Parent Trap

A little while ago, in the Small Steps blog entry, I referenced a story about Holly kidnapping the children of Springfield. Commonly regarded as one of the biggest missteps in GUIDING LIGHT's history, it's that event which serves as the axis of today's presentation, Parent Trap, which spans the end of 1998 and the beginning of 1999.

Initially, I was going to confine the clipset to that event, but I decided that it might be best best to broaden the scope a little bit to include some the drama surrounding Holly's activity as the Nursery Rhyme Stalker beforehand, the Beth/Matt/Vanessa triangle, and the Thanksgiving celebration.

There are a lot of things to criticize about this period. To say that the late 90's were a rough patch in GL's history is putting it mildly. We're talking about the era that boasted the Reva clone and Hart's boxing match with Death, among other travesties. The damage done to the character of Holly definitely falls into this category. Always complicated, conflicted, and neurotic, Holly was never the out and out lunatic that this story made her out to be.

Subsequent writers would claim that this story rendered the character unusable, which is, of course, lazy, small-minded hogwash. I can almost understand why it might be difficult to bring a character back from being turned into the perpetrator of your key demographic's worst nightmare, but it's certainly been done elsewhere.

I could certainly go on about how wrong this development in Holly is, but I'd like to instead talk about some of the good things about Parent Trap. In putting this clipset together, I'm astounded at how many stories there are playing at one time. In contrast with the narrow focus of the current show, this period seems like a veritable ocean of viewing choices. I think that's one thing that really makes this clipset a "must view" (aside from the "can't-look-away-from-the-car-crash" value of watching Holly's character assassinated) is the expansive panoramic look at the show of this era. In the 28 clips, I think you get to see pretty much everybody and every story that was on the show at this time, including the disastrous return of Roger Newman as Holly's brother Ken Norriss. (I can't help but wonder how he must've felt, returning to the show after 24 years away, only to be plopped into this nightmare of a story.)

Another interesting thing about this set is getting see the young adult characters of today relating to one another as children. Watching Lizzie, Tammy, and Marina (and, to a lesser extent, Shayne and Coop) and thinking about the paths their lives would take. And don't get me started on the fact that Susan is now younger than all of them.

Anyway, if I haven't scared every single one of you off, here's Parent Trap:

clip 1 , clip 2 , clip 3 , clip 4 , clip 5 , clip 6 , clip 7

clip 8 , clip 9 , clip 10 , clip 11 , clip 12 , clip 13 , clip 14

clip 15 , clip 16 , clip 17 , clip 18 , clip 19 , clip 20 , clip 21

clip 22 , clip 23 , clip 24 , clip 25 , clip 26 , clip 27 , clip 28

clip 29

Masquerade

Okay, kids. Don't say ivnkplng never gave you anything!

As many people know, I have a lot of very unpopular opinions about GUIDING LIGHT. One of those opinions is that the show really lost its way and became something it should never have been between 1983 and 1989. Yes, I know. This time period is, far and away, the most popular in fan circles. Yes, I know. This time period was the most commercially successful in the show's history.

What I also know is that during this time, the show turned into a very different animal than it had been in the decades before or the decades after. To many, that's a good thing and this time period is regarded as GL's "glory days." By my reckoning, nothing could be further from the truth. It lacks the warm sincerity of the radio and early television days, the psychological complexity of the late 60's, 70's, and early 80's, the dazzling intelligence of the early and mid-90's, or even the pioneering irreverence of post-milennial 00's GL.

I know I'm speaking blasphemy about one of the most beloved eras in daytime, but it's how I feel. I've immersed myself in the history of the show and I'm a viewer of GL today. I feel that I know quite a bit (not everything, obviously) about what GL has offered over the course of the last 70 years and this mid-to-late 80's era remains my least favorite, coming across as a parodic ripoff of other television shows and genres.

This is the reason that I've generally sidestepped this period of time in my Memory Project, but today I present to you, gentle readers, a veritable smörgåsbord of mid-80's delights. Reardons and Lewises everywhere! All the Four Musketeers you can eat! Maeve Kinkead before she learned to act!

I want to be clear that Masquerade is not totally without merit. There are some really effective sequences with Tony and Annabelle (played the always worthwhile Harley Jane Kozak) pertaining to Tony's deteriorating medical condition, as well as the debut of the delicious Beverlee McKinsey as Alexandra Spaulding. And then there's Lisa Brown's costume, which must be seen to be believed! This long clipset from 1984 culminating in the wedding of Billy and Vanessa is my way of spreading the wealth as far as representing the different eras of the show.

I hope people don't take offense to the sharing of my opinion and I encourage those with dissenting views to express them here at the blog or at the GLMP message board.

So 80's fans, strap in and enjoy Masquerade.
clip 1 , clip 2 , clip 3 , clip 4 , clip 5 , clip 6

clip 7 , clip 8 , clip 9 , clip 10 , clip 11 , clip 12

clip 13 , clip 14 , clip 15 , clip 16 , clip 17 , clip 18

clip 19 , clip 20 , clip 21 , clip 22 , clip 23 , clip 24

clip 25 , clip 26

Perchance to Dream

In 1992, GUIDING LIGHT really was at the height of its powers. An absolutely top notch acting ensemble and a truly gifted team of writers made the show into a glistening gem, unafraid of its own sensitivity and intelligence. This was a time of raw emotions and complicated themes, genuinely funny comedy and heartwrenching drama-- passion, pain, tenderness, cruelty, and all the thrill of living presented on a platter of razor-sharp dialogue and edge-of-your-seat plotting.

It was this GUIDING LIGHT that chose, on election day 1992, to present a fantasy episode centered on Ross' senate bid and its effects on his personal relationships, specifically his tortured relationship with Blake. Stuck in traffic with Fletcher, Ross falls asleep and enters a gilt, hazy dreamworld peopled by outrageous parody/caricatures of the Springfield residents closest (in one way or another) to him.

This show boasts brilliantly effective and kinetic camera work, as well as bold set and costume designs that are very nearly characters unto themselves. The actors approach every moment in the script with delicious gusto, with standouts being Jerry verDorn as the beleaguered Ross, Jean Carol as a delightfully airy dream version of Nadine, and Michael Zaslow as Macchiavellian dreammaster Roger. Maureen Garrett is a revelation as the dream version of Holly, beautifully distilling all of the best and worst elements of her character into a creation that is at once wildly entertaining and profoundly disturbing.

The last thing I'll say about this episode is that Rick Hearst looks really good by the hot tub. You'll see what I mean... ;)

So, enter GUIDING LIGHT's dream world and enjoy Perchance to Dream

clip 1 , clip 2 , clip 3 , clip 4
clip 5 , clip 6 , clip 7 , clip 8

In the Interests of the Child

The late 70's were a GUIDING LIGHT period filled with struggles over children. An interesting thing about the two main conflicts is that their subjects both became major GL characters in the 80's, 90's, and 00's, even marrying one another briefly. I refer, of course, to Phillip and Blake.

The battle for Blake (who was then called Christina) was a bit more straightforward. Holly had a baby by Roger, but married Ed. Roger eventually got both Holly and Christina, but it all ended very famously and badly after that.

The Girl Is Mine is a brief "snapshot" of the middle of the battle. It's 1977 and Ed is raising Christina as his own daughter, a situation that does not please Roger at all.

The Girl Is Mine

clip 1 , clip 2

Far more complicated was the custody battle for Phillip Spaulding. It seems that Alan had "bought" Phillip from a shady doctor who convinced Jackie Marler to give him up at birth when her marriage to Justin crumbled. Alan then presented the boy to his then-wife, Elizabeth, as a replacement for the baby that she lost without actually telling her that her actual baby had died! Alan and Elizabeth's marriage eventualy failed and a custody battle began. Jackie was the only one who knew that she was was the boy's birth mother and married Alan to be close to Phillip, only to be disappointed when Elizabeth won custody with the help of her new lover (and Alan's hated enemy) Mike Bauer. Got that?

Picking up in early 1979, as the custody verdict is announced, In the Interests of the Child focuses on Jackie's internal struggle and her unique relationships with Phillip and Alan. Jackie is beautifully played here by Cindy Pickett who would go on to a very long a successful television and film career which continues to this day.

In the Interests of the Child

clip 1 , clip 2 , clip 3 , clip 4 , clip 5

clip 6 , clip 7 , clip 8 , clip 9 , clip 10