'''Guiding Light''' (known as '''The Guiding Light''' prior to 1975, '''GL''') 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.
The show's title refers to a lamp in the study of Reverend Dr. John Ruthledge, a major character when ''Guiding Light'' debuted in 1937, that family and residents could see as a sign for them to find help when needed.
Production and locales
''The 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 taped 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.
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.
1930s and 1940s
Main articles: 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.
1950s
Main articles: 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.
1960s
Main articles: Guiding Light (1960-1969)
Agnes Nixon relinquished 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.
1970s
Main articles: Guiding Light (1970-1979)
Feeling pressure from newer, more youth-oriented soap operas such as ''
All My Children'',
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/step-siblings
Roger and Holly. They also created a number of well-remembered characters, including
Rita Stapleton, whose complex relationships with Roger and Ed would propel much of the story for the remainder of the decade, and
Alan Spaulding and
Ross Marler, who would both remain central characters into the 2000s.
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 2:30-3:30 p. m. daily.
The show in the 1970s focused on the Bauers and the Spauldings. Several notable characters were introduced.
1980s
Main articles: Guiding Light (1980-1989)
The decision was made to re-introduce the thought-dead character of Bill Bauer. Everyone had thought that he had died in an airplane crash in the early 1970s, but he was said to actually be alive. When he returned to Springfield, he brought his daughter Hillary with him.
Shocking to most viewers, Jerome and Bridget Dobson killed its young heroine, Leslie Jackson Bauer Norris Bauer, R. N. She was killed by a drunken driver, and many viewers stopped watching the show due to this death.
In 1980, the Dobsons began writing ''As the World Turns'', and were replaced by writer and former actor
Douglas Marland. He created some new 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 on Freddy Bauer (now called Dr. Rick Bauer), Phillip Spaulding, Mindy Lewis and Beth Raines. She also introduced characters Alexandra Spaulding and Reva Shayne. Long would return for a second stint from 1987 to 1990.
1990s
Main articles: 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 characters Maureen Bauer and Alexandra Spaulding. As the decade progressed, the show began a series of outlandish plot twists to compete with the serial
Days of Our Lives, including a highly controversial story on
cloning.
2000s
Main articles: 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 diminished and, with the departure of character
Danny Santos in 2005, eliminated althogether.
In 2005, former director and actress Ellen Wheeler (Emmy Award winner as an actress for ''
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 cousins Jonathan and Tammy.
The show marked its seventieth broadcast anniversary in 2007. The show marked the anniversary with the launch of website FindYourLight.com and a program of outreach, reflecting Irna Phillips' original message. There was also a special episode in January
2007, with current cast members portraying Phillips and some of the earlier cast members.
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'').
Cast
''Please see the articles by decade for cast. The current cast is in the article
Guiding Light (2000-2009)''
Ratings & Scheduling history
Unlike most attempts made by popular radio serials to convert to a television version, ''Guiding Light'' never had any difficulty holding onto its old listening audience and making new viewers simultaneously. This was made easy by the fact that neither
ABC nor
NBC broadcast programs on their respective networks at 2:30 p.m. Eastern/1:30 Central, where CBS first placed ''GL.'' Six months into the run, however, the network moved the serial to a timeslot that gave it great popularity with its housewife audience, 12:45 p.m./11:45 a.m., where it ran for the next 15 years and eight months, sharing the half hour with its sister Procter and Gamble-packaged soap, ''
Search for Tomorrow.'' ''GL'' handled the competition breezily, even legendary shows such as ''
Queen for a Day'' on ABC (briefly in 1960) and NBC's ''
Truth or Consequences.'' Usually, ''GL'' ranked second in the
Nielsen ratings behind another P&G serial, ''
As the World Turns.''
By 1968, though, changing viewership trends prompted CBS to expand its last two 15-minute daytime dramas, disrupting long-standing viewing habits. ''Search'' took over the entire 12:30-1/11:30-Noon period, with ''GL'' returning to its first timeslot, 2:30/1:30, albeit in the now-standard half-hour format, on
September 9. This also caused the dislocation of ''
The Secret Storm'' and the beloved ''
Art Linkletter's House Party,'' as well as the cancellation of the daytime ''
To Tell the Truth.'' It would not be the last time, though, as the next 12 years would bring several shifts around CBS' lineup.
The 1970s saw ''GL's'' popularity dip somewhat, largely from the competition posed by younger-leaning serials such as ''
The Doctors'' on NBC, but it still garnered decent ratings. After four years, CBS bumped it up a half-hour to accommodate P&G's demand that ''
Edge of Night'' move to 2:30/1:30, a move that led to the end of that show on CBS three years later. In the meantime, ''GL'' stayed steadily on course against NBC's ''
Days of Our Lives,'' another soap favored by younger women, and ABC's ''
Newlywed Game.'' In late 1974, ABC replaced ''Newlywed'' with ''
The $10,000 Pyramid,'' which went on to garner strong ratings, but not greatly at ''GL's'' expense. Meanwhile, by fall 1975 (at this point, the show dropped the word "The" officially from its title), the impending departure of ''Edge'' and CBS' planned expansion of ''ATWT'' affected ''GL'' by pushing it back to 2:30/1:30 in December, where NBC still ran ''The Doctors'' and ABC had a short-lived hit the next year with an updated ''
Break the Bank.'' To complicate the picture further, ABC opted to make its first expansions, that of ''
One Life to Live'' and ''
General Hospital,'' in July 1976, each occupying one-half of a 90-minute block.
With this in mind, CBS acted to give its veteran serial a contending chance by expanding it to an hour in length on
November 7,
1977, strategically keeping its start time put in order to dissuade viewers from turning to the other networks. This gained particular importance when ABC finally added 15 minutes to both ''OLTL'' and ''GH'' by January 1978, so that ''GL'' straddled those two programs, as well as the first half of sister P&G show ''
Another World'' on NBC. Despite ''GH'' surprising all observers by skyrocketing from near-cancellation to the top place in the ratings with the "Luke and Laura" storyline, ''GL,'' holding its own while in direct competition with ''GH,'' still hit an upswing as the decade ended.
On
February 4,
1980, CBS bumped ''GL'' down again, to 3/2, in the midst of a major scheduling shuffle intended to give ''
Young and the Restless'' a shot at beating ABC's ''
All My Children.'' It has remained in this timeslot since, facing ''GH'' and NBC entries such as ''
Texas,'' ''
The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour'' and ''
Santa Barbara.'' none of which made significant impacts upon ''GL.'' Furthermore, ''GH'' eventually petered out by the mid-1980s as well. Overall, the first half of the 1980s saw a revival in ''Guiding Light's'' popularity, with a top-five placing achieved in most years, and, for a brief period, it even managed to dethrone then-powerhouse
General Hospital from the #1 ratings spot. As the decade progressed, however, the ratings slipped a bit, although it was still performing solidly. In
1993, ''GL'' began with one of the eight CBS-owned stations airing it at 10 a.m. Eastern time,
New York City's
WCBS-TV. Solid performance remained the case until the mid-1990s, when the show's ratings sunk as low as eighth out of 11. However, during the controversial clone storyline in
1998, ratings experienced a brief resurgence. Still, 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.
As of January 2007, stations in a number of markets air ''GL'' in the morning either at 9 or 10 a.m. Eastern:
Miami,
Chicago,
Baltimore,
Boston,
Detroit,
New York City,
Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh,
Orlando,
Fort Wayne, Ind.,
South Bend, Ind.,
Portland, Me.,
Albany, N.Y., and
Scranton-Wilkes Barre, Pa. Surprisingly, the first eight of these fourteen stations tape-delaying ''GL'' are actually CBS-owned. This represents a radical departure from past practices, when network owned-and-operated stations were almost never allowed to postpone airing a program from the live feed.
KGMB-TV of
Honolulu, Hawaii currently airs ''GL'' at 12 Noon local time.
Only two CBS affiliates do not air ''GL'' at all. One is
KOVR-TV in
Sacramento, California, even though it is now a network-owned-and-operated station. KOVR had been acquired by CBS in the early Summer of 2005 but was a CBS affiliate since 1995. It never aired ''Guiding Light'' as a CBS affiliate on a regular basis. Before CBS affiliated with KOVR it had been affiliated with
KXTV. Back in 1992, KXTV Channel 10 as a CBS affiliate dropped ''Guiding Light''. When KOVR became the CBS affiliate, KXTV became the ABC affiliate. ''Guiding Light'' has not therefore aired in the Sacramento market since 1992.
WNEM-TV in
Flint/
Saginaw/
Bay City, Michigan also does not air ''Guiding Light''. They had also become a CBS affiliate in the mid 1990's. Initially they ran the soap but dropped it in 1996 due to underperforming ratings. In the Fall of 2006 WNEM began running Guiding Light on its digital channel, "My 5", which is a
My Network TV Affiliate.
Internationally, ''Guiding Light'' will start airing September 3rd 2007 in the UK on
Zone Romantica.
'Daytime History: Highest rated week (November 16-20, 1981)' (Household Ratings-
Nielsen Media Research)'
| Rank/Serial | Household Rating | (Time Slot) Network |
|---|
| 1/General Hospital | 16.0 | (3-4pm) ABC |
| 4/Guiding Light | 7.9 | (3-4pm) CBS |
1980-1989 Ratings
'1979-1980 Season'
★ 1. '
General Hospital 9.9'
★ 5.
Guiding Light 8.3
'1981-1982 Season'
★ 1. 'General Hospital 11.2'
★ 4. Guiding Light 8.0
'1982-1983 Season'
★ 1. 'General Hospital 9.8'
★ 6. Guiding Light 7.4
'1983-1984 Season'
★ 1. 'General Hospital 10.0'
★ 5. Guiding Light 8.1
'1984-1985 Season'
★ 1. 'General Hospital 9.1'
★ 4. Guiding Light 7.5
'1985-1986 Season'
★ 1. 'General Hospital 9.2'
★ 6. Guiding Light 6.8
'1986-1987 Season'
★ 1. 'General Hospital 8.3'
★ 7. Guiding Light 6.3
'1987-1988 Season'
★ 1. 'General Hospital 8.1 (#1 in viewers)'
★ 2. 'The Young And The Restless 8.1 (#2 in viewers)'
★ 7. Guiding Light 6.2
'1988-1989 Season HH Ratings'
★ 1. 'The Young And The Restless 8.1'
★ 7. Guiding Light 6.2
Number 1 in the 1980s: General Hospital; #2:The Young And The Restless; #3: All My Children
1990-1999 Household Ratings
'1989-1990 Season (1 HH rating = 921,000 Homes)'
★ 1. '
The Young and the Restless 8.0'
★ 7.
Days Of Our Lives 5.4
★ 7.
Guiding Light 5.4
'1991-1992 Season'
★ 1. 'The Young And The Restless 8.2'
★ 5. Guiding Light 5.6
'1992-1993 Season'
★ 1. 'The Young And The Restless 8.4'
★ 7. Guiding Light 5.4
'1993-1994 Season (1 HH rating = 942,000 Homes)'
★ 1. 'The Young And The Restless 8.6'
★ 8. Guiding Light 5.4
'1994-1995 Season'
★ 1. 'The Young And The Restless 7.5'
★ 8. Guiding Light 4.4
'1995-1996 Season'
★ 1. 'The Young And The Restless 7.7'
★ 8. Guiding Light 4.0
'1996-1997 Season'
★ 1. 'The Young And The Restless 7.1'
★ 7. Guiding Light 4.0
'1997-1998 Season'
★ 1. 'The Young And The Restless 7.0'
★ 8. Guiding Light 3.8
'1998-1999 Season HH Ratings'
★ 1. 'The Young And The Restless 6.9'
★ 8. Guiding Light 3.6
★ Number 1 in the 1990s: The Young And The Restless; #2: All My Children; #3: Days Of Our Lives
2000 To Current Household Ratings
'1999-2000 Season'
★ 1. '
The Young And The Restless 6.8'
★ 8.
Guiding Light 3.7
'2000-2001 Season'
★ 1. 'The Young And The Restless 6.7'
★ 8. Guiding Light 3.5
Awards
Daytime Emmy Awards
Show
★ 1980 Outstanding Daytime Drama Series
★ 1981 Outstanding Writing for a Daytime Drama Series
★ 1982 Outstanding Daytime Drama Series
★ 1982 Outstanding Writing for a Daytime Drama Series
★ 1982 Outstanding Achievement in Any Area of Creative Technical Crafts (Technical Direction/Electronic Camerawork)
★ 1983 Outstanding Achievement in Any Area of Creative Technical Crafts (Lighting Direction)
★ 1984 Outstanding Achievement in Design Excellence for a Daytime Drama Series
★ 1985 Outstanding Direction for a Drama Series
★ 1985 Outstanding Achievement by a Drama Series Design Team - Ronald M. Kelson
★ 1986 Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team
★ 1986 Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling for a Drama Series
★ 1986 Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design for a Drama Series
★ 1987 Outstanding Achievement in Makeup for a Drama Series
★ 1987 Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling for a Drama Series
★ 1990 Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team
★ 1991 Outstanding Original Song: "Love Like This"
★ 1991 Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series
★ 1992 Outstanding Original Song: "I Knew That I'd Fall"
★ 1992 Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series
★ 1992 Outstanding Achievement in Graphics and Title Design
★ 1993 Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team
★ 1993 Outstanding Achievement in Multiple Camera Editing for a Drama Series
★ 1994 Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team
★ 1994 Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series
★ 1995 Outstanding Lighting Direction for a Drama Series
★ 1995 Outstanding Achievement in Makeup for a Drama Series
★ 1996 Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series
★ 1996 Outstanding Achievement in Makeup for a Drama Series
★ 1996 Outstanding Live and Direct-to-Tape Sound Mixing for a Drama Series
★ 1996 Outstanding Lighting Direction for a Drama Series
★ 1998 Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series
★ 1998 Outstanding Lighting Direction for a Drama Series
★ 1998 Outstanding Original Song: "Hold Me"
★ 2007 Outstanding Writing Team for a Daytime Drama Series
★ 2007 Outstanding Daytime Drama Series (tie, with ''
The Young and the Restless'')
Individuals
★ 1983 Lifetime Achievement Award:
Charita Bauer (Bert Bauer)
★ 1984 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:
Judi Evans Luciano (Beth Raines)
★ 1985 Distinguished Service to Daytime Television:
Charita Bauer (Bert Bauer) [posthumous]
★ 1985 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series:
Kim Zimmer (
Reva Shayne)
★ 1985 Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Larry Gates (H.B. Lewis)
★ 1987 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series:
Kim Zimmer (
Reva Shayne)
★ 1990 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series:
Kim Zimmer (
Reva Shayne)
★ 1991 Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series:
Rick Hearst (Alan-Michael Spaulding)
★ 1992 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:
Maeve Kinkead (Vanessa Chamberlain)
★ 1993 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:
Ellen Parker (Maureen Reardon)
★ 1993 Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series: Monti Sharp (David Grant)
★ 1994 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series:
Michael Zaslow (Roger Thorpe)
★ 1994 Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series:
Justin Deas (
Buzz Cooper)
★ 1994 Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series:
Melissa Hayden (Bridget Reardon)
★ 1995 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series:
Justin Deas (Buzz Cooper)
★ 1995 Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series:
Jerry verDorn (Ross Marler)
★ 1996 Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series:
Jerry verDorn (Ross Marler)
★ 1996 Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series: Kevin Mambo (Marcus Williams)
★ 1997 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series:
Justin Deas (Buzz Cooper)
★ 1997 Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series: Kevin Mambo (Marcus Williams)
★ 1998 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series:
Cynthia Watros (Annie Dutton)
★ 2002 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:
Crystal Chappell (
Olivia Spencer)
★ 2003 Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series:
Jordi Vilasuso (Tony Santos)
★ 2006 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series:
Kim Zimmer (
Reva Shayne)
★ 2006 Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series:
Jordan Clarke (Billy Lewis)
★ 2006 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:
Gina Tognoni (
Dinah Marler)
★ 2006 Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series:
Tom Pelphrey (Jonathan Randall)
Other awards
★ 2005
Writer's Guild of America Award: Written By
David Kreizman,
Tita Bell,
Joyce Brotman,
Christopher Dunn,
Lloyd Gold,
Kimberly Hamilton,
Jill Lorie Hurst,
Penelope Koechl,
Eleanor Labine,
Royal Miller,
Cassandra Morgan,
Danielle Paige,
David Smilow,
Gillian Spencer,
Brett Staneart,
Donna Swajeski,
Ellen Weston GL 2005 WGA Writing Team
★ 2005
Director's Guild of America Award
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 |
Trivia
★ Arthur Peterson, Jr., who played ''Reverend Dr. John Ruthledge'' from 1937 to 1946 on radio, would later play the memorable character of the Major on the
ABC comedy show spoof of soap operas, ''
Soap''. Caroline McWilliams who would later play ''Janet Mason Norris'' from 1969 to 1975 also was on ''Soap'' playing Burt Campbell's secretary, Sally (who Burt thought he'd had an affair with; in reality he hadn't), and later would appear on the ''Soap'' spinoff, ''
Benson'' for several seasons.
★ Three times, in the late 1930s and early 1940s,
NBC nearly canceled the radio version of ''The Guiding Light'', but irate fans kept writing en masse, and NBC brought back the show. The final and fourth time NBC cancelled the show,
CBS radio revived the show less than a year later.
★ In real life,
Theo Goetz, the
actor who played ''Papa Bauer'' from 1949 to 1972, had escaped
Nazi occupation in
Austria.
★ The character of Roger Thorpe "died" three times in the series, the first two times in the late 1970s, and then finally off-screen in 2004. The actor who played Roger for most of the character's run,
Michael Zaslow, died in 1998 from
Lou Gehrig's disease.
★ In 1989, Michael Zaslow was asked to return to GL to replace
Christopher Bernau and play Alan Spaulding. After having been killed off in 1980 in the role of Roger Thorpe. Zaslow declined, believing he would be too identified with Thorpe, and suggested the show find a way to bring Roger back from the dead. The rest is GL history.
★ In 2002,
Joan Collins made a much publicized turn as the third Alexandra Spaulding, but scheduling of her then-book tour conflicted with her filming obligations. Procter & Gamble chose to replace Collins with
Marj Dusay, who was the second actress to play Alexandra after
Beverlee McKinsey vacated the role in 1992.
★ ''Bert Bauer's first son, Mike, was named after
actress Charita Bauer's real life son, Michael.
★ The
November 1 2006 episode involved a crossover with
Marvel Comics, featuring a superhero called "The Guiding Light".
★ In 1984,
Mary Kay Adams and Kristi Ferrell both auditioned for the role of Beth's cousin India Raines. The producers loved Ferrell so much, they created the character of Reva's younger sister Roxie Shayne for her; Adams won the role of India, who was rewritten to be Alexandra's European stepdaughter instead.
★ In
Italy, under the title
Sentieri, the show started to air in
1981. Now episodes are two years and eight months behind the U.S. In
1988 GL won the best soap award in the Italian version of
The Emmys Galà.
Grant Aleksander (''Phillip Spaulding'') and
Michael O'Leary (''Rick Bauer'') went to
Milan to accept the award, named
Telegatto.
See also
★
''Guiding Light'' opening sequence
★
List of ''Guiding Light'' cast members
External links
★
CBS-TV: GL
★
Guiding Light Central - GL On-line Discussion Group
★
"Guiding Light" at
Yahoo! TV
★
Soapcentral.com, an unofficial website with detailed character bios, news, spoilers, etc.
★
FindYourLight.net, an official CBS site that accepts user-submitted content
★
Soapdom.com's Guiding Light
★
Guiding Light at the
TVGuide.com
★
GL Discussion Group
★
[1], a Guiding Light forum
★
GL Procter & Gamble Forum
★
Daytime Soap Operas Guiding Light -news, rumors, cast updates, polls
★
Inside The Marvel/Guiding Light Team Up
★
Biography: Preston Bradley; Inspired creator Irna Phillips
★
Episodes of "Guiding Light" at AOL Video
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