History Series / GuidingLight

''Guiding Light'' was a SoapOpera [[OlderThanTelevision that began on NBC radio]] on the 25th of January 1937, moved to CBS radio in 1947, then to television in 1952. Originally titled ''The Guiding Light'', it was shortened to ''Guiding Light'' in 1975. The show ended on the 18th of September 2009 -- after 18,262 episodes.

[[caption-width-right:259: ''There is a destiny that makes us brothers, none goes his way alone. All that we send into the lives of others, comes back into our own.'']]

For a far more detailed look at the entire run of the series, Website/{{Wikipedia]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guiding_Light has you covered.]]

* PublicDomainSoundtrack: Alan-Michael and Lucy consummate their relationship to the ''Adagio sostenuto'' portion of Music/SergeiRachmaninoff's ''Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18''. Less cultured viewers might think they're making love to an instrumental version of Eric Carmen's "All By Myself", not knowing that the song is based on the classical piece.

Like most soap operas during that period, the storylines got [[DenserAndWackier a bit more tangled and outrageous]], though nothing anywhere near the realm of ''[[Series/DaysOfOurLives Days of Our Lives]]''[='=] cloak-and-dagger intrigue or ''Series/GeneralHospital'''s action-adventure shenanigans. About the craziest thing to happen on ''Guiding Light'' was a multiple-personality diagnosis. The last years of the show's life were rocky, despite an extensive retool and modernization of the Springfield sets. Four of the veteran players, including the oldest living Bauer (Dr. Ed Bauer), were retconned into accessories to a murder that happened [[CerebusRetcon way back into the 1970]]s, when they were still straight-laced young men. The new millennium was now upon us, along with rapes, mobsters, psychics, and ghosts galore. Despite fan outcry and the outright revolt of one actor, the show eventually did come back to earth, if just so it could tidy everything up with a bow for the Grand Finale.

For a far more detailed look at the entire run of the series, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guiding_Light the Other Wiki has you covered.]]

Inspired by Phillips' nights listening to a radio preacher, ''The Guiding Light'' began as a character study of Chicago-based Reverend John Ruthledge and his {{foil}}, the pessimistic Ellis Smith. Succeeding preachers, all with the Ruthledge name, have carried on the work of their progenitor. The 1950s (and the transition to television) saw the families move to the Los Angeles area, where the focus shifted to the Bauers, a clan of German immigrants who believed staunchly in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream. Filling in for cranky Ellis Smith is Bertha "Bert" Miller, a materialistic harridan who opposes the Bauers' work ethic at every turn. The Bauer family would eventually become the tentpoles of the series from here on out.

Inspired by Phillips' nights listening to a radio preacher, ''The Guiding Light'' began as a character study of Chicago-based Reverend John Ruthledge and his {{foil}}, the pessimistic Ellis Smith. Succeeding preachers, all with the Ruthledge name, have carried on the work of their progenitor. The 1950s (and the transition to television) saw the families move to the Los Angeles area, where the focus shifted to the Bauers, a clan of German immigrants who believed staunchly in the American dream. Filling in for cranky Ellis Smith is Bertha "Bert" Miller, a materialistic harridan who opposes the Bauers' work ethic at every turn. The Bauer family would eventually become the tentpoles of the series from here on out.

The 1960s brought forth a couple of minority actors (including a pre-fame Creator/BillyDeeWilliams) and a host of contemporary issues. Without any fanfare, the show returned to the midwest, with "Los Angeles" retconned into "Springfield, U.S.A" -- your standard, all-purpose midwest locale (which should be familiar to anyone who has watched American soaps). Nothing so earth-shattering occurred over the course of the 1970s, apart from the show's patriarch, Bill Bauer, being ''very'' [[DeaderThanDead thoroughly killed off]] and then mysteriously resurrected. The 1980s were...more tumultuous (complete with a disco intro sequence -- [[TwoDecadesBehind in 1981]]): The aging Bauer clan and the working-class Reardons took a backseat to [[YoungerAndHipper a younger, hornier cast]], though they would make a comeback in the 1990s.

* CloningBlues: The only American soap to ever use a cloning storyline, complete with a [[PlotRelevantAgeUp serum to make her older.]] She died...horribly...[[CanonDiscontinuity and was never mentioned again, by anyone.]]