Guiding Light Cancelled

On April 1, 2009, headlines announcing Guiding Light cancelled started making the news. CBS, the daytime network that Guiding Light called home since 1952 when it made the transition from radio show to television, announced that the show would not be picked up.

Crystal Chappell returned to Days when GL ended.

The timing of the announcement created a sense of false hope as fans hoped that it was an April Fool’s joke. Unfortunately for Guiding Light fans, it was the end of the road for the longest-running soap opera on daytime television. The show began airing on NBC radio on January 25, 1937. It moved to CBS radio in 1947. Despite making the leap to CBS television in 1952, it continued to air on the network’s radio for another four years, ending its radio run just six months shy of 20 years.

The show’s filming went dark in August of 2009, having filmed the final episodes. Guiding Light aired on CBS through September 18, 2009. Many veterans returned in the final months of filming to help tie off old plotlines and stories, a difficult task considering the longevity of the soap opera and the nature of the soap opera itself. When Guiding Light ended, it’s 72 year legacy will be all that remains of the grand dame of soap operas.

At the time of GL’s demise, only As the World Turns, which premiered April 2, 1956 will be the longest running soap opera still on the air, followed by General Hospital (1963), Days of Our Lives (1965) and One Life to Live (1968).

Irna Phillips created The Guiding Light (the show dropped the use of the leading The in the 70s) in 1937. A pioneer in daytime television, Phillips also created Another World, As the World Turns, Love is a Many Splendored Thing and Days of Our Lives. Many of Phillips characters crossed over between Another World, As the World Turns and Guiding Light. When Another World ended in 1999, characters like Jake McKinnon and Cass Winthrop moved from the fictional Bay City to Oakdale (ATWT) although Cass is a frequent visitor to Springfield as well (GL).

Phillips was a creative consultant for Peyton Place, the first official prime time soap opera. She is also the mentor and guiding hand behind two of daytime’s greatest innovators and creators in their own right: William J. Bell (The Young and the Restless, Bold and the Beautiful) and Agnes Nixon (All My Children, One Life to Live).

The evolution of the daytime soap opera owes many great thanks to Ms. Phillips for her work on Guiding Light, as well as her contributions to all soap operas still in progress as of 2009. Born in 1901, Phillips became pregnant at 19, unmarried and alone, she turned to radio sermons when her child was stillborn. Phillips would go on to finish college, eventually earning a Master of Arts in Drama and later in Journalism. Phillips taught school for five years before turning her attention to creating a show for the radio like those that brought her comfort when she lost her child.

The phrase Guiding Light referred to the lighthouse where her central character, a pastor, lived and provided advice to his neighbors and parishioners. Like many great artists, Phillips turned to personal pain for inspiration. It worked, listeners tuned in to hear what would happen and what advice her characters would give in the ongoing daytime drama.

Phillips passed away in 1973, but her legacy lives on. Although the headline Guiding Light cancelled carries dramatic weight, it does not take away from the show’s inestimable success for over 72 years, a feat no other television show can match.

The last episode of Guiding Light aired on September 18, 2009. Many of the show’s notable actors and actresses have moved on to other projects or returned to previously played roles on other soap operas.

• Bio of Days of Our Lives Cast
• Desperate Housewives Cast Members
• Cute Daytime Soap Opera Actresses
• Sex and the City Quiz

• Young and the Restless Spoilers
• All My Children Spoilers
• All My Children Scoops and Spoilers
• General Hospital Scoops and Spoilers
• Soap Opera Spoilers