| Guiding Light, created by Irna Phillips, began with a radio broadcast on January 25, 1937. The on June 30, 1952, Guiding Light aired for 15 minutes on television. From that time until August 1956 the cast did the same scripts for radio and television each day. Although Guiding Light was still the #1 radio show, it was cancelled due to a declining audience. On September 9, 1968, Guiding Light expanded to 30 minutes, and a little over nine years later, on November 7, 1977, to 60 minutes. The Guiding Light was the show's original name. However, The was dropped in 1977. This makes Guiding Light the longest running show in broadcast history. At the age of 19, Irna found out that she was pregnant and alone. The father of the baby wanted nothing to do with Irna. She gave birth to a still born baby. Out of this tragedy she gained comfort in the sermons of Dr. Preston Bradley. The sermons at the non- |
| A LITTLE INFORMATION |
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| REMEMBER THIS WHEN KIM ZIMMER DIDN'T KOW SHE HAD WON OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS AT THE 16TH ANNUAL SOAP OPERA DIGEST AWARDS? |
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| denominational Chicago church centered around the brotherhood of man. Twenty-seven years later Irna used this minister's preachings and theme as the basis for The Guiding Light. The Guiding Light was centered around the Rev. Dr. John Ruthledge, the people who lived near him, and the people who came to him for help. A lamp in his study was always on as a sign to those who need his help. The lamp was known by all as "The Guiding Light." Rev. Ruthledge ran the Little Church of Five Points in Five Points, a Chicago suburb. Rev. Ruthledge was a widower and had one daughter named Mary Ruthledge, and a boy named Ned Holden, whome he raised as his son, was left in the Rev. Ruthledge's care. Rev. Ruthledge left the Little Church of Five Points to work in Europe and was replaced by Rev. Dr. Richard Gaylord, then Rev. frank Turtle, then finally Rev. Dr. Charles Paul |
| Keeler. Before Rev. Ruthledge died he gave his lamp to Ned and asked him to give it to his good friend from the deminary, Rev. Dr. Charles Matthews. Rev. Matthews lived in Selby Flats, a Los Angeles area neighborhood. Rev. Matthews then became the keeper of 'The Guiding Light." Years later the locale of The Guiding Light changed from Selby Flats to the fictional midwestern town of Springfield. This has been the central location of the show since then. |
| And the winner is...Kim Zimmer, Guiding Light! |
| What? |
| Who? Me? |
| Get Out! |
| No Way! |
| Oh My God! |
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| BACK |
| Ratings / Rankings |
| Unfortunatly, Guiding Light is currently 8th place in the ratings out of the 10 current soaps appearing on CBS, ABC, and NBC: The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital, Days Of Our Lives, As The World Turns, All My Children, one Life To Live, Passions, Port Charles, and Guiding Light. Guiding Light has a roller coaster history of ratings dating clear back to 1953. According to the Year-End Nielsen Ratings, Guiding Light was ranked 4th in 1953, 2nd from 1954-56, and 1st in 1957 and 1958. Guiding Light then droped to 3rd palce in 1959, but bounced back to 2nd in 1960-66. In 1967 and 1968, the show recieved 3rd place, and in 1969 droped to 9th. This was Guiding Light's lowest ranking to date. However, in 1970, the show recieved 4th place, followed with a 3rd place in 1971. In 1972 and 1973, Guiding Light suffered and dropped to 8th place. Gradually working their way back up, the show then was 7th place in 1974 and 1975, 6th place in 1976, and 3rd palce in 1977. After four years of climbing back up to nearly the top, Guiding Light droped back down to 4th place in 1978, and 5th place in 1979 and 1980. |
| ~Music~ (click image to listen) |
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| Hold On To Love [click] |
| Newer Theme [click] |
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| Brand New Theme ---------> [click] |
| During the 1980's Guiding Light remained pretty much in the middle of the rankings. From 1981 to 1982 the show was ranked 4th, but in 1983 they recieved 6th place. Climbing back up, once again, the show captured 5th place in 1984, and 4th place in 1986. From 1987 to 1991, a huge freeze for Guiding Light, the show remained still at 7th place. In 1992, Guiding Light recieved a ranking of 5, and in 1993 a ranking of 7. Another downfall occured in 1994 when Guiding Light recieved 8th place. This 8th place continued up to 1996. In 1997, Guiding Light recieved 7th place, then rising one spot to 6th in 1998, and falling down once again to 7th in 1999. That is all the history I have on the Year-End Rankings, so if any of you know where I can find them for 2000, 2001, and 2002, please e-mail me. Thanks! |
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| Location |
| The location of Springfield is kept quite interestingly vague. On the 60th anniversary radio broadcast, it was stated simply that Springfield is situated "somewhere in the Midwest." Addressed enveloped rarely, if ever, include a state, although they do sometimes include a Chicago ZIP code. Some say the name Springfield was chosen because there is a Springfield in every state in the United States of America. It's sayed that the writers keep Springfield's location vague so they can play fast and loose with geography as it suits the stories as well as their moods. Following are some things we know about Guiding Light's Springfield: --It's located on a lake, with access to the Atlantic (probably a Great Lake). |
| --It has a river. --It's a short drive, about 1-2 hours, to Chicago. Chicago is also the nearest big city. --It's a long drive, about 7-14 hours, to Tulsa. --It's right over the border from Georgia. This is from thestoryline where Dylan & Sam ran away to get married. They just had to cross the state line to Georgia where Sam could get married at age 17, but Dylan was on parole and was unable to cross state lines. --It's close to some mountaines, where the B |
| a remarkable resemblance to the area surrounding Springfield, Massachusetts. This is from the storyline where Dinah was "kidnapped' and the cops were tracing her route on a computerized map. --It's NOT the state capital, and Springfield is the state capital of Illinois (not Chicago). This is from when Ross used to go out of town to the state capital when he was District Attorney. --It's not in the northernmost part of the state because the prison is "upstate." |
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| 30th Daytime Emmy Awards Nomination Announcement -- March 12, 2003 click to view photo larger |
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| GOD BLESS AMERICA! |
