Guiding Light Project: A Conversation With Grant Aleksander

Snapper — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:28:10 -0700

Viewers of Guiding Light first saw Grant Aleksander when, in 1982, he took over the role of Phillip Spaulding. Aleksander's Phillip was a spoiled, bratty 17-year-old, freshly kicked out of prep school, and ready for adventure - and trouble. Enter Freddie "Rick" Bauer, Melinda "Mindy" Lewis and Beth Raines— and Guiding Light's legendary Four Musketeers was complete.The Four ...

The Guiding Light Project: A Conversation With Maeve Kinkead

Snapper — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:39:50 -0700

When Maeve Kinkead joined the Guiding Light cast in 1980, her character, Vanessa Chamberlain, was an over-indulged, wealthy daddy's girl. Over time, Vanessa has become Springfield's dignified voice of reason; a savvy business woman who never compromises her ethics, a loving mother who puts her children first. Genteel. Composed. Graceful. Strong. These are the words that come to mind when I think ...

Guiding Light Project: A Conversation with Elizabeth Keifer - Guiding Light's Blake Thorpe Marler

Snapper — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:18:39 -0700

Since 1992, fans of Guiding Light have enjoyed Elizabeth Keifer in the role of Blake Thorpe Marler. With the shooting schedule on GL incredibly tight as the show winds down its run on CBS, Liz was generous enough to set aside time to talk to me me on a Sunday afternoon. We talked about the unique perspective she brings to GL as both a long-time viewer and a key cast member, taking on an ...

Guiding Light Project: A Conversation With Tina Sloan: Guiding Light's Lillian Raines

Snapper — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:04:04 -0700

Long time viewers of Guiding Light know Tina Sloan as the actress who has played the role of Lillian Raines for 26 years. While many of the old school GL characters have long gone by the wayside, Lillian has remained and, even when she hasn't been involved in front burner story lines, she's been an integral part of Springfield. To many, Lillian Raines, R.N. is the conscience of Springfield. She ...

The Dream Team, or Why CBS Should Have Asked Fans for Help

Snapper — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:04:39 -0700

My friend, Robert, and I have been soap fans for many years and, as such, I consider us to be sort of experts on the subject. We don't just know a lot about the characters, the plot lines, the family histories in Springfield, Genoa City, Oakdale, etc....but we know about how soap opera works, as a genre. We know the shape and structure of daily soap. We know how it differs from, say, the ...

Guiding Light Project: Maureen Bauer: An Expendable Heart

Snapper — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 01:19:32 -0700

Jumping the Shark:a term used by TV Critics and fans to denote the point in a TV show or movie series' history where the plot veers off into absurd story lines or out-of-the-ordinary characterizations. Many fans of Guiding Light point to the death of Maureen Bauer in 1993 as the moment their favorite soap jumped the shark. I respectfully disagree. I was a fan of Ellen Parker's portrayal of ...

All Bets Are Off: Breaking Ground Until The Bitter End

Snapper — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:15:28 -0700

If you watched Guiding Light on June 10, 2009, you didn't just watch Olivia Spencer walk into a store and shop for a vibrator. You watched a television milestone.Think about it - when was the last time you turned on the television at 3pm, and watched the better part of an hour devoted to a female character's sexual frustration? When was the last time you saw an attractive female character opt out ...

Springfield Family Values

Snapper — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:00:27 -0700

If your browser has trouble with the formatting of this piece, it is also available for viewing at a my other blog site, which is compatible with most browsers. Sometimes we parents have to make very difficult decisions to protect our children. - Alan SpauldingIn creating the Otalia story line, the writers of Guiding Light have been careful to craft parallels between traditional and ...

A Good Man is hard not to like, but all the good women are not taken

Snapper — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:10:43 -0700

We've heard it over and over, again: Frank Cooper is a Good Man. We hear it from Buzz. We hear it from Blake. Mostly, we hear it from Olivia and Natalia. But, why? Why is it so important that we, the viewing audience, be hit over the head with this message? Those of us who love and are rooting for Otalia get it: he's a good guy. We got it a long time ago. And, yet, it's still a strong theme ...

Why do you have to act so gay?

Snapper — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:37:14 -0700

Do you have to act so gay? One More Reason to Love OtaliaThe soap world has been buzzing with news of Chris Engen's sudden departure from The Young and the Restless, where he's been doing such a bang-up job as Victor Newman's son, Adam. According to the rumor mill, Engen stormed off the set after refusing to play a scene which featured Adam kissing another male character, as part of a burgeoning ...

Changing The Status Quo

Snapper — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:09:05 -0700

I am having some ongoing formatting problems. If this doesn't appear cleanly on your browser, you can see a perfectly formatted version of this exact article at: www.superherolunchbox.blogspot.com In case you were wondering what the big deal is about the normalization of racial and ethnic diversity in pop culture, reflect on this: President Obama's nominee for the next vacant seat on the ...

The New Black? Otalia on Race and Ethnicity

Snapper — Sun, 24 May 2009 15:21:29 -0700

There's no denying it: the exploration of same-sex attraction is soap opera's new black. All My Children, As The World Turns, and Passions have all gone there. Ratings leader The Young and the Restless is slated to launch a same-sex triangle (more about the casting/politics of this in a later blog - it's too big a story to tuck in here) involving a major character and a well-loved ...

Natalia Rivera: Freaking Superhero or Power Bottom?

Snapper — Wed, 20 May 2009 00:21:33 -0700

"Test all things and hold fast to that which is good"1 Thessalonians 5:21In the gay vernacular, the terms "top" and "bottom" take on special meaning. Specifically, the Top is the partner who takes on a dominant role, while the Bottom is the partner who takes on a more submissive role. These terms need not be limited to the description of sexual roles. They can and ...

Guiding Light Project: What We Lose If We Lose Guiding Light

Snapper — Sun, 17 May 2009 08:49:09 -0700

This is a direct response to Patrick Erwin's piece A Hypothetical Question (http://1000worlds.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/a-hypothetical-question/) The cancelation of Guiding Light has hit viewers, and hit us hard. For many, soap operas are old friends who have been with us a lot longer than most of the people we know. For many, watching daytime television is something we look fondly on as ...

Guiding Light Project: On Star Trek and Soap Fandom

Snapper — Mon, 11 May 2009 23:47:15 -0700

Today I caught the newest installment of the Star Trek franchise. As a long time fan of most things Trek-related, going to see this movie was a tough decision for me. I'd read enough spoilers to know that the new director had made some choices that weren't in line with what some of us geeks refer to as the Trek Cannon. Actually, it's not that simple. Some geeks refer to a Star Trek Cannon, ...