TELEVISION: Fans Fight to Save Guiding Light

Guiding_Light

As most of you already know, last Wednesday Guiding Light, the longest-running scripted program in broadcasting history, was canceled. Fans of the show and quit frankly, the cast and crew were shocked and devastated by the news. The rest of last week was a difficult one that had everyone involved scrambling to make sense of the situation and wondering if there was anything that could be done to in fact save this beloved show. It is after all an American institution, an icon if you will.

Now that we’ve had a few days to snap out of our grief and start thinking clearly, we as fans can stand up and take this fight to the streets. We are determined not to go down without a fight. A show that has been part of the very fabric of our lives for 72 years isn’t going to brushed aside and put out on the curb like yesterdays trash. We’re standing up and yelling at the top of our lungs KEEP THE LIGHT ON!

Guiding Light has many passionate, loyal, loving fans ready to stand by its side and do whatever it takes to make this a successful campaign. One such fan has taken her voice and laid out her feelings in an open letter to all those in the industry who might actually have the foresight to pick up this rare jewel, brush it off and help it to shine bright once again. I hope you will read her letter and follow her lead! The only way to save Guiding Light is to be vocal.Write, call, email and let your voice be heard!

Keep The Light On – The Campaign to Save Guiding Light

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to you today about the news that the longest running drama on television has been canceled by CBS. While Guiding Light may no longer air on CBS after mid-September, the death knell has not sounded just yet for this matriarch of daytime TV.

Guiding Light fans from across the country (the world even) are now fighting to keep this show alive through an organized, grassroots effort headquartered at Big Purple Dreams– the fan forum of one of the shows most buzz worthy couples. In recent months, news of the pairing of Olivia Spencer and Natalia Rivera has created a firestorm of press- not only in traditional soap publications, but also in mainstream entertainment sources like Entertainment Weekly (where “Otalia” was the reader’s choice for the “Must List” in the March 13th print issue) and The Advocate. This show’s fan base is growing and loyal and it will follow Guiding Light wherever its new home happens to be.

I belong to the most sought after of TV demographics. I’m a well-educated woman in my very early 30s with disposable income to throw around. I am a new viewer to Guiding Light having tuned in to the show at the beginning of the year to see the “Otalia” storyline. And now I am an avid follower. I even recently made a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando to meet the cast.

I firmly believe Guiding Light is a waking giant, which only needs a little more time and support from a network to make a return to its juggernaut status. Ratings have been increasing in key demographics in the last several months and the buzz over the Otalia story is bringing new eyes to the show every day.

I ask that you join us, the fans of Guiding Light- both old and new- as we work together to fight for this grande dame of daytime television by supporting Telenext and Proctor and Gamble as they search for a new permanent home for this great show.

Thank you very much for your time.

Sincerely,

Crystal Collins

Below is a list of the people involved who can grab the torch and save the light. Contact them and let them know who you are and how you feel about Guiding Light.

Contact Information
SOAPnet, LLC
500 S. Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521-6078
CA Tel. 818-560-1000
Fax 818-560-1930

The Procter & Gamble Company
1 or 2, Procter & Gamble Plaza
Cincinnati, OH 45201
Phone: 1-513-983-1100

Alan Lafley
CEO, Proctor and Gamble
1 P&G Plaza
Cincinnati, OH 45201

Brian T. Cahill, Sr. V.P., Managing Director for TeleVest Daytime Programs
Procter & Gamble Productions c/o Televest
World Wide Plaza
825 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10019
ne*********@te***********.com

Greg Ross
Vice President, Media and Programming
Procter & Gamble
One Procter & Gamble Plaza
PO Box 599
Cincinnati, Ohio 45201-0599

PGP e-mail: co*********@pg.com

By: Tiffany N. D’Emidio

4 Comments

  1. tiffany-

    thanks for publishing my letter as all us Guiding Light fans make every effort to save this great show. i just finished participating in my 35th straight play-by-play of Guiding Light episodes and i have never had more fun. this show is hitting on all cylinders right now. it is a well oiled machine that on a daily basis leaves us both breathless and speechless and yet begging for more. find this show a new home! it is not time for this Light to be extinguished…

  2. This show is working on almost every level and the fact that CBS chose not to renew their contract is just plain awful. But the fans have hope and P&G seems to be serious about finding it a new home and where ever GL lands the fans will follow. This show is the best soap on the air right now with some of the best couples, Otalia, and Dinah and Shayne. Thanks so much for posting this open letter, I agree wholeheartedly. Keep the light shining.

  3. Thanks Eclipse for bringing attention to the fan campaign. I’m a relatively new viewer to Guiding Light, and frankly a new soap viewer, and I’ve never been this completely addicted to any show in all my viewing history. I’m part of a highly desirable demographic, 41, head of a household and I have money to spend! And I know I’m not alone, particularly since there’s this exploding movement of fans that, like me, are just now stumbling onto this show. And I’m not leaving. Not only is the story of Otalia one of best crafted and executed love stories of all time, the show’s deep history and mythology only serves to make the whole experience like that of a reading a well-written novel. Its the rich layers that I appreciate, and its making it hard to watch anything else. Where have you been all my life GL? I’ll follow the show, and would happily buy anything they throw at me, because I can’t imagine not being able to follow this saga for years to come. And I want to share in the experience with my friends (seriously, hours and hours of fun), so please keep the Light shining!

  4. It makes one wonder just what network executives and the like are watching these days…

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