BACK TO THE FUTURE!

Ever wish you could have been around during Guiding Light's first days of broadcast? Seen how the original radio show was put together? Witnessed the debut of classic characters? Met the legendary -- and very, very scary -- Irna Phillips?

Well, this Thursday, January 25, you can!

(Sort of.)

In honor of GL's unprecedented 70th anniversary of broadcasting, the current cast takes you back in time.

Witness the mad scramble to produce a daily, live soap opera -- back when people still weren't quite sure what a soap opera was!

See how the need to advertise soap created a genre!

And stand back lest you be hit by Hurricane Irna, as interpreted by GL's own Beth Ehlers!

It promises to be a once in a lifetime show. You can't afford to miss it!

WHO AM I?

This tot was just rolling along without a care in the world, but his grown up, Oakdale alter ego recently hit an unpleasant bump in the road.

Who am I?

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: LOUISE SHAFFER (Stephanie; SFT)

Actress Louise Shaffer played Emily on Search for Tomorrow from 1967 to 1968. After stints on The Edge of Night and Ryan’s Hope, she returned in 1984 to play a different SFT role, that of a recast Stephanie Wyatt, taking over for Maree Cheatham.

Episodes featuring Louise are currently airing on the AOL/PGP Classic Soap Channel. We caught up with Louise in 2007 to chat about her days in Henderson, and the new career she’s embarked on since then.

PGP: Stephanie, it seems, was a very similar role to RH’s Rae. Did Rae have anything to do with your getting cast on SFT?
LS: My role as Stephanie came about because the producer of SFT at that time, Ellen Barrett, knew my work from Ryan's Hope -- so you are quite right about that connection. I'm not quite sure why Maree left the show, but when they were looking for a replacement, Ellen remembered me. She knew that I had been recently let go from Ryan's and she thought I'd be a good fit. The similarities in the roles are obvious. I think the differences were subtle. I think Stephanie was more girly than Rae-- she was more confident of her charms as a woman and more willing to use them to get what she wanted. Socially Rae was always a poor little kid from Oklahoma trying to figure out what fork to use, and no matter how successful she became she never got over that. I think Stephanie was more comfortable with her position and felt she deserved it more. At least, that was where she was when I inherited the role. It was an interesting facet for a character which could so easily have become a cliche over time. Of course, it's a huge credit to Maree that Stephanie never did.

PGP: Peter Haskell, who played Rae’s love interest on RH, also played Lloyd, the man Stephanie was after on SFT!
LS: It was always such a treat to work with Peter Haskell! He's a great actor, and a funny, warm man. And smart? Peter knows something about almost everything! He talked me through the early days of trying to train our sheepdog, Laverne, who was a puppy at the time and determined to rule our home. She actually did rule it for the rest of her life, but that was because we were wimps.

PGP: What are some of your favorite memories from working on SFT?
LS: My best memories of the show are what they always are -- working with the people. I got to know and love Lisa Peluso (Wendy). I have always loved Michael Corbett (Warren) -- and talk about making a success of all of your talents, aren't we all proud of him and his new ventures? And then there was (the late) Mary Stuart (Jo). God love her. I had worked on the show before -- back in the days when it was fifteen minutes long -- it was my first job when I came to the city. When I took over as Stephanie, Mary came up to me and said, "Welcome back, you've lost some weight, baby!" And then she proceeded to tell me all about her literacy program for the kids of New York. She'd probably kill me for saying this because she hated mush, but she was a total class act.

PGP: Stephanie and her daughter, Wendy, had one of the most charged parent/child dynamics on daytime. How was that to play?
LS: I thought Wendy and Stephanie had a relationship that was built on equal parts of guilt, control issues, competition and love. It's a fairly usual cocktail for daytime -- and it probably exists more in real life than any of us want to admit.

PGP: Currently, you are novelist. Your latest book, Family Acts, will be out this August. How did you make the transition from actor to writer, and how does your previous profession help with your current one?
LS: I'd always loved writing -- in fact that was my first love. And I hate to admit it, but I'd always re-written my own dialogue on shows. No disrespect, sometimes it just made it easier to say it my way. Of course I hated it when actors did that to my glorious words when I was writing! Anyway, as I started to get older -- and we all know what happens to older actresses -- it just seemed like a natural progression to start doing what I'd always done with my scripts. From there the jump to writing books was a little scary, but I knew deep down that I always wanted to do my own thing. I think the fact that I was an actor is the basis of everything I do. What I love most about writing is that I get to create all these new characters and I get to live in their world. As an actor, I learned to pay attention to tiny details. If you tell an audience in the first act that you have a certain mannerism and then you never use it again, they may not know exactly why they stop believing you, but they will stop. Also, I think you can get away with any plot, no matter how big, as long as you create characters the audience can believe would do all those things.

PGP: Your first novel, All My Suspects, took place on the set of a soap! How much of it was based on real life?
LS: Of course All My Suspects was totally fiction-- but the set and the way of working was accurate to the way soaps were done back then. It's a little different now.

PGP: Tell us about the book currently on the shelves, The Ladies of Garrison Gardens.
LS: We got great reviews for it, and the book clubs are having a wonderful time with it. By the way, if anyone out there has a book club, I love to talk to you guys on the speaker phone. Or I'll come talk to you in person if you can afford the airfare -- and I'll bring a cake. I have recipes for the cakes that appear in my books. But seriously, if anyone would like to talk to me, just check in with my website and we'll set it up. The Ladies of Garrison Gardens is what's known in the industry as a stand alone book which means you can read it without reading the first one, which is The Three Miss Margarets. That said, The Ladies Of Garrison Gardens is both a prequel and a sequel to The Three Miss Margarets. I think it will appeal a lot to soap fans-- we're used to that kind of mulit-layered story telling. Plus, The Ladies Of Garrison Gardens is based on a big secret that was buried for years, and the characters include strong women from the ages of twelve to ninety -- which soap opera audiences love. And it's got a surprise twist that no one sees coming -- at least that's what I keep hearing from everyone who reads it.

PGP: Is there anything in particular you’d like to say directly to the fans who followed you from show to show?
LS: I always thought I was one of the luckiest women alive when I worked in the soaps -- I got to act, which I loved doing, and I was paid for it. Now I feel lucky again -- I love writing, and I'm so grateful to the people who read my books because they are the reason why I can continue doing it. And if you haven't read one of my books yet, please do. My husband and I have quite a few elderly pets and several of them have had senior moments recently. So we need a new carpet. Thank you for remembering me and for giving me this opportunity to take a stroll down Memory Lane.

To see Louise Shaffer, as Stephanie, in action, view an episode of Search For Tomorrow, today!

WANT "AMORE" RON RAINES?

Ron Raines (Alan; GL) will appear with the Philadelphia Pops in a production of That’s Amore beginning on Wednesday, February 14 with multiple performances throughout the week until Wednesday, February 21.

For tickets, please contact the box office at (215) 893-1999.

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY

And when this happens,and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
- Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream, 1963

There is a destiny that makes men brothers:
None goes his way alone;
All that we send into the lives of others
Comes back into our own.
- Guiding Light, 1937

"HUGHES" GOT TO HAVE HOPE

Thursday, January 18, Margo's (Ellen Dolan) whole family pulls together to help her deal with Tom's (Scott Holmes) illness.

Will he make it?

Tune into As The World Turns all of this week to find out!

STOP! OR MY EX WILL SHOOT!

But, will he really?

Thursday, January 18, Jack (Michael Park) holds Simon (Paul Leyden) at gunpoint.

What will Carly (Maura West) do?

Tune into As The World Turns and find out!

(Based on the picture above, doesn't Simon seem to be saying, "Hey, you wouldn't shoot an unarmed Australian, would you? How about we throw another shrimp on the barbie and talk about it?")

ATWT & GL VET HELPS OTHERS GET A LEG UP

The Brooklyn Young Filmmakers Center is a grassroots effort to increase diversity on and behind the scenes by opening doors for low-income kids. Its first conference - which includes a panel of experts on how to break into the business - is set for this Saturday at Long Island University in downtown Brooklyn.... Tina Bell, one of the panelists, has worked for a set construction company in Brooklyn for 20 years and has made sets for "Saturday Night Live," "As the World Turns" and "Guiding Light."

More on Bell and the conference, here.

WHO AM I: ANSWER

As several folks guessed below, yup, the little guy in question is Trent Dawson (Henry; ATWT).

The question now is, who'd like to see Trent shirtless on ATWT this summer? (Or, heck, this winter, for that matter)?

GL ALL WET

So much daytime drama happens inside -- bedrooms, hospitals, courts, restaurants, more bedrooms... -- that it's a real treat when any show gets to venture into the real world for a splash of local flora and fauna.

Today, in honor of GL's upcoming unprecedented 70th Anniversary, we take a look back at three Guiding Light tropical location shoots.

Alan Spaulding (Christopher Bernau) with one of his many, many, many mistresses, Rita (Lenore Kasdorf), in the Caribbean in 1981.

Reva (Kim Zimmer) and Josh (Robert Newman) doing their version of From Here to Eternity.

And dashing Prince Richard of San Cristobel (Bradley Cole) making his first entrance in 1999. (Or was he already Jeffrey...)

TOM TOM CLUB

As teased below, Thursday, January 18 is a big day for a whole host of ATWT characters.

Margo (Ellen Dolan) gets bad news about Tom (Scott Holmes), and clings to sons Adam (Matt Cavenaugh) and Casey (Zach Roerig) for support.

However, when Gwen (Jennifer Landon) comforts Adam about his adoptive dad, will husband Will (Jesse Lee Soffer) get the wrong idea?

Tune in next week to find out!

And keep checking back to the PGP Classic Soaps Blog for more photo spoilers!

AHOY, MATIE!

Set your VCRs, TiVos, DVD recorders (or go totally wild and watch it live), because Thursday, January 18, 2007 is a big day for all ATWT fans.

There'll be turning points for practically every major Oakdale couple, starting with our first photo spoiler above, estranged Kasnoffs Mike (Mark Collier) and Katie (Terri Colombino).

We'll be posting more photos as we head towards the big day, so make sure you keep checking back here at the PGP Classic Soap Blog!

WHO AM I?

Though all grown up now, this little guy still takes every opportunity to stick his tongue out at Oakdale society.

He doesn't, however, get nearly as many shirtless scenes as his fans would like.

Who is he? (And no cheating!)

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: NIA LONG (KAT; GL)

Nia Long played Kat Speaks on GL from 1991-1994.

Now, she chats with ESSENCE Magazine and attempts to set the record straight on baby daddy drama. Rumors had to be squashed regarding the tumult between her, now, ex-“friend” and her ex-fiance.... Long also talks about her career and being back on television after doing shows like Third Watch and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Photo above features Long with co-star Monti Sharp, who played boyfriend David... until Kat moved to Europe and dumped him by letter.

ACTOR APPEARANCE: TAMARA TUNIE (JESSICA; ATWT)

Monday, January 15, 2007 will be a day on, not a day off for volunteers working on the Sea Island Habitat for Humanity MLK House! The day will begin at 7:00am with a rally and march in Hollywood with celebrity guest Tamara Tunie from Law & Order: SVU and As the World Turns and will finish with volunteers honoring the dreams of Dr. King by building the first Habitat house in St. Paul’s Parish.

More here.

PAUL LEYDEN (SIMON) NEWS

ATWT's Carly and Simon may be suffering from an assortment of delicious, soap opera angst, but actor Paul Leyden's personal life is on an upswing.

TO MARAH, TO MARAH, WE LOVE YOU, TO MARAH....

Last week, we took a look at Reva and Josh's three (and counting???) weddings.

Today, in honor of GL's upcoming 70th Anniversary, we explore Where Are They Now with all the young women who've played their daughter, Marah, through the years.

Little Marah (named after Josh's mom, Martha, and Reva's mom, Sarah) was born on the air in 1987 (Kim Zimmer gave birth to her second child, son Max, at the same time).

Marah was played by Nicole Otto as an infant, but the first, speaking Marah was actress Ashley Peldon, who stepped into the role at age 4, in 1989, becoming P&G's youngest contract player ever. That's Ashley up above. To see what she looks like now, click here.

Marah, as played by Ashley, left Springfield in 1991 with Josh when he went to search the world for Reva. She returned in 1995, now played by Kimberly J. Brown. For more on Kimberly, click here.

Lauren C. Mayhew was Marah from 1998 to 1999. She left the show when she signed a record deal with Sony as a member of the pop quartet PYT and headed out on tour with ‘N SYNC, Britney Spears, 98 Degrees and Destiny’s Child. Read more about her current signing, acting and hosting duties, here.

Laura Bell Bundy was the first teen Marah, and is, as we wrote earlier, at the moment getting ready to open on Broadway in Legally Blonde.

Finally, two time Daytime Emmy nominee Lindsey McKeon was Marah from 2001 to 2004. Since then, she's appeared on One Tree Hill, Veronica Mars, and completed the feature film, Repo. Visit her official site, here.

Do you think GL needs to bring Marah back on the canvas? And which actress should play her? Let us know!

THEY'RE GREEEAT!

Check out some of daytime's sprightliest great-great grandparents, here.

LE JAZZ HOT

Even though Jack Cortner has been making a living as a musician in New York City for more than 45 years, Fast Track is the first-ever big band album with his name as leader. No, Cortner isn’t a late bloomer. The compose arranger and former trumpeter has simply been too busy with other pursuits, such as writing and arranging for the musical theatre, television and broadcast commercials (otherwise known as jingles). Along the way, Cortner wrote the themes for the soap operas The Edge of Night and As the World Turns, and arranged the theme used for years on ABC-TV’s Monday Night Football.

More here.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: P&G SONGBIRDS

Those feeling the yen to hear some former P&G stars lift their voices in song as we kick off 2007, are in luck:

Sharon Leal (ex-Dahlia; GL) is currently appearing on the big screen as Michelle in Dreamgirls.

Lea Salonga (ex-Lien; ATWT) will be returning to the Broadway cast of Les Miz in March.

Laura Bell Bundy (ex-Marah; GL) brings Legally Blonde to Broadway in April (she opens in San Francisco at the end of Janaury).

So keep your eyes -- and ears! -- peeled!

Currently, any daytime couple worth its soap has a cute, merged nickname. There’s GL’s Gush (Gus + Harley) and Jeva (Josh + Reva), as well as ATWT’s CarJack (Carly + Jack) and Peg (Paul + Meg). The trend even spills into real life, courtesy of Bennifer (Ben + Jennifer) and Brangelina (Brad + Angelina).

But what about super-soap-couples of the past? What would their nicknames have been?

Here are our suggestions for the shows now airing on the AOL/PGP Classic Soaps Channel:

ANOTHER WORLD:
Alice + Steve = Aleve
Blaine + Jerry = Bleary
Rachel + Mac = Rac
Tracy + Jason = Trason

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW:
Liza + Travis = Livis
Cagney + Suzy = Cuzy
Wendy + Warren = WeWa
Alec + Adair = Air
Chase + Adair = Chair

EDGE OF NIGHT:
Raven + Sky = Ray
Draper + April =Drapes
Miles + Nicole = Mole

TEXAS:
Alex + Iris = Axis
Courtney + Jeb = Cob
Reena + Kevin = Revin’
Justin + Ashley = July
Paige + Dennis = Penis

Okay, obviously time to stop now.

But I’d love to hear your suggestions! Use the Comments link below.

HARLEY SPAULDING SPAULDING SPAULDING (WITH A MALLET CHASER)

Yesterday, we looked at the three weddings of Jeva.

Today, it's Harley Cooper's turn. Unlike Ms. Shayne, Harley doesn't choose to make the same marriage mistake over and over again. Harley likes to make brand new mistakes each time.

Her first wedding (photo #1), to Alan-Michael Spaulding, was initially a business arrangement. He wanted access to his trust fund and needed a wife to get it. She wanted access to money, and needed a rich guy with a trust fund (she eventually cheated on him with first love, Dylan).

Her second marriage, to A.C. Mallet, fell apart while they were living in Florida (he cheated on her).

Her third (photo #2), was to Alan-Michael's brother, Phillip Spaulding (he cheated on her), and her fourth (photo #3), was to Alan-Michael's other brother, Gus Aitoro (she cheated on him with earlier love, Mallet; in Harley's defense, she did think Gus was dead at the time).

So maybe we're wrong. Maybe Harley does make the same marriage mistake over and over again. She just chooses a different brother to make it with.

IF YOU'RE GOING TO SAN FRANCISCO...

Go ahead, wear some flowers in your hair, then stop by San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater and watch Kathleen Widdoes (Emma; ATWT) take the stage in a new production of The Circle.

More details, here.

Ms. Widdoes other stage credits include Hamlet, Brighton Beach Memoirs, and Much Ado About Nothing (the latter is available on DVD).

WE KNEW THEM FIRST!

Playbill.com reports that:

Stage and screen stars... will be among the cast of the Ojai Playwrights Conference annual winter gala performance and staged reading Jan. 20, 2007. The starry lineup currently includes Allison Janney (A View From the Bridge, The West Wing) (and) Steven Weber (The Producers, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip).

But while the announcement takes great care to list both a theatrical and a primetime television credit for both actors, they neglect to mention the daytime credits that started each on their way.

From 1985-1986, Steven Weber was As The World Turns' Kevin, a young man in love with Frannie Hughes (Julianne Moore) who, nevertheless, managed to impregnate a former girlfriend, as well as get charged, at different times, with both rape and murder. Kevin eventually met his maker heroically, by taking a bullet meant for Frannie.

As for Allison Janney, from 1993 to 1995, she was Guiding Light's Ginger. A Spaulding family maid who didn't do much cleaning, Ginger made up for it with a regular dusting of sarcasm. After Jenna won the Spaulding mansion away from Alex in a lawsuit, Ginger and her partner in crime, Donna (Tammy Lang), often locked horns with her new mistress, with Jenna's husband, Roger (Michael Zaslow), and Jenna's boyfriend, Buzz (Justin Deas).

THE THREE FACES OF JEVA

As Guiding Light prepares to celebrate 70 years of broadcasting this month, the PGP Classic Soaps Blog will be taking it own look back at some of Springfield's greatest moments.

Today, it's The Three Faces of Jeva.

Otherwise known as Wedding #1, Wedding #2, and Wedding #3.

Enjoy!

And let us know which other blasts from the past you'd like to see next!

EDGE OF JOEL

Joel Crothers is currently appearing on the AOL/PGP Classic Soap Channel's broadcast of The Edge of Night as Dr. Miles Cavanaugh, a role he took on in 1977 and played up until the show went off the air in 1984.

But there was more to Joel than his daytime stints (including The Dark Shadows, The Secret Storm and Somerset).

In 1981, he appeared in the off-Broadway production of Torch Song Trilogy.

According to Dark Shadows Online, the show starred Harvey Fierstein and castmates Estelle Getty and Matthew Broderick -- but when it premiered, Joel was better known than any of them, so he received star billing on posters, playbills, and even the tickets.

Joel also played the lead on Broadway in Barefoot in the Park, opposite Joan Van Ark, of future Knots Landing fame.

To view Joel at the height of his soap opera and theatrical fame, screen an episode of Edge of Night today!

YESTERDAY'S TOMORROW

P&G soap fans tuning into Showtime this weekend to watch Martha Byrne (Lily; ATWT) in Life After Tomorrow, a documentary on the little girls who passed through the Broadway and national companies of the phenomenal musical hit, Annie, got a bonus.

Also briefly appearing in the retrospective was Kimi (now Kim) Parks, who, from 1986-1987, played Dorie Smith von Halkein on GL.

Pre-teen Dorie held the distinction of melting not just one, but two hard hearts in Springfield. First, the spunky orphan (obviously a holdover from her Hard-Knock Life days) won over the haughty India during the latter's court-ordered community service stint at a summer camp for troubled kids.

India was so charmed by the little con artist who reminded her of herself, that she resolved to adopt Dorie. But there was a problem. Dorie was determined to find her "real" family, her big sister, who turned out to be none other than Dinah Marler.

The girls had been raised in the same foster home prior to Dinah's being sent to live with the circus and Dorie being shipped off to reform school/camp. Though they weren't blood relatives, the girls insisted they were sisters nonetheless.

India agreed and, despite legally adopting Dorie, convinced Ross to let Dorie live with him and Dinah for part of the time.

India and Dorie eventually left Springfield together. The last we heard of Dorie was when India, on a 2002 visit home, told Phillip that Dorie, "was the most beautiful, wonderful girl in the best boarding school in Europe."

Now, far be it for me to argue with a proud mom. But, according to my calculations, by 2002, Dorie was at least twenty years old. Shouldn't she have been in college or something by then?

Kim Parks, meanwhile, is working as an Associate Producer on the FOX animated hit, Family Guy, as well as periodically doing some voice-over work for it. (The show is well known for its movie musical parodies -- wonder if she does some singing for it, as well?)

FOLLOW THE LIGHT

Where is the secret to finding your light hidden?

In Mallet's (Robert Bogue) mysterious envelope?

In Gus's (Ricky Paull Goldin) ear?

In the dizzying pattern of Dinah's (Gina Tognoni) blouse?

Find out on Wednesday, January 3rd's episode of Inside the Light.

Or visit www.FindYourLight.net now!

FIND YOUR LIGHT!

Wednesday, January 3rd, kicks off Guiding Light's Find Your Light campaign.

In Springfield, it all starts when little Zach (Nicholas Art) makes a discovery which eventually leads intrepid reporter Dinah (Gina Tognoni) to unearth a mysterious connection between Buzz (Justin Deas), Jonathan (Tom Pelphrey), Rick (Michael O'Leary), Mallet (Rob Bogue) and... Alan (Ron Raines)?

(For longtime viewers concerned that this connection might be of the Maryann Carruthers variety, rest assured, it's nothing like that).

Stay tuned for some Year 2007 hints as to what this discovery will mean to Mallet and Dinah's relationship, right here on the PGP Classic Soaps Blog!

Until then -- Happy New Year!

WHO AM I: ANSWER

The cute little girl below is, indeed, Ellen Dolan (Margo; ATWT).

And Gregory A Welda... you're cheating!!

DID ATWT CHANGE A PLOT TWIST DUE TO VIEWER OUTRAGE?

Speculation, here.