TVSquad

Actually, I'm not sure he even had time to pack up his stuff at CBS and leave the building, but Eric Braeden is returning to The Young and the Restless.

Allison told you that contract negotiations between Braeden and Sony had come to a standstill. Braeden has been on the show for 30 years and knew that he had to take a pay cut (like everyone in the industry is doing these days), but they couldn't come to terms on what that pay should be, and Braeden felt that Sony had reneged on what they had promised. But it's all in the past now. Braeden will stay with the show.

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.

The die was cast today. CBS canceled Guiding Light, the longest running TV program still on the air. The soap opera will cease broadcasting on Friday, September 18, 2009.

As I wrote the other day, the prospects looked grim for Guiding Light, and apparently my idea of letting the show continue until it reached its 75th anniversary (three years from now) was only popular with fans. I heard from many the past couple of days. They, like me, are sorry to see Guiding Light come to an end.

On February 29, 2008, a new era began for Guiding Light. Daytime television's longest running serial drama -- 71 years old this year -- burst out of the confines of a New York studio to begin shooting on location and on the fly in makeshift, portable sets and real places. The idea on paper was not only exciting, it seemed revolutionary. If they succeeded, Guiding Light could truly be a "guiding light" to the rest of the soap industry.

CBS's daytime drama Guiding Light celebrated its 71st year on the air on January 25. First, on radio, then and now on television, this grand old soap opera has never stopped telling its stories, making broadcast history. Production goes on, but starting February 29, 2008, viewers will be seeing Guiding Light in a brand new light. Led by innovative Executive Producer Ellen Wheeler, Guiding Light it busting out of the studio to starting filming in a more realistic, cinema verite style. "Soap operas have been shot, by and large, the same way since the 1950's, the same way I Love Lucy was shot - with pedestal cameras, in just a few interior sets," said Ms. Wheeler recently. According to her, the "[it's] old-fashioned, and it isn't working anymore."

I think I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.

If you watch Guiding Light, take note of this. The show is going to change in early 2008, according to the show's producers. Say goodbye to the ordinary camera locations and the sets. The show is going for a more cinema verite'/MTV-style show, with hand-held cameras and edgier editing. They want the show to have the look of a reality show. Or something. Ugh.

In July I mentioned that this year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Luke and Laura tying the knot on General Hospital, a moment that garnered the largest audience in daytime television history. The eleventh annual ABC Super Soap Weekend at Walt Disney World and MGM Studios in Florida will honor the momentous occasion with a celebration hosted by Susan Lucci and will feature both Anthony Geary (Luke) and Genie Francis (Laura), as well as actors from General Hospital, All My Children and One Life to Live. The celebration is free with admission to the park, and includes a special appearance by Rosie O'Donnell as well as celebrity motorcades and autograph sessions. Geary has remained on the series, but Laura has been off the show until recently, returning briefly to reprise her original role.

That's right, Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker and the late singer Laura Branigan of "Gloria" fame will finally be together once again, an amazing feat considering he's a fictional character and she's dead. Wait, I'm sorry, the article was actually referring to Luke and Laura of General Hospital fame, arguably the most popular couple in the history of the show, and possible the most popular soap opera couple ever. Genie Francis, who played Laura, will return for episodes meant to celebrate the 25th anniversary of her marriage to Luke on November 16, 1981. Francis has been on and off the show several times, and it sounds as if these new appearances won't be a permanent thing, either. The episodes will air starting in October.

[via Best Week Ever]