Guiding Light:

The Longest Running Soap Opera - From Radio to TV

By: Laura Onofrio

Dominant Families Throughout the Soap's History:

· 1937 - The minister, his family and the congregation
· Late 1940s - the Bauer family. The storylines surrounding the Bauer family throughout the 1940s and 1950s were about the ups and downs of marriage, love and relationships. The early 1960s continues with the traditional themes but also began to emphasize the education and professional development of the younger generation of the Bauers. The theme of the health, medicine and illness was becoming increasingly common in the storylines.
· The late 60s had two prominent families, The Bauers and the Norrises.
· The 1970s saw Springfield expand as two more families were added, the Spauldings and the Marlers and later on in the 1980s with the Norrises being decreasinlyg prevalent on the soap since the murder of the family head in the early 1970s.
· By the 1980s the Bauers were on their way out as the Spauldings, Chamberlains, Reaklons and Lewises became the central families from which more storylines evolved (Matelski: 1988:125).

Significant Events in Guiding Light's History: http://soap-news.com/gl/gldates.htm

· 1937 - 1950: The most significant events during this time were marriage and death
· 1950: Meta Bauer shoots and kills her ex-husband Ted White
· 1955: First time show mentions physical illness as Joe Roberts dies of cancer
· 1961: First adoption storyline introduced
· 1962: Bert Bauer undergoes uterine cancer surgery
· 1966: Julie Bauer commits suicide
· 1967: Ben Scott dies of heart attack
· 1968: Bill Bauer has a heart transplant
· 1969: Ed Bauer arrested for drunk driving
· 1972: Johnny Fletcher has a nervous breakdown
· 1976: Ed Bauer and Holly Norris divorce
· 1983: Rick, Mindy, Beth and Phillip graduate from high school
· 1991: Lillian discovers a lump in her breast