GUIDING LIGHT-- 1986 opening

This opening was used between the fall of 1986 and the end of 1990.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• guiding
• light
• soap
• opera

[ACcountryFan]

loved seeing the original Alan Spaulding in the opening.

[debro2009debro]

Soap openings were best from 1984 to 1996. After that, I don't know what happened.

[Sheri451]

I could have sworn that Ron Raines was there by then.

[Aquaria]

@vinster7997 GL wasn't bad in 1986 or 1994. 1986 had a lot going for it--the return of Josh AND Alan.India finally getting her comeuppance. The aftermath of Bert's death, and the very painful aftermath of Reva's suicide attempt. The intro of Dinah--and the revelation that she's Ross and Vanessa's daughter. Oh--and who can forget the Reva/Kyle/Maeve triangle? There was more, so much more, to love about 1986.

And no year like 1994 that has Roger Thorpe causing trouble can be bad. Ever.

[vinster7997]

@darth..i agree with you but woul take 1994out if there..GL was so bad im 1994 and i will add 1986 in there as well:)

[snoopy64116]

@chescott68 I enjoyed seeing Calla, too!

[snoopy64116]

@DarthSnoopy96 That was Maeve Stoddard (Ben's mother), not Claire.

[DarthSnoopy96]

is it just me or do "Claire" and "Fletcher" exude total sex appeal in this 2nd to last clip?

[DarthSnoopy96]

@SoapsGoldenAge

Very astute observation, I have noticed this myself. I understand the nostalgia factor. Although, it amazes me the vast numbers of "younger" people who only know Guiding Light from 1998/2000 forwards....they think that it is an awesome show and are so distraught that it was canceled. However, I really have to wonder if they were familiar with the glory days of approx. 1977-1994 if they would still think that. They also need to be familiar with the FULL history of GL!

[DarthSnoopy96]

@debro2009debro

LOL

[jmjfanss]

God I Love this Opening

[SoapsGoldenAge]

that's interesting. Was this before 78 or so? I don't recall there ever being a period without an opening (except for that crazy OJ trial period when they were afraid the first 5 min would be preempted) and, of course, now with ATWT. Theme music is SO important. It's the only 30-60 seconds of each show that is shown repeatedly--so should be flawless. And what about "branding" have the network people forgot how important that is????

[SoapsGoldenAge]

IT's funny, but I find we seem to think the openings from when we first started watching were the best. IMO 79-83 were the best, but probably as much sentimentality as anything else. Frankly, the editing on these old openings is pretty lame. So many of the fan-edited versions on here are better! Imagine what they could do with million dollar studio equipment! lol. I DO agree that openings now are too glitzy, no substance.B&B/Y&R prob the best, and could be so much better

[NEXTGENSKYN]

yea its a rumor but i think 2 months after passions moved to cable it went off the air

[NEXTGENSKYN]

its not moving to cable!

[nederlandnu]

Guiding Light, still a few episodes and its over! Worlds longest daytime series, 72 YEARS will be Lost forever.

[ACcountryFan]

i'd say budget cuts...there were times when there wasn't even an opening...they would open up with a scene and then when it got to a dramatic moment the scene would fade to black and the lighthouse would pop up on the screen and the title would appear as the beacon light was twirling around...and that was it...no appearances of the cast...that came at the end of the show during the closing credits...they'd flash up still shots of the characters.

[CarlD2]

I don't like this theme music, it's much too "peppy". On the plus side, those are many of my favorite characters.

[cabanaboi29]

The only thing I remember about guilding light was when this lady got lost while out in the woods. i think she was coming from a party or something.. anyway it was back in 1985-1986... she had blonde hair (short, spike up a bit) and seemed to be in a dazed moment at the time

[jiveturkey25]

I really liked the GL openings from the 1980s. Do you know or have of any of the 1970s openings. I know there was one of them in blue.

[captainhero518]

I think this is probably the earliest opening I remember seeing. My grandparents were fans of GL back then, and I remember hearing that music. By the time I became a regular viewer in 1992, they had the awesome lighthouse themed one. I loved the older openings. Except for that short lived opening in 2005 with the rock music and blue tint, the newer openings just stink!

[CaliforniaGuy888]

I completely agree. There seemed to be chemistry between the two..At the time, I thought that maybe, just maybe the writers were going to recreate the 'original' Alan - womanizing, controlling, business man! The 'original' Alan was always surrounded by beautiful young women..I was kinda hoping that by pairing Alan with Annie, that part of his character would re-emerge. It didn't. Ah well!

[ACcountryFan]

One of the things i'll never understand is why they never created much of a story with Alan and Annie...it was always Annie trying to get back with Josh and Alan being flirty with Reva even though Annie and Alan were living together by then. They wrote the two characters to be jealous...if Alan was seen being flirty, Annie would start worrying...and if Alan felt Annie wasn't giving him much attention he'd blame it on any lingering thoughts of Josh she might have, etc.

[CaliforniaGuy888]

Yes, nostalgia for 'the good old days' kicks in from time to time. I find myself looking back at 1998-2000 fondly, even though I didnt like that period much at the time. I miss seeing Michelle Bauer and Meta , as well as Holly, Blake, and Ross. Even Annie Dutton!!

[ACcountryFan]

So, in conclusion, the series did have rough years in that time period because an audience who had watched the show for years by the time 1986 rolled around were not interested in the story lines or the direction the show was going in an effort to stay competitive. The thing i've often noticed about GL is radical changes. Whenever a new head writer or producer steps in, they want to make sweeping changes, etc etc and that usually drives an audience nuts. Gradual changes should be the rule.