"Guiding Light" Ends in September
(CBS Photo)
Here's news, friends, that breaks but once a generation - but once a lifetime...
"Guiding Light" is ending.
CBS just posted the release. Below, in full, on the jump...
But as this is a blog, allow me first to just add this comment: "GL" has not merely been blessed with extraordinary longevity but has been a bulwark of the New York soap production community from the time Frank Sinatra avoided bobby-soxers on the way to the Paramount. It has been through EVERYTHING - wars, recessions, cut-backs, swings in taste, hundreds, thousands of actors and actresses and producers, a fickle - yet remarkably patient - sponsor in Procter & Gamble. Indeed, P&G's loyalty kept it going all these years more than CBS's.
A deep and destructive recession it could NOT survive, even though it was born during the Great Depression.
Here is another possible issue. The NYC TV production community is in an uproar over Gov. Paterson's threat to abandon the state's 30 percent tax credit for TV and movie production. Believe me - "GL" won't be the only New York show to go down, or go west, if this stands. My hunch, though, is that the tax credit may be only part of the issue with "Light," if that. Ratings have been low for years now (about 2.2 million viewers in late March, down about 500,000 from a year ago) while both P&G and CBS are under intense shareholder pressure. Killing a near-century old franchise was probably one of the easiest moves they thought they could make.
This is a very sad day for New York TV - but you should also know, it's been rumored for years.
And now, it's gone. I always feel lousy (who doesn't) when another of New York's venerable cultural institutions goes...but there's something especially bleak about this departure... TV Week, by the way, is reporting that P&G will shop this elsewhere. But the prospects are beyond bleak at this point.
"CBS's daytime drama GUIDING LIGHT will broadcast its final episode on Friday, Sept. 18, 2009. At the time of its final broadcast, the series will have spanned 72 years and more than 15,700 episodes on television and radio.
Created by Irna Phillips, the show debuted on NBC radio on January 25, 1937 as the 15-minute radio serial "The Guiding Light." It made the switch to 15-minute episodes on CBS Television on June 30, 1952, although it continued to air concurrently on radio with the actors playing parts on both shows until 1956, when the radio show ended. In 1967, the series first started being broadcast in color, and a year later, the show expanded from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. In November 1977, the show expanded to a full hour. The series is credited by The Guinness Book of World Records as "The Longest-Running Television Drama."
"GUIDING LIGHT has achieved a piece of television history that will never be matched; it has crossed mediums, adapted its stories to decades of social change and woven its way through generations of audiences like no other," said Nancy Tellem, President, CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group. "This daytime icon will always be an indelible part of CBS's history, with a legacy of innovation and reputation for quality and excellence at every step of the way. While its presence will be missed, its contributions will always be celebrated and never be forgotten."
"No show in daytime or prime time, or anytime, has touched so many millions of viewers across so many years as GUIDING LIGHT," said Barbara Bloom, Senior Vice President, Daytime Programs, CBS. "We thank the cast, crew and producers – past and present – who delivered this entertainment institution, the beloved characters and the time-honored stories to our audience every day for seven decades. It's been a privilege to work with such an extraordinarily talented group of people."
The radio show's original storyline centered on a minister named Rev. John Ruthledge, and all the people of a fictional suburb in Chicago called Five Points. Today's show takes place in the fictional town of Springfield, and revolves around the Spaulding, Lewis and Cooper families. Throughout its historic tenure on the Network, GUIDING LIGHT has been the recipient of 69 Daytime Emmy Awards, including three for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series.
The show has broken ground with stories such as cancer, teen pregnancy, sexual harassment, alcoholism, abuse, AIDS and post-partum depression and, in 2008, premiered a brand-new daytime production model, featuring permanent sets inside its New York City studio and approximately 20% of the production shot in exterior scenes in the town of Peapack, N.J. In addition, directing and editing were changed to be done digitally and almost simultaneously, giving the sets a more realistic feeling and eliminating the need for production suites."
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Comments (79)
I'm heartbroken. I've been watching since '73. I've grown up with these characters. I will truly miss the Spaulding/Lewis/Cooper/ inlaws and outlaws.
I'm heartbroken. I've been watching since '73. I've grown up with these characters. I will truly miss the Spaulding/Lewis/Cooper/ inlaws and outlaws.
BOO CBS for telling this on April Fools Day. BOO CBS for not having faith that the show would continue its creative upswing. What will you put in its place? My guess is another cheap, tawdry judge show or worse yet, a lame game show. My hope is that GUIDING LIGHT will find a new home on another network or even online and will continue to SHINE despite TIIC (the idiots in charge) at CBS.
I have never watched it- I am amazed that people have time for this.
I have never watched it- I am amazed that people have time for this.
But you have time to post on this blog, huh Barry? Putz.
I'm heartbroken, I looked forward to this every am. These people are part of my family.
I'm heartbroken, I looked forward to this every am. These people are part of my family.
I am so sad!!!! I watch this everyday!!!
I am so sad!!!! I watch this everyday!!!
I don't know how I can survive in this world without Guiding Light.
This is a sad day indeed. & just when I thought that Beth and Phillip would finally be back together again!!!! PLEASE say that this is an April Fool's day joke....
I don't know how I can survive in this world without Guiding Light.
This is a sad day indeed. & just when I thought that Beth and Phillip would finally be back together again!!!! PLEASE say that this is an April Fool's day joke....
I have watched this show since I was 3 years old with my granparents I am 53 years old, my daughter and I will miss this show I am heartbroken!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really hope that this is some kind of cruel April fool's joke. If not then Boo to CBS. The story lines (i.e. Olivia/Frank) were finally getting good and getting people to tune back in to the show. Shame on you CBS for letting Guiding Light's light go out. As stated before I hope another station will take over or that it continues online. I for one will not be watching whatever stupid thing CBS comes up with to take it's place. Time for Otalia fans to rally!!!!!!!
I did a little math and for 30% of the time the U.S. has been a nation, "Guiding Light" has been on the air. What's the old saw? "We shall not see its like again."
Noooo! I'm so hooked in Guiding Light. Don't cancel it!!
Nooo! I'm so hooked on Guiding Light. Don't cancel it!
I haven't watched in years, but watched religiously for 25 years...always figured it would be around when I had time to watch again...
This show is the penultimate in idiotic television, the fat whore with the pregnancy, her bf, the whole bit, they should die.
and if you watch this show you should KYS
look it up
I am totally bummed!! I watched this show with my grandmother, too, at about 3 or 4. I still watch it to this day. Just when the storylines were going somewhere interesting and not completely outlandish! This is very sad news. I truly hope they get picked up by another station or something.
This is so depressing! I watched this show with my grandmother, too, when I was about 3 or 4. I still watch it to this day. Just when the storylines were really getting interesting and not totally outlandish! I am totally bummed. Hopefully GL will get picked up by a cable network or something.
Please,please dont let this be true!My granny watched it with me when I was little.I raised my oldest daughter and son watching it.I want my 9yr old to get to know our heroes and villians.The cast is my family!
I'm so depressed. Anyone who has ever loved soaps should be depressed because if they'll cancel "Guiding Light", they'll cancel anything. Mostly I'm going to miss the brilliant Otalia storyline that I've only recently found. I hope another network, cable, DishTV, whatever, picks it up. It's been hitting its stride of late and has just been brilliant.
I'm so depressed. Anyone who has ever loved soaps should be depressed because if they'll cancel "Guiding Light", they'll cancel anything. Mostly I'm going to miss the brilliant Otalia storyline that I've only recently found. I hope another network, cable, DishTV, whatever, picks it up. It's been hitting its stride of late and has just been great.
KYS,such hate for something that has given so many folks pleasure andconstance in an unfare world.Why are you even here with this as we grieve for our history?
What are you thinking are so many levels??
SO MANY OF US LOVE THAT SHOW OBVIOUSLY 72 YEARS
I haven't got to watch it regularly for years since i been involved with some civic things, but the check out line keep's me up to some speed.
Not that I am Pro big biz. BUT rethink your 30 % tax Credit. Granted and lord knows we have spent enough money with them P&G makes and markets many of household and personal use items. and probably pay their ceo's money they shouldn't and hopefully this will shock them enough to reconsider that position on priorities
BUT (IT KINDA MADE US PART OWNERS IN THE GUIDING LIGHT ; ) )
MAJOR BOTTOM LINE P&G REALLY STARTS TO STRUGGLE, WHICH 30% TAX CREDIT. UNEMPLOYMENT. NICE THINKING GOVERNOR, NOT ONLY HAVE YOU PUT UNDER A CLASSIC NYC ICON, BUT POSSIBLY MANY PEOPLE OUT OF WORK.
You should check who your predecessor's were.
Sorry folk's I really am not this much of a jerk and I don't even do blogs
GO TOWARD THE LIGHT...
I guess the time has come. : (
Go toward the light...
I guess the time has come. : (
GL was one of the first tv shows I watched with family in the '50s. My mother and grandmother first listened to it on the radio and then watched GL on tv. I remember Nanny inviting the little old ladies on the block over to watch as I was growing up. My grandfather would bake or cook and everyone would watch and cry together. I will always remember the 15 minute shows and all of us we sitting around the tv having lunch together. When I went away to college in 1971, I had to fight to watch because everyone else watched the soaps on ABC. My mother-in-law, who never watched soaps when she worked, when she retired, she fell in love with GL too.
Good memories, good times, so sad another icon is gone!
My my my KYS
why be so hostile towards a tv show especially 1 specific character
Some choose to set aside an hour a day to read a book and some choose to set it aside to watch their book.
So you FIFO
and in the accounting sense
it doesn't mean "first in first out"
The none blogger
Oh no... say it is so!!!!!! I have watched The Guiding Light since I was 11 years old... so faithfully! (I am now 40!!) I am so sad to hear this news and I truly wish that CBS would PLEASE reconsider!!!!
I am not happy at all that Guiding Light is ending. I have been a fan for the past 4 years and think this could be the end of the soap opera industry. First Passions then Guiding Light. It really isn't fair. These charaters are very important to us and the stories only enhance them. I hope another network takes it over if CBS cuts it off.
I am not happy at all that Guiding Light is ending. I have been a fan for the past 4 years and think this could be the end of the soap opera industry. First Passions then Guiding Light. It really isn't fair. These charaters are very important to us and the stories only enhance them. I hope another network takes it over if CBS cuts it off.
My life is over. I can't live without GL
my mom has been watching GL since it was on radio it was always on after school it will be weird not to have it on but this is expected considering that they have struggled with different production methods too cut cost i think they all they could. it does sucks.
To Those Who are Responsible:
You have made a horrible mistake! Guiding Light is like an historical landmark for TV. Could you not have cancelled one the ridiculous game shows or talk shows? I DVR this show everyday and have been watching my entire life. Everyone in my family watches, yes even my brother. We enjoy it and get a laugh when talking about the characters as if they were related to us. It is a shame that you cannot do something to save the show.
This has to be a joke. I hope Otalia finally get it together by Sept. 18th if it isn't a joke!!!!!!!!!
OHHH THE HUMANITY!!! IT CANT BE TRUE!!!! THIS MUST BE A CRUEL APRIL FOOLS JOKE!!!! THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT IS GOING TO COME TO AN END NOW. WHATS NEXT ARE THEY GOING TO STOP MAKING BON BON'S? HAHAHAHAHAHA I'D RATHER DONKEY PUNCH MYSELF IN THE GROIN THAN TO READ MORE COMMENTS
I am really upset that CBS is cancelling Guiding Light, I have watched this show for more than 30 years. Please don't cancel
the show. Guding Light and all the soaps on CBS are the best soaps on television
Among the rumored replacements, an updated version of my favorite game show: The $25,000 Pyramid.
Hopefully, it will loook more like the original, and less like the Donny Osmond version.
Ok- perhaps this is an April fools joke by CBS? I don't watch the show- but it does seem possible if this article just came out today.
Ok- perhaps this is an April fools joke by CBS? I don't watch the show- but it does seem possible if this article just came out today.
I am so disappointed not only have I been watching this show and or listening to it
on tv radios before the vcr came out, but I have laughed, cried and been a part
of them as if they are my family. After 31 years I can't believe that not only
are we losing jobs, finances, 401K and all the bs in taxes we have to pay
but to take this away too is just very very very sad.
I can't believe Guiding Light is being taken off the air! I have watched faithfully for 32 years, hardly ever missing a show. I record it every morning, and watch it as soon as I get home from work. We don't need another moronic court show or ridiculous game show. PLEASE!!! Say this isn't so, and tomorrow when I wake up, this would all have been a cruel April Fool's joke.
THE ECONOMY CANNOT BE BLAMED. THE WRITERS ARE THE ONES TO BLAME. THE STORY HAS GONE FROM BAD TO WORSE. BRINGING BACK PHILLIP AND EDMOND WAS TOO LITTLE TOO LATE. THEY ARE THE ONLY ACTORS THAT MAKE THE SHOW. REVA AND JOSH IS SO BORING I SPEED PAST IT, THE OTHER CHARACTER AT BEST ARE MEDICORE. THE WRITERS SHOULD WATCH SOME OF THE SOAPS AND SEE HOW PROFESSIONAL THEY ARE. I WATCH TWO HOURS OF SOAPS A DAY. USUALLY AT NIGHT WHEN NOTHING DECENT IS ON. I THOUGHT GUILDING LIGHT WAS STARTING TO GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER.
WHAT A SHAME!!!.
How Very Sad To Hear This News. GL Is And Was Part Of Radio/TV History.
It Wasn't Just A Tv Show,It Was An Extension Of Many Families,
Whom Connected With The Characters. Many Grew Up with These Characters.
It Will Be Like Losing,'FaMiLy"
.The Guiding Light Will Truly Be Missed By All~
I am devastated! I have been watching Guilding Light, since I was 17
and I am now 57. I record it on my DVR and watch it during the
weekends when I have time. or I save them up for rainy days and
watch them all at once.
I first started to watch when I was able to take a break at work, noremotes, couldn't reach the TV (which was atop a cooler) and it
was the only thing on. I had never watched a soap or read a romance novel before that time. I still don't, but Mama Burt and the
Bauer family gave a struggling teen a place to go where everyone was loved. I became hooked on the characters because the story
lines were based on family's loving each other no matter what. I was having a tough time in my home and this "model" of love and
forgiveness which was actually on national TV became a "Guilding
Light" of loving acceptance in my young life. To the people who scoff at the "soaps" I was and still am not the "normal viewer"
I work many years, long hours,raising my daughter myself, but my other family of the spauldings
and Lewis's and Bauers' asnd Coopers are a part of my life. I am saddened and the loss with be great. I can only petition the powers that be to rescue my show and move it if need be, but please preserve it at all costs.
It is part of my life and we do not need another innane game show
or another reality show. GIVE US BACK OUR GUILDING LIGHT1
I Can't believe this is true!! I have watching GL since I was 17, I am now 57. I am not the "typical" soap viewer.I was working my way through college waiting tables in a small great little pizza shop in my town. No remotes, TV was atop a tall cooler, GL was on, no way to change the channel. I became hooked. Had never watched a soap before, and till don't watch any others. But the values of the characters and the basis of the show was one of love and acceptance, No matter what the Bauer boys did, Burt still loved them.
Acceptance and love that to a struggling teen who was having issues at home, was the message I needed to hear from the world. This was the norm, it was on national television. I became hooked and still love to follw these lives. I am dedicated and devoted to this show. It has been with me through so much tumult and turbulance and has been a welcome becon, a Guilding Light. Yes it is a soap, but it is based on love and family and acceptance.
When I couldn't tape it I got a radio and would try to listen to it in my car as I was working on the road, then taped it with my VCR (which is the only reason I purchased it) and then fianlly on my DVR. I am now a sucessful manager with a grown sucessful daughter and I still delight in this show. I record the show each day and then play them during the weekend or on days I'm home ill as my guilty pleasure. Through the years the Bauers, Spaulings and Coopers antics and issues I have watched the characters develop and grow yet stayed true to their own natures. I have been impressed with the writers and how true the characters stayed within the framework of the crazy world of "soap lives". I am saddened and upset that this one show that has meant so much to me through the many years is ending. We do not need another game show nor another itiotic reality show. Hopefully another venue will be smart enough to pcik up the show and continue this wonderful tradition. It means so much to those of us who have been loyal fans for years. This is the first time I have ever blogged, but I want my voice heard. GIVE US BACK OUR GUILDING LIGHT!!
I absolutely cannot believe that this is happening! I have been crying my eyes out! This show had such history! I am absolutely, positively devastated. I have been watching this show since 1997 and it is so special to me. This is a terrible mistake! And for all you haters on this blog, WTH are you doing on this page, anyway? You losers should shut the hell up! This is a devastating day for soap fans!
I was so saddened and shocked by the news today. I can't even sleep.
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II cannot believe this Soap is going off the air! It is
one of the Soaps that is grounded with a Moral Message
at times, and with Characters you can actually identify
with. I have found answers to questions in my own life
with some of the story lines. It is sad and hopefully, the
show doesn't want the Ax and the public doesn't allow this.
II cannot believe this Soap is going off the air! It is
one of the Soaps that is grounded with a Moral Message
at times, and with Characters you can actually identify
with. I have found answers to questions in my own life
with some of the story lines. It is sad and hopefully, the
show doesn't want the Ax and the public doesn't allow this.
II cannot believe this Soap is going off the air! It is
one of the Soaps that is grounded with a Moral Message
at times, and with Characters you can actually identify
with. I have found answers to questions in my own life
with some of the story lines. It is sad and hopefully, the
show doesn't want the Ax and the public doesn't allow this.
This is so sad. I love this show. It's hard to believe that come September it won't be around anymore. CBS didn't do enough to save it.
There are some many other show you can get rid of ..... Like all my childen and General Hospital
Why Guidling Light. I sure will miss it I have been watching for
many many years I am 78yrs.
There are some many other show you can get rid of ..... Like all my childen and General Hospital
Why Guidling Light. I sure will miss it I have been watching for
many many years I am 78yrs.
There are some many other show you can get rid of ..... Like all my childen and General Hospital
Why Guidling Light. I sure will miss it I have been watching for
many many years I am 78yrs.
I am brokenhearted at the loss of GL. I have watched this soap since I was a little girl. It was my mother's "cup of coffee" time. She'd cease all activities to stop and watch it, and I would too. I will miss all the issues and the characters and the interesting resolutions to all problems. Unlike my mother, I was never a housewife who could sit home for coffee time and watch TV, but I did have a VCR and now a DVD. I would tape them and watch them with MY cup of coffee when I got home from work. Nothing could replace it. I guess in September I'll just take a nap.
I am so very sad that this wonderfully acted show is leaving us. I have watched this show since 1976. I have grown up with these characters and actors. I am sorry to hear this. This show has produced some wonderful actors and I will miss it.
I am so sorry to hear Guiding Light is going of off. The world is
completely changed since I first saw it, but I watched it when I was
just 4 years old with my Great-Grandmother. I didn't understand it
of course, but I remember how much she enjoyed it. As I got older
I began to follow the storylines. It's the memories of spending time
with someone I dearly love who has been gone a long time that will
stick with me. Today TV is basicly crap. I'm a middle aged to senior
aged Grandma now, and TV is supposed to be entertaining. What is so
entertaining about reality tv? Even TV Land is running garbage, with that
Class Reunion show, what is that!
As for Patterson and his budget, the way NYS is going down the tubes, nothing
would surprise me. The man is trying to tax air, not to mention the entertainment
industry!
I cannot believe that CBS and Proctor and Gamble is taking Guiding Light off the air and replacing it with yet another game, talk or judge show. It seems now that if a program doesn't cater to the young, internet saavy, reality types, it has to be retired. I've been watching the Guiding Light for many, many years. It was a 15 minute program on television at that time. I will not watch whatever rubbish you plan to put in the Guiding Light's time slot. If there is compassion in the offices of Proctor and Gamble and in Nancy Tellem, President of CBS Paramount Network Television other than the quest for higher ratings and reigning in a younger audience, then DO NOT TAKE GUIDING LIGHT OFF THE AIR, PLEASE.
I think this is the worst thing CBS can do. The show is one of the best on TV,
I will not watch what ever they replace it with. They did the same thing when
they took off Moon light. I want watch anything in that time slot either. I
hope they change their mind and keep this great show on. I will miss it so much.
I have watched it for 50 yrs.
Of all the soaps, Guiding Light has been the only one that has remained a clean uplifting show. As is true with all soaps, there are still some story lines that are either controversial or disliked by some, but for the most part it has been and always will be my favorite. Once it is off the air I will totally quit watching daytime t.v. Don't need anymore talk shows, game shows, judge shows.
I have been watching Guiding Light for 20yrs. I can't believe they would cancel the longest running soap!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM!?!?!??! CBS and P&G are off my list!!
I was crushed to find out that Guiding Light will be ending, they have been a huge part of my life, (maybe that sounds sad but it is true) I have watched for as long as I can remember, I remember watching with my mother and Grandmother, I attended my first fan club meet and greet in the mid 90's. I watch it every day once at 10 and again at 3 even though I have seen it already! I hope they change their mind, always thought I would be watching it for years with my own kids! Lord knows we don't need another reality show, game show, judge show, or talk show that pushes their views down my throat.... As a Neilsen Home.... at least I can say I tried!!!!
I think whoever wants to take Guiding Light off the air is making a big mistake for people like us that loves this show. Please for our sake keep this show going.
This soap is the BEST BY FAR THAN ALL THE SOAPS ON TV. Please keep this show on the air for those that is a fan & who loves to watch it day by day. Guiding Light is like our family that
comes into our lives & hearts for years. Please save this show.
This makes me sad! I have watched this show since little , and now 46 years old. I even watch when away from home. I'll miss them like family and hope you find away to keep this great show going . I dont want to say good bye. daytime tv want be the same . sad in maiden NC .
I first met the Bauer family in 1937 at the age of 7. It was my mothers favorite soap. I have followed GL ever since and it is the
only soap I watch. I have gotten to know all the characters past and present and feel like they are my own family. This soap will be greatly missed. It will be like losing dear friends and family members. Sorry to see it go.
What ever will i think about now that my family is leaving.from Canada
What ever will i think about now that my family is leaving.from Canada Heartbroken
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I cannot believe you are cancelling the Guiding Light. This show I have been watching for many years. the characters are great, the story keeps you guessing. I do hope you will change your mind on cancelling this show.
Is there ANY way that CBS will change their mind. OR maybe ABC will take over the show. I just do not want to see it end. In fact, I would love to see it as a night time drama. How about that CBS, something new, innovative...a night time soap, that is on every evening. Think about it... we live in a time where most people are still working when the soaps are airing in the afternoons. Why not try something new and have a soap with a STRONG following like Guiding Light try a new concept. What do you have to lose? Plenty to gain, I would think. CBS you can hire me and I would love to help with this concept.
Is there ANY way that CBS will change their mind. OR maybe ABC will take over the show. I just do not want to see it end. In fact, I would love to see it as a night time drama. How about that CBS, something new, innovative...a night time soap, that is on every evening. Think about it... we live in a time where most people are still working when the soaps are airing in the afternoons. Why not try something new and have a soap with a STRONG following like Guiding Light try a new concept. What do you have to lose? Plenty to gain, I would think. CBS you can hire me and I would love to help with this concept.
Is there ANY way that CBS will change their mind. OR maybe ABC will take over the show. I just do not want to see it end. In fact, I would love to see it as a night time drama. How about that CBS, something new, innovative...a night time soap, that is on every evening. Think about it... we live in a time where most people are still working when the soaps are airing in the afternoons. Why not try something new and have a soap with a STRONG following like Guiding Light try a new concept. What do you have to lose? Plenty to gain, I would think. CBS you can hire me and I would love to help with this concept.
I cant believe they are taking Guiding Light of the air!!! I look forward to this show everyday...its the one time i can jus get away from reality for an hour!!! I started watching this with my grandma...i think i was 13 and i am now 20...If it has to go off i hope they reunite Lizzie with Sarah and Jonathan!! Why cant they take off the other soap operas?! Why Guiding Light?!!!!!