Guiding Light on 60 Minutes: A Review
By J Bernard Jones on September 13, 2009
On Sunday evening, 60 Minutes paid magnificent tribute to Guiding Light.
Viewers were treated to a retrospective segment featuring brief interviews with Tina Sloan, Frank Dicopolous, Ron Raines, Grant Aleksander, Michael O'Leary, Peter Simon, Beth Chamberlin, and of course, Robert Newman & Kim Zimmer. There was also a sure-to-be lambasted short sit down with Ellen Wheeler and GL's last de facto headwriter Jill Lorie Hurst, which will probably send ex-headwriter David Kriezman (now at As the World Turns) into a soap-style catatonic state.
In addition to a thumbnail history of Guiding Light, there were clips, clips, and more clips! We relived Nadine warning Vanessa about her pregnancy, Reva's attempted suicide attempt on the bridge, Coop dying, Ed and Rick consulting on a case, Tim Werner's alcoholism, Cyrus and Mel kissing and Phillip breaking the news of Lizzie's leukemia, among many others. There were shout outs to past before-they-were-stars GL alumni Calista Flockhart, Taye Diggs, Angela Bassett and Kevin Bacon. There was even a rare look at footage of an actual radio broadcast.
Of course, critics will have a field day blasting the piece for not including (unless I missed them) Charita Bauer (Bert Bauer), Michael Zaslow (Roger Thorpe) or Beverlee McKinsey (Alexandra Spaulding), among many others in the clip packages. Heads will be scratched over why Gina Tognoni, Crystal Chapell, Jessica Leccia, Daniel Cosgrove or many of GL's other past or recently present cast were not interviewed on camera. As sure as the sun will rise, Otalia fans will attempt to burn down CBS Broadcast Center for not mentioning the uber-popular couple at all.
Although I know this is folly to suggest, I hope that some fans who will no doubt be critical will remember that it is 60 Minutes and their producers which made the final decisions about what to air and not people associated with GL. If I have a personal quibble, I thought that correspondent Morley Safer's tone — while totally respectful & good natured — was just little too workman-like, but that is to be expected since it's not as if Safer is editor of Soap Opera Digest.
To be fair, I was completely skeptical that the segment would be full of scorn, that the piece would ultimately be an indictment against a dying genre and I said so in one of the comments sections here on Daytime Confidential. Safer's report was instead a simple, elegant profile of a 72 year-old institution that will be leaving the air soon. Never have I been so proud to eat crow.
Morely Safer and the producers of 60 Minutes' Guiding Light segment deserve to be applauded for paying tribute to the end of an institution on America's most prestigious television newsmagazine.
Guiding Light airs its final episode on September 18, 2009. Check your local CBS affliate listings.
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Comments
5 July 2008
26 min 1 sec
I agree with all this J Bernard. Even though there were faces missing, the tribute was good natured and very emotional. I Cried with Tina Sloan tearing up.
It was also said to the see the production crew on their last day. The woman with the slate and so forth
I may also get slammed for this but Ellen wheeler did seem to be really emotional when talking with Jill Lorie Hurst. No I am one that calls EW on her faults here but the woman is no monster she may be delousinal but we can all be that from time 2 time
8 May 2008
10 min 25 sec
I have to give 60 minutes its props of giving GL a good tribute and acknowledging a legacy of the whole genre of entertainment and plenty of big names started on GL and many more are now soap legends of their own right. I will miss you, GL.
PS. Do anyone think that GL can get nominated and win best show next year?
5 July 2008
26 min 1 sec
It should be able to right
BUT
I have heard since the cast & Crew will be off doing new things it may not because the cast & crew wont be together at the time to do pre-noms
I sure hope so
11 April 2009
15 hours 55 min
Appleridge,
I agree with you.
Hopefully, one day, Ellen Wheeler will write her own memoir explaining her choices. What forced her to launch the new production format? What options did she have?
21 November 2007
7 weeks 4 days
Good job to 60 minutes! Very well done. I can look past some of the small things missed, especially if you compare it to the very small tribute at the Emmys.
I loved hearing Tina Sloan talking about how fans still don't forgive her for the Maureen thing.
7 August 2009
9 weeks 5 days
Reviewing a cultural touchstone like GL--72 years in 15 minutes--is no small feat, and they did a fine job of giving the show a respectful send-off. Personally, I think CBS could have done a couple of hours worth of retrospective in prime time and gotten viewers past and present to tune in, and taken the edge off lingering anger held by the hardcore fans. But barring that, this was a pretty classy goodbye.
30 April 2009
5 days 16 hours
Morley and Co. did a very a good job with the tribute.
8 February 2009
14 weeks 3 days
I thought it was a really classy segment, that respectfully paid tribute to GL. I liked all of the clips & hearing the cast talk about the beloved show.
2 April 2009
7 hours 39 min
I thought it was a very good segment. EW did seem kinda spastic to me though but maybe she had to be to film so quickly. I loved hearing the actors talk about the cancellation.
6 May 2009
2 days 18 hours
In case you miss my other post. Here is the CBS Sunday Morning Segment of Guiding Light It's really good. This will make you cry too. Don't watch Let's Make a deal or other soaps will suffer the same faith. GL is finally getting the respect they deserve.
http://www.welovesoaps.net/2009/09/cbs-sunday-morning-guiding-light-fade...
23 January 2008
4 hours 38 min
Who cares if Otalia fans are not happy? And they are uber-popular where exactly? Fans of other shows don't even know they exist. Geez....I didn't see some of my favorites, so what? This was not about that. This about Guiding Light.
20 February 2009
9 weeks 4 days
It was a big mistake not to mention OTALIA as that was the only thing generating interest in GL for a while. IT also leaves a bad aftertaste when they've already said the couple will not receive the send-off the fans have been waiting for. I understand there are time constraints, but the omission was just stupid and thoughtless. I am not an Otalia groupie so if I'm feeling it was a mistake I can just imagine what the Otalia fans felt by the snub.
I didn't expect much and I was not disappointed. It could have been better. I don't think it's overly critical to point out mistakes that the most basic fan would not have made in producing a tribute. No McKinsey? No Bauer? No Zaslow? Come on!
25 December 2008
16 hours 41 min
I loved it and have no complaints. I loved the interviews with the cast members, I loved the clip and I loved the respectful tone of the whole segment.
I for one was happy that Otalia wasn't mentioned, CC and JL are lovely peole but they obviously decided to interview the vets and focus on the history of the show. A 2 second couple doesn't really qualify IMO.
2 April 2009
7 hours 39 min
Wow I actually feel bad to be an Otalia fan it seems like a lot of people are just griping about us as a whole. If you get angry at a few Otalia fans for being needy don't get mad at all of us or begrudge the couple. Did I think they should of been on the 60 minutes tribute ehh I didn't really care it was about GL not just one couple. But come on Otalia was on the opening of the daytime emmys so i'm sure other soap's know about them now.
6 May 2009
2 days 18 hours
YES! This was about GL history, had the first African American, didn't know that Billy Dee Williams was on it; they didn't mentioned that James Earl Jones was the first African American to appear in a soap on GL and ATWT. I guess they didn't watch the segments,they were always known for groundbreaking TV.
21 April 2008
2 days 17 hours
The 60 Minutes piece was about the 72-year history of Guiding Light in it's totality and the loss of that long history. Otalia didn't belong there, anymore than Manny, Jeffrey, or Jammy would.
Appropriately, every actor interviewed on 60 Minutes has at least a 20 year history with the show, except Raines who's been there 15 as the recast of a role that started 32 years ago. While CC/Olivia's 10 years on the show are respectable, they're not extraordinary. Natalia's been around for barely two and a half years and was despised by a large portion of the audience for at least the first year.
Otalia might have deserved a brief mention if the story had remained brave and realistic all the way through but with all the offensive and backwards turns this story has taken it simply didn't deserve a place in history along side GL's other landmark stories. I don't think that there was any homophobia in the decision nor do I think their omission was a sign that CBS is responsible for banning physical affection in the story or the maddening turn of events that have occurred over the last 3+ months of the story. Wheeler & Co. have proven time and again that they're capable of screwing up a sure thing without any help from anyone.
9 September 2008
2 min 48 sec
CraigCp, actually James Earl Jones was not the first African American to appear on soaps. That was Rex Ingram in 1962 on A Brighter Day, as daytime's first contract Black player.
James Earl Jones was a recast for Billy Dee Williams; Williams (and Cicely Tyson) were GL's first contract players in 1996. Ruby Dee was a recast for Tyson.
4 May 2009
3 days 20 hours
I enjoyed this segment last night. A mention of Irna would have been nice but...
You know so much has been said about the new look of GL and I say I like how it is now.
When it started it was a joke...the dizzying camera, the way-too-close-ups of people's faces, and these "music videos" that I heard about but never saw thankfully.
(I guess though a downside of this new way of filming is there is no way to hide Marcy Rylan's (Lizzie) pregnancy. I wish they'd made Lizzie pregnant. It's embarassing to see. The purse isn't cutting it.)
The fact remains what drove people away was the lack of compelling story. The show got 4 head-writers a little too late in the game.
The true heroes in this are the GL cast members.
It seemed like a manic way to work (just read what Maureen Garrett had to say) and all in all the GL cast MADE IT WORK.
I am going out for lunch on Friday and will be raising a glass to all of you.
23 April 2008
1 hour 29 min
I put a lot of my thoughts in the original article announcing the 60 minutes special later in the blog. But I must say that the 60 minutes did the new production model some justice. When they accompanied the show filming, they used professional cameras and TRIPODS. THe tints were great, the exposure was there. I wouldn't have objected to the production model if it looked like that!
5 November 2007
4 hours 10 min
"James Earl Jones was a recast for Billy Dee Williams; Williams (and Cicely Tyson) were GL's first contract players in 1996. Ruby Dee was a recast for Tyson."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Um...1996? Sorry J, just had to. LOL
9 September 2008
2 min 48 sec
LOL, Dang I need my butt whipped! I meant, 1966!
Damn you, Miss Dyslexia! DAMN YOU!!
3 March 2009
3 hours 58 min
Loved that 60 minutes and that morning show doing a tribute to GL, much better than the Emmys or P&G could give it.
But great tribute and great to see the actors who have been on it the longest being interviewed. If Ellen Wheeler directed it she would have had the actors who play Rafe, Daisy and Ashlee instead.
And seeing Ellen Wheeler talking on these specials pisses me off so bad, that witch should be referred to the one who drove in the last few nails in the coffin!
5 August 2009
6 weeks 4 hours
The CBS tributes were nice, much better than even Michael Fairman's "extended mix."
I watched GL today after a very long time, and it was amazing with incredible nods to the past (Nola's dress reference to Vanessa, Vanessa's rememberance of Henry, and most of all, Lillian's graveside discussion with Maureen all stand out). And Lillian's performance of the old-standby finally getting her due was beautiful. Honestly, I didn't even notice the production model because I was so interested in spending an hour with my friends. Maybe if I had felt like this over the past several years GL wouldn't be leaving us. But there's no point in going there anymore, blaming people, or pointing fingers. The end is here.
I heard about Patrick Swayze's death while watching today's episode, and it just reminded me that all of us, including GL, have our beginning, our glory years, and our final chapter. I'm very lucky to have spent some time with GL, and I'll miss it very much. Thank you 60 Minutes for paying a respectful tribute to a dear old friend.
14 December 2008
4 hours 52 min
I loved the peice a lot. I'm an Otalia fan too, but it was a Guding Light tribute not an Otalia tribute and I also think 60 Minutes didn't want to get any letters from people objecting to them showing Otalia.
I think it was much better that they show a variety of clips from the classic episodes to the current ones.