Guiding Light Comes to an End After 72-Year Run

Posted on April 1, 2009

CBS's daytime soap opera Guiding Light will broadcast its final episode on Friday, Sept. 18, 2009. At the time of its final broadcast, the series will have spanned 72 years and more than 15,700 episodes on television and radio.

Created by Irna Phillips, the show debuted on NBC radio on January 25, 1937 as the 15-minute radio serial The Guiding Light. It made the switch to 15-minute episodes on CBS Television on June 30, 1952, although it continued to air concurrently on radio with the actors playing parts on both shows until 1956, when the radio show ended. In 1967, the series first started being broadcast in color, and a year later, the show expanded from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. In November 1977, the show expanded to a full hour. The series is credited by The Guinness Book of World Records as "The Longest-Running Television Drama."

"No show in daytime or prime time, or anytime, has touched so many millions of viewers across so many years as GUIDING LIGHT," said Barbara Bloom, Senior Vice President, Daytime Programs, CBS. "We thank the cast, crew and producers - past and present - who delivered this entertainment institution, the beloved characters and the time-honored stories to our audience every day for seven decades. It's been a privilege to work with such an extraordinarily talented group of people."