Guiding Light

The Guiding Light (known as Guiding Light since 1975) is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as being the longest soap opera ever told, as well as the longest running drama in broadcast history (its 15,000th televised episode is slated to air in the autumn of 2005). The program began as an NBC radio serial on January 25, 1937 before moving to CBS on June 30, 1952, as a televised serial.

The 1990's

By the early 1990s, the Bauers, Spauldings, Reardons, and Lewises had been established as core families in the fictional midwestern city of Springfield. To this, the Coopers were added. Buzz Cooper (Justin Deas) had abandoned his wife Nadine (Jean Carol) and two children, Harley (Beth Ehlers) and Frank (Frank Dicopoulos) after his experiences in the Vietnam War.

Related Topics:
1990s - Springfield - Justin Deas - Jean Carol - Beth Ehlers - Frank Dicopoulos - Vietnam War

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The realism of the early 1990s was in stark contrast to the mid-1980s, when self-described "Slut of Springfield," Reva Shayne (played by Kim Zimmer) was Guiding Light's central character and storylines tended to be more campy. In fact, executive producer Jill Farren Phelps believed the show was so good without her she didn't approach Zimmer to return even though Zimmer was available. For a time, Phelps was right; the show had become much more of an ensemble piece, with several key players. Holly and Roger were featured at the forefront, along with Roger's contentious marriage to Alexandra, which would culminate in a memorable scene where McKinsey's Alexandra decimated Roger in public. Blake plotted to steal her mother Holly's fiance, Ross Marler, but ended up falling for him, and became somewhat "reformed". Harley Cooper, fresh from heartbreak with Josh Lewis, fell for cop AC Mallet and the two married.

Related Topics:
1990s - 1980s - Kim Zimmer - Jill Farren Phelps

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Phelps herself was a controversial figure among Guiding Light fans. Actress Beverlee McKinsey played Alexandra Spaulding on Guiding Light during the Phelps years, and executed an option in her contract that, combined with vacation time she had earned, allowed her to leave the show without giving the show notice. This was a great loss to the show, as McKinsey was part of a triangle of sorts, as the interfering party between her newly found son Nick Vincent Irizarry and his new girlfriend Mindy Lewis Kimberley Simms. It is widely believed that Phelps didn't read McKinsey's contract and thus allowed the show to lose the legendary actress. Another move considered a blunder by fans was the death of Maureen Reardon Bauer, played by Ellen Parker. Phelps' decision to kill off the character of Maureen was based largely on input by focus groups; however, Maureen's death removed the "tentpole character", which GL has not had since.

Related Topics:
Beverlee McKinsey - Vincent Irizarry - Kimberley Simms - Ellen Parker

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After these two strong stories were either derailed or stopped in their tracks, the show lost its momentum, and by 1994 storylines aimlessly wandered, many revolving solely around characters played by new hires who were close friends to Phelps (several episodes featured nothing more than Justin Deas yelling on a rooftop). In spite of their talent, some of these actors, such as Marcy Walker (Tangie), were enormously unpopular with viewers. The storylines themselves were often stagnant and silly, such as Alan's return from prison involving his hiding his face at all times and effecting a fake Japanese accent (he was pretending to be a foreign businessman o he could regain his company). Finally, P&G forced Phelps to bring Zimmer back for a limited run, but the story (Reva's ghost tormented Josh and his new love Annie Cynthia Watros) was panned by fans and critics as one of the worst in GL history.

Related Topics:
1994 - Marcy Walker - Japanese accent - Cynthia Watros

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In spring 1995, with rumors of cancellation growing stronger Michael Laibson succeeded Jill Farren Phelps, and brought back Kim Zimmer's Reva character for good, who had supposedly killed herself 5 years earlier in a bout with postpartum depression. Reva was revealed to be an amnesiac living as an Amish woman. Under headwriter Megan McTavish, huge chunks of airtime focused on the psychotic Brent (Frank Beaty), who had raped Buzz's daughter Lucy (Sonia Satra) and was then presumed dead. Lucy soon befriended a dowdy woman named Marian. Marian was - surprise - Brent in drag! "Marian" killed a detective as well as Nadine Cooper before being brought to justice. The storyline garnered much attention due to some controversial twists such as Marian switching Lucy's AIDS test results to make her think she was HIV-positive, and beating an HIV-positive woman, Susan, into a coma. Beaty's bravura performance carried the show along for months, but when he was written out, GL fell apart, with most of the airtime focused on endless storylines involving Ross and Vanessa's obnoxious daughter Dinah (Wendy Moniz), as well as various sleazy gimmicks such as Gilly (Amelia Marshall) falling in love with her own father and Blake (Liz Keifer) being impregnated by the sperm of two different men (later she would find out Ross was the father of both her twin sons). Ratings hit even newer lows, resulting in Laibson and McTavish's firings.

Related Topics:
1995 - Michael Laibson - Postpartum depression - Amish - Megan McTavish - Frank Beaty - Sonia Satra - AIDS - Wendy Moniz - Amelia Marshall - Liz Keifer

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Paul Rauch began producing the show in late 1996 and was joined by writers James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten in 1997. The story zeroed in on Josh Lewis' rocky marriage to Annie. Annie had once been a sweet nurse (and, at one point, Rick Bauer's wife) but had become a pill addict. Annie became a raving lunatic who got artificially inseminated to keep Josh at her side, and pretended to be Reva's long-lost sister to guilt her into staying away. When that didn't work and she also lost her baby, she pushed herself off a balcony, framing Reva for the death of her fetus. A high-stakes murder trial led Annie to have a meltdown on the witness stand, after which she dramatically collapsed and was rendered barren. This somewhat campy material was bulldozed through by Watros, whose performance astonished viewers. Annie then tried to manipulate Reva's real sister Cassie (Laura Wright) into breaking up Josh and Reva. Watros left the show in early 1998, leaving a big hole in a show that had been largely centered on the Josh/Reva/Annie storyline.

Related Topics:
Paul Rauch - 1996 - James Harmon Brown - Barbara Esensten - 1997 - Laura Wright - 1998

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In a hotly debated storyline, Reva, who was believed to be dead a second time, was cloned at the request of her grieving husband Josh (Robert Newman). When Reva was found alive, the lonely clone (who, ironically, was named Dolly, like the sheep) committed suicide by drinking too much aging serum. As she lay on her death bed (actually a couch), Josh fumbled with a cure that would have reversed the effects of the aging serum. Unfortunately, he dropped it behind the couch and it was too late to save Dolly.

Related Topics:
Robert Newman - Dolly - Sheep

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Emboldened by the attention the clone plot elicited, plots became more outrageous. Holly became an alcoholic after Roger and husband Fletcher abandoned her, and as the "Nursery Rhyme Stalker", she kidnapped the children of Springfield. Annie returned with a new face (Signy Coleman), but after an initial impact, the recast proved unsuccessful and Coleman was written out a year later. Reva's time away from Springfield was explained: she had been living in the island country of San Cristobel and was "Princess Catherine".

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