Guiding Light
Guiding Light (known as The Guiding Light before 1975) is an American television soap opera. It is listed in "Guinness World Records" as the longest-running drama in television in American history, broadcast on CBS for 57 years from June 30, 1952, until September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio from 1937 to 1956. With it 72 years of radio and television runs, "Guiding Light" is the longest running soap opera before "General Hospital" and the fifth-longest running program in all of broadcast history; only the American country music radio program "Grand Ole Opry" (first broadcast in 1925), the BBC religious program "The Daily Service" (1928), the CBS religious program "Music and the Spoken Word" (1929), and the Norwegian children's radio program "Lørdagsbarnetimen" (1924-2010) have been on the air longer.
Guiding Light (2000–09)
On November 14, 2005, "Guiding Light" had a show "make-over". In the new opening sequence, the first few scenes were presented in widescreen and then followed by a new opening theme song with new video clips, a new logo, and a new musical tune. Also, the show became downloadable at CBS.com later in the day as a podcast that can be listened to on iPods and other (portable) media players. This feature was promoted at the end of each show by various cast members who urge viewers to "take the "Light"" with them. Around this time, "Guiding Light"'s sets also changed considerably. Longtime sets such as Company, Josh and Reva Lewis's House, and Cedars Hospital received makeovers, and the Beacon Hotel lobby set was scrapped. Characters also started to live in the Beacon Hotel, rather than houses or apartments, even though they have been on the show for some time. In addition, "Guiding Light" also debuted new sets. The show added a new "Main Street" set which features an outdoor coffee bar (CO2 or Company 2) and a new theater. The Main Street set is being used quite frequently. "Guiding Light" also made over the Cross Creek cabin set and moved the cabin to Springfield for Josh and Reva.