Editing Guiding Light (section)

===1970s===
{{Main|Guiding Light (1970–1979)}}

Much of the story during the first half of the 1970s was dominated by Stanley Norris' November 1971 murder and the subsequent trial, as well as the exploits of villainesses Charlotte Waring and Kit Vested. Charlotte (at the time played by Melinda Fee) was murdered by Kit ([[Nancy Addison]]) on August 26, 1973. The following year, Kit was shot by Joe Werner (Anthony Call) in self-defense on April 24, 1974, after she had attempted to poison Sara McIntyre.

[[Roger Thorpe]] was introduced on April 1, 1971 and became a pivotal character. The role of Roger was originally proposed to be a blond, fair-skinned, preppy type, a man who was dating his boss's daughter Holly. Ultimately, [[Michael Zaslow]], a dark-haired actor, was hired for the role instead by long-time [[casting director]], Betty Rea. Zaslow portrayed Roger as a complicated and multifaceted [[villain]].

Cast member Theo Goetz, who played Papa Bauer, died in 1972. Producers decided that Papa Bauer would die onscreen. The cast paid tribute to Goetz and Papa Bauer in a special memorial episode which aired on February 27, 1973.

Pressured by newer, more youth-oriented soap operas such as ''[[All My Children]]'', [[Procter & Gamble]] hired head writers [[Bridget and Jerome Dobson]] in 1975, who started writing in November. The Dobsons introduced a more nuanced, psychologically layered writing style, and included timely story lines, including a complex love/hate relationship between estranged spouses/step-siblings [[Roger Thorpe and Holly Norris|Roger and Holly]]. They also introduced several new characters, including [[Rita Stapleton]], whose complex relationships with Roger and Ed propelled much of the story for the remainder of the decade, as well as mogul [[Alan Spaulding]] and brash lawyer Ross Marler.

In 1977, the character of Bill Bauer was reintroduced. GL had told a story where Bill died in an airplane crash in July 1969, so his reappearance was a surprise. Bill was subsequently charged for a murder of a man in Vancouver (he was acquitted, with Mike's help) and by April 1978 Bill had left town again. The character of Bill returned briefly in November 1978, April 1980, and then again in July and November 1983. Bill's return introduced the audience and the Bauers to another character that stayed on the show until September 1984, Hillary Kincaid, R. N. (Bauer), Bill's daughter, and thus Ed and Mike's half-sister. (Bill had accidentally killed the man that Hillary originally thought was her father, but was actually her step-father.)

Jerome and Bridget Dobson killed off the show's young heroine, Leslie Jackson Bauer Norris Bauer, in June 1976, when [[Lynne Adams]] left the show. Leslie was killed in a hit and run accident by Spence Jeffries, estranged husband of Mike’s secretary Anne. Her father, Steve Jackson, remained on the show for the remainder of the 1970s, serving as a senior physician at Cedars, and as a friend and companion to Bert Bauer.

In November 1975, the name was changed in the show's opening and closing visuals from ''The Guiding Light'' to ''Guiding Light''. On November 7, 1977, the show expanded to a full hour and was broadcast from 2:30 to 3:30 pm daily.