The day the grill at Company grew cold; the day the final Spaulding meeting was held, and the day Allen Spaulding didn’t have the last word, that’s what September 18, 2009 will be remembered as. Guiding Light’s final air date has been announced and for fans around the globe who travel to Springfield every afternoon to visit, it will be a sad day. While no official reason has been given for the cancellation, speculation is that low ratings contributed to the demise.
Guiding Light started as a radio serial in 1937 and has been a part of daytime drama for the past 72 years, making televisions longest running drama and the longest running soap opera in production a fact that will be recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Guiding Light takes place in the town of Springfield, though originally it was in a suburban area of Chicago called Five Points and was at one point set in a fictional suburb in California, Selby Flats. Springfield is filled with families that are loved and that are hated equally. The ever constant feud of the rich and powerful Spaulding family with just about every other family in the town has been a central theme for many years.
Awards and Accolades
Guiding Light has been the recipient of 69 Daytime Emmy Awards, including three for Outstanding Drama Series. An even more prestigious award is the number of years it has remained on air, an unprecedented 72 years.
From its 15-minute first aired shows to the hour long episodes seen today, Guiding Light has been a ground breaker with storylines ranging from cancer, teen pregnancy, sexual harassment, alcoholism and more. According to Global Ones, Guiding Light – History, a 1960’s storyline involving uterine cancer caused many women to go to their doctor for checkups for the first time in many years.
In more recent changes Guiding Light started using permanent sets and directing and editing digitally. This change gave the show more of a realistic, live feel than the older way of filming and editing. Viewers feel more like they are watching life as it happens, more a part of the town.
Resolved Storylines
Viewers will be tuning in to see if they show brings storylines to a resolution or if they are left hanging wondering what happened to their favorite families. Will the Spaulding family accept Lizzie and Billy’s growing love? Will Natalia discover her hinted at bisexuality? Many viewers will be disappointed if they don’t get answers to these questions and many more.
CBS has hinted at the possibility of continuing the drama through the Internet; however, viewers should be prepared to accept the inevitable fate the Springfield will forever more be a memory. Those who are interested can find petitions on the Internet that are trying to stop the cancellation.
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