TVSquad

When Guiding Light airs its final episode today, it won't just be the end of a remarkable television success story -- one that has endured on radio and TV for 72 years -- it will also lower the curtain on some of the most memorable characters ever. In the past 25 years that I've been watching Guiding Light, I've had the pleasure of watching the likes of Michael Zaslow, Justin Deas, Michelle Forbes and Kim Zimmer portray some of those characters.

So, in honor of what Guiding Light has achieved, the fabulous writers who have created these stories and characters, and in salute of all the wonderful actors who've brought them to life, here's Guiding Light's 10 greatest characters from the past 25 years.

10. Josh Lewis (played by Robert Newman)
With the creation of Joshua, the Lewis family became a foundation in Springfield, as integral as the Bauers and the Spauldings, and Josh was the key. He started as a young, upstart oilman with a romantic streak and over time has morphed from a business tycoon to a minister. And through all the years, he's had one great love, Reva Shayne.

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.

It's been a little over a year since Guiding Light bolted from the confines of a New York studio to create a reality based production, a sort of cinema-verite style that brought to life a real New Jersey town to "play" Springfield. The results have been middling at best, but recently GL has lurched forward in a positive way and that can all be explained in two words/one name -- Grant Aleksander. The actor is back as Phillip Spaulding, one of the most important characters in the history of the show.

The last year of GL hasn't only been about the new production. Coinciding with all that physical change which has set more and more scenes outdoors and in "wild" set, the cast has been undergoing massive change. Top line veterans Ricky Paull Goldin, Nicole Forester and Beth Ehlers have all departed, and recently John Driscoll was tragically killed off.