TVSquad

I watched Guiding Light every single day for a couple of decades. I never thought there would come a time when I stopped watching it (no matter how pathetic that probably sounds), but then the show got rid of cast members that were vital to the show, the writers created plots and characters that were paper thin and just lousy, and they started screwing up with the show's history, too. Those are three things that are unforgivable in a soap opera.

But things might be getting better at Guiding Light. After several years and lots of negotiations, Grant Aleksander is returning to the show as Philip Spaulding.

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."

(S19E10) "To Springfield!"

"Which one?"

"The one where The Simpsons live."

My oh my, was this a jam-packed episode of The Simpsons or what? I haven't seen this many sight gags in one installment of the show for the longest time. Not only that, but this was probably the first episode of the season where Homer and the rest of the family took a back seat to the rest of Springfield's citizens.

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.

The little town of Springfield, VT (pop. 9,300) won the nationwide contest to host the premiere of The Simpsons Movie. It beat out 13 other Springfield, USAs for the honor based on voting on the USA Today website.

Springfield, VT was a last-minute entry into the contest. City leaders said they didn't even hear about the contest until the videos were almost due, so they hurried up and slapped something together. That video is pretty darn good, actually. It begins with a live action re-creation of The Simpsons opening credits, which comes to an abrupt stop when a man impersonating Homer Simpson sees a giant, pink doughnut. He chases it around town-- showing off Springfield, VT in the meantime and introducing characters, such as a post-pubescent Bart. Whoever wrote the script definitely has knowledge of The Simpsons. You can see the winning video (and the other contenders) here.

Springfield, VT will get to premiere The Simpsons Movie on July 26th. It opens nationwide on July 27th.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm totally buying into all this merchandising for The Simpsons Movie. I've already been to two different 7-Elevens for Buzz Cola, Krusty O's, and a Squishee (man, those things are sugary).

And I just spent a significant amount of time on The Simpsons movie promotion site, which includes an avatar creator. And we all like these goofy programs, don't we? It's a good way to kill a couple of hours on a Sunday, making avatars of yourself, your friends, and random celebrities (my attempt at a Brad Pitt avatar was a little pathetic).

The program asks you to login and register, but you don't have to. It's only if you want to 'Save' your avatar. I just finished mine and took a screen grab of it. 'Cuz I'm out of ideas for fake e-mail addresses.

[Via Lost Remote]

For a few months now, we've been telling you about how 16 towns of Springfield across the United States are all competing to host the premiere of The Simpsons Movie. The cities have been sending their videos to 20th Century Fox to show why they're the real Springfield.

The city of Springfield, Oregon, for example, did a Bill Kurtis-style investigative report on where the real Springfield is and determined it was in Oregon. There was even a cameo by Tony Hawk! The city of Springfield, Massachusetts had a similar premise, but with higher production quality. Theirs includes a message from Sen. Ted Kennedy.

You can see all the videos here, where USA Today is hosting a vote from now through July 9th on which Springfield deserves the premiere. The website doesn't say whether our voting will actually determine the premiere location, though.

Springfield, Minnesota wants nothing to do with The Simpsons. Unlike 16 other American towns named Springfield, which are falling over themselves for the right to show The Simpsons movie premiere in their town this summer, Springfield, MN is very vocal about why it's not participating in the contest. According to this article in the West Central Tribune, the town's city manager asked around to see if anyone wanted to participate and the general consensus was 'no'. The city manager said no one wants to be associated with the fictitious Springfield, which boasts a nuclear plant, a pile of burning tires, and cops who shoot first and don't even bother to ask questions later.

There's a great quote in the article from some uptight woman who said she'd rather see an Andy Griffith movie come to town: "I don't think it's [The Simpsons] a wholesome show. I hate the show, and if I heard Springfield would support something like that, I would think it's a sign of what's wrong with America."

I'm sure there are a few of the 2,000 Springfield, MN residents who like The Simpsons. To the rest, I simply have two words: Jesse Ventura.

It's getting down to the nitty gritty with 16 American towns named Springfield. They're all vying for the right to premiere The Simpsons movie in July.

While my personal favorite is Springfield, Oregon because I live in Portland and can easily drive there, I think Springfield, Illinois may be ahead in the running. According to this LA Times article, Mayor Tim Davlin recently gave a speech where he said "we are indeed the city that best represents the community on television." Either he's trying to make us think he's the real Mayor Quimby (because that is totally something Quimby would say), or he has never seen The Simpsons. The Springfield portrayed on the show ain't exactly paradise. It's more of a dump, really.

Davlin says his town's assets are the donut factory, nearby Shelbyville, and the fact that Abraham Lincoln once lived there (think: Abe Simpson). Another contender, Springfield, Mass. is going just a little too high-brow, claiming it should get the premiere because it's the nation's first Springfield, and the birthplace of Dr. Seuss and frozen food.

(S18E19)

Homer: What are you, a travel agent? 'Cause you're sending me on a guilt trip.

I've been watching a lot of early Simpsons episodes lately, mostly from the first five seasons. I know many fans cite the earlier seasons as the best of the series, but I tend to disagree with the notion that the show was only good up to a point and all subsequent seasons are a complete waste. It's easy to say "everything after season six is crap," but you're disregarding A LOT of episodes when you make a statement like that. I try to judge each episode on its own merit, regardless of the season.

It's certainly not wrong to prefer some seasons to others, as humor is always subjective, and, in the case of The Simpsons, I think there are numerous variables that come into play as to why some still love it and some abhor it. I won't go into that here, though.

Springfields across the USA are competing with each other for the right to premiere The Simpsons movie this summer. 20th Century Fox is holding the contest, in which 16 Springfields are competing. Springfields each have to submit short films about their town and somehow link it to The Simpsons (anyone with a mountain of burning tires must have an advantage, right?). Whichever city is chosen for the premiere also gets to be in the credits of the movie.

People in Springfield, Oregon think their town has an advantage because it is very close to The Simpsons creator Matt Groening's boyhood home in Portland. But, do you really want to be that Springfield? It's supposed to be an everytown with pollution, bad schools, nuclear meltdowns, the aforementioned mountain of burning tires, etc., etc.

The movie comes out in July and Groening is promising "a really good joke" revealing which state Springfield is in.

(S18E13) I didn't love it, and I didn't hate it -- for the most part, this week's episode was "just okay" in my opinion. It was nice to see Eric Idle return as the snooty muck-raking journalist Declan Desmond (first seen in the episode "Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky"), but the episode felt like two different episodes battling for the same thirty-minute space.

I always enjoy it when the writers come up with ways to incorporate all the secondary and tertiary characters into an episode ("22 Short Films About A Springfield" is a good example), but this one tried to tack on the bit about Homer being depressed with what he's become in life, leading he and his family to take over Burns' summer home and pretend it's their own.

As Joel told you earlier, The Simpsons reaches 400 episodes this May. But who should be in the 400th ep, Keifer Sutherland or The FCC?

There are two episodes in the running: one is a spoof of 24 that will feature the voice of Sutherland, and the other will be a satire about the FCC (Kent Brockman gets in trouble for saying something on television). I vote for the FCC ep. A good satire of that organization would be a nice way to celebrate the milestone. Hopefully, like recent episodes of Studio 60, the episode gets in some really good jabs at the FCC.

Other Simpsons news: guest voices for the rest of this season will include Stephen Colbert, Andy Dick, Meg Ryan, and Natalie Portman. The big screen movie opens on July 27 and will be rated PG-13.

So what episode would you vote for? It doesn't say that this episode is the season-ender, even though it's in May. Maybe they can run the FCC ep as the 400th and the 24 episode as the season-ender, maybe have a nuclear bomb go off in Springfield and leave a cliffhanger for next season.

Remember that crossover between Marvel Comics and the CBS soap Guiding Light that I told you about recently? The episode airs next Wednesday, November 1, and CBS.com has a sneak peek video.

Of course, I can't get the video to work at all. Can anyone else get it to work? I've tried both IE and Firefox and it doesn't load for some reason.

Anyway, the superhero is actually regular GL character Harley Cooper, who is zapped by lightning (oh, original) and gets superpowers. But will she will good or evil? Not sure, but it looks like her superhero-ness is comprised of colored contact lenses and the kind of hat that newsboys used to wear in the 1940s.

Marvel will have a special comic book featuring the superhero inserted into several other comic books in the coming weeks (a full list is at the site above).

I've been watching Guiding Light for almost three decades, and this might be the most bizarre news I've heard yet.

Our friends over at TMZ.com are reporting that the CBS soap has made an agreement with Marvel Comics, and Marvel will actually introduce a new superhero on the show!

Not only that, but Marvel is actually creating a comic book based on the new superhero, and the comic book will feature several characters from the soap along with Wolverine and Spiderman.

Now this is new synergy, eh? I can understand NBC having an online comic to cross-promote Heroes, but a new superhero on a soap opera and a comic book?

The superhero will make his (her?) debut on the soap on November 1.