The venerable daytime drama Guiding Light is finally going dark, ending an unprecedented run that predated television. The program began during the Magdalanian Age as a cave painting about a shaman named Ork and the day-to-day troubles of his clan. Around 1500 B.C. the show made of the first of its many pioneering moves to new media, when it transitioned out of caves and into frescoes. Simultaneously, in an effort to capture a more hip, urban, city-state demographic, the storylines began to focus less on rural issues like hunting and gathering, and more on popular youth trends, like incest, and leaping over the backs of bulls.
Around 600 B.C. the producers worried the show was becoming static, and shook things up by shifting to the then nascent technology of choral dithyrambs. The stories began to revolve around a powerful family of amphora merchants, and critics note that even in its early days, Guiding Light was known for taking on hot button social issues, such as the debate over chaste or erotic pederasty. In the Middle Ages the producers again broke new ground by having their actors speak in the vulgate, and by not naming each and every character “Everyman,” while during the Restoration, Guiding Light was the first soap opera to cast women as the female characters.
In the 18th and 19th centuries the producers struggled to build on their earlier successes with emerging media, but efforts to broadcast the show via navy semaphore flags, and later, by telegraph, were considered little more than interesting novelties. Attempts were made to present the program’s complex, multi-character storylines as unfunny wood engravings in Punch, and later, as blackface minstrels shows, but these failed to catch on with the public. In 1885, the producers made a deal with inventor Thomas A. Edison to broadcast the show using a “vibrator magnet for induction transmissions,” but negotiations broke down when Edison attempted to patent the actors. However, with the licensing of the first commercial radio stations in 1920, most critics agree that Guiding Light had finally found its medium. In 1923, the now-familiar themes and characters began to coalesce when Louise Bunting joined the cast as matriarch Amanda Cooper Spaulding, a role she continues to play to this day, albeit from a glass sarcophagus
On June 30, 1952 the program transitioned to television, where it continued to make history. In 1966, Guiding Light introduced the first continuing African-American characters in a soap opera; in the 1980s, formerly taboo subjects such as teen pregnancy, AIDS, and sexual harassment were tackled; and for nearly eight months in 1998, all the male characters were played by the two guys from Puppetry of the Penis.
The final episode is scheduled to air on September 18, 2009.
Posted by scott on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 at 11:20 am.The final episode is scheduled to air on September 18, 2009.
23 Responses to “CBS Cancels “Guiding Light” After 17,000 Years”
Y’know, I’m not sure I ever saw a single episode all the way through[although I’ll admit to watching a few other daytime soaps], yet, for some odd reason, this stil makes me a little sad.
Why is that?
Why is that?
…yet, for some odd reason, this stil makes me a little sad.
Why is that?
Perhaps because you’re gaining tolerance to your current dosage of antidepressants?
I kid, Bill, but I have to tell you I shed no tears for the end of any soap opera. As your typical 70s latchkey kid, whenever I stayed home sick from school, it meant a whole day flipping the channels (actually at the tv turning the knob, really) trying to find anything else… to no avail.
So, for me, a soap opera playing on the tube immediately calls up vague feelings of loneliness and boredom.
Why is that?
Perhaps because you’re gaining tolerance to your current dosage of antidepressants?
I kid, Bill, but I have to tell you I shed no tears for the end of any soap opera. As your typical 70s latchkey kid, whenever I stayed home sick from school, it meant a whole day flipping the channels (actually at the tv turning the knob, really) trying to find anything else… to no avail.
So, for me, a soap opera playing on the tube immediately calls up vague feelings of loneliness and boredom.
Around 1500 B.C. the show made of the first of its many pioneering moves to new media, when it transitioned out of caves and into frescoes.
Skipped right over bas releif, which just goes to show how cutting stone edge they were.
Skipped right over bas releif, which just goes to show how cutting stone edge they were.
That was funnier than it had any right to be. Just sayin’.
So, for me, a soap opera playing on the tube immediately calls up vague feelings of loneliness and boredom.
For my mom it was “As the World Turns”, which meant that for one hour a day I probably could’ve set myself on fire and not been noticed.
For my mom it was “As the World Turns”, which meant that for one hour a day I probably could’ve set myself on fire and not been noticed.
But, but Law & Order is still on, right?
I still recall the sting of betrayal felt that day in 1965 when Another World premiered, and it proved not to be a new Outer Limits.
The biggest oddity in the Thurber canon is his five-part history of radio soaps which was collected in The Beast in Me and Other Animals, and only rarely shows its canines.
The Guiding Light was the product of one Irna Phillips, who at one time had six serials on the air, and who, like many another radio talent, was cheated out of some of her work by her employer (WGN, and parent company the Chicago Tribune; the soaps were born in the Second City), losing in court despite having copyrighted the work. She apparently became a tough businesswoman after that.
Radio actors were frequently paid nothing at all, and the soaps were a major rallying point for the creation of the Radio Guild, later AFTRA, spurred by the Socialist National Labor Relations Act of 1935. Which, as a Wobbly, I salute, but as a man subjected nightly to my Otherwise Intelligent Wife’s junk-food addiction toThe Young and the Restless (Thanks, SoapNet!) I have to admit that nothing would seem a fair wage in most instances, at least these days.
The Guiding Light was the product of one Irna Phillips, who at one time had six serials on the air, and who, like many another radio talent, was cheated out of some of her work by her employer (WGN, and parent company the Chicago Tribune; the soaps were born in the Second City), losing in court despite having copyrighted the work. She apparently became a tough businesswoman after that.
Radio actors were frequently paid nothing at all, and the soaps were a major rallying point for the creation of the Radio Guild, later AFTRA, spurred by the Socialist National Labor Relations Act of 1935. Which, as a Wobbly, I salute, but as a man subjected nightly to my Otherwise Intelligent Wife’s junk-food addiction toThe Young and the Restless (Thanks, SoapNet!) I have to admit that nothing would seem a fair wage in most instances, at least these days.
The Guiding Light has an unique place in history, in that it is the only soap opera to be around longer than soap.
I can’t make fun of soapers.
I worked at a firm where in the lunch room was a television and at one PM each day, I had lunch. While I did not think I was hooked to All My Children (I would read or play cards or *gasp* engage in adult conversations!), for some reason I found myself reciting story lines to people who would miss a week for vacation and such.
Soap operas were the Restoration morality plays of the 20th Century, despite the redundancy to Scott’s post.
They dealt with issues of good and evil in populist ways and in some ways remind me on other levels of the commedia dell’arte: cartoonish characters that the audience can immediately identify with, based on stereotype alone.
They had to be simple. They knew the audience they were playing to was in the middle of a work day, taking a brief respite, and so there’s why episodes tended to be repetitive series of jumpcuts. The viewer never gets too involved in any one story line, so they can go answer the phone, or pick up the kids from school.
Or move the laundry (hullo. soap opera?) from the washer to the dryer.
I worked at a firm where in the lunch room was a television and at one PM each day, I had lunch. While I did not think I was hooked to All My Children (I would read or play cards or *gasp* engage in adult conversations!), for some reason I found myself reciting story lines to people who would miss a week for vacation and such.
Soap operas were the Restoration morality plays of the 20th Century, despite the redundancy to Scott’s post.
They dealt with issues of good and evil in populist ways and in some ways remind me on other levels of the commedia dell’arte: cartoonish characters that the audience can immediately identify with, based on stereotype alone.
They had to be simple. They knew the audience they were playing to was in the middle of a work day, taking a brief respite, and so there’s why episodes tended to be repetitive series of jumpcuts. The viewer never gets too involved in any one story line, so they can go answer the phone, or pick up the kids from school.
Or move the laundry (hullo. soap opera?) from the washer to the dryer.
I can’t believe the show will be gone for good! Maybe another network with take it on?
I can make fun of soaps, since I used to be forced to watch them in college (one girlfriend was hooked on them). I got to the point where I was making sarcastic running commentary whenever I went to someone’s house and saw a soap running. Didn’t always make me popular, but it was the only way I could stand watching. I also notice that soaps employ actors who are somewhat bland and generic, and when I’d see an actor whose personality stuck out from the pack, I’d usually end up seeing them on prime time or in a movie.
They dealt with issues of good and evil in populist ways and in some ways remind me on other levels of the commedia dell’arte: cartoonish characters that the audience can immediately identify with, based on stereotype alone.Pro wrestling is the guy’s soap opera.
I had a cousin who, with his mother’s encouragement, fancied himself a yet undiscovered actor and left his wife, kid and law career to pursue his pent of dream of being a gay actor.
He was successfully gay, but never got farther than playing the part of the backdrop in a a variety of soaps. I remember my father commenting that he was the “legs” in one episode.
Mummies dear decided to compromise on his acting career if he’d only stop being gay. He came back south and remarried. The family line is that he never really was gay and or had any acting talent.
I’ll buy the lack of talent but I ain’t buying the “no more gay” thing for a minute.
That’s what I think of when I hear about soaps. No soap can adequately imitate life.
He was successfully gay, but never got farther than playing the part of the backdrop in a a variety of soaps. I remember my father commenting that he was the “legs” in one episode.
Mummies dear decided to compromise on his acting career if he’d only stop being gay. He came back south and remarried. The family line is that he never really was gay and or had any acting talent.
I’ll buy the lack of talent but I ain’t buying the “no more gay” thing for a minute.
That’s what I think of when I hear about soaps. No soap can adequately imitate life.
Never interested me. No nudity.
Pro wrestling is the guy’s soap opera.
I didn’t want to say it.
I didn’t want to say it.
“”I still recall the sting of betrayal felt that day in 1965 when Another World premiered, and it proved not to be a new Outer Limits.
Left by bidziliba on April 2nd, 2009″
Oh, my God! I had the exact same experience. I remember the opening title card even held promise A bunch of inter-linked circles, not unlike the Outer Limits Sine Wave. I was crushed.
Left by bidziliba on April 2nd, 2009″
Oh, my God! I had the exact same experience. I remember the opening title card even held promise A bunch of inter-linked circles, not unlike the Outer Limits Sine Wave. I was crushed.
I still recall the sting of betrayal felt that day in 1965 when Another World premiered, and it proved not to be a new Outer Limits.
This represented a revelation to me, however: the theme music was Gershwin, unless I’m mistaken, and I found this totally mesmerizing as a child even though I didn’t know what the hell I was listening to. That sound shaped my life, I believe.
Unless I’m wrong about the theme song, then just never mind.
This represented a revelation to me, however: the theme music was Gershwin, unless I’m mistaken, and I found this totally mesmerizing as a child even though I didn’t know what the hell I was listening to. That sound shaped my life, I believe.
Unless I’m wrong about the theme song, then just never mind.
“This represented a revelation to me, however: the theme music was Gershwin, unless I’m mistaken”
Do you mean the Another World theme was Gershwin, or Outer limits? I can’t remember the AW theme at all, but Outer Limits theme was excellent. It was scored by Dominic Frontiere.
Do you mean the Another World theme was Gershwin, or Outer limits? I can’t remember the AW theme at all, but Outer Limits theme was excellent. It was scored by Dominic Frontiere.
It was scored by Dominic Frontiere.
A soap opera not scored by a person of the Judaic faith?
Jews sans Frontiere?
A soap opera not scored by a person of the Judaic faith?
Jews sans Frontiere?
While I’ll second the ‘rasslin’ comparison, I have to add that, while I got over soaps in high school (shaddup, it was the sticks, there was no other entertainment BUT the tube, hell, we didn’t have cable until 1986), my grandmother remained faithfully addicted to them to the death.
Always found that to be something of a dichotomy, seeing as how she was a baptist minister’s wife then widow, and really, despite the lack of honest nudity, soap operas are really just softcore porn.
Maybe they changed the concentration on insinuated or intimated sex over the years and with the varying political moods of the eras, but really, that’s what it was: play-acting romance novels, two-dimensional softcore pornography for hausfraus.
When my Nannie would protest something in prime-time or a televised film as being “too much,” or “oh, how tacky!” I would snicker and remind her of the dry-hump that Nicky had portrayed on “The Young & The Restless” that day with Victor or whomever was her l’amour du jour.
“Oh, SHUT UP!”
Heh.
Always found that to be something of a dichotomy, seeing as how she was a baptist minister’s wife then widow, and really, despite the lack of honest nudity, soap operas are really just softcore porn.
Maybe they changed the concentration on insinuated or intimated sex over the years and with the varying political moods of the eras, but really, that’s what it was: play-acting romance novels, two-dimensional softcore pornography for hausfraus.
When my Nannie would protest something in prime-time or a televised film as being “too much,” or “oh, how tacky!” I would snicker and remind her of the dry-hump that Nicky had portrayed on “The Young & The Restless” that day with Victor or whomever was her l’amour du jour.
“Oh, SHUT UP!”
Heh.
“This may be the first time in history that a single sentence has broken Godwin’s Law, Newton’s Law of Inertia, the Law of Diminishing Return, and, I’m pretty sure, Ape Law.”
My candidate for best W O’C sentence of the decade.
Thanks for that!
My candidate for best W O’C sentence of the decade.
Thanks for that!
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