CBS daytime drama “The Guiding Light” wrapped up its last day of shooting on location in Peapack, NJ on Tuesday. Cast and crew held a memorial for the venerable “soap opera,” the longest running American broadcast drama, at Peapack Reformed Church, site of weddings and funerals in the TV serial’s fictional town of Springfield.
The program started as a daily afternoon radio broadcast on NBC in 1937, moving to CBS radio from 1947 to 1956. CBS television began broadcasting the program on June 30, 1952, and the final telecast is scheduled for September 18, 2009.
Cast members of ‘The Guiding Light’ have included Kevin Bacon, Calista Flockhart, Allison Janney, James Earl Jones, Melina Kanakaredes, Hayden Panettiere, and Cicely Tyson. The program is said to have been the first daytime drama with leading characters played by African American cast members.
The 72-year-old drama series will be replaced by a new version of the game show “Let’s Make a Deal.“
On the bright side, it will be easier to get pizza at Dominick’s in Gladstone, NJ, now that GL isn’t using it as a location anymore.
Image (Midday Melancholy, after Constance Charpentier) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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