RIP Guiding Light (1937-2009)
I'm going to start this thread here in Hot Topics, and if my fellow mods, in their wisdom, choose to move it later, I'm okay with that.
Today, the CBS Television Network announced that "Guiding Light" the longest running continuous story in broadcast history, will air its final episode on September 18.
If you are a soap fan of any show, you know how significant that this loss is.
"Guiding Light" is nothing short of a bonafide American institution. The show began broadcasting in 1937, on the NBC Radio Network, produced and sponsored by Procter & Gamble, the great home products conglomerate. It focused on the town of "Four Points" and the lives of a congregation led by the Reverend Ruthledge. In 1948, the show moved to CBS Radio, and the focus changed to the Bauer Family, led by Frederick "Papa" Bauer, and focusing on the lives of his children, Bill, Trudy, and Meta.
In 1952, CBS brought the show to television. It aired for 15 minutes each day from 12:45-1:00, sharing the 12:30 PM timeslot with "Search For Tomorrow" which aired from 12:30-12:45 PM. This tidy arrangement lasted until 1968, when both shows were expanded to 30 minutes each.
The Bauer saga was all about the triumphs and tragedies of an American family. Papa Bauer, an immigrant from Germany, (and endeared to millions of fans through a touching portrayal by the late Theo Goetz), would be there to offer advice to his children. Meta was a colorful character who has a racy life and caused much grief for the family, until she fell in love and married Dr. Bruce Banning. Papa's son, Bill, was married to Bertha (Bert). Bill was an alcoholic, and Bert was his spoiled, materialistic wife. Trudy, the third child, was never mentioned again once the show hit television.
From 1952-1956, the show was double broadcast on both radio and TV. The radio show was on in the morning, broadcast live of course. Then the cast would take cabs arcoss Manhattan to be at Liederkrantz Hall, CBS's New York studios at the time, to do the TV broadcast, live at 12:45 PM.
Through the years, (and with the passing of Papa Bauer), Bert became the show's matriarch and sage. There were lots of great plots and twists through the years, too numerous to even begin to mention here.
The show declined in popularity in the 1970's because it was considered too "old fashioned" when compared with the newer, sexier "The Young and the Restless" show. In 1977, the show was expanded to a full hour, and new families and stories were integrated. The addition of master storyteller Douglas Marland, as the head writer, brought the show back to the top of the ratings. He created the Reardon and Cooper family sagas, and integrated them into the Bauer, Chamberlain, Marler, and Spaulding stories.
In the 1980's Kim Zimmer joined the show as diva Reva Shayne Lewis, who worked her way through the Lewis men, including patriarch oilman Harlan Billy (HB) Lewis! Her great love though was HB's son, Joshua (always played by the dapper Robert Newman). I'm hoping that they will be back together for the finale.
In the 1990's and early 2000's, the show hit major writing snags (the low point, being the "Clone Reva" story).
The last revamping came right after the show's 70th Anniversary in 2007. Today's Guiding Light is taped with hand-held cameras, partially in outdoor locales in Northern New Jersey (being the proxy for the mythical midwestern town of Springfield). The Bauer saga is still a small part of the show, but the Lewises, Coopers and Spauldings now have the majority of the story.
Maybe "Guiding light" is a show whose time has come and gone. It was a part of my life from birth, and even though I am guilty of not being a regular watcher anymore, (I became a teacher, and I'm still at school at 3:00 PM) I still feel a loss.....
I will be taping the last episode.
