Guiding Light Discussion Thread

[vetsoapfan]

The idiotic butchering of Amanda's paternity was such an awful and unnecessary mistake; it really needed to be wiped out. She was Alan's daughter, period. I would have happily accepted your concept of how to repair the damage.

Yep. (Although I would have been happy with Stewart, Mart Hulswit as Ed and Ellen Parker as Maureen all being part of the canvas. I wanted Ellen Demming to return as Meta in 1985 after Charita Bauer died, too.)

History just not relevant to TGL at that point, alas.

If Stewart was definitely off the table, I wanted Jed Allen cast as Mike Bauer.

As for RR, I could see him as a better replacement for Mike than for Alan Spaulding.

[Reverend Ruthledge]

Yep. A lot of people think Ellen Wheeler killed the show. I would argue that the REAL show died in 1984. 

[Khan]

I agree that Ron Raines was miscast as Alan, but I can't see him as a Mike recast instead.  Billy Lewis?  Maybe.  Mike Bauer?  No.

[Mitch64]

I still wonder if it was McTavish who came up with this, or if it was changed by the interm writers. The original scene has an exchange between Roger and Van that for some reason, Alan always cowtows to Alex...Van says that Henry knew of some papers that Alex has that could bring down the Spauldings..which means that Alex told Henry at least about the papers, and that Alan knows about it as she uses that to keep him in line.  I know Rauch wanted to get rid of Alex, which he could have done without the Amanda thing. They could have made it dramatic by having Brandon rape, seduce or blackmail Jennifer into have sex to hurt Alan and take his "first love" away. Jennifer is pregnant (from Alan) and tells Alex that she fears it could be Brandons. Alex know it would devistate Alan helps Amanda flee, and Brandon names Amanda as his heir (as he did during Marland) and then Roger just ties it all up with some faked documentation...a stretch (as if the Spauldings coudlnt afford a DNA test) but better then the idiocy we got which amounted to nothing  (It would have been fun to see Amanda throw everyone out of the mansion and start selling off Spaulding piece by piece to get back at everyone.)

[Joshua Montgomery]

These episodes are so good- thank you!  I can't remember but I think someone might have asked if you do have the 1990 episodes in your collection?  I would love to watch those also.  Thank you for sharing the episodes that you saved!

[P.J.]

OMG..,I'm blissfully immersed in 1982. 

[kalbir]

Did you like anything of the final 25 years?

I am 99% sure JFP had a friend she wanted to cast as Alan but we still don't know which friend it was and if said friend was either not available or turned JFP down.

Edited November 2, 2024 by kalbir

[Reverend Ruthledge]

Hey there. Yes, I did. A lot. But it wasn't The Guiding Light as it was from 1937-1982. It was a different show. 

[vetsoapfan]

ITA. I think Kobe killed the show in 1984, and Wheeler finally just cremated it.

I can't really see RR as a good replacement for Mike, either. I just meant that casting him as Alan was even worse than casting him as Mike.

The last year I truly loved the show and felt it was the "real" TGL was 1982. Then I appreciated the resurgence of Roger and Holly in 1989, Robert Calhoun's run as executive producer (1989-91), and Nancy Curlee's tenure as head writer in the early 1990s. Other than that, I loathed much of the final 25 years.

 

[Khan]

For me, 1997-98 was probably the last year I could stomach GL on a steady basis; and even then, I stomached it with much lower expectations, lol.

Edited November 3, 2024 by Khan

[DRW50]

He also could have made a good Justin, potentially. 

[P.J.]

I'll concede that the writing did RR no favors, but i don't think he had enough oomph to be a good recast anyone. As harsh as that sounds. 

[DRW50]

I don't think you're wrong, I just think Justin was a character he could have more easily slid into because he probably could have played the lighter moments and he did work decently well with Grant. The only thing missing is the intensity. 

[P.J.]

 I'm sure RR would've been a decent new character. Recasts are so tricky and depend on so much. And with Ross stepping into the role of Phillip's father so early, I never really felt the need for Justin's return. Even though I would've always welcomed Tom O'Rourke back.

[Matt Powers]

Does anyone know to whom Joan Collins was referring to when she mentioned that the producers had recast Roger and the audience would be surprised at who it was?