Thursday, January 31, 2008

She's Come Undone

I remember an article from a soap magazine from 1997 (probably Soap Opera Digest) in which the character of Annie was described as "She's not just front burner. She's the whole damn stove!" That's a fairly accurate assessment of the way that GL used the character as a story engine to drive several different plots and affect most of the other characters on the canvas.

Her biggest involvement was obviously with Josh and Reva, since Annie had been turned into a scheming, lurking, raving madwoman to accomodate the return of Reva. I felt at the time and still feel now that this was a great shame. It would have been far more interesting to have Josh find his way back to Reva (if that's absolutely what the show felt it had to do) while keeping Annie as a sane, if troubled, character. Alas, GL took the same route it always does by making the alternative to Reva into the most horrible woman on the face of the planet. The amazing Cynthia Watros, however, never let Annie lapse into caricature and held tightly onto the essential humanity and complexity of the character.

For her efforts, Watros won a Lead Actress Emmy in 1998 in recognition of her work in 1997. Probably her best remembered performance came during '97 when Annie's plot to frame Reva for causing Annie to miscarry fell apart. Watros is literally mesmerizing in the scenes where Ross manipulates Annie into confessing her scheme, in large part because she keeps the character so real and sympathetic. Wisely, the scripts provide ample opportunity for Annie's point of view to come across and Watros takes full advantage of this as she plays the anguish of losing the love of her life to someone like Reva.

Having said all of that, my favorite moments in this set come in clip 10, where Annie corners Reva in the elevator. For my part, this scene goes a long way toward demonstrating why Watros won her Emmy and why Kim Zimmer felt so threatened by her. Watros' work is especially miraculous considering the hostile environment that had been created for her on the set, including, but not limited to Zimmer's abuse of Watros in the media, referring to her by names like "Wicked Watros."

From Wikipedia: "Watros has had a complicated history with Guiding Light co-star Kim Zimmer. Zimmer and Watros met and became friends when they co-starred in an off-Broadway show Four Dogs and a Bone by John Patrick Shanley. Although there is no long-standing rivalry, working in close quarters apparently caused a serious rift between them when they both appeared on Guiding Light. In particular, a physical altercation between the two actors was captured on tape during filming of a Guiding Light episode."

I actually wasn't aware of these specifics until I started researching this blog entry, but I have to say that I definitely see a tension that goes beyond their characters in clip 10.

In addition to Annie, Reva, and Josh, She's Come Undone also features substantial appearances of Ross, Blake, Alan, Marah, and others. Also, please note the outrageous sideshow plotting and self-consciously gothic dialogue from hack writers Barbara Esensten and James Harmon Brown.

Enjoy!

She's Come Undone--

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

For a bit of background on how Annie, Reva, and Josh got to this point, check out GLMP's Shine the Light clipset, which is taken from January of 1997 and features the show's celebration of its 60th anniversary. Annie's involvement in the lives of Reva, Josh, Alan, and Blake gets lots and lots of attention in this 35-part set.

posted by ivnkplng at 1/31/2008 03:44:00 PM | 1 Comments

Friday, January 25, 2008

GUIDING LIGHT celebrates 71 years!

71 years. That's a very long time, boys and girls. Superman has only been around for 70.

GUIDING LIGHT celebrates 71 years on the air on January 25 and I think that's incredibly significant. I think that every year that's added to GL's unparalleled, lengthy run is a meaningful milestone and I mean to take note of this year's milestone in this blog entry by taking a look at the opening sequences that have heralded the beginning of the show throughout the course of the its long history

First though, I want to bring readers of this blog into a better understanding just how far back the history of the show goes by presenting a full 15-minute radio episode of THE GUIDING LIGHT from 1950. In this episode a friendly card game at the Bauer house turns sour as long unspoken tensions bubble to the surface. The characters in this episode are Papa Bauer, his children, Meta, Trudy, and Bill, and Bill's wife Bertha (also called Bert). These characters had all been introduced in 1948, eleven years into the show's run, and quickly became the focus of most of the action.

In 1952, the show made the leap to television and each episode began with a drawing of a lighthouse with the announcer saying, "The new Duz brings you The Guiding Light," just as he did on the radio shows.
*
By 1953, they had developed a more standard television opening.
*
The 1955 opening features the beginning of the lighthouse image.
*
This opening, begun in 1956, remains the second longest lived in the show's history and was used until 1967.
*
While no video record of the 1967-68 opening is available, I did find this description online:

The Guiding Light changed its opening logo and theme music when it went from
black and white to color on Monday, March 13, 1967. From
March 1967 to September 1968, according to soap opera historian John Kelly
Genovese, GL opened with a shot of a major character posed in the mood of that
day's episode. One fan of GL e-mailed me with the following memories of
the 1967/68 opening:
. . .The program opened on a close-up of one of the
character's faces against a black background. . .the announcer proclaimed the
title, and the music swelled, as the camera remained fixed in a very tight shot of an actor or actress' face (normally with a very intense expression--I particularly recall Ed Bauer), after which the title was superimposed.

Also, the title of the show appeared in small cursive lettering in the lower right
corner of the screen.


It should also be noted that THE GUIDING LIGHT expanded from 15 minutes to 30 in 1968.
*
There also seems to be some debate over what the exact opening was between 1968 and 1970. I'm sure someone somewhere must know, but I don't have the information available
*
The 1970-74 opening (which some seem to feel was used in that 68-70 period) is known but, to my knowledge, unrecorded. However, there is an image available. This time period falls in the "Great Collector Blackout". There seems to be no one at all with any videographic evidence of THE GUIDING LIGHT (except for the briefest snippets here and there) from 1967 through the beginning of 1979.
As you can imagine, this is unbelievably frustrating for me and for a great many others. Even the most cursory perusal of the history of this period makes it clear that we're really missing out on some of the best storylines in GL's history.
Only this audio recording of the closing from this period is available.
*
1974 brought a new opening and while no recoding of that is available, this video of the closing sequence is probably very similar to the opening.
Here is an audio recording of the opening: 1974 opening audio
*
It was in 1975 that the name of the show changed to just "GUIDING LIGHT", although CBS and even the show's announcer continued to call it "THE GUIDING LIGHT" until 1981. Also, in '75, a new opening sequence debuted, which I have here in a slightly altered version that began in 1977 and which, I should note, is my favorite opening from the history of GL. Also, GL expanded to an hour in 1977.
*
The disco era gave us this memorable opening at the end of 1981, featuring dancing Katie and Floyd!
*
A more sweeping, "romantic" theme was instituted in 1983...
...and drastically revamped in 1985
*
1986 brought a very bouncy, "twinkly" new intro...
...of which there were many versions.
*
Then came the 1991 opening, which lasted (through many iterations) longer than any other in the history of the show.
Various versions of it include (but are not limited to):
... and the final version without the cast, which aired unaltered for five years.
1997 opening (still basically the '91)
*
The show celebrated 50 years on television with this unjustly maligned opening, which I really like.
*
A new, "modern" wave of production took over in the form of EP John Conboy, who whooshed the old opening away and whooshed this one in its place. It went through many changes as cast came and went before ending up in this final version. (The "whoosh" references are an in-joke that you will not understand unless you were a viewer during the Conboy era. Sorry.)
*
Incoming EP Ellen Wheeler spruced things up at the end of '05 with a duo of new openings. In hindsight, these are actually really amazing.
*
Which brings us to where we are today, with the opening that debuted in January of 2007.
********
And finally, since this is an anniversary, I thought it only fitting to pay tribute to GUIDING LIGHT's longest running (even to this day) cast member: Charita Bauer, who played Bert from 1950 until her death in 1984. This tributed is taken from the 50th anniversary celebration in 1987 and is hosted by Ed Bryce (Bill Bauer #2). It's a really lovely set of clips (6 minutes total) that show just what a presence she'd been on the show.
Additionally, here's a tribute to another of GL's great ladies, Mary Stuart, who assumed the role of Meta in 1996. This aired in 2002, the same year she died.
********
And so, Happy 71st Anniversary, GUIDING LIGHT! To paraphrase Ed Bryce, here's to 71 more!!
On February 29 of this year, the show will enter a new phase-- a new way of filming, a new feel and look for GUIDING LIGHT. A lot of people are panicking about this, but as I composed this blog entry, I became more sure than ever that GUIDING LIGHT is now, as it has always been, a force for change and for forward thinking. That spirit continues today and we viewers are in a similar position to radio listeners in 1952 who had to change the way they appreciated the show. I know I'll be along for the ride and I hope all of you are too.
Happy viewing!
---ivnkplng
___________________
Research for this blog entry was done at http://members.fortunecity.com/drjtv/gl.html and at Wikipedia.

posted by ivnkplng at 1/25/2008 01:57:00 AM | 0 Comments

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

A Friend Indeed

The early part of 1979, was tortured time on GUIDING LIGHT. The canvas was arrayed in a variety of complicated situations, courtesy of outgoing headwriters, Jerome and Bridget Dobson. The Holly/Roger rape case was getting started, including Rita's conflicted involvement in the proceedings. Jackie Marler's painful struggle to keep her motherhood of Phillip a secret was affecting many lives. Ben and Eve's marriage was rocked to its core by Amanda Middleton and her controlling mother Lucille. The Bauers were just getting their equilbrium back after the reveal of Bill's secret daughter Hillary, who was involved an affair with the married rapist Roger Thorpe.

But Hillary had a friend. And, oh what a friend! The character of Katie Parker was an oasis of light on the show. Played by the highly charismatic Denise Pence, Katie's sly wit and matter-of-fact way of dealing with life was a beautiful counterpoint to the mountains of anguish that surrounded her-- most notably, sad sack Hillary. The show wisely featured Katie in relatively light-hearted storylines that capitalized on Pence's comedic talents, but positioned her in the activity hub of Cedars nurses' station so as not to isolate her from the rest of the town.

A Friend Indeed is a lovely look at Katie as she deals with the arrival of her ne'er-do-well brother Floyd (played by the hilarious Tom Nielsen) as well as her back and forth pursuit/avoidance of stiff-as-a-board Dr. Mark Hamilton. This set also features nice glimpses of Charita Bauer as Bert counsels Hillary on her many, many, many woes.

Enjoy A Friend Indeed--

posted by ivnkplng at 1/15/2008 11:45:00 AM | 1 Comments

Saturday, January 05, 2008

GL 2007: A Year In Review

I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with an angle for this blog entry. I didn't want it to just be a rehash of the four quarterly reports, nor did I want it to just be a collection of "Best Of..." lists. What is it that I want to say about GUIDING LIGHT in 2007? What was the overarching theme of the year?

Well... supposedly, it was "Find Your Light." The first ITL of the year boldly proclaimed that '07 would be a year of "Find Your Light" and I suppose that was true off-screen as the cast (well, most of the cast) participated in a nationwide community outreach program. The Hands On project that sent actors from the show to various cities to literally do manual labor to build houses, repair schools, and other worthy projects all year long was nothing short of a marvel. I think it was a wonderful way to celebrate the show's 70th year and it really speaks to Ellen Wheeler's inherent generosity of spirit that she devised such an endeavor. People are really quick to slough that off on their way to tearing down GL's (and Wheeler's in particular) onscreen output, but I feel that the show and Wheeler deserve a lot more credit than they are getting for this effort.

Having said that, I do agree that there were a lot of rough patches on the show this year, primarily due to the writing. Before I launch into my own criticisms of the year on GL, I'd like to remind readers that I devoted four (quite long) blog entries to spotlighting the good things about GL.

GL Quarterly Reports:




I just want to be as clear as I can be that I am not part of the crowd that takes pleasure in bashing the show into the ground and insisting that it is an awful travesty that should be canceled at once. I'm quite firm in my stance that GL is a viable enterprise that still provides much quality entetainment to those who aren't so wrapped up in their smug adherence to fanbase agendas that they can't see the show for the trees.

Having said all of that, I do have some criticisms to levy--
David Kreizman has displayed a remarkable gift for repitition this year. Troublemaker Daisy's affections were spurned by Gus and so she spitefully and quite magically was able to immediately find Gus' old high school lover to bust up Gus' relationship with Harley. Then, a few months later, troublemaker Blake's affections were spurned by Mallet and so she spitefully and quite magically was able to find the man who used to employ Mallet as a hitman (!) to bust up Mallet's relationship with Dinah. Not content to leave it at that, troublemaker Ava's affections were spurned by Coop and so she spitefully and quite magically found Ashlee's high school guidance counseler to... well, he didn't actually do much of anything, but still, are you seeing a pattern here? I sure did.
Let's talk about the performer of the year. I tried to toss around several possibilities for this, but there's just no way to select anyone else for this honor other than Beth Ehlers. I want to be clear that I began 2007 as I have every other year that I've been watching GL: hating Harley and not being especially crazy about Ehlers' work in the role. That changed on January 25th, GL's anniversary episode. Ehlers was given the unenviable task of portraying show creator Irna Phillips. It would've been easy to just sort of rest on caricature and "act like Irna" in a general way, but Ehlers instead chose to create a beautifully nuanced, breathtakingly detailed, pitch perfect portrayal of this historical character. I didn't know it at the time, but this amazing performance was the starting bell for a marathon that Ehlers would run throughout 2007, leaving behind her a string of blockbuster performances from her searing Harley/Reva confrontation on 4/11 to the beautifully understated 5/22 performance where Harley barely spoke at all as Dylan explained to Daisy how hard it was for Harley to give her up to the anguished Harley/Natalia blowout on 8/6 when Harley discovered that Gus and been with his ex. The fallout from her ordeal in the collapsed church as she deals with the after effects of the trauma has been nothing short of transcendant. It was "stick in your finger and pull out a plum" with this actor throughout 2007 as she experienced what I unreservedly identify as the year of her career.

But, I'll tell you what: It's a damn good thing that Ehlers had such a great year because we saw a lot of Harley-- I mean a whooole lot of Harley. Part of that is a function of the tight focus that Kreizman has chosen to employ on the Coopers and the Lewis/Shaynes. Almost nothing was done independantly of these two families, despite ample opportunity and story potential. There was a half-hearted attempt at a Dinah/Mallet story, which thankfully, yielded Gina Tognoni's jaw-dropping portrayal of Dinah as she lay bleeding on the docks after being shot in the head, but that story really didn't go anywhere. There were good performances from Tognoni and Rob Bogue and Maeve Kinkead and Kurt McKinney, but the story wasn't pursued with any consistency. Viewers went for weeks at a time without seeing the characters and the story shifted radically and repeatedly in its direction and tone.

What we did get was a lot of emphatic pounding away on the "Cassie bad! Reva good!" drum as the show sucked every last ounce of charm, spark, and lustre that Josh and Cassie had in '06 and replaced it with misery and boredom (with the exception of their beautiful wedding which inexplicably featured yet another bizarre crime committed by Reva for which she hasn't paid, but I'll get back to that in a minute) and a religious story for Josh that I'm sure looked good on someone's paper, but tanked in execution. Meanwhile, Mel was yanked out of her budding triangle with Jeffrey and Olivia, so that Reva could be featured in her place (because Reva is so underexposed, dontcha know!) and then Olivia was dropped from the story as well (although the common understanding is that this was due to negative reaction from fans who couldn't deal with the complicated underpinnings of the Olivia/Jeffrey story). So what we were left with is week after excruciating week of Reva and Jeffrey giggling and drinking and cracking wise and committing an alarming and truly horrific string of crimes, including (but certainly not limited to) the elaborate, calculated assault and kidnapping of Lizzie.
Before this overview gets too long, let's give out some awards!
Best storyline: The destruction of Gus and Harley. Beth Ehlers, Ricky Paull Goldin, Jessica Leccia, and Bonnie Dennison formed an impenetrable unit of brilliant work all year long and they benefitted from the best writing on the show until the incongruous Olivia element was introduced.
Worst storyline: Jonathan/Reva/Alan book tie-in. 'Nuff said...
Best single episode: January 25. The anniversary show was pure joy from top to bottom. Clever writing, inventive direction, perfect performances from (almost) the entire cast. Add to that the sentimental factor and all the historical nuggets for us hard-core soap geeks and you have a truly lovely and enthralling hour of television.
Worst coma: (tie) Blake, Alan, Alexandra, Griggs, Edmund. That's just too many comas in one year, even for a soap.
Best Guest Performer: (tie) Darnell Williams (Griggs) and Allison Fischer (Megan). The vicious kidnapper and the juvie hall "mean girl" knocked it out of the park every single time!
Best Feature for a Veteran: Marj Dusay made delicious lemonade from the questionable lemons of Alexandra's marriage story.
Worst Return: The show trying to get us to think good thoughts about Jonathan returning over the Summer to make sure his theft of Lizzie's baby would remain a secret by violently threatening to kill Olivia. Umm... not such a good thing.
Best Killer Kid: No winner. This is an invalid category because killer kids are not good stories for soaps!
Biggest Waste of Talent: Hmmm... this is a tough one, but I think I'll go with Beth Chamberlin simply because she was responsible for so many of the best moments of 2006 and was used as little more than set dressing in '07.
Best Storyline We Never Saw: So many to choose from in this category, but I think I'll go with the off-screen dissolution of Vanessa and Matt's marriage.
Worst Roc Hoover: Mark Schlereth. I can't begin to imagine a worse one.
Best Comedy Scene: Ashlee singing at Doris and Alan's wedding. I don't think a soap has ever intentionally caused me to laugh so hard as I did on February 16 when Ashlee serenaded the "happy" couple. Caitlin VanZandt's hysterical performance coupled with the reactions of Marj Dusay, Marcy Rylan, Beth Chamberlin, and Michael O'Leary were pure comedy gold!
Best Rivalry: Harley and Reva. These two titans repeatedly clashed this year in scenes that were thrilling and soapy, but realistic and completely character-driven.
Worst Rivalry: Tammy and Beth. Tammy cold cocks Beth on Main Street and Beth just takes it. Tammy slams the door in Beth's face and Beth just takes it. Are you kidding me with this?? Beth would eat Tammy alive and stil have room left over for a big lunch.
Best Newcomer: (tie) Bonnie Dennison and Jessica Leccia showed over and over that they are perfect fits for GUIDING LIGHT with month after month of beautiful work portraying well-defined characters.
Best Recast: Bonnie Dennison, because she is an amazing, inventive actor who made Daisy/Susan her own from the get-go.
Worst Recast: Bonnie Dennison, because the show perpetrated an unforgivable affront by erasing the history created by Brittany Snow as our beloved Susan.
Best "GREAT BIG" Performance: Tom Pelphrey in the scenes of Tammy's death. Pelphrey went all the way there and, for once, it was justified and totally worked.
Worst Character Suddenly Becoming Evil: I wouldn't even know where to begin... Take your pick. Rick drugged everyone in sight. Mallet was a hitman. Josh arranged a murder and then played dumb. Colin participated in Reva's torture of Lizzie. Alan-Michael was just generally evil. The list goes on and on and on...

********
I could probably double the length of this overview and still not be finished saying everything I have to say, so let me just quit while I am (presumably) ahead. 2007 was a very up and down year for the show. Lots of good to report and a whole lot of bad as well. 2008 promises to be a year of change for GL. Here's to a better year for the show. Let's pray that Kreizman tempers his edgy experimentalism (which has yielded equal parts splendor and trash) with a better understanding of why soap operas are soap operas.
Happy watching and join us here next week as we return our attention to classic GL from years past!

---ivnkplng

posted by ivnkplng at 1/05/2008 02:29:00 AM | 2 Comments