Guiding Light -- The End of an Era -- with cool clips of cars from the 1980's

[NFitalianGuy]

GL changed it's format and left the studios to do on location shoots which totally ruined the show. It looked like a "let's put a show on in my aunt Martha's barn" Those Nj outdoor shots and inside real homes were annoying, the camera shook too much and you coudl hear echoing in the indoor scenes. I hope the Y&R doesnt follow that road. any producer who thinks about changing the format should learn from Gl mistakes. ATWT is another weird show with James stenbeck as a youth? come on!

[laminage]

@NFitalianGuy Yeah, but as hard as it is to believe, They do that on UK Soaps. For Example, The Soap Opera Emmerdale is set in Northern York, England where they have one area where they film the show. This year marks the 30th Anniversary of The New Soundstage of Coronation St., that was visited by Queen Elizabeth & Prince Phillip, also if you Type in Eastenders, they use the same formula.

[IwshIcldstrtover]

It's sickening to see how these shows progressed from normal, everyday life in a household, to nothing but a bunch of sex crazed lunatics who can't keep their clothes on!

[wantsvictory]

Well, we know the answer to the narrators questions.

[sexycdn2006]

I remember when Reva drove off the bridge

[mikaelasa100]

the good old days of the latter 70's and early 80's...

substance/creative in storytelling ....

[mthivier]

Regarding the commentator's comment that soaps are inherently "stupid" (and that that's part of their appeal), I don't think any other 40- and 50-somethings like myself, who watched during the golden days of the Roger, Rita, Ed and Holly drama of the mid-1970s could ever suggest that GL was stupid back then. (of course, now is a different story.)

[Wellveryinteresting]

Well, I'm kind of feeling like the commentator really short thrifted "The Guiding Light" from the 1950's saying that about the soaps being inherently "stupid" just before the small black & white snippet of Papa & Bert Bauer from 1953. Even in the 1940's (on radio), 1950's, 1960's well into the 1980's & into the 1990's (at least until middle portion of that last decade) soaps were written many more time more intelligently (& sometimes more realistically) then what was on much of primetime.

[TimsDale4ever]

You nailed it -- and thank you. Instead of stupid, I think the word "boring" is how they could be described today. No well written, INTERESTING stories that made the shows must see EVERYDAY. Now it's just blah, blah, blah about much of nothing day in and day out. It really pisses me off when execs say the audience has eroded to other cable stations. Nooooo, it's because the shows are so f*****g 18 year old boring that they can't hold anyone's attention anymore!

[travistime]

CBS has deliberately destroyed Guiding Light. Fans have begged for the Exec Producer and head writer to be fired for 5 years. This is a plan to destroy daytime serials. Fight for GL, the longest running program in history. Ratings in a long term decline caused deliberately by CBS and its hacks so they can put another talk show or court show on and save money. If you have ever enjoyed a daytime soap, please stand up and fight with us now, so this cornerstone of American daytime is preserved.

[ACcountryFan]

I've written all sorts of commentary all over the internet about this news and it's a cop out when CBS says "ratings" is the reason. I've never liked the ratings system to begin with...you can't tell how many people are watching a TV set.

You could have three or four people watching one TV set but it only registers as "one" rating. This show has way more viewers than the ratings indicate and deep down CBS knows it. This is their easy way out and to announce it on April Fool's day was tasteless.

[TimothySEnglish]

Unfortunately Guiding Light's demise is just a sign of the times. Less than 20 years ago daytime boasted 13 soap operas. Now we're down to 8, and after GL's cancellation, 7. CBS has had a history at driving off soaps off the network like they did with Search for Tomorrow. However with more women working outside the home, and more talk and court tv shows on the air, viewership has shrunk considerably. I wouldnt be surprised if in 5 years there were a half dozen or fewer soaps on the air.

[Wellveryinteresting]

I would say that All My Children, Days Of Our Lives (I think NBC totally wants out of the soap business) and As The World Turns -- in that order -- days are numbered. (P&G will give up on As The World Turns, unfortunately soon enogh -- P&G is also not wanting to stay in the soap business, either -- you knew GL & ATWT's days were numbered once Another World got the axe).

I predict in about 5 years we may only be seeing four of soaps on the air, w/ B&B being only one to expand to an hour..

[adelgado75]

I have to disagree with you about CBS driving off soaps. In my opinion CBS has had the most successful track record with soap operas. Then there's ABC.  NBC would get my vote for the worst track record in soap opera. They've only had two successful soaps, DAYS and the defunct AW. I watched the ABC soaps for many years beginning in 1980 with GH and my all time favorite, EDGE OF NIGH.

[TimothySEnglish]

True, CBS daytime has enjoyed longevity in the form of As the World Turns, Young and the Restless, and until recently Guiding Light. However, CBS has always run a tight ship in its daytime and primetime programming. Take for instance Edge of Night which ran successfully for nearly 20 years on CBS. But when it came time for ATWT to expand to a full hour in 1975, EON was bumped off and picked up by ABC. Love of Life was also cancelled when Y&R was expanded to a full hour in 1980.

[DBfromOz]

The car clip is from 1990

[srfup]

Duly noted, Thank You.