Thursday, August 23, 2012

50 Greatest Soap Couples: #8 Josh & Reva From GUIDING LIGHT

COUPLE: Joshua Lewis & Reva Shayne
SHOW: GUIDING LIGHT
RANK: 8
PLAYED BY:
Josh: Robert Newman
Reva: Kim Zimmer
YEARS: 1983-1984; 1986-1990; 1995-2009

STORY:
When Alan Spaulding wanted to cause trouble between Vanessa Chamberlain and Billy Lewis he tracked down Reva, Billy's ex-wife, and offered her money to come to Springfield to split them up.  Reva happily accepted the offer and came to town claiming her divorce from Billy wasn't valid.  Though she had married Billy years ago, his younger brother, Josh, was her true love.  Reva began having second thoughts and called off her deal with Alan. It wasn't long before Reva and Josh rekindled their relationship, but he found out she had been working for Alan and dumped her.  Josh and Billy's father, H.B., stepped in and married Reva.  When Josh found out, he was disgusted and recklessly crashed his car resulting in him becoming paralyzed.  Reva and H.B. took Josh in as he tried to recover.  One night at a country club party, Josh and Reva let their feelings boil over in a confrontation which ended with Reva declaring herself "The Slut of Springfield."

Reva and Josh eventually gave into their passion and made love but Reva turned up pregnant with H.B.'s baby and Josh left town.  When he came back they reunited and Reva became pregnant with Marah.  Over the next few years they would be torn apart by Sonni/Solita, Will Jeffries, Miss Sally and a host of others, but finally married in 1989.  A year later Reva, who had just had their second child, Shayne, began suffering from postpartum depression and drove herself off a bridge in Florida to her "death."  Reva would turn up alive five years later in Amish country at a time when Josh had fallen for Annie Dutton (Cynthia Watros).  Over the next several years Reva would "die" again, return from the dead again, get cloned, time travel, find a long lost son and divorce Josh a couple of times, among many other dramatic occurrences.  When GUIDING LIGHT ended in 2009, Reva had been married to Jeffrey O'Neill who was presumed dead.  In the final episode, the show jump forward a year where Josh and Reva met at the lighthouse and drove away, presumably to their happily ever after.

IMPACT:
Aside from being fan favorites, Reva and Josh produced some of the most memorable scenes in soap history including "The Slut of Springfield" episodes.  They also were involved in some of the wackiest storylines.  But through the many changes in writers and producers, Zimmer and Newman always shined.

Zimmer was nominated for eleven Emmy awards for her work as Reva winning four times.  Amazingly, Newman was only nominated twice. Among their many Soap Opera Digest Award nominations was one for Outstanding Super Couple: Daytime in 1990.

"Reva: The Scarlet Years" was released on VHS in 1995 with Zimmer and Newman sharing memories and featuring old clips of Reva's story leading to her driving off the bridge in 1990.

From Patrick Erwin (A THOUSAND OTHER WORLDS): In the early years for this couple, it was hard to ignore the incredibly steamy, sensual energy that came from force-of-nature Reva and her “Bud.” They were like two bolts of lightning crossing paths with sometimes devastating results. (Ask Sonni, Annie, Olivia….)

CLASSIC CLIPS:
Reva declares herself "The Slut of Springfield" (1984)
Reva and Josh marry at Cross Creek (1989)
Robert Newman classic clips
Kim Zimmer classic clips

Share your thoughts on Josh and Reva in our Comments section below or on our message board.

RELATED:
- 50 Greatest Soap Opera Actors: The Complete List
- 50 Greatest Soap Opera Actresses: The Complete List
- THE COMPLETE LIST: 25 Biggest Blunders In Daytime Soap Opera History

15 comments:

  1. FLOVE Josh & Reva! Josh and Reva's wedding is one of my favorite soap weddings and IMO felt the most naturalistic of any soap wedding.

    Such a shame how underrated Robert Newman went in the role. He never chewed the scenery and really hammed it up as many of the actors awarded Daytime Emmys. I loved Newman's "everyday man" take on Josh Lewis and subtle nuance he brought.

    Still...Josh & Reva shouldn't rank above DAYS' Bo & Hope on a list of greatest soap couples. Not sure what the rhyme or reason is with compiling this list.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm surprised Josh and Reva aren't in the top 5. They were never my favorite couple though Robert Newman is one of my favorite actors - I preferred him with Olivia.
    I'm sure Luke and Laura will be #1; Victor and Nikki will be in the top 5 I guess and Rachel and Mac too. I'm hoping Roger and Holly will be up there and maybe Jack and Carly from ATWT. Will Erica and Jackson make it? I never really cared much for Jackson but I hope Jesse and Angie are up there somewhere.
    Looking forward to the rest of the list.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @lenafreed: Rachel/Mac and Jack/Carly already made it to the list.

    I am sure Angie/Jesse and Victor/Nikki will so show up.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Josh and Reva.... my favorite daytime couple of all time and my mother's as well!!! ;) This couple was amazing all through the years. The actors really gave it all they had in these roles. They should have ranked higher, but glad they are in the top ten! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I guess I've only been keeping up on my own favorite couples LOL! So there are 7 more to go - right? Who does everyone think will be in the top 5? My guesses: 1 - Luke and Laura (not my fav but I would think the top soap couple of all time nonetheless) 2 - Victor and Nikki 3 - Roger and Holly 4 - Erica and someone (I guess Jackson but I preferred Jeremy and Dmitri) 5 - Jesse and Angie.
    So many of my favorites don't seem to be on the list but I guess I better check before I say that for sure. I loved David and Dorian and Viki with Ben and even Rex and Gigi on OLTL but I can't imagine them being up this high.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just hope that Doug and Julie from Days is no.1 or I will just shake my head, they are the only couple ever on Time mag for soaps and kicked off in my view true supercouples.

    ReplyDelete
  7. MY guess:

    7. Robert/Holly GH
    6.Frank/Jillian RH
    5. Eden/Cruz SB
    4. Victor/Nikki YR
    3. Jessie/Angie AMC
    2. Doug/Julie DOOL
    1. Luke/Laura GH

    ReplyDelete
  8. ^^ I guess the same only I'd imagine Robert & Holly are not on the list but rather Tom & Alice Horton from DAYS. I'd also trade out Frank & Jillian for a couple from a P&G soap. No idea who.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Joshua:

    I would love to see Tom and Alice but not sure they ever really had a story their own except for the invalid marriage. I just have a feeling about Frank and Jillian. I have a soft spot for the actress who played Jill...she was so beautiful and, sadly, died so young

    ReplyDelete
  10. Always 1 of my all time favorite couple, Kim and Robert the best acting team!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'd guess for the remaining 7 to be
    Luke/Laura GH
    Doug/Julie DOOL
    Roger/Holly GL
    Steve/Alice AW
    Victor/Nikki Y&R
    Jessie/Angie AMC
    Cruz/Eden SB

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love them, but I guess this means my lovelies, Roger and Holly, definitely didn't make the list, which is a damn shame. Can't imagine any other GL couple being ranked higher than Josh/Reva because, well, they're Josh & Reva! I know Roger and Holly were complicated and definitely had a rape-mance going on, which turns a lot of people off, but since Luke & Laura are most likely #1 on this list, the rape-mance should not be an issue!

    Roger and Holly will always be #1 in my book. I mean really, Michael Zaslow and Maureen Garrett! Could you ask for a better acting team? No, never, negative. They were perfect. You'd think that since they both made the greatest actor and actress list they'd be on here, especially since that relationship DEFINED their characters' entire life on the show, but I guess not.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm with you Ana - loved Roger and Holly - so I'm in agreement with SpiralParadox's list. And Cruz and Eden were just chosen as #7 so maybe Spiral has hit a home run!

    ReplyDelete
  14. One of my favorite couples - loved them!

    I only watched CBS soaps so I am not familiar with some of the couples on Spiral's list but I didn't notice James Stenbeck/Barbara Ryan in the list. Surely they would make it into the top 50!

    ReplyDelete
  15. They were an amazing couple! Always loved them!

    ReplyDelete