calvinnme
Realize I was only a regular viewer from the 1970's onward. Someone needs to fix this cast list thing though, because like losing Hoss was to Bonanza, it was only a matter of time after Michael Zaslow was unceremoniously booted from the show after he began to show symptoms of ALS, that this show would fade into the sunset. Zaslow played Roger Thorpe, the guy you loved to hate, from the early seventies (he's what got me watching) until 1980, and then again 1989-1997.The writers, trying to capitalize on a headline in late 1978, wrote themselves into a corner by having Roger commit a particularly heinous act against a beloved member of the cast, Holly, in March 1979. He couldn't just hang around town after that. Then, in a move so typical of soaps, after having you watch him fall off a very high cliff in April 1980, with several severe bumps with said cliff along the way and into the sea, the writers resurrect him in 1989 saying somehow he survived and has been palling around with the CIA all of these years! He'd have a better chance of growing a third arm! Zaslow's Thorpe was a bit more complex character when he returned in 1989, but he was still up to no good. After he left, the show really only had Reva and Josh as the center of the action, and there are only so many times you can watch this couple divorce and remarry before you begin sympathizing with all of Josh and Reva's rebound spouses as they get promised the moon, gradually become ignored as the Reva/Josh romance rekindles, and then get blamed for being bitter after they are dumped. The last straw for me - cousin love in the form of Reva's son and her half-sister's daughter. Eeeeewww! I actually have cousins and this was just too much.All in all, among soaps I'd still give it a seven. If you ever find the specialty VHS tape about Roger Thorpe that Guiding Light put out in 1994 -"Roger Thorpe: The Scandal Years" - give it a look. I think that you'll see the charisma and complexity of the character that got so many of us hooked forty odd years ago.
raysond
Created by Irma Phillips,the longest running daytime serial in the history of television came to end on September 18, 2009,after more than 72 years on the air,and ending with an astounding 15,762 episodes. This dramatic series first began on radio on NBC back on January 25,1937,and from there went to CBS radio in 1947 before heading to television as a 15-minute format on June 30, 1952.The Black and White episodes of Guiding Light were from 1952 until 1967.The Color Episodes of Guiding Light were from 1967 until 2009.The 15-minute formats aired from June 30,1952 until September 6,1968.The 30-minute formats aired from September 6,1968 until November 4, 1977.The Hour Long episodes aired from November 7,1977 until September 18, 2009."Guiding Light" premiered on June 30, 1952 as an 15-minute soap opera. The format of this serial began as an 15-minute format,and it remained that way until September of 1968,when the show expanded to an half-hour and more changes came in November of 1977 when the show went from 30 minutes to an full hour. Produced by Proctor and Gamble Productions in association with the CBS Television Network. The show was produced in New York City and sometimes went to locations for extended scenes later on during it's run. The show itself remains one of the first to deal with the issues of the time,not to mention was the first soap opera to feature African-Americans in prominent roles(from James Earl Jones,to Cicely Tyson, Nia Long, Blair Underwood to name a few including Giancarlo Esposito),and other actors that got their start on this show. From Jobeth Williams,Ed Begley, Martin Balsam, Jack Klugman, Sandy Dennis,Marj Dusay, Sherry Stringfield, Carl Evans, Gil Rogers and John Wesley Shipp,and Ed Bryce, Bernard Hughes,and not to mention an up and coming Kevin Bacon got his start on this show as well.
sirinightngail
I've often wondered why the writers never think about bringing back Mike. After he left the show, it's as if he never existed. Now I realize the Bauers have less of a role on here now, but I've often wondered about Mike. The character that played him is still around, making commercials. And, while I'm at it........why ARE the Bauers talked about less and less??? I know Michelle is gone away to make a life with Danny and the two children. Maureen has been dead for a looooong time. Ed is out and about. Rick? Hardly ever see him. Allan Michael is the only "tie" left (Mikes's grandson).
tpcktt
For nearly 7 decades, THE GUIDING LIGHT has become one of most beloved daytime dramas. GL has the distinction of being the longest running entertainment program in American broadcast history. Created by Irna Phillips, GL originally told the story of Reverend Ruthledge and his flock of parishioners when it began on radio on January 25, 1937. In 1948, the focus of the show shifted to the Bauers, a German-American family. On June 30, 1952, GL was the first radio soap to successfully switch to television (from 1952 to 1956, GL ran on both radio and TV). The Bauer clan was led by Frederick Bauer (played by Theo Goetz from 1948 until his passing in 1973). Frederick Bauer was affectionately known to those who knew him as Papa Bauer. He had three children: Trudy (briefly played in 1952 by Helen Wagner, who eventually went on play matriarch Nancy Hughes on another Irna Phillips creation called AS THE WORLD TURNS in 1956), Meta (played by longest by Ellen Demming: 1953-1975), whom many of early story lines revolved around, and son Bill (who later became an alcoholic) and his family. Bill's family included wife Bertha, also known as Bert, who would become one of the most beloved matriarchs in daytime television (she was played by Charita Bauer from 1950 until her death in February, 1985) and their two sons Michael and Edward. In the 1960s and 1970s, Michael and Edward became the focus of the show with their various professional and personal problems, including Ed's alcoholism. Beginning in the late 1970s, other families became part of the show's fabric (the Marlers, Spauldings, Coopers, Lewises, Chamberlains, Norrises, Reardons and Thorpes). Like many soaps, GL has had some memorable characters. One of which was Roger Thorpe, the most infamous villain in soap history (played to perfection by the late, great Micheal Zaslow on-and-off from 1971 to 1997). During the years 1995-2004, the show lost its focus. Those years were filled by incompetent producers and writers who created some of the worst story lines in the show's history. Some of these clunkers included the cloning of Reva, the Santos family, the San Cristobal story (the only good thing about that one is the emergence of Our Prince of Darkness---Edmund Winslow), and the Mary Anne Carruthers mystery. In early 2004, GL seems to be getting back on track with competent producers and writers at the helm, who have created story lines that make good use of the show's long history (the only down side is that Grant Aleksander, who played Philip Spaulding since 1982 was sacrificed).
