Guiding Light (1952–2009)
"The Guiding Light" (original title)

Guiding Light takes place in the fictional Midwestern town of Springfield. In its early years the stories centered on the middle class Bauer family, but later the wealthy Spauldings, ... See full summary »

Creator:

Irna Phillips

Stars:

Kim Zimmer, Robert Newman, Lia Yang

99 wins & 418 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Kim Zimmer	...	Reva Shayne (590 episodes, 1983-2009)
Robert Newman	...	Joshua Lewis (552 episodes, 1981-2009)
Lia Yang	...	Susan (508 episodes, 1993-2007)
Ron Raines	...	Alan Spaulding (445 episodes, 1994-2009)
Beth Chamberlin	...	Lorelei Hills (440 episodes, 1989-2009)
Bradley Cole	...	Jeffrey O'Neill (396 episodes, 1999-2009)
Emme Rylan	...	Lizzie Spaulding (393 episodes, 2006-2009)
Justin Deas	...	Buzz Cooper (392 episodes, 1992-2009)
Frank Dicopoulos	...	Frank Cooper (390 episodes, 1987-2009)
Crystal Chappell	...	Olivia Spencer (378 episodes, 1999-2009)
Beth Ehlers	...	Harley Davidson Cooper Spaulding Mallet Spaulding Aitoro (376 episodes, 1987-2008)
Mandy Bruno	...	Marina Cooper (369 episodes, 2004-2009)
Gina Tognoni	...	Dinah Marler (368 episodes, 2004-2009)
Robert Bogue	...	A.C. Mallet (339 episodes, 2005-2009)
Nicole Forester	...	Cassie Winslow (299 episodes, 2005-2008)
Bonnie Dennison	...	Daisy Lemay (286 episodes, 2007-2009)
Michael O'Leary	...	Rick Bauer (278 episodes, 1983-2009)
Daniel Cosgrove	...	Bill Lewis (267 episodes, 2002-2009)
Jordan Clarke	...	Billy Lewis (260 episodes, 1983-2009)
Murray Bartlett	...	Cyrus Foley (257 episodes, 2007-2009)
Grant Aleksander	...	Phillip Granville Spaulding (254 episodes, 1983-2009)
Jessica Leccia	...	Natalia Rivera (247 episodes, 2007-2009)

Storyline

Guiding Light takes place in the fictional Midwestern town of Springfield. In its early years the stories centered on the middle class Bauer family, but later the wealthy Spauldings, Chamberlains, and Lewises, along with the working class Reardons and others, took their own places of prominence, though the Bauers remained the heart of the show.

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Plot Keywords:

1990s | 1980s | 1960s | 1970s | based on radio show | 

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Taglines:

Life happens here.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

CBS [us] Official GL Message Board [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 June 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

Guiding Light

Filming Locations:

CBS Broadcast Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Procter & Gamble Productions (PGP), RDF Television, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 15 min (1952-1968) 30 min (1968-1977) 60 min (1977-2009)

Sound Mix:

Mono (1952-1987) Stereo (1987-)

Color:

Color (1967-2009) Black and White (1952-1967)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Head writer Doug Marland originally planned to have the character of Jackie Marler shot in cold blood by her schizophrenic sister-in-law Carrie Marler (Jane Elliot). When Elliot was fired, Marland killed Jackie off in a plane crash instead and had to scrap a long-term murder trial in which Carrie's split personalities would be revealed on the stand. A couple of years later when he was writing ATWT, Marland got to write his scrapped Carrie story in the saga of Royce Keller, the man with the split personalities who went on trial for killing his sister Neal.

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Quotes

Marina Cooper #6: I don't know about you guys, but I've always wanted to go to Hawaii.
Henry Cooper: Uh-huh, warm weather, big old palm trees, I don't know about you, but it sounds about perfect to me.
Harley Davidson Cooper Mallet Spaulding Aituro: Just about perfect.
Alan Cooper 'Zach' Spaulding: [Has headphones on] All I hear is weird people talking.
Marina Cooper #6: Oh, that's just my soap opera podcast.
Henry Cooper: Weird people-- what have you been listening to? Give me that. Zach, I think you'll like this a little better. And Harley, I think you'll like this, too, this band is amazing. Hey!
Harley Davidson Cooper Mallet Spaulding Aituro: [Distracted] I'm sorry, what?
Henry Cooper: I'm ...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Biography: All My Children (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Die Springfield Story"
Written by Ralph Thiekötter & Maik Weppner
Courtesy of Heinz & Klaus Funk, Hamburg
(German version)

User Reviews

A classic soap opera

Ah, yes. I can remember when I was in high school. The first thing I would do my junior and senior year when I got home was turn on the TV and watch this classic soap opera. From that moment on, I was hooked on it. In addition, I also enjoyed the days when Signy Coleman (Annie Dutton) was on the show. Ever since Saundra Santiago (Carmen Santos) left the show in 2002, I haven't been watching it as much. If you ask me, she was absolutely diabolical. You'd have to have seen the show between 1999 and 2002 if you want to know why. However, this is still a good soap opera. In conclusion, I highly recommend this classic soap opera to all you die-hard CBS fans.