GL: Will The Light Burn Out Out Come Sept?

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Those were the days.

[DRW50]

Do you mean the pre-mid 70s version? They haven't used that title since the Dobsons took over as headwriters.

I don't think GL is perfect but I think the show's improved enough to deserve more time, although I can see why people would feel otherwise.

[CSF]

CBS Daytime was such an event to be seen back then! They had the most elegant and classy promos out of any network for their daytime line up. They were always so sexy and sophisticated!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

The promos got more and more generic once Lucy Johnson left. That woman has spice.

[Dan]

"If you wanna get young and sassy,

bold and brassy

You've just got to get it on.

If you wanna make your world turn,

let your light burn,

you just got to get it on.

Get it on, Girl, get it on

Don't be afraid girl, get it on."

[Dan]

As for GL, for me this is a win-win situation. If GL truly is cancelled, then hopefully the quality will continue to improve and we can get one hell of a send off (at least we better. I will burn images of Wheeler in effigy in Peapack if she f-u-c-k-s up GL's farewell). If the show is saved for however long, than it gets a longer time for them to get things straightened up.

After 70 odd years, GL deserves a send-off like ER's. I've been enjoying everyminute of last season and I demand a good finale for GL.

[RoseVioletDaisy]

CBS's cancelling GL right now would be a huge mistake and not just for us and GL but for CBS too.

A year ago, even six months ago, I wasn't sure GL could or should be saved but there have been enough improvements to buy it more time IMO. I understand there being disappointment that the ratings haven't skyrocketed over the last 12 weeks or so but when you look at the whole daytime landscape, GL is holding it's own pretty well. The big problem right now is that the Phillip and Otalia stories are the only ones that are working. If the rest of the stories starts being written at the same level that Phillip and Otalia's material is, the viewership should go up a little more and then hold steady.

Despite everything, GL still ranks as the second most watched show(behind General Hospital) at 3PM in the Eastern Time Zone, despite the fact that it airs at 9 or 10 AM is some major eastern media markets like New York, Boston, and Detroit. No replacement will garner that level of viewership, especially if it's airtime's are different across the region like GL's are. No game or talk show will garner anywhere near the loyalty factor that GL or any other soap has either. Even if people tune in at first, game shows get old very fast. Talk shows have a longer shelf life but they have to have a very compelling host or they're unbearable. How many other Oprah's or Ellen's are actually out there? A reality show is yet another option but there is already such a glut of cheap, crappy reality everywhere on the dial, how would they distinguish themselves and snare an audience in a timeslot where a show with loyal fans is having trouble? Then there's the development costs of starting a new show, whatever it's format may be and the search for sponsors in the midst of a serious recession. If GL's new production model has made it even remotely profitable and it's advertisers are still buying airtime, CBS is far better off sticking with it.

I am truly hoping that OLTL was dumb enough to put JVD on recurring. Guiding Light, Springfield, Blake, and Dinah need Ross desperately.

[DRW50]

I agree with everything you said, RoseVioletDaisy.

[bellcurve]

-Forget about an hour-long B&B, unless a ) The Price is Right is cancelled, b ) The show moves out of Television City, or c ) they are foolish enough do a daily, hourlong series in that small studio they occupy.

-Also, I don't know why Wheeler would feel blindsided by this news: it *IS* showbusiness after all and she should know better than anyone how a last minute "bait and switch" feels, because she's done it to so many actors and crew people who she didn't give a damn about to "cut costs," "keep her job," and "stay on the air." Barbara Bloom has a job to keep too, as sad as that sounds. And to preserve what is left of her lineup(which includes Price, Y&R, B&B, and ATWT), she's got to find a more cost-friendly, more visually attractive alternative to keep her job and to keep her lineup intact. Otherwise, she may get one of her hours taken by greedy affiliates who want to strip all their daytime hours with syndication or by CBS News/Moonves, who decide that two boring ass hours of The Early Show just isn't enough("Hi, I'm Julie Chen. BUT FIRST!). To keep herself and her job relevant, Barbara Bloom has GOT to replace GL! Period.

As for the topic at hand:

Let's face it guys, GL had a lengthy, nice, somewhat bumpy 70 years on network television. There comes a point in time where we just have to let it go and remember the good times. The stories, while great and may even sustain the show for another year, all have to come to an end eventually. I don't know why we can't just hold each others' hands and just let the show die with some dignity? We'll always have our YouTube videos, our reruns via Hulu, and our chats of "the best dialgogue ever" at SON to keep us warm when the rest of the industry sucks.

Imagine what would have happened to Another World if NBC elected to continue the show up to this point. Do you think Victoria Wyndham would still be around as Rachel? Would we have gotten a ton more recasts?

I don't think canceling GL would mean trouble for the rest of the industry. Ma Perkins, one of the first serials on radio, died and the soap genre continued. Search For Tomorrow, which, IIRC, beat GL as television's longest running serial(by a few months or so) died in '87 and we pressed on.

We've just got to let it go!

How does that song go? "Try letting go......"

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Good column from Lynn Liccardo related to this mess...

http://www.redroom.com/blog/lynnliccardo/y...-irony%E2%80%A6

[CSF]

As much as I wouldn't want to see another soap canceled, I agree with everything you've said.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I agree as well. Eventually, everything must come to an end. 70 years is a long time, and I doubt any other soap will match it.

[Rocket Man]

Here are some addresses to keep writing letters and/or sending postcards to show our love and support for "Guiding Light":

BRIAN T. CAHILL

SR. V.P. TELEVEST DAYTIME PROGRAMS

WORLD WIDE PLAZA

825 EIGHTH AVENUE

NEW YORK, NY 10019

ALAN LAFLEY

CEO, PROCTER & GAMBLE

1 P&G PLAZA

CINCINNATI, OH 45201

NINA TASSLER

PRESIDENT

CBS ENTERTAINMENT

7800 BEVERLY BLVD

LOS ANGELES, CA 90039-2112

BARBARA BLOOM

SENIOR VP, CBS DAYTIME PROGRAMS

CBS TELEVISION

7800 BEVERLY BLVD

LOS ANGELES, CA 90036

LESLIE MOONVES

CEO

CBS-TV ENTERTAINMENT

51 WEST 52ND STREET

NEW YORK, NY 10019

GUIDING LIGHT

C/O CBS-TV

51 WEST 52ND STREET

NEW YORK, NY 10019

ELLEN WHEELER

EXECTIVE PRODUCER

C/O GUIDING LIGHT

CBS-TV

51 WEST 52ND STREET

NEW YORK, NY 10019

GREG ROSS

V.P., MEDIA & PROGRAMMING

PROCTER & GAMBLE

ONE PROCTER & GAMBLE PLAZA

P.O. BOX 599

CINCINNATI, OH 45201-0599

KEEP THE "LIGHT" SHINING!!!!

[UKBoi]

I don't know why, but I just can't believe this is true...look at how certain everyone was that DAYS would be axed a few months back and it held on with far less network support than what CBS has for GL...in the current economy, they know GL will bring in X amount of viewers daily, it may not be much, but it's a steady amount. To take a risk with an entirely new show that may not catch on is something I doubt CBS is willing to risk right now.

Daytime may not generate massive profits for the networks, but on the whole viewership is far more steady than that of the primetime shows which can drop and gain millions of viewers from week to week. I strongly think GL will get a renewal, and even if it doesn't, I dont think the end of GL will mean the end of daytime. All this doom and gloom talk isnt going to change things.

[MarkH]

1. It is not a matter of whether GL will end or not, but when. Generally, that's true for all shows. So, the real question is whether this can be done with dignity and respect for long-standing fans (while making money), or whether this is going to be another clusterf*ck-to-hell on the road to an undignified death.

2. While any short-term replacement CBS can get will cost less, there will be startup costs, and the viewership will be significantly lower. So, while the company may be looking at short term cost reductions, they really need to pay attention to the cost-return ratio. Cancelling GL may not save them as much as they think.

3. I think the solution is to name a defined end date. Maybe 9/09 is too soon...but a defined end date should be determined. The date can actually be figured mathematically, with a few simple projections: what is the projected loss of audience, what is the effect of that on ad revenues, what are the current ad revenue decline rates (i.e., how much less are advertisers expected to be paying for a 30 second slot, controlling for audience size). Do that math, and figure out the day where the profitability of GL for CBS simply does not justify continuation.

Maybe that has been done, and the date is 9/09. My guess is that it could be pushed a little longer.

4. P&G/Televest no longer has a business. Therefore, they should see the writing on the wall, and sell GL and ATWT each to CBS for $1. (I am aware they refused to do this with AW...but times have changed). CBS therefore gets to keep 100% of revenues.

P&G, in exchange, gets a negotiated share of the gross ad revenues, plus--of course--some rights to remain the international distributor/broker/profit sharer for international sales of the shows (if there are any).

5. With CBS generating more revenue by owning the show, the impetus for immediate cancellation goes away. Moreover, it enables a planful end date.

6. With that planned end date (let's say is 09/2010), THEY DO IT RIGHT. They build the show to a creative crescendo, perhaps bringing back stellar behind- and in-front-of-camera talents. CBS and P&G...both realizing the end is in sight...do not mess with the show creatively. They let it happen.

I would argue that under this scenario, everyone benefits. Moreover, by planning forward to 2010, they have a shot at people finding alternative employment, etc.

More generally, of course we all have to let go of this genre (i.e., these shows, in the daytime...serials will flourish in other places during other dayparts). But having an orderly progression, I think, turns it into something both financially and creatively positive for everyone.