Yesterday - a day usually set aside for light-hearted pranks and various other yuk-yuks - will forever be remembered now as the day that CBS got rid of Guiding Light, the longest running drama on TV (it started on radio in 1937 and TV in 1952). It's probably the starting gun for other networks to get rid of their soap operas. It's a dying genre, either gone forever or scattered here and there on the TV landscape. It's really sad. Fans can mourn the death of a long-running network show, but a big part of pop culture is dying too. I watched the show since the late '70s/early '80s, and while I drifted away a few years ago, I've been watching it again, so it's going to be weird that it's not on anymore. I'll be recording that last episode and grabbing the inevitable collectible issue of Soap Opera Digest.
So what will CBS do now that they'll have another hour on the schedule Monday through Friday? A look at some of their options after the jump.
1. The 25,000 Pyramid. One show that CBS might put in GL's place is a new version of the old Dick Clark game show, this time produced by Michael Davies (Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?). Hey, if soaps have to go away, I would love to see more game shows in their place. But this one? Didn't they already try a new version of this show a few years ago with Donny Osmond? Out of all of the old games shows they could do, this is the one they might try? I liked it good enough in the Clark days, but I'd pick something else. Still, this is better than another talk show, another Maury Povich-ish show, or....
2. ... a third hour of The Early Show. Please make the insanity stop! NBC already does several hours of Today, and it's very plausible that CBS will do the same with their morning show. But The Early Show is constantly in third place, so I don't know what logic CBS could use to rationalize another hour (other than money or branding). I wonder how they'd do it since Guiding Light's hour on the schedule is different depending on where you live. In Boston it's on at 9AM, other parts of the country it's on at 2PM.
3. Another talk show/cooking show/women's show. They'll probably give this some serious thought, either a new show similar to Martha or Rachael Ray or The View or maybe airing an existing show some way.
So...what type of show would you like to see in GL's place?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-02-2009 @ 3:37PM
Anita said...
Guiding Light, but without the crazy cam. Plus, they didn't need to cancel it, but perhaps reduce the amount of times they show it to once a week (especially since they removed the sets) or place it in the mini-series vein - However, I fear we will just get another reality TV show, cook show, talk show, or morning show extension -
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4-05-2009 @ 1:11PM
sheilaCrone said...
I don't need another game show, talk show or another hour of the morning news. Please keep Guiding Light on. It's the only one I watch and my 87 yr. old mother will be heartbroken.
4-02-2009 @ 3:55PM
Jason said...
Who cares. Goodbye soaps.
Seriously, soaps have in the past been great launching pads for a few talented actors/actresses, but beyond that they're mostly unbelievable, poorly written, poorly acted, and largely a glossy and unrealistic reflection on idealized lifestyles of the well-to-do and perfectly sculpted Hollywood version of reality. If TV is a sink, soaps would be the scum clogging your drain's elbow joint.
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4-02-2009 @ 4:42PM
Modwild said...
You obviously didn't watch Guiding Light. Hardly about the wealthy, and the acting is actually amazing. Consider they shoot an ENTIRE HOUR of script each day and about 250 episodes a year. Put any prime time or movie cast to that test and I think you'll see a dramatic difference in what you currently consider their acting, production, etc., chops.
4-02-2009 @ 4:07PM
DJ said...
I think they should increase The Bold & The Beautiful to a full hour so all the characters can stop sleeping with their relatives. They need a bigger budget and more screen time to develop better characters. That will give CBS 30 min for free time in which they can maybe throw on a judge show or some game show.
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4-02-2009 @ 11:10PM
DapperDan said...
Ooooh, Ooooh - I like the idea posted above from D.J. that CBS should expand the Bold and the Beautiful to a full hour and than find something to fill in a half-hour slot. Which is ironic since I cursed the B&B when it started for it was the reason the political serial Capitol was cancelled LOL I wouldn't want another talk show, judge show. I would love a re-make of the game show Press your Luck I miss those Whammies.
4-03-2009 @ 11:57AM
Jennifer said...
AWESOME idea! And I agree, it is kinda getting annoying to see the same ppl together again and again. Perhaps bring some of the cast from GL over to B & B.
It'd also be nice to see an actual storyline for Brooke and Ridge. I swear every time i tune in they're in the sauna or the bed.
4-02-2009 @ 4:44PM
Jch1973 said...
I'm 35 and I have been watching GKL for 32 yrs.. sad day
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4-02-2009 @ 5:59PM
Ellen said...
I've watched this show for a very long time, it's so sad to hear they are cancelling it. I use to tape the show when I worked.
Ellen
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4-02-2009 @ 6:18PM
JW said...
I am afraid of more judges or junk like Tyra: I hope not. What if they aired one of their less popular primtime series in this slot, or even re-air their most popular show from the night before?
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4-02-2009 @ 7:44PM
Richard Ott said...
I think if CBS has any decent amount of steam left
in Daytime's ratings, they'll renew Guiding Light as
an 11'th hour decision, like NBC did with Days Of
Our Lives at one time. Even if they don't, one thing
CBS can't mess with is the timeslot at which the
38-year staple game show, The Price Is Right airs.
Drew Carey's crazy antics aside, I think this show
could last another 10 years at 11:00am. CBS hasn't
changed that time period since the late 1970's.
If they decide to move TPIR at 12:30pm, we're doomed.
But then, Wheel Of Fortune & Jeopardy switched
timeslots, and look where they still are, today, so I
guess it depends on what CBS desides to do with TPIR.
As far as a new gameshow in Y & R's vacant spot,
I think there's no need for a new gameshow, since
Family Feud is still very, very popular, so what I think
should happen, John O'Hurlley, or whoever the next
shifting host of the feud is, should move the show to
CBS, where Ray Combs' version aired from 1987 to 1993,
so that it's no longer on an independant network, and
we can still watch 2 shows with unchanged formats, unlike
other rivivals that rely on rule changes, and cheap sound
effects. I'll say that Family Feud will move back to CBS,
replacing Young & The Restless at 12:30, and Drew
Carey's The Price Is Right will remain at 11:00am, with
no 3'rd hour of The Early Show, not even a 5'th hour
(Daytime TV forbid that happens) of The Today Show.
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4-02-2009 @ 8:05PM
jackie said...
I am so sad. I never thought I'd see the day when Guiding Light wasn't on anymore. I've been watching since the Bauer brothers (Ed & MIke) and their families were the main characters. So many changes over the years.
I will miss the show greatly..
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4-03-2009 @ 12:39AM
R.H. Golem said...
Will they adjust the $25,000 Pyramid for inflation?
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4-03-2009 @ 10:07AM
elle said...
Actually, soaps don't have to be a dying genre. Angst and intensity are good sellers. Days of our lives had a gem of dark heroic journey types in the 80s. Well rendered and written, the stories are still watchable today if you look for them online.
Ken Corday isn't willing or able to put money or trust in his talent and therefore, since he took over DOOL in the 90s the show has become a ridiculous caricature of itself. Highlighting bizarre event-to-event storytelling instead of character and plot driven story telling (the way his parents did before they died)
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4-05-2009 @ 2:15PM
EDIE said...
I started watching GL when I was a child and my mother watched it. I do not want to see it go off the air--they are like family!! If it does have to go, perhaps they could put a movie on in it's place, like a mini-series.
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4-03-2009 @ 1:40PM
DJ BOLDEN said...
I have been watching GL from the time I can remember. I started watching this show with my my Mom. I think it is a shame that CBS is cancelling the show. CBS could come up more story lines or finished some they just drop off and never finished. I record the show, buy the soap digest, and signed up for the e-mails so I could keep up with the shows. It will be as if you will be losing a vital part of you body. It is a sad day in day time television.
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4-03-2009 @ 10:42PM
K.S. said...
Hate to sound like a broken record here and it has been mentioned before, but really please cbs give the B&B and xtra 30mins for god sakes cause just seeing a father go after his sons sloppy seconds time and time and time and again is just really, really bad. Might I suggest some more creative writers.
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4-04-2009 @ 9:59PM
Jessica said...
I remember being in elementary school coming home at 3:15 curling up next to my mom and taking a nap or watching guiding light with her. Now 27 with 2 under two and GL is my escape. My 2 yr old knows that Mickey Mouse clubhouse gets turned off at 10:00 so mommy can watch her show for an hour... So sad...what will I do haha. I will definately not miss one day in the next 5 months.
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4-19-2009 @ 12:48AM
Michelle M said...
I was sad to see Another World on NBC go 10 years ago. However I expect NBC to cancel soap operas i.e. Passions, Sunset Beach and Santa Barbara.
I must say though cancellations from CBS are a big surprise when it comes to the longest running soap opera ever. I always thought CBS was the most soap friendly network out there.
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4-21-2009 @ 12:56PM
nika4 said...
Like so many others, I would come home from school and watch GL with my mom...that was a cozy, comfy time in my life...an after school snack, cuddled up on the couch with mom, watching TV. I will miss GL, especially since it was my one link to my mom, who is no longer living. How sad. Life is full of changes.
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