Editing Guiding Light (section)

===1950s===
{{Main|Guiding Light (1950–1959)}}

''The Guiding Light'' was broadcast first by CBS Television on June 30, 1952, replacing the canceled soap opera ''[[The First Hundred Years]]''. These episodes were also 15 minutes long. During the period from 1952 to 1956, ''The Guiding Light'' existed as both a radio and television serial, with actors recording their performances twice for each day that the shows were broadcast. The radio broadcast of ''The Guiding Light'' ceased production during 1956, ending this overlap.<ref name="gl50">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/30/nyregion/at-50-guiding-light-recalls-its-past.html|title=AT 50, 'GUIDING LIGHT' RECALLS ITS PAST|first=Sandra|last=Bodovitz|work=The New York Times |date=June 30, 1987|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>

With the transition to television, the main characters became the Bauers, a lower-middle class German immigrant family who were first introduced in the radio serial in 1948.<ref name="gl50" /> Many storylines revolved around Bill Bauer (son of patriarch Friedrich "Papa" Bauer) and his new wife Bertha (nicknamed "Bert"). Papa Bauer, who came to the United States during World War I with just a few dollars in his pocket, was a [[wikt:salt of the earth|salt of the earth]] character who succeeded in offering opportunities to his children by working hard, and he instilled that work ethic into his children. Bert had dreams of climbing the social ladder and keeping up appearances, and it was up to Bill (and sometimes Papa Bauer) to bring her down to earth.

''The Guiding Light'' ranked as the number one-rated soap opera during both 1956 and 1957, before being replaced during 1958 by ''[[As the World Turns]]''.<ref name="Encyc ratings">{{cite book |last=Waggett |first=Gerard J. |title=[[The Soap Opera Encyclopedia (Waggett book)|The Soap Opera Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[HarperCollins|HarperPaperbacks]] |date=November 1997 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/soapoperaencyclo00wagg/page/625 625–642] |chapter=Part VI: Soap Opera Nielsen Ratings |isbn=0-06-101157-6}}</ref> After Irna Phillips was transferred to ''As the World Turns'' during 1958, her protégé [[Agnes Nixon]] became head writer of ''The Guiding Light''.

The first television producer of ''The Guiding Light'' was Lucy Ferri Rittenberg, who produced the show for over 20 years.