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115-417: Guiding Light (known as The Guiding Light before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera . Guiding Light aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio between January 25, 1937, and June 29, 1956. With 72 years of radio and television runs, Guiding Light is the longest-running soap opera, ahead of General Hospital , and

230-611: A 40-year-plus run, were cancelled in 2011. All My Children aired its network finale in September 2011, with One Life to Live following suit in January 2012. Both All My Children and One Life to Live were briefly revived online in 2013, before being cancelled again that same year. In 2019, production of Days of Our Lives was put on "indefinite hiatus" and all of the cast's contracts were terminated, raising concerns within soap publications that cancellation would ensue, though

345-652: A 72-year run (including radio). As the World Turns aired its final episode on September 17, 2010, after a 54-year run. As the World Turns was the last of 20 soap operas produced by Procter & Gamble, the soap and consumer goods company from which the genre got its name. As the World Turns and Guiding Light were also among the last of the soaps that originated from New York City. All My Children , another New York–based soap, moved its production out to Los Angeles in an effort to reduce costs and raise sagging ratings; however, both it and One Life to Live , each with

460-476: A 90-minute block until November 4, 1977. Soap opera According to some dictionaries, for something to be adequately described as a "soap opera", it doesn't need to be long-running. , but some authors define the word in a way that excludes short-running serial dramas from their definition of "soap opera". BBC Radio 's The Archers , first broadcast in 1950, is the world's longest-running radio soap opera. The longest-running existing television soap

575-541: A Day on ABC (briefly in 1960) and NBC's Truth or Consequences . Usually, The Guiding Light ranked second in the Nielsen ratings behind another serial, As the World Turns . 1968, however, saw changing viewership trends that prompted CBS to expand its last two 15-minute daytime dramas, disrupting long-standing viewing habits. Search for Tomorrow took over the entire 12:30–1/11:30–Noon period, with The Guiding Light returning to its first timeslot, 2:30/1:30, albeit in

690-400: A dead body, but hey, even if you do, he or she can always come back to play the evil identical twin. Marlena Laird in 1992, during her time as a line producer and director for General Hospital . Romance , secret relationships, extramarital affairs, and genuine hate have been the basis for many soap opera storylines. In US daytime serials, the most popular soap opera characters, and

805-500: A demand made by The Guiding Light producer Procter & Gamble and moved its sibling series, The Edge of Night , to the earlier hour from its previous home at 3:30/2:30. Moving back one half hour, The Guiding Light stayed steadily on course against NBC's Days of Our Lives and ABC's The Newlywed Game . In late 1974, ABC replaced The Newlywed Game with The $ 10,000 Pyramid , which went on to garner strong ratings, but not greatly at The Guiding Light 's expense. In 1975,

920-463: A fixture of American daytime television in the early 1950s, joined by game shows , sitcom reruns and talk shows. In 1988, H. Wesley Kenney , who at the time served as the executive producer of General Hospital , said to The New York Times : I think people like stories that continue so they can relate to these people. They become like a family, and the viewer becomes emotionally involved. There seem to be two attitudes by viewers. One, that

1035-511: A funeral. Once Tylo reprised her character in 2005, a retcon explained that Taylor had actually gone into a coma. Stunts and complex physical action are largely absent, especially from daytime serials. Such story events often take place off-screen and are referred to in dialogue instead of being shown. This is because stunts or action scenes are difficult to adequately depict without complex movements, multiple takes, and post-production editing. When episodes were broadcast live, post-production work

1150-465: A half-hour during 1968 (and also switched from broadcasting live to pre-taping around this same time), and then to a full hour on November 7, 1977. The series broadcast its 15,000th CBS television episode on September 6, 2006. On April 1, 2009, CBS announced that it was canceling Guiding Light after 72 years on the air (15 on radio and 57 on television) due to low ratings. The show taped its final scenes for CBS on August 11, 2009, and its final episode on

1265-485: A luxury of space that makes them seem more naturalistic; indeed, the economics of the form demand long scenes, and conversations that a 22-episodes-per-season weekly series might dispense with in half a dozen lines of dialogue may be drawn out, as here, for pages. You spend more time even with the minor characters; the apparent villains grow less apparently villainous. Soap opera storylines run concurrently, intersect and lead into further developments. An individual episode of

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1380-516: A major character through the early 1980s. Much of the story during the first half of the 1970s was dominated by Stanley Norris' November 1971 murder and the subsequent trial, as well as the exploits of villainesses Charlotte Waring and Kit Vested. Charlotte (at the time played by Melinda Fee) was murdered by Kit ( Nancy Addison ) on August 26, 1973. The following year, Kit was shot by Joe Werner (Anthony Call) in self-defense on April 24, 1974, after she had attempted to poison Sara McIntyre. Roger Thorpe

1495-432: A married couple whose onscreen and real-life romance was widely covered by both the soap opera magazines and the mainstream press at large. The first program generally considered to be a "soap opera" or daytime serial by scholars of the genre is Painted Dreams , which premiered on WGN radio Chicago, on October 20, 1930. It was regularly broadcast in a daytime time slot, where most listeners would be housewives; thus,

1610-583: A number of soap actors were also accomplished stage actors who performed live theater during breaks from their soap roles. In the 1960s and 1970s, new serials such as General Hospital , Days of our Lives , and The Young and the Restless were produced in Los Angeles . Their success made the West Coast a viable alternative to New York-produced soap operas, which were becoming more costly to perform. By

1725-425: A particular place, or focus on a large extended family. The storylines follow the day-to-day activities and personal relationships of these characters. "Soap narratives, like those of film melodramas, are marked by what Steve Neale has described as 'chance happenings, coincidences, missed meetings, sudden conversions, last-minute rescues and revelations, deus ex machina endings.'" These elements may be found across

1840-525: A radio drama in January 1937 and subsequently transferred to television in June 1952. With the exception of several years in the late 1940s, during which creator Irna Phillips was involved in a dispute with Procter & Gamble , Guiding Light was heard or seen nearly every weekday from 1937 to 2009, making it the longest story ever told in a broadcast medium. Originally serials were broadcast as 15-minute installments each weekday in daytime slots. In 1956, As

1955-408: A radio series, with a minister as the central character. The original radio series was first broadcast as 15-minute episodes on NBC Radio, starting on January 25, 1937. The series was transferred to CBS Radio in 1947. The Guiding Light was broadcast first by CBS Television on June 30, 1952, replacing the canceled soap opera The First Hundred Years . These episodes were also 15 minutes long. During

2070-560: A second head writer stint from 1987 to 1990. The characters of Roger Thorpe and Holly Norris returned to the series during the late 1980s. Maureen Garrett reprised her role of Holly in 1988, followed by Michael Zaslow as Roger in 1989. With the new decade, the series' storytelling transitioned from Long's homespun style to a more realistic style with a new group of chief writers. The Bauer, Spaulding, Lewis, and Cooper families had been established as core families, and most major plot developments concerned them. The show generally held on in

2185-510: A series of daily prime time soaps from 2006 to 2007, which aired on newly created sister network MyNetworkTV , but the experiment was largely a failure after disappointing ratings). Due to the masses of episodes produced for a series, release of soap operas to DVD (a popular venue for distribution of current and vintage television series) is considered impractical. With the exception of occasional specials, daytime soap operas are notable by their absence from DVD release schedules (an exception being

2300-525: A short time from 1979 to 1980). More than half of the serials had expanded to one-hour episodes by 1980. As of 2012, three of the four U.S. serials air one-hour episodes each weekday; only The Bold and the Beautiful airs 30-minute episodes. Soap operas were originally broadcast live from the studio, creating what many at the time regarded as a feeling similar to that of a stage play. As nearly all soap operas were originated at that time from New York City ,

2415-484: A single missing episode) was rerun on the Sci-Fi Channel in the 1990s. After The Edge of Night 's 1984 cancellation, reruns of the show's final five years were shown late nights on USA Network from 1985 to 1989. On January 20, 2000, a digital cable and satellite network dedicated to the genre, Soapnet , began re-airing soaps that originally aired on ABC, NBC and CBS. Newer broadcast networks since

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2530-462: A soap opera will generally switch between several concurrent narrative threads that may at times interconnect and affect one another or may run entirely independent to each other. Episodes may feature some of the show's storylines, but not always all of them. Especially in daytime serials and those that are broadcast each weekday, there is some rotation of both storyline and actors so any given storyline or actor will appear in some but usually not all of

2645-661: A special memorial episode which aired on February 27, 1973. Pressured by newer, more youth-oriented soap operas such as All My Children , Procter & Gamble hired head writers Bridget and Jerome Dobson in 1975, who started writing in November. The Dobsons introduced a more nuanced, psychologically layered writing style, and included timely story lines, including a complex love/hate relationship between estranged spouses/step-siblings Roger and Holly . They also introduced several new characters, including Rita Stapleton , whose complex relationships with Roger and Ed propelled much of

2760-401: A week's worth of episodes. Soap operas rarely conclude all their storylines at the same time. When one storyline ends, there are several other story threads at differing stages of development . Soap opera episodes typically end on some sort of cliffhanger , and the season finale (if a soap incorporates a break between seasons) ends in the same way, only to be resolved when the show returns for

2875-492: Is Coronation Street , which was first broadcast on ITV in 1960. According to Albert Moran, one of the defining features that make a television program a soap opera is "that form of television that works with a continuous open narrative. Each episode ends with a promise that the storyline is to be continued in another episode". In 2012, Los Angeles Times columnist Robert Lloyd wrote of daily dramas: Although melodramatically eventful, soap operas such as this also have

2990-533: Is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the actor with the longest uninterrupted performance in a single role. A number of performers played roles for 20 years or longer, occasionally on more than one show. Rachel Ames played Audrey Hardy on both General Hospital and Port Charles from 1964 until 2007, and returned in 2009. Susan Lucci played Erica Kane in All My Children from

3105-610: Is not scheduled or because of last-minute deferrals of scheduled episodes to the following day because of breaking news coverage. ( Temporary production stoppages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic similarly resulted in CBS and ABC airing older reruns of The Young and the Restless , The Bold and the Beautiful and General Hospital during the Spring and Summer of 2020 in order to ration first-run episodes and, eventually, to fill airtime after

3220-473: Is not uncommon for a single character to be played by multiple actors. The key character of Mike Karr on The Edge of Night was played by three actors. Conversely, several actors have remained playing the same character for many years, or decades even. Helen Wagner played Hughes family matriarch Nancy Hughes on American soap As the World Turns from its April 2, 1956, debut through her death in May 2010. She

3335-423: Is packed, to go on an adventure. The two grab the luggage, and with Reva's young son, they climb into Josh's pick-up truck . Josh says to Reva, "You ready?" She replies "always," a callback to her promise of "Always, Bud" that Reva uttered to Josh many times on the show. As the truck drives away with the lighthouse in the background, "The End" appears on the screen before a final fadeout. The song heard playing in

3450-804: Is the fifth-longest-running program in all of broadcast history; only the American country music radio program Grand Ole Opry (first broadcast in 1925), the BBC religious program The Daily Service (1928), the CBS religious program Music and the Spoken Word (1929), and the Norwegian children's radio program Lørdagsbarnetimen (1924–2010) have been on the air longer. When the show debuted on radio in 1937, it centered on Reverend John Ruthledge and people whose lives revolved around him. The "Guiding Light" in

3565-491: The 1970s, became one of the first older women on the American serials to enter the workforce. Guiding Light dealt with Bert Bauer ( Charita Bauer ) and her alcoholic husband Bill, and their endless marital troubles. When Bert's status shifted to caring mother and town matriarch, her children's marital troubles were showcased. Search for Tomorrow mostly told its story through the eyes of Joanne Gardner ( Mary Stuart ). Even when stories revolved around other characters, Joanne

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3680-578: The 1970s; and the Coopers, the Lewises, and the Reardons in the 1980s. Guiding Light was created by Irna Phillips and Emmons Carlson and began as an NBC Radio serial on January 25, 1937. On June 2, 1947, the series was transferred to CBS Radio , before starting on June 30, 1952, on CBS Television . It continued to be broadcast on radio until June 29, 1956. The series was expanded from 15 minutes to

3795-455: The 1990s and 2000s incorporated supernatural and science fiction elements into their storylines in an attempt to boost their ratings. One of the main characters on the earlier soap opera Dark Shadows was Barnabas Collins , a vampire, and One Life to Live featured an angel named Virgil. Both shows featured characters who traveled to and from the past. In 1995, Days of our Lives featured a storyline in which fan favorite character Marlena Evans

3910-399: The U.S. since the 2000s. As of September 2022, only four daytime soap operas – General Hospital , Days of Our Lives , The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful – are still in production with three airing on two broadcast networks and one on streaming, down from a total of 12 soaps broadcast during the 1990–91 season and a high of 19 in the 1969–70 season. This marks

4025-407: The World Turns and The Edge of Night , both produced by Procter & Gamble Productions , debuted as the first half-hour soap operas on the CBS television network. All soap operas broadcast half-hour episodes by the end of the 1960s. With increased popularity in the 1970s, most soap operas had expanded to an hour in length by the end of the decade ( Another World even expanded to 90 minutes for

4140-491: The audience and the Bauers to another character that stayed on the show until September 1984, Hillary Kincaid, R. N. (Bauer), Bill's daughter, and thus Ed and Mike's half-sister. (Bill had accidentally killed the man that Hillary originally thought was her father, but was actually her step-father.) Jerome and Bridget Dobson killed off the show's young heroine, Leslie Jackson Bauer Norris Bauer, in June 1976, when Lynne Adams left

4255-492: The audience, and is often cited as one of the show's biggest mistakes. Executive producer Jill Farren Phelps cast a number of actors she'd worked with at other shows, particularly at Santa Barbara , in new roles at GL. Among them: Justin Deas , in the role of long lost Cooper patriarch Buzz; and Marj Dusay as the new actress to play Alexandra Spaulding. In 1994, the show brought former Santa Barbara actress Marcy Walker to

4370-407: The axis" (which proved disorienting to viewers accustomed to shows with the traditional "soap opera look"). Also new was the filming of outdoor scenes in actual outdoor settings. Even many indoor scenes had more of an "on location" feel, repurposing real locations, such as Guiding Light 's production offices, to be motel rooms, nail salons, quick-mart and other businesses or locations. Thereby,

4485-402: The background during the final scene is "Together" by Michelle Branch . The final episode also included the original tag line, with some revision, printed on the screen with the words "There is a destiny that makes us FAMILY" (replacing the word 'brothers'), as well as quick film clips of each of the show's title cards and announcers during the nearly six decades it was on television, leading to

4600-463: The canvas to play antiheroine Tangie Hill, but the pairing of Tangie with Josh Lewis proved unpopular, and Walker decided not to renew her contract In 1995, Guiding Light brought back fan favorite Nola Chamberlain, played by Lisa Brown . However, Nola returning to the canvas on her own without husband Quinton Chamberlain was unpopular with viewers. Soap opera veteran Mary Stuart joined the cast in 1996 as Meta Bauer (though referred to many times over

4715-401: The cast and crew ventured to Jamaica to tape a love consummation storyline between the characters of Garth and Kathy. During the 1980s, perhaps as a reaction to the evening drama series that were gaining high ratings, daytime serials began to incorporate action and adventure storylines, more big-business intrigue, and an increased emphasis on youthful romance. One of the most popular couples

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4830-433: The cast and storylines are rotated across the week's episodes so that each cast member will appear in some but not all episodes. UK and Australian soap operas move through storylines at a faster rate than daytime serials, making them closer to U.S. evening soap operas in this regard. American daytime soap operas feature stylistic elements that set them apart from other shows: Soap opera ratings have significantly fallen in

4945-403: The character of Carrie Todd Marler, played by Jane Elliot . Carrie was diagnosed with multiple personalities. Marland had barely delved into her psychosis when Elliot's contract was abruptly terminated by Executive Producer Allen M. Potter in 1982. As a result, Marland resigned in protest. During the early 1980s, the show began to emphasize younger characters more, as an attempt to compete with

5060-454: The daily episode format of its daytime counterparts) and Another Life (a soap that combined standard serial drama with religious overtones), during the 1980s. Fox, the fourth "major network" , carried a short-lived daytime soap Tribes in 1990. Yet, other than this and a couple of pilot attempts, Fox mainly stayed away from daytime soaps, and has not attempted them since their ascension to major-network status in 1994 (it did later attempt

5175-701: The decision was made to expand As the World Turns , which was airing before Guiding Light at 1:30/12:30. Thus, in December, Guiding Light moved back to 2:30/1:30 in place of The Edge of Night , which switched networks and began airing on ABC. ABC had a short-lived hit the next year with an updated version of the game show Break the Bank . To complicate the picture further, ABC opted to make its first show expansions, those of One Life to Live and General Hospital , in July 1976; each of those shows occupied one-half of

5290-508: The demographic group for which soap opera advertisers pay the most. Those who might watch in workplace breakrooms are not counted, as Nielsen does not track television viewing outside the home. The rise of cable and the Internet has also provided new sources of entertainment during the day. The genre's decline has additionally been attributed to reality television displacing soap operas as TV's dominant form of melodrama. An early term for

5405-427: The departure of character Danny Santos during 2005, eliminated altogether. Also, Guiding Light celebrated its 50th anniversary as a television show on June 30, 2002. During 2004, former director and actress Ellen Wheeler (Emmy Award winner as an actress for the series All My Children and Another World ) took over as executive producer of Guiding Light. She and writer David Kreizman made numerous changes to

5520-455: The division of the show into two locales: Springfield and the fictional 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 with which to deal. During 2002, however, San Cristobel was eliminated from the series and the mob's influence in the story was subsequently diminished and, with

5635-442: The early 1970s, nearly all soap operas had transitioned to being taped. As the World Turns and The Edge of Night were the last to make the switch, in 1975. Port Charles used the practice of running 13-week " story arcs ," in which the main events of the arc are played out and wrapped up over the 13 weeks, although some storylines did continue over more than one arc. According to the 2006 Preview issue of Soap Opera Digest , it

5750-470: The exotic appeal of the stereotypes connected to the location. As examples, EastEnders focuses on the tough and grim life in the East End of London; Coronation Street and its characters exhibit the stereotypical characteristic of "northern straight talking". If we want to blend an actor back into a show, there's always a way. You can generally find a way to twist and manipulate something. You rarely see

5865-428: The first network daytime serial. The main characteristics that define soap operas are "an emphasis on family life, personal relationships, sexual dramas, emotional and moral conflicts; some coverage of topical issues; set in familiar domestic interiors with only occasional excursions into new locations". Fitting in with these characteristics, most soap operas follow the lives of a group of characters who live or work in

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5980-429: The first new daytime soap opera to premiere on a major broadcast network since Passions in 1999. As women increasingly worked outside of the home, daytime television viewing declined. New generations of potential viewers were not raised watching soap operas with their mothers, leaving the shows' long and complex storylines foreign to younger audiences. As viewers age, ratings continue to drop among young adult women,

6095-464: The first soap opera since Generations to feature an African American cast. On April 12, 2024, CBS renewed The Talk for a 15th and final season, with the show concluding in December 2024. Three days later, on April 15, The Gates (now titled " Beyond the Gates ") was greenlit by CBS and is slated to premiere on February 24, 2025, likely to take the time slot of The Talk , meaning it will be

6210-530: The first time since 1953 that there have been only four soap operas airing on broadcast television . The Young and the Restless , the highest-rated soap opera from 1988 to the present, had fewer than 5 million daily viewers as of February 2012, a number exceeded by several non-scripted programs such as Judge Judy . Circulations of soap opera magazines have decreased and some have even ceased publication. Soapnet, which largely aired soap opera reruns, began to be phased out in 2012 and fully ceased operations

6325-495: The following year. The Daytime Emmy Awards , which honor soap operas and other daytime shows, moved from prime time network television to smaller cable channels in 2012, then failed to get any TV broadcast at all in 2014, 2016, and 2017. Several of the U.S.'s most established soaps ended between 2009 and 2012. The longest-running drama in television and radio history, Guiding Light , barely reached 2.1 million daily viewers in 2009 and ended on September 18 of that year, after

6440-734: The gamut of soap operas, from EastEnders to Dallas . In many soap operas, in particular daytime serials in the US, the characters are frequently attractive, seductive, glamorous and wealthy. Soap operas from the United Kingdom and Australia tend to focus on more everyday characters and situations, and are frequently set in working-class environments. Many of the soaps produced in those two countries explore social realist storylines such as family discord, marriage breakdown or financial problems. Both UK and Australian soap operas feature comedic elements, often affectionate comic stereotypes such as

6555-413: The gossip or the grumpy old man, presented as a comic foil to the emotional turmoil that surrounds them. This diverges from US soap operas where such comedy is rare. UK soap operas frequently make a claim to presenting "reality" or purport to have a "realistic" style. UK soap operas also frequently foreground their geographic location as a key defining feature of the show while depicting and capitalising on

6670-435: The late 1960s and into the 1970s. Exterior shots were slowly incorporated into the series The Edge of Night and Dark Shadows . Unlike many earlier serials that were set in fictional towns, The Best of Everything and Ryan's Hope were set in a real-world location, New York City. The first exotic location shoot was made by All My Children , to St. Croix in 1978. Many other soap operas planned lavish storylines after

6785-484: The late 1980s, such as Fox and cable television networks, have largely eschewed soap operas in their daytime schedules, instead running syndicated programming and reruns. No cable television outlet has produced its own daytime serial, although DirecTV 's The 101 Network took over existing serial Passions , continuing production for one season; while TBS and CBN Cable Network respectively aired their own soap operas, The Catlins (a primetime soap that utilized

6900-449: The loyalty of the soap opera fan base and the expansion of several half-hour series into hour-long broadcasts in order to maximise advertising revenues. The article explained that at that time, many prime time series lost money, while daytime serials earned profits several times more than their production costs. The issue's cover notably featured its first daytime soap stars, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of Our Lives ,

7015-532: The matriarch of The Guiding Light , Bert Bauer, developed uterine cancer (as the actress, Charita Bauer , had been diagnosed with the same illness in real life). The storyline encouraged many women to get pap smears and the CBS mailroom in New York City received a then-record amount of fan mail wishing Bauer (both Bert and Charita) well. Nixon would go on to tell many socially relevant storylines on her soaps One Life to Live and All My Children in

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7130-448: The middle of the pack as far as ratings went throughout the decade. The show experienced a series of challenges in 1993, including the exit of three of the show's leading actresses – Beverlee McKinsey , Kimberley Simms , and Sherry Stringfield – within the space of a few months. In particular, McKinsey's Alexandra had been a catalyst for several stories. The decision to kill off the character of Maureen Bauer proved deeply unpopular with

7245-439: The most popular storylines, often involved a romance of the sort presented in paperback romance novels . Soap opera storylines weave intricate, convoluted and sometimes confusing tales of characters who have affairs, meet mysterious strangers and fall in love, and who commit adultery, all of which keeps audiences hooked on the unfolding story. Crimes such as kidnapping, assault (sometimes sexual), and even murder may go unpunished if

7360-574: The network aired on September 18, 2009. Reruns of The Price Is Right took over the Guiding Light time slot between September 21 and October 2, 2009, for two weeks. On October 5, 2009, CBS replaced Guiding Light with an hour-long revival of Let's Make a Deal , hosted by Wayne Brady . Guiding Light has had a number of plot sequences during the series' long history, on both radio and television. These plot sequences include complex storylines, and different writers and casting. The series

7475-555: The now-standard half-hour format, on September 9. This twin bill of expansions 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 also put the serial in direct competition with NBC's The Doctors , which was beginning to peak in its popularity. Thus, the early 1970s saw the popularity of The Guiding Light dip somewhat. After four years of airing at 2:30/1:30, CBS acceded to

7590-484: The park for a large picnic. Toward the end of the episode, it jumps forward one year, by which time, Phillip and Beth have reunited, as have Rick and Mindy. Olivia and Natalia, happy with their new baby, pick up Rafe as he returns from the army. The episode concludes with Josh arriving at the lighthouse, as promised, and finding Reva there. They declare their undying love. James, Ashlee, and Daisy leave Springfield and relocate to Santa Barbara , California . Josh asks if Reva

7705-432: The period from 1952 to 1956, The Guiding Light existed as both a radio and television serial, with actors recording their performances twice for each day that the shows were broadcast. The radio broadcast of The Guiding Light ceased production during 1956, ending this overlap. With the transition to television, the main characters became the Bauers, a lower-middle class German immigrant family who were first introduced in

7820-421: The perpetrator is to be retained in the ongoing story. Australian and UK soap operas also feature a significant proportion of romance storylines. In Russia, most popular serials explore the "romantic quality" of criminal and/or oligarch life. In soap opera storylines, previously unknown children, siblings and twins (including the evil variety ) of established characters often emerge to upset and reinvigorate

7935-460: The previous five years, after having driven her car off of a bridge and into the water off the Florida Keys . The outlandish plots for Reva included her time as an amnesiac Amish woman, the former queen of San Cristobel, and a story where Reva experienced time travel. The most notable of these plot twists was when Josh, believing again that Reva had died, had her cloned. The 2000s began with

8050-411: The programs ran out of new episodes to broadcast; Days of Our Lives , which produces its episodes roughly eight months ahead of their initial broadcast, did not resort to airing older episodes during this time as it had a larger first-run episode backlog.) Early episodes of Dark Shadows were rerun on PBS member stations in the early 1970s after the show's cancellation, and the entire series (except for

8165-601: The prosperous Brooks family with four daughters, and the working-class Foster family of a single working mother with three children. Its storylines explored realistic problems including cancer, mental illness, poverty, and infidelity. In contrast, Dark Shadows (1966–1971), Port Charles (1997–2003) and Passions (1999–2008) featured supernatural characters and dealt with fantasy and horror storylines. Their characters included vampires, witches, ghosts, goblins, and angels. The American soap opera Guiding Light (originally titled The Guiding Light until 1975) started as

8280-506: The radio serial in 1948. Many storylines revolved around Bill Bauer (son of patriarch Friedrich "Papa" Bauer) and his new wife Bertha (nicknamed "Bert"). Papa Bauer, who came to the United States during World War I with just a few dollars in his pocket, was a salt of the earth character who succeeded in offering opportunities to his children by working hard, and he instilled that work ethic into his children. Bert had dreams of climbing

8395-807: The real-life death of Charita Bauer in 1985. During Guiding Light's 50th anniversary year in 1987, a commitment was pledged to showcase the Bauer family in primary roles as much as possible, after audience reaction to the Oklahoma-bred Lewis and Shayne families turned out to be mixed. As a result, the tradition of the Bauer July 4 family barbecue began that year, and continued until 2009, the serial's final year on CBS Television. Pam Long , actress and writer for NBC's Texas from 1981 to 1982, became head writer during 1983, joined by Gail Kobe as executive producer. During Long's first stint as writer,

8510-543: The reality TV genre was docu-soap . A precursor to reality TV, the televised 1994–95 O. J. Simpson murder case , both preempted and competed with an entire season of soaps, transforming viewing habits and leaving soap operas with 10 percent fewer viewers after the trial ended. salt of the earth Salt of the earth is a phrase used by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, part of a discourse on salt and light . Salt of

8625-421: The returnees were the characters of Nola, Holly and Mindy; Josh told Reva that he was leaving Springfield for a job for the next year, but proposes that he return one year from that date and, if by that time, she wants to reunite with him, she should meet him at the lighthouse and, if she is not there, he will assume she is not interested. The final episode is pleasant, featuring many of the characters gathering in

8740-427: The run, 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. It kept the new timeslot for the next 19 years and eight months, sharing the half-hour with its sister Procter & Gamble-packaged soap opera, Search for Tomorrow . The Guiding Light handled the competition breezily, even against otherwise-legendary shows such as Queen for

8855-433: The series became the first American weekday soap opera to be recorded digitally. The production team chose to film with Canon XH-G1 HDV camcorders in standard definition mode. Unlike the old production model with pedestal-style cameras and traditional three-sided sets, handheld cameras allowed producers to choose as many locations as they wished. During the daytime drama's 57th season on television and 72nd overall season,

8970-415: The series had changed its look to a more realistic experience in an attempt to compete with the growing popularity of reality television . The new look of Guiding Light included free-hand camera work and less action shown on traditional studio sets. Producer Ellen Wheeler introduced a "shaky-cam" style, present in a number of movies, featuring extreme-closeups and frequent cuts, including those that "broke

9085-465: The series had numerous sets without the cost of numerous separate locations. CBS and the show's producers had hoped that the new look would increase ratings, but the plan was ultimately unsuccessful. On April 1, 2009, CBS canceled Guiding Light after 72 years, with the series finale on the network airing on September 18, 2009, making it the second-to-last Procter & Gamble soap opera to end. The action has also been set in three different locales – it

9200-405: The series shifted to Bill and Bert's children, Mike and Ed; the character of Bill Bauer was written out in July 1969, presumed dead after a plane crash. The show also became a bit more topical during the 1960s, with such storylines as Bert Bauer's diagnosis of uterine cancer in 1962. A number of new characters were introduced during the mid- to late 1960s, including Dr. Sara McIntyre, who remained

9315-422: The series, but later admitted that they had been unsuccessful in doing so, and that on September 18, 2009, after 57 years on television (preceded by 15 years on radio for a total broadcast history of 72 years), Guiding Light would end its broadcast history on CBS. Storylines were resolved in the final weeks of the series, and numerous characters from the series' past passed through Springfield one last time. Among

9430-426: The set of relationships examined by the series. Unexpected calamities disrupt weddings, childbirths, and other major life events with unusual frequency. As in comic books – another popular form of linear storytelling pioneered in the US during the 20th century – a character's death is not guaranteed to be permanent . On The Bold and the Beautiful , Taylor Hayes ( Hunter Tylo ) was shown to flatline and have

9545-516: The sets, stories, and the cast. Several veteran actors were eliminated, mainly because of budget decreases. Because of the lack of veteran influence, Wheeler reemphasized the youth of Springfield, especially the controversial pairing of cousins Jonathan and Tammy. During 2006, an episode featured character Harley Cooper gaining heroic abilities. The episode was semi-continued in an 8-page story in select Marvel Comics productions. The series had its 70th broadcast anniversary during 2007. The anniversary

9660-513: The show expanded to a full hour and was broadcast from 2:30 to 3:30 pm daily. Bridget and Jerome Dobson moved on to the head writing duties of As the World Turns in late 1979. Former actor Douglas Marland assumed the writing reins of Guiding Light in 1979. He introduced many new characters, including the Reardon family. During May 1980, Guiding Light won its first Outstanding Drama Series Daytime Emmy . One of Marland's stories featured

9775-528: The show officially dropped the word "The" from its title, although it was still referred to as The Guiding Light on air for several years after. As the year progressed, CBS was looking to expand one of its daytime soap operas. All of its serials were now thirty minutes in length and had been since Guiding Light and Search For Tomorrow made the move in 1968. NBC had found ratings success with expanding Another World and Days of Our Lives to one hour earlier in 1975. CBS thought it too could find success, so

9890-431: The show shifted focus to the young love quadrangle of Rick Bauer, Phillip Spaulding , Mindy Lewis , and Beth Raines . Bauer, Spaulding, Reardon, and Raines families. Long also introduced several other characters, including Alexandra Spaulding , played by notable daytime actress Beverlee McKinsey , of Another World and Texas fame; and Reva Shayne , played by Kim Zimmer . After a break, Pamela K. Long returned for

10005-425: The show was later renewed through September 2021. In 2022, NBC announced that Days of Our Lives would be moved exclusively to its streaming service, Peacock , making NBC the first of the big three networks not to air any daytime soap operas. In March 2024, CBS Studios , NAACP Venture , in partnership with P&G Studios announced that a new soap opera for CBS titled The Gates is in development and will be

10120-1535: The show's debut in January 1970 until it ended its network television run on ABC on September 23, 2011. Erika Slezak played Victoria Lord #3 on One Life to Live from 1971 until the show ended its network television run on ABC on January 13, 2012, and resumed the role in its short-lived online revival on April 29, 2013. Other actors have played several characters on different shows. Millette Alexander , Bernard Barrow , Doris Belack , David Canary , Judith Chapman , Keith Charles , Jordan Charney , Joan Copeland , Nicolas Coster , Jacqueline Courtney , Augusta Dabney , Louis Edmonds , Don Hastings , Larry Haines , Vincent Irizarry , Lenore Kasdorf , Teri Keane , Lois Kibbee , John Loprieno , Lori March , Maeve McGuire , Robert Mili , James Mitchell , Lee Patterson , Christopher Pennock , Antony Ponzini , William Prince , Rosemary Prinz , Louise Shaffer , Mary Stuart , Richard Thomas , Diana van der Vlis , Mary K. Wells , Lesley Woods and Michael Zaslow , among many others, have all played multiple soap roles. For several decades, most daytime soap operas concentrated on family and marital discord, legal drama and romance. The action rarely left interior settings, and many shows were set in fictional, medium-sized Midwestern towns. Social issue storylines were typically verboten when soaps were starting, due to heavy network-imposed censorship at that time, but writer and producer Agnes Nixon introduced these storylines slowly but surely, first in 1962 when

10235-409: The show's former long-time beginning announcement: "And now, The Guiding Light ". Guiding Light was broadcast from three locations: Chicago (where creator Irna Phillips resided), from 1937 until 1946; Hollywood , from 1947 until 1949; and New York City starting during 1949. It was relocated from Chicago to Hollywood (despite objections of both Phillips and Arthur Peterson ) to take advantage of

10350-642: The show's title originally referred to the lamp in Ruthledge's study that people used as a sign for them to find his help when needed. When the show transitioned to television in the 1950s, the Bauers, a German immigrant family first introduced in 1948, became the focus of the program. Other core families were introduced over the show's run, including the Norrises in the 1960s; the Marlers and the Spauldings in

10465-432: The show. Leslie was killed in a hit and run accident by Spence Jeffries, estranged husband of Mike’s secretary Anne. Her father, Steve Jackson, remained on the show for the remainder of the 1970s, serving as a senior physician at Cedars, and as a friend and companion to Bert Bauer. In November 1975, the name was changed in the show's opening and closing visuals from The Guiding Light to Guiding Light . On November 7, 1977,

10580-501: The shows were aimed at – and consumed by – a predominantly female audience. Clara, Lu, 'n Em would become the first network radio serial of the type when it aired on the NBC Blue Network at 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time on January 27, 1931. Although it did not make the move until February 15, 1932, Clara, Lu 'n Em would become the first network serial of the type to move to a weekday daily timeslot, and so also became

10695-470: The social ladder and keeping up appearances, and it was up to Bill (and sometimes Papa Bauer) to bring her down to earth. The Guiding Light ranked as the number one-rated soap opera during both 1956 and 1957, before being replaced during 1958 by As the World Turns . After Irna Phillips was transferred to As the World Turns during 1958, her protégé Agnes Nixon became head writer of The Guiding Light . The first television producer of The Guiding Light

10810-429: The start of a new yearly broadcast. Evening soap operas and those that air at a rate of one episode per week are more likely to feature the entire cast in each episode and present all storylines. Evening soap operas and serials that run for only part of the year tend to bring things to a dramatic end-of-season cliffhanger. In 1976, Time magazine described American daytime television as "TV's richest market", noting

10925-471: The stories are similar to what happened to them in real life, or two, thank goodness that isn't me. Many long-running US soap operas established particular environments for their stories. The Doctors and General Hospital , in the beginning, told stories almost exclusively from inside the confines of a hospital. As the World Turns dealt heavily with Chris Hughes' law practice and the travails of his wife Nancy who, tired of being "the loyal housewife" in

11040-609: The story for the remainder of the decade, as well as mogul Alan Spaulding and brash lawyer Ross Marler. In 1977, the character of Bill Bauer was reintroduced. GL had told a story where Bill died in an airplane crash in July 1969, so his reappearance was a surprise. Bill was subsequently charged for a murder of a man in Vancouver (he was acquitted, with Mike's help) and by April 1978 Bill had left town again. The character of Bill returned briefly in November 1978, April 1980, and then again in July and November 1983. Bill's return introduced

11155-538: The success of the All My Children shoot. Soap operas Another World and Guiding Light both went to St. Croix in 1980, the former show culminating a long-running storyline between popular characters Mac, Rachel and Janice, and the latter to serve as an exotic setting for Alan Spaulding and Rita Bauer 's torrid affair. Search for Tomorrow taped for two weeks in Hong Kong in 1981. Later that year, some of

11270-622: The supernatural soap opera, Dark Shadows , which did receive an essentially complete release on both VHS and DVD; the single lost episode #1219 is reconstructed by means of an off-the-air audio recording, still images, and recap material from adjacent episodes). Soap opera performers in the United States are typically divided into two main groups: primary characters (sometimes referred to as "contract players" – as their portrayers signed contracts of employment – or leading characters) and secondary characters (sometimes referred to as recurring characters). These two groups of characters make up

11385-670: The talent pool. Production was subsequently relocated to New York City, where the majority of soap operas were produced during the 1950s, 1960s and much of the 1970s; it remained based in New York City until the show's conclusion. Its final taping location was the CBS studios in midtown Manhattan . From the 1970s to the 1990s it was filmed at the Chelsea Studios . From soon before February 29, 2008, outdoor scenes were filmed on location in Peapack , New Jersey . The location filming coincided with another significant production change, as

11500-584: The time. With the resultant budget cuts, soap operas were no longer able to go on expensive location shoots overseas as they were able to do in the 1980s. During that decade, soap operas increasingly focused on younger characters and social issues , such as Erica Kane 's drug addiction on All My Children , the re-emergence of Viki Lord 's dissociative identity disorder on One Life to Live , and Stuart Chandler dealing with his wife Cindy dying of AIDS on All My Children . Other social issues included cancer , rape , abortion and racism . Several shows during

11615-420: The vast majority of the people who appear on any given soap. There are also characters who appear only for a short time as dictated by a specific storyline, and even characters who may only get a first name and no fleshed-out character history with little dialogue (these are sometimes referred to as "under-5s" since they receive under five lines of dialogue in each episode). Due to the longevity of these shows, it

11730-502: The world from being frozen, brought a mobster down by finding his black book in a left-handed boy statue, and helped a princess find her Aztec treasure in Mexico . Other soap operas attempted similar adventure storylines, often featuring footage shot on location – frequently in exotic locales. During the 1990s, the mob, action and adventure stories fell out of favor with producers, due to generally declining ratings for daytime soap operas at

11845-471: The years, the character originally played by Ellen Demming had not been seen onscreen since 1974); the character remained on the show until Stuart's death during 2002. As the decade progressed, Guiding Light began to feature stories with more outlandish plot twists, seemingly to compete with shows like Passions and Days of Our Lives . A number of these stories involved the character of Reva Shayne, played by Kim Zimmer . Reva had been presumed dead for

11960-571: The younger-skewing ABC serials. A number of longtime characters were eliminated during this time, including Ben and Eve McFarren, Diane Ballard, Dr. Sara McIntyre, Adam Thorpe, Barbara Norris Thorpe, Justin Marler and Steve Jackson. Actress Lenore Kasdorf quit the show in 1981, and producers decided not to recast the role of Rita Stapleton Bauer, given how popular Kasdorf had been. The Bauer family matriarch, Bertha 'Bert' Bauer, died in March 1986, following

12075-524: Was Luke Spencer and Laura Webber on General Hospital . Luke and Laura helped to attract both male and female fans. Even actress Elizabeth Taylor was a fan and at her own request was given a guest role in Luke and Laura's wedding episode. Luke and Laura's popularity led to other soap producers striving to reproduce this success by attempting to create supercouples of their own. With increasingly bizarre action storylines coming into vogue, Luke and Laura saved

12190-459: Was Lucy Ferri Rittenberg, who produced the show for over 20 years. Agnes Nixon relinquished her role as chief writer during 1965 to work on Another World . On March 13, 1967, The Guiding Light was first broadcast in color. On September 9, 1968, the program was expanded from 15 to 30 minutes. The 1960s featured the introduction of Black characters, played by Billy Dee Williams , James Earl Jones , Ruby Dee , and Cicely Tyson . The emphasis of

12305-547: Was based in the fictional towns of Five Points and Selby Flats before its final locale of Springfield. Unlike most popular radio serials transitioning to television, The Guiding Light had no difficulty holding onto its old listening audience and simultaneously earning a new television fanbase. For at the time The Guiding Light made its television debut, neither ABC nor NBC had broadcast programs on their respective networks at 2:30 p.m. Eastern/1:30 Central, where CBS first placed The Guiding Light . However, six months into

12420-408: Was briefly discussed that all ABC shows might do telenovela arcs, but this was rejected. Though U.S. daytime soap operas are not generally rerun by their networks, occasionally they are rebroadcast elsewhere; CBS and ABC have made exceptions to this, airing older episodes (either those aired earlier in the current season or those aired years prior) on major holidays when special event programming

12535-480: Was commemorated with the initiation of website FindYourLight.net and a program of outreach, representing Irna Phillips' original message. There was also a special episode during January 2007, with current cast members playing Phillips and some of the earlier cast members. The series also introduced special beginning credits commemorating the anniversary. The show had a rotating slate of writers, including veteran GL writers Lucky Gold, Chris Dunn, and Jill Lorie Hurst , who

12650-463: Was created by Emmons Carlson and Irna Phillips, who based it on personal experiences. After giving birth to a still-born baby at age 19, Phillips found spiritual comfort listening to the radio sermons of Preston Bradley , a famous Chicago preacher and founder of the People's Church, a church which promoted the brotherhood of man. These sermons inspired the creation of The Guiding Light , which began as

12765-416: Was eventually named head writer. 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 ). On April 1, 2009, CBS announced that it would not renew Guiding Light , and the last broadcast date would be September 18, 2009. Procter & Gamble initially announced that they would attempt to find another outlet to distribute

12880-411: Was frequently a key player in their storylines. Days of Our Lives initially focused on Dr. Tom Horton and his steadfast wife Alice. The show later branched out to focus more on their five children. The Edge of Night featured as its central character Mike Karr, a police detective (later an attorney), and largely dealt with organized crime. The Young and the Restless first focused on two families,

12995-468: Was impossible. Though all serials have long switched to being taped, extensive post-production work and multiple takes, while possible, are not feasible due to the tight taping schedules and low budgets. The first daytime TV soap opera in the United States was These Are My Children in 1949, though earlier melodramas had aired in the evenings as once-a-week programs. Soap operas quickly became

13110-555: Was introduced on April 1, 1971 and became a pivotal character. The role of Roger was originally proposed to be a blond, fair-skinned, preppy type, a man who was dating his boss's daughter Holly. Ultimately, Michael Zaslow , a dark-haired actor, was hired for the role instead by long-time casting director , Betty Rea. Zaslow portrayed Roger as a complicated and multifaceted villain . Cast member Theo Goetz, who played Papa Bauer, died in 1972. Producers decided that Papa Bauer would die onscreen. The cast paid tribute to Goetz and Papa Bauer in

13225-645: Was possessed by the devil, and in 1998, Guiding Light featured a cloning storyline involving legacy character Reva Shayne . Modern U.S. daytime soap operas largely stay true to the original soap opera format. The duration and format of storylines and the visual grammar employed by U.S. daytime serials set them apart from soap operas in other countries and from evening soap operas. Stylistically, UK and Australian soap operas, which are usually produced for early evening timeslots, fall somewhere in between U.S. daytime and evening soap operas. Similar to U.S. daytime soap operas, UK and Australian serials are shot on videotape, and

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