1937-2009: Saying Goodbye to Guiding Light

Actors, Writer and Producer Celebrate the Long Life of Broadcasting's Oldest Drama

(CBS)  At 60 Minutes we're pretty proud that we are now beginning our 42nd year on the air, but as broadcasts go, we're merely middle aged compared with the oldest established permanent floating soap opera ever broadcast.

"Guiding Light" is just finishing its 72nd year, and sadly, for its fans, Friday's broadcast will be its last.

Since Franklin Roosevelt's second term as president, Guiding Light has served up an endless menu of torrid love affairs, heartbreak, infidelities by the score, double crosses, kidnaps, suicides, sin, sex and salvation - in all, 20,000 of episodes of life on the precipice.

What pushed Guiding Light over the edge is that old grim reaper of all television shows, low ratings.

It's a bittersweet time, these last days, as hardcore fans and the show's entire staff turned up for the taping of the final scenes.

Guiding Light has always been a loving reflection of America's morals, manners and marital mayhem, where actress Tina Sloan and many others have worked together for over a quarter century.

Asked if they were surprised when the show was canceled, Sloan told correspondent Morley Safer, "The pink slips stunned us, all of us. Even though we were on life support and we knew we were on life support we just couldn't imagine anyone would pull the plug on their watch on a show that's been so historic."

More about Guiding Light:
Photo Gallery: Guiding Light Signs Off
Meet Irna Phillips, the Mother of Daytime Drama

It started on radio in 1937, and made the transition to television in 1952. And through the years and into a new century, Guiding Light chronicled family life in the mythical town of Springfield. Everybody, it seemed, had a dark secret.

It was a place where even the good guys often had a lurid past. Take the character of Josh Lewis, played by actor Robert Newman.

There was planting evidence, bribery and blackmail.

"And all this done by a former preacher?" Safer asked.

"Yes," Newman said. "And your point would be?"

For the better part of a quarter century, Newman and Kim Zimmer have played Springfield's star-crossed lovers Josh and Reva, marrying and divorcing each other three times. And that's just for starters.

"He married my sister, when I was dying of cancer," Zimmer explained.

"And she married my father and my brother. Are we really going to have this conversation now?" Newman joked.

Asked how many marriages she's had, Zimmer told Safer, "I believe I just had my ninth."

She once survived driving off a bridge in a fit of post-partum depression; he once had her cloned. On the soaps, the weird and the wonderful are routine and everyone has his or her very own miracle.

"I did a menopause story. And then four years later I was pregnant on the show," Zimmer recalled.

Also, her character was presumed dead three times, and even died once. "I flat-lined on a Friday. Woke up on a Monday. And walked out of the hospital on a Tuesday, yes," Zimmer explained.

In the surreal world of the soaps, missing characters presumed dead routinely turn up again.

And the medical help is somewhat dicey. Peter Simon and Michael O'Leary play the Bauers, father and son doctors.

"I started May first of 1983. Started the show on a Friday, I was an orderly, changing bedpans. Monday I was doing brain surgery with my father," O'Leary said.

"Was it successful?" Simon asked.

"No. The first of 38 deaths," O'Leary joked.

"You are renowned as a doctor who keeps losing these patients, yes?" Safer asked.

"Regardless of whether it was a strep throat or whatever it is. It doesn't matter, if they die, they die fast," O'Leary explained.

The very longevity of the show blurs the line between fiction and reality. To many fans, some of the crises may hit very close to home.

"What makes you people so real to so many people?" Safer asked.

"Because they've watched, oftentimes, our birth, our marriage…and then our deaths," actress Beth Chamberlin said.

"And rebirths," Tina Sloan added.

[donniej9]

Guiding Light will be missed! Today is a sad day as I will not be tuning in to your new and so called improved schedule. I used to watch ABC's soap ALL MY CHILDREN then stopped just to watch only Guiding Light. Guess what, ABC here I come! I choose to watch what I want to watch, not what is thrown in front of me. Good luck to all the actors for all the years of entertainment and fun. I survived cancer I can survive not watching soaps on CBS. Fan forever of Guiding Light.

[bonnielu8371]

I am so sad the guiding light has come to an end. How could CBS, do this to us?Don't they care about the fans?? I'm sure CBS will loose alot of viewers, because of taking this show off. I just want to say God Bless Josh, Reva, Lizzie,Philip, Bess, Alan Spalding, Buzz, Frank Daisy, Marina, Ashley, Remy, Blake, Olivia, AND all the rest of the cast! I loved all of you and thank you for the enjoyment you gave us each and every day. I feel like all the guiding light cast is my family. Everyday at 10 AM, they would be in my living room. This is definitely personal for me. I will miss them from the bottom of my heart!!!!CBS, doesn't 72 years mean anything to you? How could you do this? You should come out with a guiding light #2 and pick up where you left off and focus on the younger people. Of course still have the older cast in it, but if anyone wants a break, they can have it. Thank You Guiding Light cast, and productioncrew and Thank You from the bottom of my heart for giving us so many years of wonderfull entertainment!!!! A LOYAL FAN FOREVER, BUT VERY SAD

[marryshae]

Oh my so sad.I wanted to watch and yet I didnt knowing it was the last time.But of course i did and glad it was a happy ending for all..Good bye and good luck to all actors on the show thankyou for many yrs of your lives to entertain us all..

[onlystarspt2]

Ellen Wheeler the head writer and close friend came to the guiding light who of course it going to end tomorrow. Well, here's the story. When Ellen Wheeler was just 16 years old, she joined all my children in 1986. She played an AIDS victim Karen Parker ex-half of Cindy Parker Chandler who was threatening with her disease. In 1990, Ellen loses her character at aged 22. She died in that episode. Later after replacing Anne Heche in 1990 and Jensen Buchanan in 1998, Ellen took over for these last 450 episodes of Another where an police officer said Stop It you, you had enough with vicki for the last time. That role came from 1984 to 1986 and from 1985 to 1986. She return that day. Then she decided to leave bay city so she could start a new life in 1999. Now as the head writer of the show that's ending tomorrow Guiding Light traces the lives of the Spauldings ,The Coopers, The Shaynes and The Thorpes. She also wrote the last story for actor Ron Raines. Sadly in that episode Ellen Wheeler said Goodbye to Ron Raines when Alan Spaulding loses his life. He died in the park when Phillip saw the body. He just lay to rest in the park bench with fire in his body, eyes closed and sweet lips tight and head straight to see the heavenly clouds. She gonna bury her character tomorrow and I hope it goes without saying Ron Raines has picked up an emmy nod. When Betty White appeared last month on the emmys telecast on the cw, they use to say Guiding Light don't leave us. Now you know. Ellen Wheeler is finishing her last episode for friday september 18th on cbs. I'm sorry I won't be there to see the series finale at 3pm. But I still will be when cbs.com load full episodes. I will be sad man when it's all over. So that means when Let's Make A Deal on october 16th follows hightlights previous guiding light episode of past from the 80s, 90s and today, the town of springfield will be empty. Since the series will be over, you'll always look up for me saying to be with you for very last full hour of Guiding Light. Now you know the writing of Ellen Wheeler.

[hedpig]

i wish all of the stars of this show, all the productions crew and those that worked so hard to bring it to us all these wonderful years...THE BEST OF LIFE and hope you all will be able to find something 1/2 as wonderful as The Guidling Light to work with.
you have been so wonderful for so long... can't imagine what i will do now... maybe you will keep it going in BOOKS???

[babydogl6]

I am with you in wishing everyone from the show the best in their future. They have filled our days with lots of joy. we wish the same for you all. Hopefully they'll do a book like Another World did when it went off the air. I went to Guiding light after it ended. no more soaps for me It hurts to bad when they are taken away. Like losing a Family . God bless All at Guiding light. you did good.!!!!

[GuidingLightFan70]

Thank you to the cast and crew of Guiding Light for coming into my home for over 35 years, for making me a 3rd generation fan. My kids were 4th generation fans (I even named my youngest Joshuah). I have grown up as I watched some of you do the same. I have so many memories and feel as if I am losing several members of my family. I can't watch an episode without a box of tissues lately and my DVR is full of the last 3 weeks as I can't seem to delete them knowing it will be gone forever. No reruns, no dvd's nothing but some old VCR tapes and my DVR's. My Grandmother listened on the radio and my Mother hooked me when I was 5. It was a family thing and we talked about the characters as if they were a part of our family after school, work and just because. I am still in shock and it still seems so surreal that the light is going out in 5 days. It makes me sad knowing that I won't be seeing the Spaulding's, Coopers, Lewis's, Reardon'sand Bauer's and everyone else in Springfield anymore. Guiding Light was like a torch passed on generation to generation, CBS and P&G I want you to know that even though you put out the light in Springfield, the light will never go out in my heart. I only wish that Nick would come and give us a Springfield miracle like he did in New York once for the Phillip and Beth.

[deesavage53]

Guiding Light will be missed . . .as will all the wonderful actors that have come and gone (and come again) through out the 26 years that I have been watching. I wish the cast and crew all the best. I imagine that this will not be easy for you as well. You have been a "family" for so long! I want to thank you for bringing joy into so many homes for so long. And, thank you for all your hard work and for your entertainment.
dee~

[rbl4295]

Before I was born, my grandmother and her next-door neighbor listened to the Guiding Light on the radio. I remember her watching it on a black and white television. Our holiday celebrations were always preceded by Bert and Papa Bauer's holiday celebrations. My mom and my grandmother and I would sometimes have spirited conversations about our favorite characters and storylines.

When I went to college, Guiding Light was like having friends and family drop by every day. The only reason I learned to program a VCR was so that I could tape the show and I still watch every episode.

I am devastated by the loss of "my soap" and I feel like a part of my "family" is being torn away. I will miss the Bauers, Spauldings, Coopers, Lewises, Marlers and the Reardons and am deeply saddened by the fact that this is the last Bauer Barbeque.

I grew up w/ these characters. Reva seems like a close friend. Kim Zimmer makes her seem so real and so strong, but yet so vulnerable at the same time. Vanessa showed us that it is possible to grow older gracefully and that gray hair doesn't have to be dyed.

Although I am not a stay-at-home mom like my grandmother and my mother, I LOVE this show. As a practicing trial lawyer, the only time that I can count on having every day for myself is the time I spend vicariously living in Springfield.

It will be greatly missed. CBS in this day and age w/ embarassingly awful "reality" shows and embarassingly awful "courtroom" shows, how could you possibly cancel the only show you have with any continuity or history?

[xtam777]

I have been dreading this Friday since the announcement to cancel GL was made earlier this year. I am 42 years old and started watching GL when I was 8 years old, home one summer with a broken arm. I am just saddened to see this show with such a rich history and heritate end. It was the one hour a day we can all escape and watch our friends and families go through their unbelievable trials. Yes it was a fantasy world, but they seem like family. There will never be another GL. All these silly reality shows, game shows, talk shows, etc., can never replace GL. And Phillip Spaulding will be my forever GL crush - thank you so much for bringing him back alive (AGAIN)!
Tears from here on Friday 9/18/09 ....

[JayCeeP]

Hey people, TV shows have been saved by public outcry in the past. Remember "Cagney and Lacy"? It was canceled but the network backpedaled due to the huge reaction of outraged viewers. Other shows have been spared in the same way but right now I can't remember the titles. Let's keep this up, maybe some CBS executives will listen. Ok, probably not, but we can try. It has worked before. And even if CBS won't listen maybe, just maybe, some other network's execs will notice and pick GL up.

A grumpy 76-year-old.

[JayCeeP]

IMHO GL committed suicide. It started around the time the Cassie role was recast. For some reason they decided to turn her into a total b***h instead of just an airhead partial one. Then to fill the vacancy they turned both Josh and Reva into airheads. Next they moved the whole shebang to what appeared to be a ghost town, and we were expected to accept things like Spaulding Enterprises, a major worldwide corporation, operating out of no more than a storefront, a mansion becoming a three room hut inside, a large log house turning into a small red barn, and so on.

But I will miss it. I've been with GL from the beginning, at first at my mother's knee. It was only 15 minutes on the radio and ChiChi and Papa Bauer were main characters. Of course it is contrived and corny, it's a soap. But I'll miss my daily dose of melodrama, and won't be able to replace it. To me the other soaps pale in comparison.

Ratings, phooey.

[beaupetite1]

I too have been a LOYAL watcher of the Guiding Light. over 40 years on my own & a side watcher with Mom. The funny thing is GL is the only show I watch on CBS. When I watched, if there was a commercial for something I would be interested in, I would watch it. So in a curious way, CBS is pulling the plug on itself at my house. I have no interest in game shows. I do not do Oprah, Doc Phil, 2 men & whoever, Reg/Kelly, not even CSI. I used to but had to make choices because of work. GL won hands down. I stumbled into 60 Minutes tonight by accident. I am a SWF with the disposable income CBS desires. I have always watched to see what Reva, Mindy, et.al, were wearing. I have several pairs of earrings like what they wore as keepsakes of my years of watching. I am also disbelieving that they could not shop this out to Soapnet, WE or some other network. UNLESS they are waiting for it to be done so CBS can't pull a fast one. I read the soap magazines so if there is a miracle, I will be the 1st one in line to watch. If you need a soap fix, try ONE LIFE TO LIVE. It is my 2nd show. It has real stories, humor, older women actresses for my demographic, love, stylish clothes and jewelry, and a cute little dog.
I too wish the cast the best. Hold onto the fact you were part of something similar to catching lightning in a bottle. To CBS, good bye and good luck

[horses82]

Dear cbs NEWS. I would also like to know where is the fair news that is your job to report to the American People? You should report what is going on in America not just the ideas that only you agree with or are paid for. We need fair and unbaised news like we used to have With the past reporters,

[horses82]

I think you are making a mistake taking off Guiding Light. You said it was because of the ratings and loss of intrest of younger people, a lot of them are working, or at school so it seems to me like cbs does not care about all the loyal fans, or all the older people who have been watching for years, and who still support the show , So cbs please answer me

[thebills202]

has 60 minutes read this HEALTH BILL. Why not ask the President about pacifics, The way the President is taling, I don't think he has read it. And also miss quots most of what these Bills are about. The President is not telling the Truth, and the News Media need to point this out. Lets face realalty before it is too LATE. If you want socialism, mov e and to joint a country that has it. Don't destroy this country,USA. THANK YOU AND SINCERELY LEROY PFAFF HAVE A GREAT EVENING AND LIFE. If the people was tald the truth by the NEWS MEDIA, this country would be great again. LOVE AND HELP ONE ANOTHER.

[terrigavin]

I have never watched GL but have most of the NBC lineup since I was 12 when my mother watched them. I have seen the Doctors, Another World, Sunset Beach, Santa Barbara and others go and have missed all the friends. That is the wonder of soaps, they become your friends. So I sympathize with the GL Because the reality and talk that are taking their place may be cheaper to make but will never grab the heart of the viewer like a soap does or compete with the hours of episodes that viewers of every soap have tapped.

My only comment about the excellent 60 Minutes article was that I think they should have mentioned that producer Ellen Wheller won an Emmy as an actress on Another World, another soap that after many years was cancelled.

[SadinVT]

Sad, sad, sad, that GL is history now! My sister and I are holding a wake and memorial for the last episode on Friday. Buzz bergers, shakes, fries, baklava.... how will we get along without this second family we've come to know and love? Nothing else will ever replace the decades of being together.

[jen2722]

THE PEOPLE OF CBS ARE A BUNCH OF SELFCENTERED ******** FOR TAKING GUIDINGLIGHTS OFF THE AIR. THE CAST MEMBERS OF GUIDINGLIGHTS INSPIRE PEOPLE THEY GIVE US HOPE AND SHOW US THAT NO MATTER HOW HARD THINGS IN LIFE GET BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, BELIEVE IN YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR FRIENDS AND YOU CAN OVER COME ANY OBSTICLE LIFE THROWS IN YOUR WAY. GUIDINGLIGHTS WILL ALWAYS BE LOVED AND FOEVER REMEMBERED. I WISH THE MEMBERS OF GUIDINGLIGHTS WELL ON THEIR JOURNEYS LOVE HAPPINESS COURAGE AND INSPIRATION AS YOU HAVE ALWAYS GIVEN US AND ALWAYS KNOW YOU'LL ALWAYS BE IN OUR HEARTS

[carolinct]

I like Dr. Oz and am glad to hear his show will not be in Guiding Light's time slot. I would like to add, I will not watch any shows in that time slot and am VERY sorry to see "Guiding Light" go. I would hope CBS execs would rethink taking it off the air after 72 years. Why ruin a good thing?!

[kalona74]

Yes CBS, not a good decision!!!!!!!!

[bel47]

I can't understand why you are taking Guiding Light off the air. I am sure that it has more viewers than some of you other programs. Why not take off Dr.Phil? After all, he is on twice a day and and in my opinion, once a day was too much! I reall think that CBS is going to lose a lot of daytime viewers. To the people of Guiding Light, I say thank you and I wish you all the best. You gave me something to look forward to every week day.