Editing Guiding Light (section)

{{short description|American radio and television soap opera}}
{{for|the song|Guiding Light (song)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox television
| alt_name             = {{Plainlist|
*''The Guiding Light''
*''GL''
}}
| image                = Guiding Light final logo.jpg
| genre                = [[Soap opera]]
| creator              = {{Plainlist|
*[[Irna Phillips]]
*Emmons Carlson
}}
| country              = United States
| language             = English
| num_seasons          = {{Plainlist|
*NBC and CBS: 19 (radio)
*CBS: 57 (television; includes four years on both TV and radio)
*Total: 72
}}
| num_episodes         = {{Plainlist|
*NBC and CBS-Radio: 2,500 (radio)
*CBS: 15,762 (radio [1952–1956] & TV [1952–2009])
*Total: 18,262
}}
| executive_producer   = {{Plainlist|
*Lucy Ferri Rittenberg (1952–1975)
*[[Allen M. Potter]] (1976–1982)
*[[Gail Kobe]] (1982–1986)
*Joe Willmore (1986–1989)
*Robert Calhoun (1989–1991)
*[[Jill Farren Phelps]] (1991–1995)
*[[Michael Laibson]] (1995–1996)
*[[Paul Rauch]] (1996–2002)
*[[John Conboy]] (2002–2004)
*[[Ellen Wheeler]] (2004–2009)
}}
| producer             = {{Plainlist|
*Alexandra Johnson-Gamsey
*Maria Macina
*Jan Conklin
*Christopher Cullen
*Janet Morrison
}}
| director             = {{Plainlist|
*Bruce S. Barry
*Joe Cotugno
*Rob Decina
*Matthew Lagle
*Brian Mertes
*Adam Reist
*Robert Scinto
*Jo Anne Sedwick
*Susan Strickler
*Ellen Wheeler
*Karen Wilkens
}}
| starring             = [[List of Guiding Light cast members|Series cast]]
| writer               = {{Plainlist|
*Christopher Dunn
*Lloyd Gold
*Jill Lorie Hurst
*[[David Kreizman]]
*Tita Bell
*Kimberly Hamilton
*Rebecca Hanover
*David Rupel
*[[Donna Swajeski]]
*Ellen Weston
*Brett Staneart
*Casandra Morgan
*Penelope Koechl
*David Smilow
*Gillian Spencer
}}
| location             = {{Plainlist|
*[[Chicago]], [[Illinois]] (1937–1947)
*[[Los Angeles]], [[California]] (1947–1949)
*[[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]] (1949–2009)
}}
| company              = {{Plainlist|
*[[Procter & Gamble|Procter & Gamble Productions]] (1952–2008)
*TeleNext Media, Inc. (2008–2009)
}}
| runtime              = {{Plainlist|
*15 minutes (1937–1968)
*30 minutes (1968–1977)
*60 minutes (1977–2009)
}}
| network              = [[NBC Radio|NBC]]/[[CBS Radio]]
| network2             = [[CBS]]
| first_aired          = {{Start date|1937|1|25}}
| last_aired           = {{End date|1956|6|29}}
| first_aired2         = {{Start date|1952|6|30}}
| last_aired2          = {{End date|2009|9|18}}
| related              = ''[[Another World (TV series)|Another World]]''
}}

'''''Guiding Light''''' (known as '''''The Guiding Light''''' before 1975) is an American radio and television [[soap opera]]. ''Guiding Light'' aired on [[CBS]] for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio between January 25, 1937, and June 29, 1956.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/arts_and_media/tv_shows/longest_running_tv_drama.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110419222504/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/arts_and_media/tv_shows/longest_running_tv_drama.aspx|archive-date=April 19, 2011|title=Longest Running TV Drama |work=Arts & Media |publisher=[[Guinness World Records]] |year=2009 |access-date=October 7, 2012}}</ref> With 72 years of radio and television runs, ''Guiding Light'' is the longest-running American soap opera, ahead of ''[[General Hospital]]''.{{efn|By number of episodes: In terms of total duration, at 13,763 hours, ''[[As the World Turns]]'' was longer than ''Guiding Light'', at 3,940 hours 30 minutes.<ref>{{cite web | url =http://ria.ru/infografika/20140730/1018153481.html |title=Бесконечная история. Сериал "Санта-Барбара"|publisher=[[RIA Novosti]]|language=ru| date=30 July 2014| access-date =20 May 2015}}</ref>}}

When the show debuted on radio in 1937, it centered on Reverend John Ruthledge and people whose lives revolved around him. The "Guiding Light" in the show's title originally referred to the lamp in Ruthledge's study that people used as a sign for them to find his help when needed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/guiding-light-signs-off/2/ |title="Guiding Light" Signs Off: The Early Years|access-date=January 26, 2021 |work=CBS News|date=September 3, 2006 }}</ref> When the show transitioned to television in the 1950s, the Bauers, a German immigrant family first introduced in 1948, became the focus of the program.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/guiding-light-signs-off/3/ |title="Guiding Light" Signs Off: The Bauer Family |access-date=January 26, 2021 |work=CBS News|date=September 3, 2006 }}</ref> Other core families were introduced over the show's run, including the Norrises in the 1960s; the Marlers and the Spauldings in the 1970s; and the Coopers, the Lewises, and the Reardons in the 1980s.

''Guiding Light'' was created by [[Irna Phillips]] and Emmons Carlson and began as an [[NBC Radio]] serial on January 25, 1937. On June 2, 1947, the series was transferred to [[CBS Radio]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gluedtothetube.typepad.com/glued_to_the_tube/2009/04/cbs-cancels-the-guiding-light-after-57-years.html |title=CBS Cancels THE GUIDING LIGHT After 57 Years |date=April 3, 2009 |work=Glued to the Tube}}</ref> before starting on June 30, 1952, on [[CBS television|CBS Television]].<ref name="worldrecord">{{cite web |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/arts_and_media/tv_shows/longest_running_tv_drama.aspx |title=Longest Running TV Drama |work=Arts & Media |publisher=[[Guinness World Records]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110419222504/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/arts_and_media/tv_shows/longest_running_tv_drama.aspx |archive-date=April 19, 2011 |year=2009}}</ref> It continued to be broadcast on radio until June 29, 1956.<ref name="dunningota">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22The+Guiding+Light+soap+opera%22&pg=PA299 |last=Dunning |first=John |author-link=John Dunning (detective fiction author) |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-507678-3 |pages=299–302 |edition=Revised |access-date=2024-11-14}}</ref> The series was expanded from 15 minutes to a half-hour during 1968 (and also switched from broadcasting live to pre-taping around this same time), and then to a full hour on November 7, 1977. The series broadcast its 15,000th CBS television episode on September 6, 2006.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/guiding-light-airs-15000th-episode/|title = 'Guiding Light' Airs 15,000th Episode|website = [[CBS News]]| date=September 7, 2006 }}</ref>

On April 1, 2009, CBS announced that it was canceling ''Guiding Light'' after 72 years on the air (15 on radio and 57 on television) due to low ratings. The show taped its final scenes on August 11, 2009, and its final episode on the network aired on September 18, 2009.<ref>{{cite news |last=Stanglin |first=Doug |title='Guiding Light' shoots last episode after 76 years | date=August 12, 2009 | work=USA Today | url=http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/08/guiding-light-shoots-last-episode-after-72years.html | access-date=May 4, 2010 | url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817210433/http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/08/guiding-light-shoots-last-episode-after-72years.html |archive-date=August 17, 2009}}</ref><ref name="CBS Turns Out 'Guiding Light'.">Carter, Bill. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/arts/television/02ligh.html "CBS Turns Out 'Guiding Light'."] ''[[The New York Times]]''. April 2, 2009.</ref> Reruns of ''[[The Price Is Right]]'' took over the ''Guiding Light'' time slot between September 21 and October 2, 2009, for two weeks. On October 5, 2009, CBS replaced ''Guiding Light'' with an hour-long revival of ''[[Let's Make a Deal]]'', hosted by [[Wayne Brady]].