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Guiding Light (known as The Guiding Light before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in Guinness World Records as the second longest-running drama in television in American history. Guiding Light aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952 and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio between January 25, 1937 and June 29, 1956. With 72 years of radio and television runs, Guiding Light is the longest running soap opera, ahead of General Hospital, and is the fourth-longest running program in all of broadcast history; only the American country music radio program Grand Ole Opry (first broadcast in 1925), the BBC religious program The Daily Service (1928), the CBS religious program Music and the Spoken Word (1929), and the Norwegian children's radio program Lørdagsbarnetimen (1924–2010) have been on the air longer.

When the show debuted on radio in 1937, it centered on Reverend John Ruthledge and those people's lives that revolved around him. The "Guiding Light" in the show's title originally referred to the lamp in Ruthledge's study that people used as a sign for them to find his help when needed. When the show transitioned to television in the 1950s, the Bauers, a German immigrant family first introduced in 1948, became the focus of the program. Other core families were introduced over the show's run, including the Norrises in the 1960s; the Marlers and the Spauldings in the 1970s; and the Coopers, the Lewises, and the Reardons in the 1980s.

Guiding Light was created by Irna Phillips and Emmons Carlson and began as an NBC Radio serial on January 25, 1937. On June 2, 1947, the series was transferred to CBS Radio, before starting on June 30, 1952, on CBS Television. It continued to be broadcast on radio until June 29, 1956. The series was expanded from 15 minutes to a half-hour during 1968 (and also switched from broadcasting live to pre-taping around this same time), and then to a full hour on November 7, 1977. The series broadcast its 15,000th CBS episode on September 6, 2006.

On April 1, 2009, CBS announced that it would be canceling Guiding Light after a run of 72 years (15 on radio and 57 on television) due to low ratings. The show taped its final scenes for CBS on August 11, 2009, and its final episode on the network aired on September 18, 2009. Reruns of The Price Is Right took over the Guiding Light time slot between September 21 and October 2, 2009 for two weeks. On October 5, 2009, CBS replaced Guiding Light with an hour-long revival of Let's Make a Deal, hosted by Wayne Brady.

Origins, plot development, and cast

Guiding Light has had a number of plot sequences during the series' long history, on both radio and television. These plot sequences include complex storylines, and different writers and casting.

1930s and 1940s

Main article: Guiding Light (1937–1949)

The series was created by Emmons Carlson and Irna Phillips, who based it on personal experiences. After giving birth to a still-born baby at age 19, she found spiritual comfort listening to the radio sermons of Preston Bradley, a famous Chicago preacher and founder of the People's Church, a church which promoted the brotherhood of man. These sermons originated the idea of the creation of The Guiding Light, which began as a radio series. The original radio series was first broadcast as 15-minute episodes on NBC Radio, starting on January 25, 1937. The series was transferred to CBS Radio during 1947.

1950s

Main article: Guiding Light (1950–1959)

The Guiding Light was broadcast first by CBS Television on June 30, 1952, replacing the canceled soap opera The First Hundred Years. These episodes were also 15 minutes long. During the period from 1952 to 1956, The Guiding Light existed as both a radio and television serial, with actors recording their performances twice for each day that the shows were broadcast. The radio broadcast of The Guiding Light ceased production during 1956, ending this overlap.

With the transition to television, the main characters became the Bauers, a lower-middle class German immigrant family who were first introduced in the radio serial in 1948. Many storylines revolved around Bill Bauer (son of patriarch Friedrich "Papa" Bauer) and his new wife Bertha (nicknamed "Bert"). Papa Bauer, who came to the United States during World War I with just a few dollars in his pocket, was a salt of the earth character who succeeded in offering opportunities to his children by working hard, and he instilled that work ethic into his children. Bert had dreams of climbing the social ladder and keeping up appearances, and it was up to Bill (and sometimes Papa Bauer) to bring her down to earth.

The Guiding Light ranked as the number one-rated soap opera during both 1956 and 1957, before being replaced during 1958 by As the World Turns. After Irna Phillips was transferred to As the World Turns during 1958, her protege Agnes Nixon became head writer of The Guiding Light.

The first television producer of The Guiding Light was Luci Ferri Rittenberg, who produced the show for over 20 years.

1960s

Main article: Guiding Light (1960–1969)

Agnes Nixon relinquished her role as chief writer during 1965 to work on Another World. On March 13, 1967, The Guiding Light was first broadcast in color. On September 9, 1968, the program was expanded from 15 to 30 minutes.

The 1960s featured the introduction of African American characters, and the main emphasis of the series shifted to Bill and Bert's children, Mike and Ed; the character of Bill Bauer was written out in July 1969, presumed dead after a plane crash. The show also became a bit more topical during the 1960s, with such storylines as Bert Bauer's diagnosis of uterine cancer in 1962.

A number of new characters were introduced during the mid- to late 1960s, including Dr. Sara McIntyre, who remained a major character through the early 1980s.

1970s

Main article: Guiding Light (1970–1979)

Much of the story during the first half of the 1970s was dominated by Stanley Norris' November 1971 murder and the ensuing trial, as well as the exploits of villainesses Charlotte Waring and Kit Vested. Charlotte (at the time played by Melinda Fee) was murdered by Kit (Nancy Addison) on August 26, 1973, and then Kit herself was shot by Joe Werner (Anthony Call) in self-defense on April 24, 1974, after she had attempted to poison Sara McIntyre.

A pivotal character, off-and-on, until the spring of 1998, Roger Thorpe, was introduced on April 1, 1971. The role of Roger was originally proposed to be a blond, fair-skinned, preppy type, a man who was dating his boss's daughter Holly. Ultimately, Michael Zaslow, a dark haired actor with a more ethnic appearance, was hired for the role instead by long-time casting director, Betty Rea. Zaslow portrayed Roger as a complicated and multifaceted villain.

Theo Goetz, the actor who played Papa Bauer since the first episode of The Guiding Light, died in 1972. The decision was made to have Papa Bauer die in the storyline as well. The cast paid tribute to Goetz and Papa Bauer in a special memorial episode which aired on February 27, 1973.

Pressured by newer, more youth-oriented soap operas such as All My Children, Procter & Gamble hired head writers Bridget and Jerome Dobson during 1975, who started writing in November 1975. The Dobsons introduced a more nuanced, psychologically layered writing style, and included timely story lines, including a complex love/hate relationship between estranged spouses/step-siblings Roger and Holly. They also created a number of well-remembered characters, including Rita Stapleton, whose complex relationships with Roger and Ed propelled much of the story for the remainder of the decade, Alan Spaulding, and Ross Marler, both of whom remained major characters into the 2000s.

The decision was made during the fall of 1977 to reintroduce the thought-dead character of Bill Bauer, in a major retcon. The other characters thought that he had died in an airplane crash in July 1969, but he was said to actually be alive. (Many viewers who had also paid attention to the show and story line back in September 1968, remembered that Bill was told he would only have nine more years to live.) One of the problems with this return is that the Dobsons seemed not quite sure what to do with his return. Although it was shocking, at first, to many of the characters, Bill himself ended up being charged for a murder of a man in Vancouver (Mike got his father off for the crime, proving that it was an accident, rather quickly and by April 1978 Bill had left town, again. Although Bill returned briefly in November 1978, April 1980, and then again in July 1983 and in flashbacks in November 1983.) Bill's return introduced the audience and the Bauers to another character that stayed on the show until September 1984, Hillary Kincaid, R. N. (Bauer), Bill's daughter (and thus Ed and Mike's half-sister; Bill had accidentally killed the man that Hillary originally thought was her father, but was actually her step-father) and she becomes a nurse at Cedars and a major character.

Surprising many viewers, Jerome and Bridget Dobson killed the show's young heroine, Leslie Jackson Bauer Norris Bauer, in June 1976. Lynne Adams was reported at the time to want to leave the role, and the Dobsons decided against recasting the part. Leslie was killed by a drunk driver. Her father, Steve Jackson, remained on the show for the remainder of the 1970s, serving as a senior physician at Cedars, and as a friend and companion to Bert Bauer.

In November 1975, the name was changed in the show's opening and closing visuals from The Guiding Light to Guiding Light. On November 7, 1977, the show expanded to a full hour and was broadcast from 2:30 to 3:30 pm daily.

The 1970s emphasized the Bauers and the Spauldings, but several other notable characters were introduced.

1980s

Main article: Guiding Light (1980–1989)

Bridget and Jerome Dobson assumed the head writing duties of As the World Turns in late 1979. Former actor Douglas Marland, assumed the head writing reins of Guiding Light in 1979. He introduced many new characters, including the Reardon family. During May 1980, Guiding Light won its first Outstanding Drama Series Daytime Emmy. One of Marland's stories featured the character of Carrie Todd Marler, played by Jane Elliot. Carrie was diagnosed with multiple personalities. Marland had barely delved into her psychosis when Elliot's contract was abruptly terminated by Executive Producer Allen M. Potter in 1982. As a result, Marland resigned in protest.

During the early 1980s, the show began to emphasize younger characters more, as an attempt to compete with the younger-skewing ABC serials. A number of longtime characters were eliminated during this time, including Ben and Eve McFarren, Diane Ballard, Dr. Sara McIntyre, Adam Thorpe, Barbara Norris Thorpe, Justin Marler and Steve Jackson. Actress Lenore Kasdorf quit the show in 1981, and producers decided not to recast the role of Rita Stapleton Bauer, given how popular Kasdorf had been. The Bauer family matriarch, Bertha 'Bert' Bauer, died in March 1986, following the real-life death of Charita Bauer in 1985. During Guiding Light's 50th anniversary year in 1987, a commitment was pledged to showcase the Bauer family in primary roles as much as possible, after audience reaction to the Oklahoma-bred Lewis and Shayne families turned out to be mixed. As a result, the tradition of the Bauer July 4 family barbecue began that year, and continued until 2009, the serial's final year on CBS Television.

Pam Long, actress and writer for NBC's Texas from 1981 to 1982, became head writer during 1983, joined by Gail Kobe as executive producer. During Long's first stint as writer, the show shifted focus to the young love quadrangle of Rick Bauer, Phillip Spaulding, Mindy Lewis, and Beth Raines. Bauer, Spaulding, Reardon, and Raines families. Long also introduced several other characters, including Alexandra Spaulding, played by notable daytime actress Beverlee McKinsey, of Another World and Texas fame; and Reva Shayne, played by Kim Zimmer. After a break, Pamela K. Long returned for a second head writer stint from 1987 to 1990.

The characters of Roger Thorpe and Holly Norris returned to the series during the late 1980s. Maureen Garrett reprised her role of Holly in 1988, followed by Michael Zaslow as Roger in 1989.

1990s

Main article: Guiding Light (1990–1999)

With the new decade, the series' storytelling transitioned from Long's homespun style to a more realistic style with a new group of chief writers. The Bauer, Spaulding, Lewis, and Cooper families had been established as core families, and most major plot developments concerned them. The show generally held on in the middle of the pack as far as ratings went throughout the decade.

The show suffered major character losses mid-decade, including the car accident death of Maureen Bauer and the exit of Alexandra Spaulding from the story. As the decade progressed, the program developed a series of outlandish plot twists seemingly to compete with the serials Passions and Days of Our Lives.

In an attempt to revive the series, the character Reva Shayne was brought back to Springfield during April 1995. She'd been presumed dead for the previous five years, after having driven her car off of a bridge and into the water off the Florida Keys. Later that July, antiheroine Tangie Hill (played by Marcy Walker, who declined to renew her contract) was eliminated after nearly two years with the show in favor of the full-time return of fan favorite Nola Chamberlain, played by Lisa Brown.

During January 1996, soap opera veteran Mary Stuart joined the cast as Meta Bauer (though referred to many times over the years, the long-running character originally played by Ellen Demming had not been seen onscreen since 1974); the character remained on the show until Stuart's death during 2002.

January 1998, Bethany Joy Lenz came to the show as "Teenage Reva Clone". Producers were so impressed with her acting and attitude during her three-week role as "Teenage Reva Clone" on the show that she was re-hired later that year in the contract role of "Michelle Bauer Santos" on the daytime serial for two years from 1998 to 2000.

2000s

Main article: Guiding Light (2000–2009)

The 2000s began with the division of the show into two locales: Springfield and the fictional island nation of San Cristobel. In Springfield, the Santos mob dynasty created much of the drama. Meanwhile, the royal Winslow family had their own series of intrigues with which to deal. During 2002, however, San Cristobel was eliminated from the series and the mob's influence in the story was subsequently diminished and, with the departure of character Danny Santos during 2005, eliminated altogether. Also, Guiding Light celebrated its 50th Anniversary as a television show on June 30, 2002.

During 2004, former director and actress Ellen Wheeler (Emmy Award winner as an actress for the series All My Children and Another World) took over as executive producer of Guiding Light. She and writer David Kreizman made numerous changes to the sets, stories, and the cast. Several veteran actors were eliminated, mainly because of budget decreases. Because of the lack of veteran influence, Wheeler reemphasized the youth of Springfield, especially the controversial pairing of cousins Jonathan and Tammy.

During 2006, an episode featured character Harley Cooper gaining heroic abilities. The episode was semi-continued in an 8-page story in select Marvel Comics productions.

The series had its 70th broadcast anniversary during 2007. The anniversary was commemorated with the initiation of website FindYourLight.net and a program of outreach, representing Irna Phillips' original message. There was also a special episode during January 2007, with current cast members playing Phillips and some of the earlier cast members. The series also introduced special beginning credits commemorating the anniversary. The show had a rotating slate of writers, including veteran GL writers Lucky Gold, Chris Dunn, and Jill Lorie Hurst, who was eventually named head writer.

Despite low ratings, the show won 2007 Daytime Emmy Awards for Best Writing and Best Show (sharing Best Show with The Young and the Restless).

Cancellation and final episode

On April 1, 2009, CBS announced that it would not renew Guiding Light, and the last broadcast date would be September 18, 2009. Procter & Gamble initially announced that they would attempt to find another outlet to distribute the series, but later admitted that they had been unsuccessful in doing so, and that on September 18, 2009, after 57 years on television (preceded by 15 years on radio for a total broadcast history of 72 years), Guiding Light would end its broadcast history on CBS.

Storylines were resolved in the final weeks of the series, numerous characters from the series' past passed through Springfield one last time. Among the returnees were the characters of Nola, Holly and Mindy; Josh told Reva that he was leaving Springfield for a job for the next year, but proposes that he return one year from that date and, if by that time, she wants to reunite with him, she should meet him at the lighthouse and, if she is not there, he will assume she is not interested.

The final episode is pleasant, featuring many of the characters gathering in the park for a large picnic. Toward the end of the episode, it jumps forward one year, by which time, Phillip and Beth have reunited, as have Rick and Mindy. Olivia and Natalia, happy with their new baby, pick up Rafe as he returns from the army. The episode concludes with Josh arriving at the lighthouse, as promised, and finding Reva there. They declare their undying love. James, Ashlee, and Daisy leave Springfield and relocate to Santa Barbara, California. Josh asks if Reva is packed, to go on an adventure. The two grab the luggage, and with Reva's young son, they climb into Josh's pick-up truck. Josh says to Reva, "You ready?" She replies "always," a callback to her promise of "Always, Bud" that Reva uttered to Josh many times on the show. As the truck drives away with the lighthouse in the background, "The End" appears on the screen before a final fadeout. The song heard playing in the background during the final scene is "Together" by Michelle Branch.

The final episode also included the original tag line, with some revision, printed on the screen with the words "There is a destiny that makes us FAMILY" (replacing the word 'brothers'), as well as quick film clips of each of the show's title cards and announcers during the six decades it was on television, leading to the show's former long-time beginning announcement: "And now, The Guiding Light".

Production and locales

Guiding Light was broadcast from three locations: Chicago (where creator Irna Phillips resided), from 1937 until 1946; Hollywood, from 1947 until 1949; and New York City starting during 1949. It was relocated from Chicago to Hollywood (despite objections of both Phillips and Arthur Peterson) to take advantage of the talent pool. Production was subsequently relocated to New York City, where the majority of soap operas were produced during the 1950s, 1960s and much of the 1970s; it remained based in New York City until the show's conclusion. Its final taping location was the CBS studios in midtown Manhattan. From the 1970s to the 1990s it was filmed at the Chelsea Studios. From soon before February 29, 2008, outdoor scenes were filmed on location in Peapack, New Jersey. The location filming coincided with another significant production change, as the series became the first American weekday soap opera to be recorded digitally. The production team chose to film with Canon XH-G1 HDV camcorders in standard definition mode. Unlike the old production model with pedestal-style cameras and traditional three-sided sets, handheld cameras allowed producers to choose as many locations as they wished.