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Guiding Light

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This article is about the soap opera; "Guiding Light" is also a track from Television's 1977 release Marquee Moon.
Guiding Light
Guiding Light:Guiding2005
Network CBS
Creator(s) Irna Phillips
Executive Producer(s) Ellen Wheeler
Head Writer David Kreizman
Distributor Procter & Gamble Productions
Running time 60 minutes
(15 minutes from 1952 to 1968)
(30 minutes from 1968 to 1977)
Premiere date January 25, 1937 on NBC (radio)
June 30, 1952 on CBS (television)
Alternate titles Leiðarljós (Iceland)
Die Springfield Story (Germany)
Sentieri (Italy)
IMDb profile

Guiding Light (known as The Guiding Light prior to 1975) is an American television program credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as being the longest-running soap opera in production and the longest running drama in television history. The 15,000th televised episode of Guiding Light aired on September 7, 2006. Due to this series run, it is not only considered to be the longest soap opera, but the longest series of any show created.

The program was created by soap writer Irna Phillips, and began as an NBC radio serial on January 25, 1937 before moving to CBS on June 30, 1952, as a televised serial.


Contents

Production and locales

Guiding Light has been broadcast from three locations: Chicago, Illinois from 1937 until 1946, Hollywood, California from 1947 until 1949, and New York City from 1949 until the present. It was moved from Chicago to Hollywood (despite objections of both Irna Phillips and Arthur Peterson) to take advantage of the talent pool. Production was subsequently moved to New York City, where it remains. It is currently filmed at the CBS studios in midtown Manhattan.

The fictional action has also been set in three different locales - it was based in the fictional towns of Five Points and Selby Flats before "moving" to its current day locale of Springfield, USA. (Past storylines and dialogue have suggested that Springfield is Springfield, Illinois.)

History, plot development, and cast

Due to the 6-decade run of Guiding Light as well as the complexity of the storylines, the show's history has been split up into separate entries. Cast lists are under individual articles.

The 1930s and 1940s

Main article: Guiding Light (1937-1949)

The series was created by 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 on-air sermons of Preston Bradley, a very famous Chicago preacher and founder of the Peoples Church, a church which promoted the brotherhood of man. It was these sermons that formed the nucleus of the creation of The Guiding Light, which began as a radio show.

The 1950s

Main article: Guiding Light (1950-1959)

In 1952, The Guiding Light began airing on CBS television. Episodes were 15 minutes long.

After Irna Phillips moved to As The World Turns in 1958, her protege Agnes Nixon became Head Writer of The Guiding Light.

With the transition to television the main characters became the Bauers, a lower-middle class German immigrant family.

The 1960s

Main article: Guiding Light (1960-1969)

Agnes Nixon reliquished her role as head writer in 1966. In 1967, the show was first broadcast in color. A year later, the show expanded from 15 to 30 minutes.

The 1960s saw the introduction of African-American characters, and the main focus of the show shifted to Bill and Bert's children, Mike and Ed.

The 1970s

Main article: Guiding Light (1970-1979)

Feeling pressure from newer, more youth-oriented soaps such as The Young and the Restless, Procter & Gamble hired headwriters Bridget Dobson and Jerome Dobson in 1975. The Dobsons introduced a more nuanced, psychologically layered writing style, and included timely storylines, including a complex love/hate relationship between estranged spouses Holly and Roger.

In the fall of 1975, the name was changed in 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 aired from 2:30-3:30pm daily.

The show in the 1970s focused on the Bauers and the Spauldings. Several notable characters were introduced, including Rita Stapleton, a "vixen" brought in to add complexity to the plotline, and Ross Marler, a shady lawyer who was brought on to defend Roger Thorpe.

The 1980s

Main article: Guiding Light (1980-1989)

The expansion of The Young and the Restless to 60 minutes caused all the shows to move ahead a half hour, with Guiding Light now airing from 3pm-4pm.

In 1980, the Dobsons were moved to ATWT, and replaced by Douglas Marland. The show gained popularity during Marland's writing reign, with popular characters like vixen Nola Reardon. In May 1980, Guiding Light won its first Daytime Emmy award for Outstanding Achievement in a Daytime Drama.

An ever more complicated storyline focused on the Bauers, the Spauldings, the Reardons and the Raines. Pam Long became head writer in 1983, and refocused the show around Rick Bauer, Phillip Spaulding, Mindy Lewis and Beth Raines. She also introduced powerhouse characters Alexandra Spaulding and Reva Shayne. The storyline of the "Four Musketeers" proved so popular that Guiding Light managed to dethrone then-powerhouse General Hospital from the top ratings spot. Long would return for a second stint from 1987 to 1990.

The 1990s

Main article: Guiding Light (1990-1999)

With the new decade, the show started to change from Long's homespun, earthy style to a more realistic style. The Bauers, Spauldings, Lewises, and the Coopers had been established as core families, and most major plot developments circled around them.

The show suffered major cast losses mid-decade, including the loss of tentpole characters Maureen Bauer and Alexandra Spaulding. As the decade progressed, the show began a series of outlandish plot twists to compete with popular Days of Our Lives headwriter James Reilly, including a highly controversial story on cloning.

The 2000s

Main article: Guiding Light (2000-2009)

The 2000s began with the splitting of the show into two locales: Springfield and the 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 to deal with. In 2002, however, San Cristobel was written off the show and the mob's influence in the story was subsequently diminshed and, with the departure of character Danny Santos in 2005, eliminated althogether.

In 2005, former director and actress Ellen Wheeler (Emmy Award Winner, 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 dropped, mainly due to budget cuts. Due to the lack of veteran influence, Wheeler has refocused the show on the youth of Springfield, centering on the controversial pairing of half-cousins Jonathan and Tammy.

CBS now offers Guiding Light to affiliates from 10-11am EST and 3-4pm EST. And on September 18, 2006, CBS began to offer a 9am EST feed of the show to its East Coast affiliates. [1] Previously, affiliates airing the show in the mornings had to do it on a one day delay.

Cast

Please see the articles by decade for cast. The current cast is in the article Guiding Light (2000-2009)

Ratings History And Scheduling Changes

For much of the show's history, it was a consistent hit; in the 1950s and 1960s it was one of the highest-rated soaps on air, usually 2nd behind fellow CBS soap As The World Turns.

The 1970s saw its popularity dip somewhat but it still garnered decent ratings, and was on an upswing as the decade ended. The first half of the 1980s saw a revival in Guiding Light's popularity, with a top five placing achieved in most years, and although it slipped as the decade progressed it was still performing solidly.

This remained the case until the mid-1990s, when the show's ratings sunk as low as 8th out of 11. However, during the controversial clone storyline in 1998, ratings experienced a brief resurgence.

As of 2006, the lack of significant improvement in the ratings (coupled with massive budget cuts) has intensified speculation about the show's long-term future. In fact, as of September 2006, GL does not even air on KOVR-TV in Sacramento, California, even though they are now owned by the network outright. WNEM-TV, in the Flint, Michigan/Saginaw, Michigan/Bay City, Michigan market, also pre-empted the show outright, until September 2006, when they placed the show on its digital My Network TV channel, "My 5". A number of affiliates have moved the show to the morning slot (9/10am local time), including CBS Detroit & Boston, WFOR in Miami, WCBS in New York City, KYW in Philadelphia, WJZ in Baltimore, Maryland, and KDKA in Pittsburgh, long a market where GL was popular.

Banner Season: 1981-1982 Season (HH Ratings)

1996-1997 Season (Household Ratings)

Week Of December 26-30, 2005 (Millions Of Viewers)

Awards

Daytime Emmy Awards

Show

Individuals

Other awards

Trivia

U.S. daytime soap operas
currently on the air:
All My Children
As the World Turns
The Bold and the Beautiful
Days of our Lives
General Hospital
Guiding Light
One Life to Live
Passions
The Young and the Restless
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Head writers and executive producers

Head writer(s) Years Executive producer(s)
Irna Phillips 1937 – 1958 David Lesan, Joe Ainley,
Carl Waster (1937 – 1956) (radio)
Lucy Ferri Rittenberg (1952-1958; television)
Agnes Nixon 1958 – 1966 Lucy Ferri Rittenberg
David Lesan, Julian Funt,
Theodore Forro, Mathilde Forro,
John Boruff, James Lipton &
Gabrielle Upton		 1966 – 1968 Lucy Ferri Rittenberg
Irna Phillips 1968 – 1969 Lucy Ferri Rittenberg
Robert Soderberg & Edith Sommer 1969 – 1973 Lucy Ferri Rittenberg
James Gentile, Robert Cenedella &
James Lipton		 1973 – 1975 Lucy Ferri Rittenberg, Allen Potter
Bridget Dobson & Jerome Dobson 1975 – 1979 Allen Potter
Douglas Marland 1979 – 1982 Allen Potter
Pat Falken Smith 1982 – 1983 Allen Potter, Gail Kobe
L. Virginia Browne 1983 Gail Kobe
Richard Culliton & Pamela K. Long 1983 – 1984 Gail Kobe
Pamela K. Long 1984 – 1986 Gail Kobe
Mary Ryan Munisteri, Ellen Barrett &
Jeff Ryder		 1986 Gail Kobe, Joe Willmore
Joseph D. Manetta & Sheri Anderson 1986 – 1987 Joe Willmore
Pamela K. Long 1987 – 1990 Joe Willmore, Robert Calhoun
Nancy Curlee, Stephen Demorest,
James E. Reilly & Lorraine Broderick		 1990 – 1993 Robert Calhoun, Jill Farren Phelps
Stephen Demorest, Patrick Mulcahey,
Nancy Williams Watt, Millee Taggert &
Sheri Anderson		 1993 – 1995 Jill Farren Phelps
Sheri Anderson 1995 Jill Farren Phelps
Douglas Anderson 1995 Jill Farren Phelps, Michael Laibson
Megan McTavish 1995 – 1996 Michael Laibson
Michael Conforti & Victor B. Miller 1996 Michael Laibson
Barbara Esensten & James Harmon Brown 1996 – 2000 Michael Laibson, Paul Rauch
Claire Labine 2000 – 2001 Paul Rauch
Lloyd Gold 2001 – 2002 Paul Rauch
Millee Taggert & Carolyn Culliton 2002 – 2003 Paul Rauch, John Conboy
Ellen Weston 2003 – 2004 John Conboy, Ellen Wheeler
David Kreizman 2004 – present Ellen Wheeler

See also

Categories


Articles lacking sources from August 2006 | All articles lacking sources | 1952 television program debuts | 1950s TV shows in the United States | 1990s TV shows in the United States | 2000s TV shows in the United States | CBS network shows | Guiding Light | Soap operas | American radio programs | World record holders

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