrayed by such fantastic actors.  Springfield was a town with close knit families and larger than life characters, and some I could relate to. 

[Contessa Donatella]

She is one of my Fave 15 & she is alive. But, she's not working & she hasn't been. What an incredible waste that is.

I love the fact that when TPTB decided to put her & Stephen & "Jimmy" Reilly together as co-HWs that they immediately didn't trust that, thought they were pitting them against one another, because they had such totally different writing styles. SO, they banded together & flipped the switch, making them the US versus that Them. I am definitely not a Jim Reilly fan, but when he wrote with the Demorests, i do not find the flaws I find when he writes by himself.

[Mitch64]

No of course not..Mandy Bruno....

GL did that first, and better with Gilly and David..until McTrash had to come in and screw it all up..and then David later came back under Rauch as a generic soap hottie.

LOVE Curlee's GL..she just GOT the show. Too bad Laibson didn't move heaven and earth to get her back, or at least as a consultant.  I can't see her working for Rauchie, but Annie would have had a soul and Reva would actually be brought back to earth.

[MichaelGL]

It's too bad a team like Curlee, Demorest, Broderick, and Wisner Washam didn't last very long. I think all four of these writers would've done wonders for GL from 93 to the mid 90s. Brodericks AMC in the mid 90s reminds me so much of Curlee's GL. 

[TEdgeofNight]

Show killer Wheeler was the worst! Even before the disastrous Peapack, she was laying the grounds for cancellation with kissing cousins and getting rid of Jerry verDorn. Unforgiveable! I’m so glad Wheeler and Hurst never worked in daytime again. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Wheeler's first big mistake was putting Jerry on recurring instead of Bradley or even Frank. BUT, moving him from contract to recurring was NOT GETTING RID OF HIM. This is not rocket science, folks, we should all understand these terms. No one at Guiding Light GOT RID of Jerry verDorn. Period. Ever. Wheeler called him to book him for 2-3 days per week for 3 weeks & learned that he'd been offered a contract by OLTL that very day, thanks to Mark Derwin. Of course, she hated losing him but also could not help but be happy for his good fortune. 

 

[BetterForgotten]

She didn’t have to kill Ross, but she did. It felt spiteful to me when OLTL offered Jerry a contract. 

Wheeler herself admits she was woefully unprepared to be an EP and her hiring by MADD was a pretty last minute and abrupt decision.

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When Rauch left in 2002, I wonder how much differently things would have been had they not hired Conboy and had he not proceeded to tank both the budget and what was creatively left of the show. Things probably wouldn’t have gotten so bad that they had to hire Wheeler because they either couldn’t get anyone else or afford to for that matter.

Francesca James and Gary Tomlin were both rumored to be in the running for the EP job when Rauch left in 2002. 

[DRW50]

I don't think either of them would have been especially capable either, given their runs at AMC and OLTL, although I would have taken them over Conboy. Offputting as some of Wheeler's choices were, nothing disgusted by as much as the "psychology" BS used to push exploitive trash, especially the Ben story. 

I am still surprised the show even managed to survive for five years after Conboy. I suppose they benefited from CBS not having found alternative programming yet. 

 

Edited September 21, 2024 by DRW50

[Liberty City]

As much flack as Ellen Wheeler gets (and some is very much deserved), whenever I watch this clip, I always feel kind of bad she realistically had less than adequate time to walk into the executive producer role, and needing to give answer within a "few hours".

As for John Conboy, I'm indifferent towards him. But I think anyone following the strong presence that Paul Rauch carries has a lot to live up to. I just don't see who could've been stronger suited in both positions (Conboy & Wheeler).

[Contessa Donatella]

Detested ConWest & what they did to Ben Reade is emblematic of just how bad what they wrote was!!! 

It's fascinating to me how many former GL fans I meet here & there who ALWAYS pull out Conboy, Weston, the baseball diamond, Marty West, Maryanne Carruthers, sock puppet, BEN READE!!!   OY. 

And, the show lasted 4 years longer than it would've otherwise, because of Wheeler. Those of us who appreciate those extra years thank her & her team for that. P&G and Televest sure as hell did not assist. Nor, of course, did CBS. CBS mandated & required things that P&G refused to pay for, what a mess!

Ya know P&G had two people shadow Chris Goutman to learn the EP/P&G ropes from him. One was Scott McKinsey. The other was Ellen Wheeler.  With either of them, P&G was picking a level of inexperience & MADD retired & they stupidly opted NOT TO REPLACE that position, effectively throwing their newly hired "baby" into the deep end of the pool without even an  adviser to help them battle the big baddies at CBS. Both Goutman, at ATWT & Wheeler, at GL, suffered not having an Exec in Charge of Programming between them & CBS VP. 

Ah, Mistakes P&G made so many hundreds of them ... 

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Edited September 21, 2024 by Contessa Donatella
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