"Guiding Light"'s Tribute at The 2009 Daytime Emmies was cut short.

[TroyG]

The Departing CBS soap did'nt have enough time to say farewell as it goes off the air for good on September 18th. Last night's show on The CW (Which is Half-Owned by CBS, BTW)Gave out more musical numbers and less tributes. The show ran exactly 2 hours, and apparently the show's hostess, Vanessa Williams belted out 2 songs, and there was a runway sequence orchestrated by Tyra Banks. Vanessa's only Daytime connection was voicing Mama Mirabelle on the PBS Cartoon, "Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies". She plays Wilhelmina on TV's "Ugly Betty".

Anyway, I hope CBS will get a fittingly tribute to GL-Before the Daytime Soap leaves. Thank You.

 

[bpatrick]

I remember a few years back when Susan Lucci finally won
a Daytime Emmy the "get off the stage" music came up when
she was barely into her acceptance speech. I think Dick Clark
was producing it that year and intended not to run over two hours.
Give us all a break! Ms. Lucci had been nominated something like
eighteen times before she finally won, and Guiding Light has set
longevity records that will probably never be surpassed by any other
entertainment show (except perhaps "The Tonight Show," which has
really been six different shows: Steve Allen, the disastrous "America
After Dark," Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, and Conan O'Brien,
each with a different style). The legends--shows and stars--deserve
their moment of glory.

 

[easttxtv]

60 Minutes is doing a Guiding Light special on Sep 13. This is probably the last chance of seeing any kind of video retrospective about GL as there isn't any soaps media shows on SoapNet anymore, and it's been years since Soap Opera Digest has produced a Soap Opera Awards show.

I've seen many mixed reactions online to the treatment of GL at Sunday night's awards, but at least they are getting some kind of salute. When Another World aired it's finale 10 years ago, the Daytime Emmys didn't do anything (Linda Dano ('Felicia') and Stephen Schnetzer ('Cass') had to sneak in little thanks/goodbyes/appreciations amongst their assigned presentations), the next Soap Opera Awards (March 2000) actually did something but it was crammed in with one for Sunset Beach (which was also cancelled in 1999), and it took 3 years before anyone (SoapNet) would air any kind of reunion special (1 hour long, and barely skimmed the surface)--hardly the treatment AW deserved, nor what long-time fans were expecting.

I know 35 years doesn't come close to 72 years, but judging by the way the last long-running cancelled soap was treated, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for more/better specials about the longest-running soap, especially the way things are going these days.

 

[bpatrick]

Thirty-five years is still a decent run by anyone's standards;
not only AW, but Search For Tomorrow lasted that long. What
was so hypocritical when AW was canceled is that owner Procter
& Gamble, which had basically fed the show bread and water for
years, was in the vanguard of protests!

While I wish CBS would do an entire special on GL, I'll take
anything I can get, and I'll probably be watching 60 Minutes
when it does its segment on the show.

 

[TroyG]

Of the 72 years on the air, 57 of them were spent on TV. SO very sad to see a great institution like "Guiding Light" to go off the air. This show has been gone downhill ever since they've used camcorders, outdoor locales and empty houses to film the show-In New Jersey of all places out there. This show looked pretty much like a show you might see on a Public Access cable channel.

 

[bpatrick]

I guess we all thought "Guiding Light" would outlive us all. But the show's
been digging its own grave for 20-some years, and I think I've pointed out
several examples of where the show went wrong, IMO. Two could not be
helped: the deaths of Charita Bauer and Michael Zaslow. But consider:

1. Bert (Charita Bauer) dies and right away Mike Bauer's whole branch of
the family is written out.

2. Maureen (Ed's wife) dies in a car crash just because a focus group
says it doesn't care what the show does with her--and she's the
support character every soap needs.

3. Reva ends up in an Amish community. I remember once when Erica
Kane was working in a diner; that was arguably the biggest joke in
the history of All My Children, and Reva's situation was no more believable.

4. Reva gets cloned. That sounds more like Days Of Our Lives or Passions.

5. San Christobel. What's the point? What's the connection between Springfield
and the Caribbean?

6. Less and less use of older characters like Ross and Holly (Ross even gets bumped
off when Jerry ver Dorn walks in one morning and is handed his pink slip). ATWT
is just as guilty.

7. Peapack, New Jersey. You've already mentioned the downside of that.

GL was about family, not about sci-fi and international intrigue.

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

I guess we all thought "Guiding Light" would outlive us all. But the show's
been digging its own grave for 20-some years, and I think I've pointed out
several examples of where the show went wrong, IMO. Two could not be
helped: the deaths of Charita Bauer and Michael Zaslow.

Speaking of deaths:

I would also like to mention the passing of Christopher Berneau, as the original actor to play "Alan Spaulding".

Although Ron Raines is a fine actor in his own right, to me, anyway, he was NEVER really "Alan Spaulding", but rather some buffonish cartoon charicature of him......too bad.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

3. Reva ends up in an Amish community. I remember once when Erica
Kane was working in a diner; that was arguably the biggest joke in
the history of All My Children, and Reva's situation was no more believable.

4. Reva gets cloned.

Every soap seems to have these weird digressions for their leading characters.

Marlena Evans gets possessed by demons on Days (c. 1995)
Marlena Evans gets an evil twin (Hattie) (c. 2003)
Catherine Chancellor forgets her identity and works at a diner (Y&R, 2009),
Victor Newman gets lost in Oklahoma and has more children (begetting the recent storyline with Adam) (Y&R, c. 1996)
Brooke Logan marries Nick Meroni and leaves the fashion business to sit on the board of a shipping company (B&B, c. 2006)

(Sorry, don't watch the ABC soaps much)

 

[easttxtv]

3. Reva ends up in an Amish community. I remember once when Erica
Kane was working in a diner; that was arguably the biggest joke in
the history of All My Children, and Reva's situation was no more believable.

4. Reva gets cloned.

Every soap seems to have these weird digressions for their leading characters.

Marlena Evans gets possessed by demons on Days (c. 1995)
Marlena Evans gets an evil twin (Hattie) (c. 2003)
Catherine Chancellor forgets her identity and works at a diner (Y&R, 2009),
Victor Newman gets lost in Oklahoma and has more children (begetting the recent storyline with Adam) (Y&R, c. 1996)
Brooke Logan marries Nick Meroni and leaves the fashion business to sit on the board of a shipping company (B&B, c. 2006)

(Sorry, don't watch the ABC soaps much)

If there were still good writers like Bill Bell, Harding Lemay, and Henry Slesar around in daytime, a lot of that digressing wouldn't be happening--much less tolerated.

 

[bpatrick]

I remember when Victor was working on a farm; I couldn't
stop laughing at the whole idea. I also agree that Chris Berneau
was the best Alan Spaulding; Ron Raines's Alan is, IMO, nothing
but a bully.

But these weird digressions are not what GL and ATWT fans expect;
they've always had at least a base in reality (I know, you have to
mess with reality a little to make things interesting) and the sort
of things that have happened to Reva are not the stuff of GL. And
they haven't done one thing to bring younger viewers aboard. So
GL is gone two weeks from tomorrow, and ATWT is on the bubble.
(For that matter, Y&R doesn't do the weird stuff well either, but at
least it's not in ratings trouble.)

 

[bpatrick]

3. Reva ends up in an Amish community. I remember once when Erica
Kane was working in a diner; that was arguably the biggest joke in
the history of All My Children, and Reva's situation was no more believable.

4. Reva gets cloned.

Every soap seems to have these weird digressions for their leading characters.

Marlena Evans gets possessed by demons on Days (c. 1995)
Marlena Evans gets an evil twin (Hattie) (c. 2003)
Catherine Chancellor forgets her identity and works at a diner (Y&R, 2009),
Victor Newman gets lost in Oklahoma and has more children (begetting the recent storyline with Adam) (Y&R, c. 1996)
Brooke Logan marries Nick Meroni and leaves the fashion business to sit on the board of a shipping company (B&B, c. 2006)

(Sorry, don't watch the ABC soaps much)

If there were still good writers like Bill Bell, Harding Lemay, and Henry Slesar around in daytime, a lot of that digressing wouldn't be happening--much less tolerated.

Or the late, great Doug Marland, who made both GL and ATWT must-see TV from the early '80s until his death in 1993.

 

[momnpop]

DOUGLAS MARLAND! Along with Irna Phillips, Henry Slesar, Bill Bell, and Agnes Nixon ... the A-list of soap opera writers.

Everyone is always looking for the quick fix. That guy was not only great at dragging out the stories, he came up with mighty good ones -- realistic, character-driven, adventurous, taboo-busting, genre-identifying. He loved his shows and characters so much, that once when he was writing GUIDING LIGHT and the executive producer (Allen Potter) forced him to change a storyline he had written, he quit in protest and never looked back.

Marland was writing GENERAL HOSPITAL when it was going to be cancelled, then hit #1 back in 1978.

GUIDING LIGHT has sucked since it moved to Peapack. They should have tried to save it some other way - my personal thoughts as a viewer would be that they could have cut back on all the San Cristobel, time travel, and cloning and stuck with what made the show successful in the first place: character, not plot, will win every time.

"Make 'em laugh, make 'em cry, make 'em wait." -- Agnes Nixon, creator of ONE LIFE TO LIVE and ALL MY CHILDREN, former head writer of ANOTHER WORLD and GUIDING LIGHT

 

[TroyG]

You could probably remember Nola Reardon (Lisa Brown) and LuJack (Vincent Irizarry) as my favorite characters on "Guiding Light". In Fact, Irizarry-a "GL" alumnus-has just picked up an Emmy for his portrayal of Dr. Hayward on "All My Children", in which he shares it with Jeff Branson, a current "GL" cast member.

 

[bpatrick]

DOUGLAS MARLAND! Along with Irna Phillips, Henry Slesar, Bill Bell, and Agnes Nixon ... the A-list of soap opera writers.

Everyone is always looking for the quick fix. That guy was not only great at dragging out the stories, he came up with mighty good ones -- realistic, character-driven, adventurous, taboo-busting, genre-identifying. He loved his shows and characters so much, that once when he was writing GUIDING LIGHT and the executive producer (Allen Potter) forced him to change a storyline he had written, he quit in protest and never looked back.

Marland was writing GENERAL HOSPITAL when it was going to be cancelled, then hit #1 back in 1978.

GUIDING LIGHT has sucked since it moved to Peapack. They should have tried to save it some other way - my personal thoughts as a viewer would be that they could have cut back on all the San Cristobel, time travel, and cloning and stuck with what made the show successful in the first place: character, not plot, will win every time.

"Make 'em laugh, make 'em cry, make 'em wait." -- Agnes Nixon, creator of ONE LIFE TO LIVE and ALL MY CHILDREN, former head writer of ANOTHER WORLD and GUIDING LIGHT

You got it!

 

[Kurt Toy]

Thirty-five years is still a decent run by anyone's standards;
not only AW, but Search For Tomorrow lasted that long. What
was so hypocritical when AW was canceled is that owner Procter
& Gamble, which had basically fed the show bread and water for
years, was in the vanguard of protests!

While I wish CBS would do an entire special on GL, I'll take
anything I can get, and I'll probably be watching 60 Minutes
when it does its segment on the show.

Even though I've never cared for soaps, I would've preferred GL get a prime-time tribute. Oh, well. At least 60 Minutes is doing something.

 

[Joe_Capitano]

GL was not the only soap to be hosed. How about The Bold & The Beautiful, which won the award for Best Soap? Those folks weren't even afforded the chance to accept ON CAMERA!

Unbelievable.

 

[imhomerjay]

Perhaps, but given the ratings, if they got to address the crowd in the theater, they were talking to more people than were watching the awards on the CW.

 

[bpatrick]

Add another name to the list of top-notch soap writers:
Pam Long, head writer on "GL" in the late '80s/early '90s
(I'm not sure if she created Reva but she did create Harley).

I don't normally pick up "Soap Opera Weekly" but did this
week because it had a retrospective section on "GL". The
publication has the ratings for the previous week, and for
the week of August 17-21, "GL" was only .3 points behind
the number-three rated (tie) "One Life To Live" and "General
Hospital." In fact, only "Y&R" and "B&B" had better than a
2 rating. True, among women 18-49 "GL"'s rating was 0.7,
which may be as good an explanation for the show's cancellation
as any, but when six soaps are bunched up with ratings ranging
from 1.7 to 1.4, I begin to wonder why CBS pulled the plug on
the "Light".

 

[anotherguyTN]

Perhaps, but given the ratings, if they got to address the crowd in the theater, they were talking to more people than were watching the awards on the CW.

It's strange to me that the Daytime Emmys would be on a network that has little or no daytime programming, other than what syndicated shows are carried by their affiliates.

 

[imhomerjay]

For the record, the CW does have a two-hour network daytime block. As of this fall, that happens to be Tyra Banks, moving out of general syndication. Last season it was a couple of comedies and one of the judge shows (whose name escapes me now). That aside, given many of the nominess are syndicated entries, it makes about as much sense as any other option when you consider the big three had zero interest given the declining ratings. Perhaps the next stop is cable.