Guiding Light (known as
The Guiding Light before 1975, or simply
GL) is an
American daytime
television drama and is credited by the
Guinness Book of World Records as being the longest-running
soap opera in production and the
longest running drama in television and
radio history, from 1937-2009.
It is also among the longest running broadcast programs in history of any kind, across radio media for 72 years, and then television media for 57 years, being first broadcast five days after President
Franklin D. Roosevelt's second inauguration. It aired on radio from January 25, 1937, to June 29, 1956, and debuted on
CBS Television on June 30, 1952 running for 57 years. The series was expanded from 15 minutes to a half hour in 1968, and then to a full hour on November 7, 1977. In 2009,
CBS Daytime did not renew
Guiding Light, and the final episode aired on CBS on September 18, 2009
(
see below: The End ).
Guiding Light was created by
Irna Phillips, and began as an
NBC Radio serial on January 25, 1937. In 1947 the show moved to
CBS radio,
before starting on television on June 30, 1952, on
CBS television. The show's title refers to a lamp in the study of Reverend Dr. John Ruthledge, a major character when
The Guiding Light debuted in 1937, that family and residents could see as a sign for them to find help when needed.
CBS announced on April 1, 2009, that the series was being canceled because of low ratings. The show taped its final scenes on August 11, 2009,
[ blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/08/guiding-light-shoots-last-episode-after-72years.html] and its final episode aired on CBS on September 18, 2009.
[Carter, Bill. "CBS Turns Out 'Guiding Light'." The New York Times. April 2, 2009.] On October 5, 2009, CBS replaced
Guiding Light with an hour-long revival of
Let's Make a Deal, hosted by
Wayne Brady.
[www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i8ccae23c8456ba4670ba33d24e328b0e]
