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Critics Opinion
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel: GUIDING LIGHT
by Christopher Schemering
Soap Opera Digest
July 12, 1988

GUIDING LIGHT is the comeback story of the year. As the author of a book on the history of the show, this could not make me happier, considering that most of the past few years, fans of GL had to put up with non-stop nonsense: writers who had no concept of what the show was about, stories nobody cared about, and well-loved characters who wandered around like victims of shell shock.

Forget the backstage politics and the finger-pointing about which network and Procter & Gamble officials, production executives, and writers blew it. It's not the time for excuses and rationalizations. Besides, the backstage stuff is all contradictory and, in the final analysis, irrelevant. It is the results -- what transpired on the screen and what troubled the audience -- that truly matter.

In the past fifty-one years, GL fans have been conditioned to quality: grandparents still get misty-eyed over the radio days; others remember the decades of wonderful moments spent with he Bauer clan (who were introduced in 1948); still others thrill to the nasty antics of Roger Thorpe, the powerful Kelly-Morgan-Nola triangle, the exhilarating fantasies of the movie-mad Nola, the joyous and tragic star-crossed love story of Phillip and Beth, and the impulsive mischief of Reva Shayne, the party girl who is still hungry after all these years.

Success is often one step away from disaster. Mistakes were made, starting with the ouster of most of the Bauer family and continuing -- admittedly between moments of viewer pleasure -- with the truly bizarre "Infinity" plot, the suicide attempt of Reva (during holiday season yet); the Sampson Girl Contest (a February sweeps story with three ditsy contestants); undramatic and pointless forays into Andorra, a summer camp, and San Rios (action was taking place everywhere but Springfield); and the meandering Paul Valere murder. In that plot a major mystery story was built around someone in whom the audience had no emotional investment, and developed so that another new character was the main suspect, and finally resolved by dumping the crime on Warren Andrews (Warren Burton), who deserved better. There were five different head-writing regimes during 1986 and each writer inherited unwanted baggage from the former. Continuity was lost; viewers were confused. What happened to our GUIDING LIGHT?

To the show's credit, it was still in there pitching. The return of Executive Producer Joe Willmore brought back old favorites: Christopher Bernau's Alan, Robert Newman's Josh, Peter Simon's Ed, Grant Aleksander's Phillip. All the men no longer wore Ralph Lauren polo shirts, and the costuming soon became more suited to characters' individual tastes and quirks. The makeup stopped being applied with a trowel, the sound improved, the directing became more innovative and daring.

Although head writer Sheri Anderson began writing the show as if it were a clone of the shoot-'em-up DAYS OF OUR LIVES, she later re-established GL as a family show, contrasting the lifestyles of the aristocratic Spauldings, the new-money Lewises, and the have-not Shayne family with interesting results. She also succeeded in pulling the once-adrift community into focus, by finally pairing off the various characters into strong romantic couples. But it wasn't until August 1987 when Pamela K. Long returned as head writer that GUIDING LIGHT's inner glow began shining once again.

As soon as Kim Zimmer's Reva poured herself into that tight red dress for a wild night at the Blue Orchid, it signaled a new era for GL. As quickly as light floods a darkened room, Reva and GL had started its comeback -- with a vengeance. Ms. Long is an unusual writer. She was -- is -- a nifty actress (as her work as Ashley on TEXAS clearly demonstrated), but she always seemed to be holding back, in control. Her writing is the complete antithesis. The emotions of her characters are in conflict, get tangled up, and often flood over. This excess can be breathtaking as in the week following Long's return to GL. Reva reverted to her former impulsive, fun-loving self -- Kyle Sampson and Josh Lewis be damned -- and landed right on her backside in the fanciest place in town.

Reva's pouring out her heart -- alternately defiant and poignant about the childhood "hunger" that became her driving force -- to Alan Spaulding, the kingpin of Springfield, set in motion a series of emotional stories, conflicts, and character crises which affected all of the Shaynes, Lewises, and Spauldings. Kim Zimmer's dazzling performance was matched every step of the way by Audrey Peters (as her no-nonsense mother, Sarah -- the supporting performance of the year), and Christopher Bernau's Alan, whose crippling romantic obsession with Reva went against his psychological grain. Alan is a man always in control, and he was losing himself in this woman from the wrong side of the tracks. He couldn't even stand back and watch the process with amusement -- as he had with Elizabeth, Jackie, Hope, Trish. Something in Reva unnerved him. What a delicious twist.

Alan and Reva's uneasy relationship sent the town into a tizzy. Old resentments flared up. Alexandra, who had never forgotten that Alan hadn't lifted a finger to search for her kidnapped son, and Phillip, the self-destructive son who had gotten everything except his father's respect, teamed up to take over Spaulding Enterprises from Alan. Grant Aleksander (Phillip) and Beverlee McKinsey (Alex) have been so brilliant in these family slug-fests that it has all but been forgotten what fabulous romantic leads both actors can be. Aleksander's matinee good looks and dramatic volatility in an exciting romantic coupling could make him the hottest young star in daytime. And the chic McKinsey -- whose voice sounds like a vintage champagne bubbling in Baccarat -- is fun with HB (the always festive Larry Gates). But one wishes for the return of a temperamental Eric Luvonaczek to bring the notoriety she once enjoyed as Iris on ANOTHER WORLD.

Also cleverly integrated in the Reva-Alan story is the Josh-Solita-Will triangle. Solita and Will could have easily fallen into cartoon villains, but the intriguing flashbacks humanized the dirty duo. You don't have to like them, but you understand their rage. Josh is our resident Hamlet (when is this guy going to make up his mind?), but he is caught in so many conflicting emotions -- honor, jealousy, betrayal, and memories of his own checkered past -- that one would have to be crazy to walk a mile in his shoes. Robert Newman is terrific when he's acting his head off, but it takes a special male performer to hold an infant -- baby Marah -- with such unusual sensitivity, warmth, and paternal merriment. And wasn't it a charming hoot when Josh and Alan -- rivals in every way -- changed the distressed Marah's diapers with Alan's monogrammed handkerchief and designer cufflinks? What was not so amusing was the testing and re-testing that was done to discern/mask Marah's true paternity. This is an overused device in the medium, and here it was played to excess.

Other stories have also been heavy-duty: Cameron and his abusive, cocaine-addicted father; Rusty's rehabilitation of drug-dependent Rose; and the sexual and social confusion of the teens -- the messed-up Cam, spoiled Alan-Michael, the virginal Dinah, and belligerent Harley. Unfortunately, these stories come and go like the wind. We see Frank Cooper, George Stewart, the teens, Maeve and Fletcher in intense scenes for a few days, then they disappear for weeks. The emotional impact is lost (although Frank and Mindy's fun-in-the-sun peek-a-boo -- complete with pulsating disco beat, teasing cross-cuts, and baby-oil game-playing -- was the erotic stunt of the year). And what about Ed and Maureen Bauer? Veteran Peter Simon and theater lady Ellen Parker are performers too delightful to be wasted in dreary recap scenes. At least the whimsical Jerry ver Dorn's Ross -- who didn't have a date in four years -- is back in the saddle again.

GUIDING LIGHT's best and worst plot of the past season was the same: the Johnny Bauer cancer story. It started off beautifully. It was startlingly realistic, heartbreaking, and even educational. It also reactivated the GL theme that through family and friends one can get through just about anything, including the death of a loved one. There was also the lovely motif of a light in the window, a throwback to fifty years ago. Best of all, it touched the lives of the community, especially the doctors treating Johnny. The sequence in which Meredith told Rick, in painstaking detail, how to take care of Johnny's (James Goodwin) illness, juxtaposed with Fletcher's (Jay Hammer) confession to Maeve (Leslie Denniston) that his sister had watched her mother die of cancer, and Meredith's (Nicolette Goulet) memories of her mother's excruciating pain, was just about as chilling and powerful a set piece as I've ever seen.

But then Johnny, who was diagnosed as terminal, got mixed up with some weird gypsies, got religion, and was healed miraculously. Every family is touched by cancer, didn't this give many impressionable viewers an unrealistic view of the disease and others false hope? If Johnny's new-found religion had brought him the faith to help others, to face life with honor, and death with dignity -- that would have been an uplifting and eloquent message. But then Johnny laid his hands on baby Michelle and "cured" her of a fever. Didn't someone on the set yell, "Reality Check"? Yes, miracles may occur, but every five minutes?

However, of the twelve daytime soaps, GL is currently taking the most chances -- in domestic and social issues, in dramatic contrasts, and especially in the messiness and excesses of human relationships. It may fall on its face from time to time, but when GUIDING LIGHT takes some of its pull-out-all-the-stops risks, the results can be downright thrilling. #

Christopher Schemering is the author of THE SOAP OPERA ENCYCLOPEDIA and GUIDING LIGHT: A 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, both published by Ballantine Books.