Longtime Digest columnist Carolyn Hinsey has written a book called "Afternoon Delight: Why Soaps Still Matter", slated for release this month from 4th Street Media. Here is an excerpt from Chapter 12, titled "Naming Names." Uh oh....
Bye Bye Bauers
The final domino for GUIDING LIGHT came in the form of a sleepy little New Jersey town called Peapack that knocked our beloved Springfield down for good.
On February 29th, 2008, Executive Producer Ellen Wheeler launched the new "production model" that was supposed to save GL. Her plan was to use hand-held camers, permanent sets and location shooting to revitalize this 70 year-old jewel.
"We all knew about the house in Peapack way before they told us about it," says a GL source of the home in New Jersey that would soon be used for much of the show's action. "I remember a general meeting with everybody where Ellen allowed people to ask questions. Someone said 'We're hearing rumors about a house the show has bought in New Jersey where we're all going to have to go work.' You could hear a pin drop. She said, 'No, that's not true at all.' Turned out we were just LEASING the house."
For some reason, Wheeler shrouded her Peapack plans in secrecy, keeping them even from CBS. "Everyone was going to [CBS Daytime honcho] Barbara Bloom and begging her to do something, but she turned a blind eye. And Ellen flatly refused to release the scripts to anyone. Ricky Paul [Goldin, Gus Aituro] didn't want anything to do with Peapack, so he quit." (Goldin joined ALL MY CHILDREN later that year as Tad's brother, Jake Martin.)
Wheeler filmed the first "location" episode on the sly with only a handful of people. Numerous actors spoke off the record of the debacle that followed, but true to daytime's protective atmosphere did not want to be quoted-even though their show isn't even on the air anymore.
"I remember we had a special airing of the first episode in the studio," recalls an actor. "They called everybody in and brought in lunch. We all sat there and watched this horrible episode. There was no storyline, they just placed people in different sets, like Josh and Billy on a work site with Remy. Everyone politely clapped and then we all filed out going, 'Oh, my God, what garbage.' Ellen was furious; it was like hell had frozen over. We found out later she wrote the episode herself."
Things went downhill from there, if you can imagine. Sources say that CBS honchos finally got a look at what Wheeler was doing and did not like what they saw. The shaky cameras and rough production values were bad enough, but viewers often could not hear the dialogue.
"Our days were numbered after that," sighs one source. "But Ellen just stayed in her tunnel and plowed ahead. We turned executive offices into nail salons and her office into a church sanctuary and shot everything with those awful hand-held cameras. She loved all the technical stuff. She was more invested in that than the actual storyline and characters on the show, which of course was the problem. Her attitude was, 'How dare they not buy into my vision?"
The cast had it the worst, changing their clothes on location shoots in cars and behind garages, and not getting proper hair, makeup, and wardrobe. Contrary to what fans were seeing on air, it was still supposed to be a soap opera.
"I can't tell you how humiliating it was out there. I remember one chilly day we were shooting a scene of Dinah and Mallet playing golf. It was supposed to be May, so Gina [Tognoni, Dinah] wasn't wearing a coat. She was freezing and got cranky. Ellen took off her giant down coat with the big label on it and said, 'Just wear this, it's fine.' I thought the costume designer was going to die. We'd all be out there and the director would ask a question and she'd say, 'Oh, the audience won't notice. They won't care.' but yes they will! They're invested! They care!"
GL limped along for over a year with the new "production model" as the writing - and morale - deteriorated.
"Fans just want to see their favorite characters in a well-written storyline," laments the source, who has gone on to work on another show. "They don't care if they're sitting in a real diner. They just want to see what happens to them."
GL was cancelled in March 2009.
"No show in daytime or prime-time, or anytime has touched so many millions of viewers over so many years," said CBS Daytime exec Barbara Bloom in a statement. She was later ousted.
The last episode aired on September 18, 2009, a full 72 years after Irna Phillips dreamed up her enduring vision of a light in the window to guide Reverend Ruthledge's flock.
"I don't think P&G willingly got out of the soap biz," surmises the source. "The people in charge just didn't understand why people watch soaps, which kills me because that was their whole thing - marketing and their connection to their buyers for 80 years. They lost contact with that."
Turn The Page
Longtime Digest columnist Carolyn Hinsey has written a book called "Afternoon Delight: Why Soaps Still Matter", slated for release this month from 4th Street Media. Here is an excerpt from Chapter 12, titled "Naming Names." Uh oh....
Bye Bye Bauers
The final domino for GUIDING LIGHT came in the form of a sleepy little New Jersey town called Peapack that knocked our beloved Springfield down for good.
On February 29th, 2008, Executive Producer Ellen Wheeler launched the new "production model" that was supposed to save GL. Her plan was to use hand-held camers, permanent sets and location shooting to revitalize this 70 year-old jewel.
"We all knew about the house in Peapack way before they told us about it," says a GL source of the home in New Jersey that would soon be used for much of the show's action. "I remember a general meeting with everybody where Ellen allowed people to ask questions. Someone said 'We're hearing rumors about a house the show has bought in New Jersey where we're all going to have to go work.' You could hear a pin drop. She said, 'No, that's not true at all.' Turned out we were just LEASING the house."
For some reason, Wheeler shrouded her Peapack plans in secrecy, keeping them even from CBS. "Everyone was going to [CBS Daytime honcho] Barbara Bloom and begging her to do something, but she turned a blind eye. And Ellen flatly refused to release the scripts to anyone. Ricky Paul [Goldin, Gus Aituro] didn't want anything to do with Peapack, so he quit." (Goldin joined ALL MY CHILDREN later that year as Tad's brother, Jake Martin.)
Wheeler filmed the first "location" episode on the sly with only a handful of people. Numerous actors spoke off the record of the debacle that followed, but true to daytime's protective atmosphere did not want to be quoted-even though their show isn't even on the air anymore.
"I remember we had a special airing of the first episode in the studio," recalls an actor. "They called everybody in and brought in lunch. We all sat there and watched this horrible episode. There was no storyline, they just placed people in different sets, like Josh and Billy on a work site with Remy. Everyone politely clapped and then we all filed out going, 'Oh, my God, what garbage.' Ellen was furious; it was like hell had frozen over. We found out later she wrote the episode herself."
Things went downhill from there, if you can imagine. Sources say that CBS honchos finally got a look at what Wheeler was doing and did not like what they saw. The shaky cameras and rough production values were bad enough, but viewers often could not hear the dialogue.
"Our days were numbered after that," sighs one source. "But Ellen just stayed in her tunnel and plowed ahead. We turned executive offices into nail salons and her office into a church sanctuary and shot everything with those awful hand-held cameras. She loved all the technical stuff. She was more invested in that than the actual storyline and characters on the show, which of course was the problem. Her attitude was, 'How dare they not buy into my vision?"
The cast had it the worst, changing their clothes on location shoots in cars and behind garages, and not getting proper hair, makeup, and wardrobe. Contrary to what fans were seeing on air, it was still supposed to be a soap opera.
"I can't tell you how humiliating it was out there. I remember one chilly day we were shooting a scene of Dinah and Mallet playing golf. It was supposed to be May, so Gina [Tognoni, Dinah] wasn't wearing a coat. She was freezing and got cranky. Ellen took off her giant down coat with the big label on it and said, 'Just wear this, it's fine.' I thought the costume designer was going to die. We'd all be out there and the director would ask a question and she'd say, 'Oh, the audience won't notice. They won't care.' but yes they will! They're invested! They care!"
GL limped along for over a year with the new "production model" as the writing - and morale - deteriorated.
"Fans just want to see their favorite characters in a well-written storyline," laments the source, who has gone on to work on another show. "They don't care if they're sitting in a real diner. They just want to see what happens to them."
GL was cancelled in March 2009.
"No show in daytime or prime-time, or anytime has touched so many millions of viewers over so many years," said CBS Daytime exec Barbara Bloom in a statement. She was later ousted.
The last episode aired on September 18, 2009, a full 72 years after Irna Phillips dreamed up her enduring vision of a light in the window to guide Reverend Ruthledge's flock.
"I don't think P&G willingly got out of the soap biz," surmises the source. "The people in charge just didn't understand why people watch soaps, which kills me because that was their whole thing - marketing and their connection to their buyers for 80 years. They lost contact with that."
Edited by RoseVioletDaisy