Honestly, I have to say that the AMC/OLTL reboots have worked out far, far better than I ever thought they stood a chance of working out.

I would be willing to trust my first and forever favorite soap in the hands of PP and I think there are more than enough former cast members who move around in the same circles or are in touch with those who are already blazing the trail with AMC/OLTL and have an understanding of just how great those productions are. I really think GL could succeed, even after four years.

LOL, is there anything that guy won't do for attention?

As some people know, I have weird dreams at times. I dreamed that someone would pick up AMC/OLTL one night and I woke up in a cold sweat and went online and read the NYP article about PP acquiring the rights to AMC/OLTL. From there I have been having similar dreams. I keep dreaming of Agnes Nixon being called to consult the resurrection of AW and GL. Not necessarily complete story-bibles but giving input that help bring the shows back to there roots. I am sure GL will be back, which will pave the way for other returns.

I'd have Leah and Phillip and Beth and at least a couple of his/their kids, but I'd centralize the show more around the newly-single (and widowed) Michelle and her teenaged kids sharing the family house (somewhat fractiously) with Ed and Holly, who had counted on being semi-retired and having the homestead to themselves at this point. That is a classic teen drama setup in primetime which works very well here. I'd also have Nola running an establishment and some of her kids on the show, as well as probably Bridget's son, and Blake and Ross's twins. But I've been over all this before.

And you can't do it without Josh and Reva in some way, still having embarrassing sex and good times at age whatever. Kim Zimmer has earned that by singlehandedly carrying the last years of that show in the mold of a middle-aged/senior British soap heroine, and Robert Newman is always fantastic (though I wish he was on OLTL right now instead of Ron Raines).

You just read my damn mind. Total like to all of this. Robert Newman needs to be on a soap. I've always liked him.

How convenient:

Nelson Branco ‏@nelliebranco2m

Yep, I can confirm Paul Rauch was trying to reboot GUIDING LIGHT. He called me about it several times. I was sworn to secrecy.

Ugh at him. Really? He craves attention.

Did he get to ask about the size of Muhney's cock?

How convenient:

Nelson Branco ‏@nelliebranco2m

Yep, I can confirm Paul Rauch was trying to reboot GUIDING LIGHT. He called me about it several times. I was sworn to secrecy.

Well if Nelson says it's true then it must be nothing but a lie.

I'd have Leah and Phillip and Beth and at least a couple of his/their kids, but I'd centralize the show more around the newly-single (and widowed) Michelle and her teenaged kids sharing the family house (somewhat fractiously) with Ed and Holly, who had counted on being semi-retired and having the homestead to themselves at this point. That is a classic teen drama setup in primetime which works very well here. I'd also have Nola running an establishment and some of her kids on the show, as well as probably Bridget's son, and Blake and Ross's twins. But I've been over all this before.

And you can't do it without Josh and Reva in some way, still having embarrassing sex and good times at age whatever. Kim Zimmer has earned that by singlehandedly carrying the last years of that show in the mold of a middle-aged/senior British soap heroine, and Robert Newman is always fantastic (though I wish he was on OLTL right now instead of Ron Raines).

I'd love to see Nola back. And Peter.

I'm afraid if Michelle was a part of it NSA fans would demand and demand until she was hired, and I just don't want to see her again. After watching Supernatural I'm back on my Rachel Miner kick, although I would take any actress with a flicker of charisma over NSA.

I'd love to see Nola back. And Peter.

I'm afraid if Michelle was a part of it NSA fans would demand and demand until she was hired, and I just don't want to see her again. After watching Supernatural I'm back on my Rachel Miner kick, although I would take any actress with a flicker of charisma over NSA.

It wouldn't be hard to get a good Michelle recast. But after Corbin Bleu on OLTL I'd push and try to get Miner to commit. She has a cachet with both GL fans and with the primetime Supernatural fanbase. Assuming it was the PP model of however many weeks and months on and off, which I think has worked for people like Eden Riegel and Roger Howarth - well, within reason; he taped a very substantial amount of time for Season 1, regardless of how well the OLTL PTB cut and spaced it out onscreen near the end - you could handle someone like her that way and she could do other TV and films. Eden is also supposed to be back a lot more for Season 2, but I thought they used her well all in all in Season 1 of AMC for a start.

Oh, what the hell; this is what I posted about GL back before AMC and OLTL aired and I think it still holds up:

For Guiding Light I would probably do an AMC sort of thing to completely reinvent the show. It was so bad by the end that you can't even dare keep many of those vets, at least not on contract - the visual and feel of it just looks bad to me. It stinks of Peapack. I'd dump most of the Ellen Wheeler cast and start the Agnes way, with a lot of young people from the new generation, most of whom we haven't seen SORASed before. And you'd have some elders as tentpole characters for the youth as well as having story, and then you'd have some younger adults you can directly build more story around from the start, like Michelle.

So for the older generation you'd have, let's say:

• Josh and Reva
• Phillip and Beth - because GA is great and Beth Chamberlin gained my respect over the years, and deserves a good show and consistent character
• Ed and Holly
• Nola Reardon Chamberlain - running a restaurant again, everyone's favorite kooky surrogate aunt, possibly remarried to Quint
• Blake Thorpe Marler - whose relationship with ol' rarely-seen Frank is on the rocks, and who may have a younger man she is carrying on a scandalous secret affair with.
• Michelle Bauer (played once again by Rachel Miner) who is now widowed thanks to Danny Santos's mob ties, young single mom to two kids. A great deal of launch story focuses on her and her kids, trying to build a new life alongside Grandpa Ed in the Bauer house.

Then, for the youth set, you have varying ages and types, obviously, and there's so many [!@#$%^&*] kids on GL that I can only mention the first to come into my head off the cuff:

• Jason and Kevin Marler, Blake and Ross's twin sons. College aged. Made identical instead of fraternal through ridiculous soap storytelling magic (just go with it!) for the purposes of a batshit story I have held onto for years. One good, one not so good. One actor.
• Zach Spaulding, Phillip and Harley's kid. High school. Not big on Beth.
• Emma Spaulding, Phillip and Olivia's daughter. Raised by Olivia and Natalia, neither of whom I am in any rush to see again at the moment. High school.
• Leah Bauer, biracial daughter of Rick and Mel. College.
• R.J. Winslow OR Peter Reardon, the 'good' spawn of Roger Thorpe to counterbalance the web of craziness that are Blake's sons, likely college-aged. With Peter there is an obvious direct link to Nola, or with R.J. you can play the poor little rich boy angle - his mother was a wild flake who raised him in a fallen tropical kingdom for years.
• Robbie Santos, last seen blond and blue-eyed but who knows. May have been compelled to take back his mother's maiden name against his wishes after the tragedy of Danny's death. High schooler. His sister, Hope, is a preteen.
• More new kids, possibly some ones from existing families. Maybe Maureen Reardon but really, there just need to be new people. I don't think using any more of the Boudreaux is a good idea, as I can only remember all Remy's lame stories in Peapack. I don't know if there's any way to bring back the Grants. Just young, hot, diverse people.

I'm not averse to seeing other vets and families over time - Quint, other Reardons, Rick, Mel, even drunk Olivia, some of the Coopers, etc. but I don't think there is any benefit to making this show get too top-heavy or even remotely resemble Wheeler's GL out of the gate. Eventually some of those kids like Leah or Emma are going to need to have their parents in story, but not right away. Nope. Nope nope nope nope. GL has been remade and reconceived at least a dozen times since the end of the '30s. It needs to be again.

I also wouldn't mind any link possible to the original premise with Reverend Rutledge, which is something Wheeler was smart to utilize, though she did it wrong. Maybe just a character from the Rutledge family somewhere. Or a radio station on the canvas. Or even a teen story where someone keeps trying to figure out who keeps lighting the lamp.

When I was thinking more conservatively about a revamp a few years ago I considered bringing back Marah as well as Vicky Spaulding, but now I'm not sure they skew new or young enough.

I'm also on the fence about using Jonathan or Gina Tognoni's Dinah in the core cast, because both are great characters even if I was sick of Tom Pelphrey by the end. A little time goes a long way and there is no denying he is a draw. But he screams Ellen Wheeler.

I think now more than ever, GL could follow the AMC model perfectly. I think AMC has had a near-flawless Season 1 and just been excellent, and I could see a very similar show in tone playing well.

Edited August 23, 201312 yr by Vee

Kimberly J. Brown is still close to her GL family, but she's doing primetime, Laura Bell Bundy is busy and I don't know what Lindsey McKeon is up too

I'm more than certain there must be some Ruthledges still alive

Edited August 23, 201312 yr by cassadine1991

Don't care. Don't need Marah. But if I brought her back she'd probably be a dyke.

I really like your ideas, especially about the kids. I'd also love to see Gilly return with a son or daughter. Amelia Marshall was so underused and always so good as Gilly.

I think there could be room for more than one soap, especially online.

And if the stories are compelling.

There was a time when there were dozens of them and over half seemed to be successful for years, so some people were obviously making the time to watch.

Now in this age of watching when you want on various mobile devices, I think it is possible, even though the broadcast model may not be particularly hospitable for more than a paltry few shows at this point.

Online, may just be a different story, though.

I think there could be room for more than one soap, especially online.

And if the stories are compelling.

Edited August 24, 201312 yr by DramatistDreamer

How convenient:

Nelson Branco @nelliebranco2m

Yep, I can confirm Paul Rauch was trying to reboot GUIDING LIGHT. He called me about it several times. I was sworn to secrecy.

Oh for Christ's sake. If Paul told Nelson anything, he would have blabbed before the body got cold.

If the show was to reboot and they needed a Michelle, I'd hope they'd reach out to Joie Bethany Lenz. She was the best Michelle, IMO. And for Marah, grab Martha Madison. She does have resemblance to KZ and is a solid actress.

I'd just hope that like my blog, they would've brought on Blake's twins and played on the good/evil twin. Kevin, being the good twin--the Ross like twin. And Jason being like his grandpa, Roger.

Have Jason still have a vendetta against Phillip & Rick. He wants to bring them down. He does so by dating Leah (a plot to stick it to Rick). And a plot to take the Spaulding fortune from Phillip or worse . . . plot to kill him.

Meanwhile, have Kevin become close to Rick, who was once believed to be his father, causing Blake to become anxious as she still harbors ill will towards Rick. Kevin wants to be a doctor (like Rick) but Blake pushes him into law (like Ross). Have him be the tortured/conflicted, but nice twin.

And Clarissa of course has to follow in the footsteps of the women she's related too (Holly, Blake, Dinah)--the self-destructive, social climbing vixen.

I only dipped into Guiding Light off and on for years depending on what storylines seemed to be good at the time but I would love to see the show come back. There is definitely room online for more soaps and even being produced by PP, especially if they are going to do "Seasons". They could just "air" them at different cycles so that they aren't "competing" with each other.

Personally, I would prefer that my favorite soap of all time, Another World, be brought back instead but I would support any soap continuing. There do not need to be a lot of veterans/former cast members to make it work as long as it was well written and stuck true to the history. I'm sure there are many fans who would love to see what is happening with Reva's kids and grandkids even if Reva isn't on herself.

I still miss the Corys, the Frames, the Loves. I'd give anything to know what the next generation is up to and if they are acting just like their parents. Haha.