You could call it bailing from a sinking ship, assuming you think the current changes on Guiding Light are something like being on the Titanic. On the other hand, it may just be a talented actress spreading her wings to take on a new challenge. However you couch it, Guiding Light star Beth Ehlers is bolting the CBS soap for ABC's All My Children. She'll be assuming the role of Liza Colby Chandler, the part most recently played by Marcy Walker (who played Tangie back on Guiding Light in 1993). This is the second major exit from GL, and it seems that the bottom line reason for the departures is the bottom line. Cost cutting across the board at the P&G soaps -- GL and As the World Turns -- have squeezed the actors salaries. Martha Byrne and Scott Bryce left ATWT in recent months, reportedly in contract disputes, and Ricky Paull Goldin departed GL last month and was quickly snatched up by All My Children. Just like Ehlers.
And how coincidental that they were a major couple in Springfield. They even won a special Daytime Emmy in 2002 as America's Favorite Couple -- GL's Harley and Gus. Well, now they can spark that same chemistry in Pine Valley. Move over, Erica and Adam and Tad and Joe, you've got company.
A little over a year ago, I interviewed Beth for TV Week, and she talked about her tenure on GL. "It was the only show she'd ever appeared on, and she's been there on and off since 1987. "When I came on 20 years ago, I very quickly learned the Guiding Light was based on family and relationships. It was a real actors' show. I feel lucky to have been a part of it. This is the only show that I've ever done and I'm proud of that." Now she can see what it's like to be proud of being part of All My Children. She's expected to start early this summer.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-16-2008 @ 3:10PM
MERVE-THE-PERVE said...
I don't watch soaps but I noticed the ones mentioned are going downhill are on CBS. First their news, now their soaps. Next will be their primetime lineup. I can't wait til their entire network is in the cellar where they belong! That's what they deserve for treating their viewers like shit. I can't wait til Nina Tassler gets fired. They should televise it, I'd definitely watch that.
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5-16-2008 @ 7:33PM
jmt said...
Soaps in general are the titantics of television. The audience of the past enjoyed the good writing and the family values that they tried to bring, the villian we love to hate, the hero, the heroine and the all important supercouple. But somewhere viewerships changed, producers got nervous and all of a sudden you have the devil, clones, aliens, witches and talking dolls. Good stories and rich character histories were replaced with rush storylines with new younger cast members that have questionable acting chops but bodies to die for. Beth Ehlers will be missed from GL. She is a great actress on a once great show. I hope the powers that be change the course of the show and bring meaty storylines back. Actors will flocked to great writing.
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5-16-2008 @ 7:37PM
slutty_whore said...
As a casual fan of GL, I must say that I'm dismayed that they would destroy the show in this manner. The quality of the show has suffered with the new theme song, camera angles, and now long-time cast members are interchangable... and now, a core member of the Cooper family is gone.... but the slow destruction of GL can be traced back to Grant Aleksandr's leaving the role of Philip Spaulding... since then, the show has made mistake after mistake and now may as well be cancelled. It's a sad day for GL fans.
Although, I don't think BE will be a succesful Liza Colby. She does well as a plucky heroine like Harley Cooper, not a hardened businesswoman who has dealt with the likes of Adam Chandler.... I would have rathered BE been cast as a replacement for Kelly Ripa's former character, Hayley Vaughn.
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6-24-2008 @ 5:12AM
lisa said...
beth,
you are such an extraordinary actor! my husband and and i will truly miss you on gl. we live near peapack and have often wondered the strain on the cast having to travel etc. we are the same age! love ya!
wish you all the best on amc!
sad fans,
lisa & mike
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7-20-2008 @ 1:03PM
bobbi said...
I've been watching GL since I was a teenager, I'm now
63 and still watching but I really am so sorry that the
show has disintegrated to the sorry state it's in now.
The core people, the Bauers are all gone, except for
an occasional appearance by Rick. The Spauldings
are almost all gone, with the departure of Phillip and
an occasional appearance by Alexandra.
Now with Harley, Gus and Ross gone the show is
going from bad to worse.
The writing is awful and I hope things improve soon.
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