“Guiding Light” Cancelled! Does the Longest Running Scripted Franchise in the History of all Media Have to Die?

amp160amp160CBS made history today in a bad way It cancelled Procter ampamp Gamble Productionsamp8217 classic soap opera Guiding Light the longest running scripted franchise in the history of modern mediaamp160I have during the last ten years written many times about GL for Myers Reports and other publications and whenever possible I used those platforms to remind executives at CBS and PampampG that it isnamp8217t simply another soap opera amp8211 itamp8217s an American institution and a national treasure at that Everyone reading this column has a relative living or deceased who either listened to GL during its run on radio beginning in 1937 or watched it since it transitioned to television in 1952 Some of our parents can actually say that they first enjoyed this show on radio with their parents and still follow it on TVamp160It isnamp8217t sufficient to refer to this achievement as rare This is a success story unparalleled in the history of modern media Think about this With few exceptions most notoriously the marathon daily news coverage of the OJ Simpson doublemurder trial Guiding Light has been in continuous daily production through eight decades The durability of this franchise makes it way too significant to fall victim to the current recession when desperate shortterm thinking and a sudden scarcity of valuable thoughtleadership are making everything worse for all of usamp160I understand that these are tough times for soap operas which are threatening to drop like ducks from the sky during hunting season Critics blame the storylines networks cite the numbers and everybody loses With a uniquely American success story as noteworthy as GL the latest to be shot down itamp8217s time for everyone to halt their respective declarations of selffulfilling damnation and acknowledge what is really going on and what should happen nextamp160First the numbers With all due respect to the fine folks at Nielsen daytime audience measurement is at its very best irrefutably flawed Weamp8217re told that ratings for every soap have been in precipitous decline since the midNineties but you cannot go anywhere in this country or dozens of others and not find people who watch at least one soap opera with some degree of regularity The very idea that viewership for soap operas would decline in direct proportion to the everexpanding increase in viewing options is utter bullshit If there had been mobile viewing devices in the Sixties millions of people would have watched Dark Shadows on the go and hundreds of thousands if not millions of breathless tweens and teens would not have had to run home from school every day to see the latest installment in the supernatural saga of the Collins family And just imagine how much larger the recordholding audience for General Hospital would have been during the fabled Luke and Laura years if young people from grade school to grad school could have watched it on their own terms We didnamp8217t even have VCRs back thenamp160Second the storytelling Yes there is room for improvement on every soap opera though I would argue that CBSamp8217 Young and the Restless and As the World Turns and ABCamp8217s One Life to Live are currently more exciting than they have been in years As for Guiding Light its production model was completely redesigned early last year to mixed results PampampG saved a lot of money but the end product looked cheap at least at the start There have been improvements since that time Sadly the showamp8217s storytelling hasnamp8217t really improved Iamp8217m not going to go into specifics about what should or should not have been done with every character and storyline but I think it is fair to say that GL hasnamp8217t been as sexy or youthful or suspenseful as it was in the early years of this decade and that it has lost some of its edgeamp160Recently neither veteran GL viewers nor those allimportant young newcomers have been particularly well served But it is possible to have it both ways Just check out As the World Turns which is also produced by PampampG and happens to be the secondlongest running scripted series in television history Rare is the episode of ATWT that does not include dynamic appearances by longtime veteran cast members in their beloved roles and yet the stories it tells about its younger characters are almost as forward thinking and contemporary as those on MTVamp8217s The Real World Brooklyn currently the best drama about young people on TV This is especially true of the tumultuous romance of teens Noah Mayer and Luke Snyder daytimeamp8217s first male supercouple and one of the most popular soap couples in every industry survey especially among young women Many fans are following the story of Luke and Noah on YouTube and elsewhere online where their scenes are lifted from the rest of the show and repackaged as sequential video clips There are almost 300 at present Might the networks consider separating out specific stories from all the soaps in this manner on their own Web sites Would advertisers respond accordingly This is one small outofthebox possibility for the future of soap viewing and packaging but there must be soaps with which to do soamp160Which brings me back to Guiding Light Are there outofthebox opportunities for this venerable property that might rescue it from CBSamp8217 death grip If not there ought to be Hereamp8217s one How about turning it into a primetime series that runs once a week 52 weeks a year I like to think CBS of all networks could pull this off This mighty broadcaster was once home to Dallas the most successful primetime serial in television history If a pumped up version of the current GL couldnamp8217t cut it how about one in which the detectives and police officers on its canvas are moved to the forefront thereby turning it into an ongoing serial filled with elements of CBSamp8217 successful procedural crime dramas If that isnamp8217t an option a customized primetime version of GL could be produced for a basic cable networkamp160I realize we will all survive without Guiding Light But does it have to die I canamp8217t help wondering Has the franchise truly run its course or did it simply fall victim to the mindsets of current executives at CBS and PampampGamp160Theyamp8217re holding history in their hands Can they handle itamp160

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“Guiding Light” Cancelled! Does the Longest Running Scripted Franchise in the History of all Media Have to Die?

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“Guiding Light” Cancelled! Does the Longest Running Scripted Franchise in the History of all Media Have to Die?

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