Guiding Light:Tribute to Don Stewart and Christmas Eve

[Sheri451]

I remember these episodes, they were from around 1983 I think. Was this when they ran away to New York and the man named Nick was like a real Santa Claus? That fireplace was there till the end, It wound up in Buzz's restaurant. I really have no memories of Don Stewart. I just began watching Guididng Light for a little while then he left or passed away one. I can remember Peter Simon as Ed Bauer. It was really hard to see this clearly because the video was snowy.

[johnrunion]

i wish i could find the mike-tim (kevin bacon)-darren storyline on youtube. mike was investigating the muder of darren's girlfriend. tim was the main suspect. darren was the son of a senator. this would be roughly 1981. in a reenactment of bacon's death scene from friday the 13th (or a reenactment of nancy loomis's death in halloween), mike lunged from the back seat of a car and slapped his hand over tim's mouth. in the commercials it looked like a horror movie preview.

[johnrunion]

don stewart was a great actor and vocalist. mike was my favorite character on the show. he left in '84. by the time i quit watching in either late 86 or early 87 the show had changed so much it was no longer like the same show any longer. i no longer recognized it.

[johnrunion]

reba was pretty good. RITA WAS great!

[johnrunion]

REX EVERHART! as santa.

[glswede]

It breaks my heart to watch this clip, because it was the last year that Guiding Light was still Guiding Light. The next year started the shows slow demise, with outlandish plotlines that drove away the faithful. It is so sad to see the grande dame still at its finest here, and to think where it was in September 2009, almost to the point of being unrecognizable. I will never forget my Guiding Light

[GeorgiaPat]

I didn't remember that Don sang, but he had an amazing voice. It was a shame that he left the show. He was not treated well at all.

[gablefan01]

RIP, Don...I really miss those days on GL.

[schuyler10]

The lady in the red top and black pants with Katie and Floyd is none other than Megan McTavish, who played Lola Fontaine for a short time, but went on to headwrite GL, AMC, GH, OLTL...at this time, GL was at a low point, having just lost headwriter Doug Marland the year before, but it was friggin' Shakespeare compared to how the show is now

(2008)...almost unbearable and jarring to watch...

[Jenniferkate]

The show was actually pretty good back then, but then I'm biased because it's one of my favorite eras. But you are right, it is Shakespeare compared to now.

[Najee1020]

I too thought the show was excellent during this time.

[CaliforniaGuy888]

Nice clip - I wonder why none of the Spauldings were included in the cast montage? I think Alan and Alexandra were still around in December 1983. I know Amanda was gone earlier in the year. Well, I guess Phillip was a Spaulding. Where was Ross?

[Jenniferkate]

Alan was on earlier on the show-they show him looking at Phillip's pictures, looking sad.

Alexandra made her debut two months after this episode, and Ross wasn't in the episode.

[CaliforniaGuy888]

thank you for the update. I enjoyed GL best during the 1977-1984 years. Loved the writing, characters, and cast.

[rdiaz921]

Me too!! 1977 (I was 13yrs old) to 1984 (I was 19 years old) I stopped watching during vacations because I worked and went to school part time. These clips do bring back some childhood memories. Thank you.

[CaliforniaGuy888]

oh one last comment....I believe it was Christmas 1996 when GL brought this 1983 'montage' clip out....Ed was showing 'movies' from Gl's past. and this montage was shown...That 1996 show was a very good show! That was that last time that I can remember when GL looked back into it's past like that.

[gymnastix]

Lynne Adams, Millette Alexander, Charita Bauer, Ed Bryce, Chase Crosley, Ellen Demming, Robert Gentry, Theo Goetz, Bernie Grant, Erik Howell, Barnard Hughes, Mart Hulswit, Elissa Leeds, Fran Myers, Stefan Schnabel, Gillian Spencer, Philip Sterling, Victoria Wyndham, Ed Zimmerman & Don Stewart--all real pros at the top of their game!

[gymnastix]

You can get an idea how good it was from the "Shadows Of The Past" episodes here, except don't judge by the kinescoped quality--the show live was just as vivid and fresh-looking as the videotape you see today. Really, after about 1965, when production values had improved since soaps' early days and caught up with the fine acting & scripts, this show was just at its peak about 1968-75.

[gymnastix]

The era when Stewart was on the program was the best acted & most well-written period of this program. Even the two theme songs used, with different orchestrations from about 1970 till 1981, were the show's best!

[gymnastix]

I remember Don Stewart well, from seeing him on this soap and his appearances on talk shows of the era--David Frost, Mike Douglas, etc. How long his character "Muike Bauer" courted "Leslie," played by Lynne Adams & Barbara Rodell, who was then married to the character of his brother "Ed Bauer" (first Robert Gentry, then Mart Hulswit) nearly resulting in soap opera fratracide!

[CG480]

Thank you for sharing this. Such a wonder Voice he had!

[misspaddylee]

Thank you! What a magnificent voice Don Stewart had and what a pleasure to hear it again.