A couple of weeks ago at the Daytime Emmy Awards, there was a special tribute to Guiding Light, ending its 72 year run (on radio starting in 1937, TV since 1952) next Friday. Due to time, the network couldn't show the entire tribute video from the ceremony. Here it is.

I think there's too much emphasis on recent characters, but that's just an old fogey talking I guess, and there are some great classic scenes too (for a fan, this video could be an hour long and we wouldn't complain). I love that they included Charita Bauer and Chris Bernau, the original (and best) Alan Spaulding.

[via examiner.com]

I watched Guiding Light every single day for a couple of decades. I never thought there would come a time when I stopped watching it (no matter how pathetic that probably sounds), but then the show got rid of cast members that were vital to the show, the writers created plots and characters that were paper thin and just lousy, and they started screwing up with the show's history, too. Those are three things that are unforgivable in a soap opera.

But things might be getting better at Guiding Light. After several years and lots of negotiations, Grant Aleksander is returning to the show as Philip Spaulding.

Note: This post contains a major spoiler for the CBS soap opera Guiding Light. If you don't want to know what happens later this week, don't read any further, don't scroll down, etc, etc. This is your last warning!

So I'm watching the last half of today's GL, and Tammy is run over by someone (I think it was meant for Jonathan, someone hired by Alan, but I'm not sure because I've missed several recent episodes). She's lying in the hospital bed, Rick says she's in a coma and has brain swelling, everyone is waiting around to see what happens, and a moody song plays on the soundtrack.

And then at the end of the show, a commercial for the new issue of Soap Opera Digest comes on...

Update: was it Soap Opera Weekly? Hmmm....

Update on the Update: It was actually Soaps In Depth.

The CBS soap Guiding Light is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. It's the longest running TV show in history (it started on radio in 1937 then switched to television in 1952). But they're not just throwing a party. Today they launched a new web site and a new campaign to help others. The cast and crew went down to the Gulf Coast to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, and they want fans to go to the site and share their stories of how they've helped someone.

I think they're tying it into the show somehow as well. A new plot has the cast finding a giant sum of money in a bag along with a mysterious note.

This is fantastic, but I think GL can do some other things to celebrate their 70th anniversary.