Connect with us

Breaking News

12

The Writers of ‘Guiding Light’ Come Together For A Virtual Conversation

Photo: P&G

Several of the writers who helped mold and shape the town of Springfield, and in particular the characters you loved to love, or loved to hate on Guiding Light, are banding together for a special livestream chat on Wednesday July 1st.

Look for former writers and head writers: Jim Brown, Dave Kreizman, Jill Lorie Hurst, Courtney Simon and Millee Taggart to share remembrances about stories they crafted through the years on the beloved CBS soap opera and more.

It all takes place on The Locher Room with former Guiding Light and As the World Turns publicist, Alan Locher as your host.

Click here to watch what will be an interesting hour of discussion and insight for any longtime fan of GL.

So, looking forward to checking out this “Writers Room” Guiding Light reunion? Comment below.

Leave a comment | 12 Comments

12 Comments
oldest
newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Unfortunately, will be missing it, so I will have to catch it at a later time.

Now this should be interesting! Let’s hope they talk about network/P&G interference in the stories they were trying to tell … and what it was like to see other writers undo the good work they had done.

Wish you would return where you left off.

Bridget and Jerome Dobson were the best writers… Doug Marland came next.

I absolutely adored the Marland era, and I thought the Dobson era was quite well done also, but Nancy Curlee is the one who really stands out in my mind. And the fact that she accomplished what she did WHEN she did, well after the heavy network and P&G interference started (which was circa 1988), made it even more remarkable. I wasn’t as fond of Pam Long’s work as some were, but when I look at clips in retrospect I realize she was much better than I gave her credit for at the time; I think I just didn’t like GL as well as I did under the Dobsons and Marland (and I’d still say that). I enjoyed what the Labines did, later, and what Millee Taggart did. I admired what the folks toward the end were trying to do, though they were having to undo so much damage accumulating over so many years by that point and the budget cuts and such really did not help. Just about everybody else involved as a headwriter since I started watching in 1975 I will not comment on, because there’s not much nice to say. (There might be some I’m forgetting who did good work, but I can think of a handful who really did damage, and I’d have nothing good to say about them.)

Very well stated. I found your comment about Pam Long interesting. I was in high school when her version of Guiding Light was in full-steam. I thought…at the time, it was masterpiece theater. Years later…(watching YouTube)…not so much. Watching the old clips, I find the show to be so hokey, bordering on high camp. I discovered the Dobson / and Marland eras via YouTube and must say, I absolutely love the writing and storylines. I now see what all buzz around these two era’s was about.

I love any soap discussion related to writing. Should be an interesting show.

IMO Douglas Marland was the BEST HEAD WRITER in history and I still miss him to this day, he died way to young…next in line was Bill Bell and he is also greatly missed.

I think the body of Marland’s work on the soaps, taken together, probably should mark him as the very best that was. I accept some of the criticisms people have levied as valid, but I can’t think of a perfect headwriter ever, and I still think on balance, he was tops. I never saw anything Irna Phillips wrote (my soap watching started a few years after she left ATWT for the last time), so I can’t include her in my sample group. I think the Dobsons did “intense” better than anybody else, and nobody was better than Agnes Nixon at weaving social issues into solid storytelling. Bell deserves special recognition for his ability to sustain consistency of character and mood over a long, long period (which is partly why YR has suffered so much since his passing; who could possibly follow that?). Harding Lemay was the absolute best at making me forget I was watching a soap; those may as well have been REAL people I was watching. I think Henry Slesar of Edge of Night did plot better than anybody else (although Gordon Russell and Sam Hall of 1970s One Life to Live and Marland came close, and I still think Marland’s Douglas Cummings mystery on ATWT in the mid-80s was probably the best mystery even). Claire Labine did “human” better than anybody. There are quite a few others who also did good work, particularly before all the network and sponsor interference started, and whose shows I was happy to watch. There are some promising talents in the last couple of decades whose work I can’t judge because the interference makes it impossible to know what they can really do and what’s been foisted up on them. What astonishes me in retrospect, though, is how many truly bad headwriters there have been who continued to get hired over and over to destroy show after show. I take away from that that most people involved in the hiring had absolutely no idea what made a good soap writer. But since it was a writer’s medium, from the start (thanks largely to Irna), eventually it did not matter whether they could pick a good writer or not; the minute Gloria (“Anybody can write a soap opera”) Monty decided she could do the headwriter’s job better than a writer could, the soaps were probably sunk. People focus on the OJ trial and the changing demographics and more women in the work world and such as the cause of the decline, and I have no doubt that all has played a part, but I think the interference and the denigration of the headwriting function played a bigger role.

Michael (not Fairman)…I am so impressed with your knowledge of a lot of the headwriters and I agree with you…I started watching GL when the Dobson’s were writing and then Douglas Marland…How I miss the good ole days of our daytime dramas…

Thanks for bring back The Light! But let’s bring it back for real. Writers need to get together and promote a 30 min GL soap revival again on a major network. You have a great list of writers on tap. Notably missing are some of the best writing in the 1980s (Pamela K. Long) and the 1990s (Nancy Curlee with Daytime Emmy Win for Writing and husband Stephen Demorest). Pamela created characters like Reva Shayne, Alexandra Spaulding, and Harley Davidson Cooper! Thanks to Alan Locher for putting these virtual conversations to the fans. And Michael Fairman for promoting it!

I miss this show so much!!! I wish theyd bring it back streaming!!! My favorite era was the early 80’s. The 4 musketeers!!!! I think they lost their way when they killed off Maureen.

Breaking News

Kim Kardashian, Emma Roberts and Marlene King Land ‘Calabasas’, a Soap in the Vein of the ‘O.C’ and ‘Beverly Hills 90210’, at Netflix

There has been lot of soapy projects coming to life and in the works of late, and now comes word that Kim Kardashian is executive producing a new series in development for Netflix called Calabasas.

After a bidding war last week, it looks like Netflix cemented the development deal from Kim, and her producing partners American Horror Story co-star Emma Roberts (pictured below) and Pretty Little Liars creators Marlene King and Alexandra Milchan.

The concept of Calabasas is based on the book If You Lived Here You’d Be Famous By Now by Via Bleidner.  King set to write the adaptation and will serve as the series showrunner.

Photo: JPI

According to Deadline, Calabasas is said to be in the vein of primetime young teen and young adult soaps the O.C. and Beverly Hills 90210. The story follows “Via, a 16-year-old sheltered Midwestern Catholic school girl whose world is turned upside down when her family moves and she’s forced to transfer to the fast world of Calabasas High where nothing is as it appears and where everyone is trying to be someone else. It’s a place where dreams come true … but not without complications and sometimes unforeseen consequences.”

Photo: Hulu

As fans of the Kardashians know, Kim and her family made the town of Calabasas a household and worldwide name. Kim being attached to this project helped make its sale. This marks her fourth project to sell since the writers and actors strikes concluded at the end of last summer.

So, would you be interested to see a teen soap called ‘Calabasas’ on Netflix from Kim and company? Comment below.

Continue Reading

Breaking News

The Young and the Restless and General Hospital Actress and Writer, Meg Bennett, Passes Away at 75

Meg Bennett, who had played Julia Newman and later became a writer for the top-rated daytime drama, The Young and the Restless has died at the age of 75.  The news comes from her family who shared that she lost her battle to cancer back on April 11th.

Daytime fans remember fondly, Meg’s portrayal of Victor’s (Eric Braeden)first wife. Bennett joined the show in 1980, after her first soap stint for two years in the role of Liza Walton on Search for Tomorrow.

Impressed by her story notes, the late Bill Bell, then head writer of Y&R, had Meg doing double duty acting and writing on the show from 1983-1987. When he decided to write off the character of Julia, he also wanted Meg to stick around as a writer.  Not only did this begin a whole other daytime career for Bennett, but she was not done playing Julia either. Throughout the decades, Julia would still come back to Genoa City for a visit. Most recently, Y&R fans saw Julia in 2018, and again in 2020.

Photo: JPI

Bennett also appeared on Santa Barbara and was a writer on that show as well from 1991-1993. She played the role of Megan Richardson. It was next that Meg had her longest writing stint coming to ABC’s General Hospital. Meg wrote for GH from 1993-2011.

In 1995, Bennett won her first Daytime Emmy for writing and her personal life changed after falling in love with nine-time Daytime Emmy winner, former GH head writer, Bob Guza Jr. In addition, GH also utilized Bennett for her acting skill when she was cast as the villainess Allegra Montenegro.  Meg and Bog Guza were officially married in 2004 and purchased a home once owned by Boris Karloff and Gregory Peck.

Photo: JPI

Additionally, Meg wrote for The Bold and the Beautiful 1987-1989 and later served as a executive story consultant to Brad Bell from 2002-2004.  She also wrote for Sunset Beach, Generations and GH: Night Shift throughout her writing career. She went on to win five WGA Awards for GH and Santa Barbara.

Meg is survived by her husband of 19 years, Robert Guza Jr., two stepdaughters, four grandchildren, a brother and a sister.

Share your remembrances and condolences for Meg Bennett via the comment section below.

Continue Reading

Breaking News

Steve Kent Reportedly OUT as Sony Pictures Television VP in Charge of DAYS and Y&R

On Friday, reports surfaced that Steve Kent, Senior Executive Vice President of Programming at Sony Pictures Television, is no longer with the company and overseeing the Sony soap operas, Days of our Lives and The Young and the Restless.

According to Soap Opera Digest, a set side source reported that Kent’s last day was last Friday, April 12th, which was one day after what would have been his final appearance in his Sony VP role at the Days of our Lives 15,000th episode on set celebration.

During that ceremony, Kent gave a brief speech giving kudos to DAYS for its incredible milestone. Days is a co-production of Sony Pictures Television and Corday Productions, while Y&R is produced by Bell Dramatic Serial Company in association with Sony Pictures Television.

Photo: JPI

Kent started his soap opera career as a producer for CBS’ defunct Capitol and then as the supervising producer of NBC’s Santa Barbara from1984 to 1993.

Photo: JPI

At Sony, before his role overseeing the soaps, Kent was Senior Executive Vice President of International Productions for Sony Pictures Television International department.

If reports are true, the question becomes who has taken over his position, and would oversee DAYS and Y&R from the Sony side? Share your thoughts on this developing story via the comment section below.

Continue Reading

Video Du Jour

Peter Reckell returns for a second visit with Michael Fairman following the wrap-up of his recent run as Bo Brady on Days of our Lives.Leave A Comment

Recent Comments

Power Performance

Eileen Davidson as Ashley

The Young and the Restless

Airdate: 4-12-2024

Popular