While I'm glad ATWT & GL have been renewed, we are stuck with a bunch of hacks for another year.

It's good in that 2 soaps get to live another year...it's bad in that 2 soaps get to deteriorate even more than they already have.

'GUIDING LIGHT' SAVED BY 'THE HILLS' STYLE

By DON KAPLAN

March 19, 2008 -- MTV's flair for style has saved "Guiding Light" - at least for another year.

The 70-year-old soap opera has been renewed after the show's ratings did not drop following a dramatic switch from bulky cameras and primitive sets to tiny hand-held cameras and a reality-show feel, à la "The Hills" and "Laguna Beach."

Executives at CBS and Procter & Gamble - the soap company that has been producing "Guiding Light" since it began as a radio show in 1937 - made their decision after noticing that the ratings did not suffer from the risky format change.

The soap officially changed its look on Feb. 29.

It is understood that the new deal will keep "Guiding Light" around through 2009, with the option of an additional year, according to sources close to the show.

"Guiding Light" has been considered a "bubble" show, on the verge of cancellation, for years.

In a last ditch effort to save the show, producers opted to try and lend it the more hip, realistic look of MTV's twin hit reality-soaps, which have broken new ground in recent years with slick camera work and editing that make them appear more like primetime dramas.

CBS officials could not be reached for comment

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03192008/tv/gu...yle_102630.htm#

Edited March 19, 200817 yr by ljacks13

What I hate about this is that if Guiding Light gets cancelled after next year, then the 'Light' is going to go out in such an embarrassing way. If they pulled the plug in 2005, then it would have gone with some kind of dignity. But, now? Not so much.

It's good in that 2 soaps get to live another year...it's bad in that 2 soaps get to deteriorate even more than they already have.

That's what I was trying to say!

Edited March 19, 200817 yr by Noel

we should all be praising the fact that soaps are being renewed...not bemoaning the fact.

we should all be praising the fact that soaps are being renewed...not bemoaning the fact.

Most people here are happy that they're renewed - they just want BTS changes.

Edited March 19, 200817 yr by AddictedToSoaps

It's still very possible that producer/writer changes will be made even though those changes weren't tied in to contract renewal. Goutman's contract isn't up for renewal for a few months and I think this year he is at his most iffy for renewal than in the past. It does look like GL has Wheeler for the long haul.

As for Days, I have a feeling that it will be renewed as it has shown growth and great word of mouth under Ed Scott's tenure.

" If they pulled the plug in 2005, then it would have gone with some kind of dignity. But, now? Not so much."

2003, you mean. Before Weston and before Kreizman.

Honestly, I can only wonder about the position the show is in. Is keeping the show on the air really worth eliminating whatever was unique and enjoyable about the show in the first place? Now it looks like a poorly lit porno.

Can't we just stop the bleeding? I honestly couldn't give a damn what effect GL's cancellation would have on the rest of daytime (like many others have exclaimed). Let the fans of those other shows worry about that. I just want TPTB to stop beating this show like a freakin' dead horse.

Here's a solution, folks: Give the show 6 more months. Get back into the studio. Bring in talented writers (say, Demorest, Curlee and Broderick), allow them to do and bring on whomever the hell they want. Then, at the end of six months, CANCEL IT.

It's a win-win solution: If the ratings rise, PGP gets more money from the show going out. PGP wins. The fans get to watch as the show goes out LOOKING LIKE ITSELF. The fans win. It's perfect!

" If they pulled the plug in 2005, then it would have gone with some kind of dignity. But, now? Not so much."

2003, you mean. Before Weston and before Kreizman.

Honestly, I can only wonder about the position the show is in. Is keeping the show on the air really worth eliminating whatever was unique and enjoyable about the show in the first place? Now it looks like a poorly lit porno.

Can't we just stop the bleeding? I honestly couldn't give a damn what effect GL's cancellation would have on the rest of daytime (like many others have exclaimed). Let the fans of those other shows worry about that. I just want TPTB to stop beating this show like a freakin' dead horse.

Here's a solution, folks: Give the show 6 more months. Get back into the studio. Bring in talented writers (say, Demorest, Curlee and Broderick), allow them to do and bring on whomever the hell they want. Then, at the end of six months, CANCEL IT.

It's a win-win solution: If the ratings rise, PGP gets more money from the show going out. PGP wins. The fans get to watch as the show goes out LOOKING LIKE ITSELF. The fans win. It's perfect!

I like your solution but I know that would be harder for me as a fan to say good bye if I saw a great show for 6 months just for it to end. Its less painful to see a destroyed show abruptly end... just my opinion.

I know everyone wants changes at ATWT. But the facts are ATWT is up in almost every category from last year. They have been the #3 soap for some time now. They have reached #2 in 18-49 demos. They are #2 in girls 12-17 this week. Chris Goutman is making bad excutive decisions left and right but the show is up in TV(total viewers), HH, Demos 18-49 and 12-17.

Soapsuds, they're up from last year because they were hitting RECORD LOWS for most of the year, lol. They BETTER be up from a fricking 2.0. Remember when Scott Bryce arrived the show was still in the gutter, but managed to rebound somehow. He mentioned this in his exit interview. I think fans are forgetting just how bad it was. Emily the prostitute, idiot Lily, Allison the porn star, the poorly written Nuke romance, CLEO anyone?

Saying the ratings are up from last year means absolutely nothing.

I like your solution but I know that would be harder for me as a fan to say good bye if I saw a great show for 6 months just for it to end. Its less painful to see a destroyed show abruptly end... just my opinion.

I can see that too. But, for me, it would be much harder to see a show with so much potential to go out like this. I mean, it would be the finale of a favorite show of mine. I SHOULD be SAD. I should feel something. I should feel angry that it was cancelled. The fact that I wouldn't, actually makes it MUCH more depressing, ya know?

But now, it would be only relief. And to be honest, and this sounds horrible I know, that I would be a bit happy to see those in charge out of a job, hopefully never to return to daytime at all. But what can I say, I'm a bitter soap fan.

Edited March 23, 200817 yr by Dan

Soapsuds, they're up from last year because they were hitting RECORD LOWS for most of the year, lol. They BETTER be up from a fricking 2.0. Remember when Scott Bryce arrived the show was still in the gutter, but managed to rebound somehow. He mentioned this in his exit interview. I think fans are forgetting just how bad it was. Emily the prostitute, idiot Lily, Allison the porn star, the poorly written Nuke romance, CLEO anyone?

Saying the ratings are up from last year means absolutely nothing.

The facts remain they are up from last year. That is all I was trying to point out to the other posters here at SON.

Soapsuds, they're up from last year because they were hitting RECORD LOWS for most of the year, lol. They BETTER be up from a fricking 2.0. Remember when Scott Bryce arrived the show was still in the gutter, but managed to rebound somehow. He mentioned this in his exit interview. I think fans are forgetting just how bad it was. Emily the prostitute, idiot Lily, Allison the porn star, the poorly written Nuke romance, CLEO anyone?

Saying the ratings are up from last year means absolutely nothing.

Oh yes, ATWT was quite clearly the laughing stock of daytime a year ago....

It's HARD to care given the abysmal state of these once superior daytime serials.

Edited March 23, 200817 yr by MTSRocks

yay that is great news! Daytime cannot afford to lose another soap