Guiding Light- RIP

This entry produced in association with the sister blog The Trash Bash

In 1937, a new soap opera hit the airwaves on NBC radio. This soap dramatized the going ons of the citizenry of a the (ficticious) Chicago suburb of Five Points, Illinois, and the minister who did his best to help the town, Rev. John Ruthledge. Religion and drama go hand in hand, indeed.

Fifteen years later, it moved to Springfield (though I don't know if it was in Illinois or not) and CBS television- while that medium was still in its infancy. For many years, it was among the top rated soaps (and definitely one that was watched in the Bannister, Davis, Holt, Lewis, and Patterson households. So good to be around my aunts Eileen; Gail; Patty; and my great aunt Minnie; my grandmother Valdine, and yes, my mother Reida. I could picture their reactions to the going ons about Springfield...). Guiness Book of World records cites it- at 57 years- as the longest-running television drama. The current soap centers around the Cooper; Lewis; and Spaulding families.

And now, after 72 years total- and over 15,700 episodes- fans will soon be without their "Guiding Light". Reasons for its demise: the economy and the Nielsens- the show in recent years have been in the ratings basement, as is sister soap "As the World Turns" (which also airs on CBS). Thus far CBS has no replacement for GL (at the risk of playing mind reader, I think that "The Bold and the Beautiful", one of the top rated soaps- also on the Tiffany network- could be expanded to an hour. But that's my guess...).

So, let's go down memory lane, and remember the storylines seen- and heard- over the years, beginning with this radio episode from 1950:





ClassicGL/P&G Productions/CBS/NBC

In 1984, Kim Zimmer joined the show, and has become one of the most popular actresses, not only on GL, but in the soap world as well. However, you'd find this hard to believe, as her character Reva flips out on her husband Josh:





celebratingthesoaps/P&G Productions/CBS

And finally, from an episode from this year, Olivia attacks Doris, the mayor of Springfield:





GLDaily/P&G Productions/CBS/YouTube
The final episode will air September 18.

Copyright 2009 by Darren W. Alexander
All Rights Reserved.