Falling Down

So, I had intended to go back to the mid-80's this week for Tony and Annabelle's wedding or perhaps cover Gilly and Hamp's 1992 wedding to cap off Black History Month, but as I was going through our video files, nothing pleased me. I even looked at some other material and I just could not get excited. Days went by and, for various reasons (some personal and some relating to the travails of the GL online community), I had lost my lust for this project.

I knew I just need a jolt and I knew there was one source I could count on to get that spark of life: Beth Chamberlin. My love for Beth Chamberlin and the character of Beth is well-documented, so I won't go into more detail about my feelings there, except to say that I feel refreshed and ready to tackle any of life's challenges head-on ("Head On! Apply Beth directly to the Project!")

Falling Down finds us at the very beginning of 1998, mid-January to be exact, shortly after Severance and right before Alan & Annie's wedding. The title of this clipset is, in part, a direct reference to the danger in which young Lizzie (played by a brand-spanking-new Hayden Panettiere) finds herself as she reacts to the tumult caused by Phillip's relationship with Harley and seeming abandonment of Beth.

This is typical Esensten and Harmon-Brown scripting with Harley presented (on the surface at least) as impossibly good and noble and heroic and Beth presented (again, on paper only) as impossibly evil and calculating and needy. Such paper-thin, two-dimensional rivalries were the staple of Esensten and Harmon-Brown's reign as headwriters: think Reva vs. Annie, Jenna vs. Nola, Cassie vs. Dinah. In each case one character commits despicable acts and is considered "bad" and the other does the same kinds of things (or worse!) and is inexplicably meant to be thought of as a "heroine."

That frustrating aspect aside, there's lots to enjoy about Falling Down, not the least of which is a glimpse of the early star quality of HEROES star Hayden Panettiere as adorable, put-upon Lizzie. Especially effective are the scenes where Super-Harley rescues Lizzie from the well in which she finds herself and the Harley/Beth confrontation toward the end of the clipset. These clips also feature Alan, Buzz, Eleni (Jennifer Roszell, not Melina Kanakaredes), Jenna, and the always delightful Cynthia Watros as Annie.

Enjoy Falling Down--

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

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

Full Deck

Various recent writing/production teams, in their efforts to come up with sensationalistic stories to boost GUIDING LIGHT's ratings, have made changes in some longstanding relationships between the characters on the show. Some of the time, this has made for great drama, but more often it has left fans scratching their heads and severely and permanently damaged important characters on the show. Examples of this kind of thing would include Holly kidnapping all the children of Springfield, Edmund stealing Michelle's baby and leaving her to die, and Phillip kidnapping half the children of Springfield. Also, eligible for inclusion on this list is about 90% of what's been done with the character of Alexandra since her 2002 return.

Full Deck finds us in the early part of 2003, about three months after Joan Collins' abrupt departure from the role and Marj Dusay's return. For my part, while I love Collins for who she is, I'm not sure I would say that she was ever a great fit for Alexandra. Dusay, as expected is in fine form as she plays out the regrettably outrageous story of Alexandra drugging Alan into an ever-intensifying state of dementia. Olivia also factors into the story quite heavily, roped in by Alexandra as part of a plan to get Phillip back into the family.

This clipset is also of note because of the way it gives little glimpses of other stories that were going on during the Conboy/Weston era. We get a look at the beginnings of Edmund/Cassie, a brief foray into the aftermath of Harley's shooting and Gus learning that he is a Spaulding. Also, this is another look at HEROES star Sendhil Ramamurthy's time on GL as Alexandra's aide Lloyd.

Enjoy Full Deck--

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

For a little back story, take a look at the Phillip's Ex-Wives Club clipset from the end of 2002. It features Joan Collins as Alexandra and deals with Alan and Alexandra's ramped up war for control of Spaulding.

In the Balance

In Christopher Schemering's book, GUIDING LIGHT: A 50th Anniversary Celebration (1987, Ballantine Books), Agnes Nixon is quoted thusly: "When I was writing Bert, I tried to make her Everywoman in the sense that every woman could see a part of herself in Bert. Now Bert sometimes went overboard in butting into her children's lives, but she always meant well. Papa Bauer used to say, 'Bertha, liebling, you shouldn't get involved, you should leave them alone.' People didn't dislike her. The audiences wrote in letters, 'God, Bert, why don't you leave it alone?' So when women watched Bert, they might have said to themselves, 'there but for the grace of God go I.'"

Charita Bauer, who played Bert has been cited many times as having been the most satisfied during Nixon's term (1958-1966) as headwriter at THE GUIDING LIGHT and it's very easy to see why. In the Balance is comprised of just one fifteen-minute episode from September 20, 1963, but even in just these brief minutes, the raw, immediate quality of Nixon's writing is strikingly evident. This episode focuses on the difficult birth of a child who would become known as Hope Bauer (a front burner heroine of the show in the 70's and early 80's) and all of the trauma surrounding it.

In three riveting scenes, three separate sets of characters experience the event: Bert, Meta, and Papa Bauer at the Bauer home, Mike Bauer and George Hayes in the hospital waiting room, and finally Bruce Banning (Meta's husband), as he executes the precariously dangerous delivery of the baby from unconscious accident victim Julie Bauer (Julie had crashed her car after overhearung Mike tell Robin that he only married Julie because of the baby). Each of the three scenes has a different tone, but they all string together to form a truly exquisite whole. It's difficult to choose a favorite scene because eacj of the three has its own special power, from the restrained yet incredibly potent family scenes, to the raw angst of the Mike/George conversation, to the palpable, edge-of-your-seat tension of the operating scenes (featuring probably the best use of "old school" soap opera musical underscoring that I've ever witnessed).

It's my hope to one day have a lot more of this period to present and after viewing this episode, I suspect many of you will share that hope.

Enjoy In the Balance--

clip 1 , clip 2 , clip 3