Buried

Today's clipset is called Buried and it comes from the early part of 1985, while Reva is still married to H.B. The set is actually just one full episode, February 12, 1985, and it's very accurate taste of GL during this period, complete with the requisite "Cavalcade of Regional Dialects" in every scene. H.B., Reva, and Lewises are just as southern as southern can be while Lujack sounds like he wandered away from the set of WELCOME BACK, KOTTER.

Aside from that, the drama here is very effective as Reva deals with losing her and H.B.'s baby after being run over by a drugged-out Vanessa. There are other storylines visited too as Lujack and Beth plan to over come the Spauldings (He's got a plan, man!) and Fletcher and Claire journey to Beirut to examine Fletcher's past (On a side note, with apologies his fans, I have never been able to get past Jay Hammer's self-consciously "actor-y" portrayal of Fletcher. It just doesn't ring true to me. Just my opinion.)

The really striking thing about this episode for me is the sad, sad state of the Katie character. It's so disappointing for me to witness how the brilliant, vivacious Denise Pence was squandered as Katie languished as barely more than an extra (albeit an extra in the sleekest, most flattering nurses' unform I've ever seen! LOL!) during her last months on the show. It's frustrating to see her reduced to bit player status this way as the glam/adventure wave swept over this once achingly human show.

As many know, I tend not to be a huge fan of this period. Headwriter Pam Long really hacked away at what the show had been for its entire life (most notably ditching most of the Bauers, including Mike, Hillary, and Kelly), transforming GL into something completely different and, to my mind, not in keeping with the show's historical tone. Having said that, these years are considered by quite a few to be the best in the show's history. I may not agree, but what went on then is, in essence, not so different from what's happening now. It might not be meeting the public's taste in quite the same way, but the effect on the show is about the same. Just something to think about.

Meanwhile, enjoy Buried--

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clip 6 , clip 7 , clip 8 , clip 9

Note: parts 2 and 5 were posted two years ago as a two-part set, also under the title Buried.

Never Happier

1994 was a very special year in my GUIDING LIGHT history. It was my first full year as a viewer of the show, having begun watching in November of 1993. My memories of this time period are almost uniformly fond ones. The show was riding high on a crest of artistic success and recognition which began earlier in the decade and which (after a time) drew me to the show. I kept reading in the soap press about how amazing GUIDING LIGHT was, but I was exclusively an ABC boy (since the cancellation of my NBC soaps, SEARCH FOR TOMORROW and SANTA BARBARA) and unwilling to step across the aisle to try another network. As I've said before it was the casting of two stars from SB, Marj Dusay and Marcy Walker, that finally got me to "turn on the Light." As I've also said before, it was the enormous wealth of talented actors and the gripping storylines that got me to stay.

The clipset, I present today, Never Happier, is taken from June of 1994 and features the wedding of Blake and Ross. These clips are chock full of the faces that drew me into GUIDING LIGHT: Hilary Edson as "Eve Guthrie", Amelia Marshall as "Gilly Grant", Jean Carol as "Nadine Cooper" and many, many more. The primary players are (of course) Ross and Blake, but there is also much focus given to Roger and Holly, Ed and Michelle (played by the best child actor GL has ever seen, Rachel Miner), Jenna and Buzz, and the surprise return of Roger's father, Adam Thorpe (in the person of 70's GL stalwart Robert Milli).

Even as someone who was never that big a fan of the Ross/Blake couple, the wedding itself is actually very moving and all the cast interaction before and after is great fun and quite involving. There's lots of Alexandra and Tangie (the woefully misused Marcy Walker-- but y'know what? Her casting was the final straw that got me to watch GL, so she served a purpose even if Tangie fizzled.)and there's also a great look at one my favorite characters ever on this show: Detective Patrick Cutter, played by the dashing Scott Hoxby. I loved him with Tangie. I loved him with Jenna. I even eventually loved him with Marion Crane (but, alas, that final coupling proved to be his undoing). Hoxby's face in these clips brings me back so vividly to my early days with GL.

I really don't have a lot more to say about this clipset and I apologize for the lack of in-depth dramaturgical analysis. I just got so lost in nostalgia watching it. This is my original GUIDING LIGHT.

One tidbit that is interesting is that the show, at this time, had a large team of head writers, just as it does now. All the naysayers who go on about how such a situation is inherently bad in 2008 need only take a look at the lovely soap opera created by Stephen Demorest, Patrick Mulcahey, Nancy Williams Watt, Millee Taggert, and Sheri Anderson from 1993 to 1995. Five head writers seems extreme, but they put on a helluva show!

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And so, enjoy Never Happier---

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

The Harder They Fall

I'm back! My apologies for the prolonged absence, but life can be a strange and terrible thing and it sometimes prevents us from focusing on the things we love most. Rest assured the GLMP is back on track and I've got lots of great goodies coming up for those of you still on board! Now, on with the show!

Beth Raines is a very unlucky woman. Even by the alarmingly harrowing standards of beleaguered soap heroines, Beth Raines is an extremely unlucky woman-- like, Lily Snyder (ATWT) or Viki Lord (OLTL) unlucky! In 2001, following the death of Beth's husband Jim, Beth decided to take charge and start being a more driven, take-no-mess kind of lady. It goes without saying that this ended badly. :(

Beth was folded into the pre-existing San Cristobel storyline via a surprisingly effective and involving romance with Edmund Winslow, "evil" brother to "heroic" Prince Richard. Played by the tremendously magnetic and talented David Andrew MacDonald, Edmund became the kind of "villain" that elicited equal parts sympathy and fury from viewers and characters alike, much like classic GL scoundrel Roger Thorpe. As Beth begins to fall prey to Edmund's horrific actions, an interesting dynamic begins to emerge that very successfully recalls the tortured push-pull-love-hate struggle of quintessential GL "super couple" Roger and Holly.


In the press and in fan circles, we hear so little about the work of Beth Chamberlin and that fact never ceases to amaze me. Chamberlin is passionately, brilliantly believable as a woman who thinks she's finally found the strength she's lacked all her life only to have the entire thing collapse around her. The chemistry (apologies for employing that overused, ill-defined term) between Chamberlin and MacDonald is literally breathtaking, especially in the searing hospital scenes in clips 34 through 36.

What's less effective (especially in hindsight) is the royal intrigue storyline with Dax and the control the monarchy of San Cristobel. This mileu was created by the (in my not-that-humble opinion) worst head writing team in the history of the show Barbara Esensten and James Harmon Brown in 1999 and inherited by subsequent writers after they left. This clipset occurs at the tail end of Claire Labine's term as head writer in late June/early July of 2001, after the Richard/Cassie pairing had achieved considerable popularity. Labine wisely highlights the love story of Richard and Cassie and the gothic brother relationship of Edmund and Richard, but the political machinations of San Cristobel and the (frankly laughable) scenes of Phillip and Noah in combat fatigues, holed up in bunkers, and leading troops through the forest to storm the palace(!) do not age well at all. Having said that, the central event (which yields the title of this clipset) with Beth falling from the tower as Edmund and Phillip watch helplessly is very exciting.


This clipset is a great look at a time in GL's history which feels strangely distant to us now even though it was only seven years ago. I think part of this is because "the San Cristobel era" was relatively short and was abandoned so completely afterward due to a very understandable viewer backlash.

The Harder They Fall provides a great look at the Beth/Edmund (one of the most underrated romances in soap history) and Edmund/Richard relationships as well as some very touching Richard/Cassie moments. The San Cristobel intrigue sections are interesting as well, even if only in a time capsule, "classic misstep" kind of way and they provide a nice glimpse of soap legend Thom Christopher's time on the show as Colonel Dax. For those who don't know, Christopher is best known for his work on ONE LIFE TO LIVE as Carlo Hesser, one of that show's premier villains.


And so, enjoy The Harder They Fall.

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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 , clip 30
clip 31 , clip 32 , clip 33 , clip 34 , clip 35 , clip 36
clip 37 , clip 38


It should be noted that this clipset immediately follow the events of The Head That Wears the Crown which features Edmund's coronation and his wedding to Beth.

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



I'll see you all here very soon for more goodness from the rich history of GUIDING LIGHT!!

take care,
---ivnkplng