Otalia: "Guiding Light" Lesbian Couple Sparks Web Series After Soap's Cancellation

New York Times:

Ms. Chappell said, "Like the audience I hated the idea of letting" the story line go.

So she won't. She will try to keep the spirit of Otalia alive by starting a Web series in November called "Venice." While it won't have Olivia and Natalia -- those characters are the property of Procter & Gamble -- the show will feature Ms. Chappell as a single, gay career woman, and follow other fictional inhabitants of Venice Beach, in Los Angeles. Her leading lady on "Guiding Light," Ms. Leccia, has agreed to join the cast without pay.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[jalowe1957]

I have watched "Guiding Light" since I was a child, and I kept track of the family sagas of the Bauers, Spauldings, Coopers, Marlers, Reardons and Chamberlins. The show has been on a downward spiral that has reigned unchecked. They tried a new format using handheld cameras and more location shootings, but the execution of it all heightened your sense of disbelief as opposed to willingly suspend it.

The show was at its best when it had strong head writers at the helm (Agnes Nixon, Douglas Marland, Pamela Long, Jerome & Bridget Dobson), but the writing regime was not worthy of their more successful predecessors. For without a strong, compelling story replete with throughlines and characters we can invest in, there's no impetus to watch.

But seeing some of our old favorites dropping by (Holly & Fletcher, Nola & Bridget, Ed Bauer) for one last sojourn to Springfield is a sad reminder of what has come to this, and how it shouldn't have in the first place.

What a sad, tragic, yet avoidable loss.

[CowgirlAmy]

All the writers you listed were wonderful. I would add Nancy Curlee to the list. Pam Long was my favorite.

To me, Guiding Light was a truly special show. If someone has never watched it, they wouldn't get it. It wasn't quite like other soaps. It had the "it" factor. How else could it have lasted for 72 years?

When the wheels started coming off in the mid-90's, there was no one at CBS, P&G who really really cared enough to find someone competent enough to fix the mess. I remember fans screaming about the quality of the show and the apparent disregard for this by all executive producers and head of programming at the network or P&G.

GL deserved much better. Afterall, how much revenue has it provided CBS over the years? Yet no one cared enough to ensure it was at its highest quality the last 15 years.

It is an American institution, legend, classic now about to be gone.

Goodbye to some of the best characters daytime has ever seen: Bert Bauer, Phillip Spaulding, Beth Raines, Rick Bauer, Ed Bauer, Holly Reade, Reva Shayne, Josh Lewis, Roger Thorpe..........

I want to say finally- I know those in charge will say they truly did everything in their power to save GL. To that I say "LIARS". It really isn't hard to see when something sucks or you suck at your job and fix it. End of.

[harriettubman]

I agree. How could one network allow a great show to literally be destroyed????? I know older relatives who even stopped watching as well. Whoever was in charge of day time for CBS should be terminated.

[kimberlybarres]

I am so excited about this!! I have been watching GL my entire life (i am 35) = my mom watched it her entire life - my grandma starting out listening to it on the radio and then switched to the TV... The show and their charactars have become part of my family and I was devastated when I heard the news.. I look forward to my DVRs of the show after a long work week... I am so excited part of the characters will be carried on in some way! Thank you Crystal!!

[CowgirlAmy]

I am only in my late 20's but I watched GL from a young age. GL always had some of the best acting and when it was good, it was great. After a bout of some bad luck in the early 90's( I won't go into it here), the show was left to basically die. A series of recycled industry hacks were brought in to "fix" the show. All of whom brought shame to this once great show. Cloning, time travel and the like might have been staples of other shows but not GL. Characters were written so out of character they might as well have been different characters. The problems of bad writing and bad producers were so obvious to fans but they just got worse. I think a decision was made in the late 90's to let GL go. Kill it slowly because the sudden death of such an iconic show would look bad. Hack after hack was brought in, the next worse than the last. How hard is it to hire someone competent? And let's not even get started on the production style instituted last year and is atrocious and unwatchable.

Through it all, the actors sold what little they had to work with.
Thank you GL for the memories. Your death is a national shame and the murderers know who they are. GL could have been saved easily. It would have taken actual caring to get that done. RIP.

[harriettubman]

Yeah, it headed South in the mid-90s. It was dead after that. Reva had more things happen to her than if she lived on Mars. LOL.

[CowgirlAmy]

First let me say "Thank you" to Crystal Chappell for her obvious dedication and love for the audience, show and characters. I am in awe. Truly rare in showbiz.

Second, I look forward to checking this "Venice" out.

But I must also say how saddened and frankly disgusted I am at CBS, Televest and P&G for allowing Guiding Light, an iconic American classic, a show world war II soldiers would listen to on radio for comfort, to die. Make no mistake- this death was not sudden. It happened over a long period of time and it could have been avoided.

Continued...

[Ladina Kearney]

I'm excited Crystal Chappell is a wonderful actress and is deserving of all the attention she is receiving.Already have DVR recording Day's Of Our Lives(have some catching up to do been years since I watched)and my laptop loaded with all access to Venicethes­eries.com.­W00t!

[RevBookburn]

Otalia is a fantastic couple. The acting is phenomenal. Procter & Gamble are buffoons. They don't know what they're throwing away. I am very pumped for the Venise series. Rev. Bookburn - Radio Volta

[FantasticFourFan]

Maybe she could name it after herself and call it "Chappell's Show". It's not like the names being currently used.

[Nibbs]

So thrilled to see Crystal Chappell and team launching this fantastic web series. The short sighted networks will hopefully get a swift and sharp kick into the 21st century. Bringing this to the web is the way forward the internet is the future of not only soaps but television in general.
I can't wait to watch this Chappell is the best actress on daytime and she has picked some fantastic actors to star with her Jessica Leccia ,Hillary B Smith,Daniel Cosgrove,Jordan Clarke ,Elizabeth Keener all brilliant I am sad to see Otalia and GL end but this has made the light at the end of the tunnel very bright for me!

[SharpDressedMan]

The shift away from soaps isn't new. It's been going on for decades.

I had occasions to watch soaps when I was home during the daytime. I just couldn't loyally watch any. At first they seemed interesting then things didn't add up. Plots were more surrealistic than realistic. More marriages, divorces, births, deaths, heartbreaks happen to individuals than any one real person can handle and maintain sanity. I know that's part of drama but the writers failed to suspend my disbelief.

I believe soaps are a genre here to stay but they probably have to adapt.

[dedicatedfan]

It's no wonder this web series is getting so much hype already. Everyone involved in the project seems to be very intelligent ant talented. I am very much looking forward to seeing Crystal Chapell and Jessica Leccia on screen together without the restrictions of the conservative traditional media, although I am still holding out for an Otalia kiss too.

[ReedYoung]

I've never watched that show.

In computing (pre-M$), when a corporate developer could no longer profit from a particular software product, it would frequently fall into the category "abandon ware" and be fair game for anybody willing to maintain it. A developer of fiction might gain some brand loyalty by adopting a similar policy. Just a suggestion.

"While it won't have Olivia and Natalia -- those characters are the property of Procter & Gamble ..."

It's not as though I'd suddenly become a loyal customer of Proctor & Gamble, but now, if I'm in a grocery store shopping for something they sell, I'm more likely to take a few extra seconds to look for a different brand. I probably won't even remember why, I'll just avoid P&G.

[helen]

It's nice to see something good come of this.
More realistic and well-adjusted LGBT role models are badly needed to stop the hype and distortion that media are only too happy to promote.

[AudraR]

I love the idea of a web soap and can't wait to watch Venice, but it will never make up for the horrible trainwreck of Otalia. Shame on everyone responsible--CBS, Proctor & Gamble, Ellen Wheeler, Jill Lorie Hurst, all of them-- for the homophobic censorship and insulting pregnancy plot "twist" in that story. The Olivia/Natalia romance was built up beautifully to the point when they actually became a couple, and then GL miraculously snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Obviously they are paying too much attention the their source material, "The Children's Hour." A year of anticipation and still no kiss in sight! It's beyond ridiculous. At least someone at GL recognizes the absurdity and is doing her best to make up for it. Thank you, Ms. Chappell, for your efforts.

[betteporter68]

According to Crystal, we only have to wait 30 seconds into the first episode of Venice to see a real kiss! 30 seconds - did you hear that P&G???

[Jaina47]

Crystal Chappell is amazing for doing this, as are the rest of the cast and crew - and for no pay! It's truly incredible.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing this series unfold. I have no doubt that it's going to be brilliant. Finally someone has realized what the audience is looking for and actually has the audacity to give it to them.

[Jaina47]

Crystal Chappell is amazing for doing this, as are the rest of the cast and crew who are agreeing to do this - for no pay!

I'm very much looking forward to seeing this series unfold. I have no doubt that it's going to be wonderful.