Mandy Bruno

The first in a highly personal, non-objective series highlighting various aspects of the last episodes of Guiding Light, which will end its 72 year run on September 18th.

These final weeks of Guiding Light have been pure torture to watch. I don't mean "the new production model" (a phrase I never hope to hear again in my lifetime) or Bonnie Dennison's (Daisy) futile attempts to remember her lines. No, what has been extraordinarily difficult for me as a viewer — who vividly remembers when Roger (Michael Zaslow) kidnapped Holly (Maureen Garrett) in the Caribbean and Ed (then Mart Hulswit) threw him off a cliff — is watching the series' stories come to their inevitable conclusions. READ MORE

One of the hardest tasks in all of television must be bringing a daytime drama to a close. In other realms of entertainment, plays and musicals can be resurrected through countless revivals. Primetime TV shows can come and go, yet have the potential to be re-imagined or rebooted for the small or big screen. The biggest box office disasters can live on via countless direct-to-DVD sequels. Radio hosts and their dubiously talented sidekicks can be fired for the most hateful commentary, yet live on with the same formats other stations to be spiteful for another day.

With the exception of Dark Shadows, once a soap opera is canceled it is gone forever. During my time I've watched some of my favorites disappear: The City, Port Charles, Generations, Texas, and — in my opinion — two of the genre's titans, Santa Barbara and The Edge of Night. Many of you are still missing your own beloved shows over the last three decades as well. Fans of Capitol, Love of Life, Sunset Beach, Passions, Search for Tomorrow, and the still mourned Another World among others express their loss as if there yet remains a certain kind of grief that has not yet abated after all these years. Soon we will lose another giant among soaps: in less than ten short weeks, Guiding Light will shine for the last time on CBS. READ MORE

Ruh roh. Somebody better hide Ellen Wheeler from the Cyrina fans. Instead of a reunion between Cyrus and Marina (Mandy Bruno), Murray Bartlett is teasing SOAPnet's David Ozanich about some upcoming chemistry testing with Mel (Yvonna Wright)!

Do you know what the future holds for Cyrus?

I do, but they won't let me tell you anything.

Can you at least HINT at anything?

Well, there's some stuff coming up with Cyrus and Buzz which I think is quite lovely. I love the way they're going to tie up the story but they've asked me not to spoil the surprise. There's some stuff coming up that's been shot but hasn't been to air between Cyrus and Mel - they've been flirting a little bit.

Sounds hot to me! Somebody better tell Cyrus, chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hands!

Hot on the heels of my admittedly scathing review of Friday's ultra-campy, Scooby Doo meets The Munsters inspired episode of All My Children which culminated in the murder of Stuart (Not Adam) Chandler, I finally had the opportunity to catch up with Guiding Light, which had its own less heralded "Who Killed Edmund Winslow?" whodunit kick off.

Since I received a little bit of blow back for my harsh (and well-deserved) criticism of AMC, I'd like to take the opportunity to explain why Springfield's simultaneous murder mystery is infinitely superior to Pine Valley's. READ MORE

Real life couple Rob Bogue and Mandy Bruno spent some fun in the sun swimming with dolphins and visiting with their fans during the Guiding Light location shoot, at Universal Orlando. They took some extra time to visit with me about Mallet and Marina's relationship, the adoption of their character's new son Henry Cooper Camalletti and if a reunion between Cyrus and Marina or Mallet and Dinah might be possible.

Daytime Confidential: What do y'all think about what's going on with Mallet and Marina right now? I mean they just adopted a baby and that's huge.

Rob Bogue: I think I can sum it all up in once sentence: They’re happy, so look out.

Mandy Bruno: I agree. I mean I think that's the best way to say it. Every time everything falls into place it becomes ultimately boring and you have completely to explode it.

DC: I've been waiting for it to happen with Mallet and Marina because they've been happy for a minute.

MB: It's coming, It's coming. I mean, Mallet and Marina are trying as hard as they can to keep it that way (being happy) but this is a soap. READ MORE

Yesterday's Guiding Light was bittersweet for me because it reminded me of what once was. There are two primary reasons I got hooked on Guiding Light, Lizzie and the chemistry of Dinah and Mallet. Unfortunately, Dinah and Mallet imploded. Since Jeff Branson's arrival as Shayne Lewis, and his amazing chemistry with Dinah, I had all but forgotten about the one-time connection between Dinah and Mallet, until yesterday. Seeing them bond over the baby I couldn't help but think that Gina Tognoni and Robert Bogue still have it.

Guiding Light has made drastic improvements since February and I sincerely hope that the show decides to amp up the Dinah/Mallet/Marina/Shayne quad. There is oh so much potential there. More pictures after the jump. READ MORE

I owe Beth Chamberlin an apology. A few weeks back in my Top 10 Last Ditch Stunts to Save Guiding Light post, I recommended the show toss the actress in favor of bringing back Beth Raines' originator Judi Evans. While I never saw Evans in the role, I heard from my aunts and mother who watched the show during the heyday of The Four Musketeers, that Evans was even more fantastic as Beth than she was as Days of Our Lives' Adrienne or Another World's Paulina, two of my favorite soap heroines, so for me it seemed like a no brainer to bring back Evans with the show in such a precarious state. Then this past week happened. READ MORE

Before I get to the main event regarding the much ballyhooed resurrection of the lost Spaulding heir, a little housekeeping is in order.

First, no matter what one may think of the current state of Guiding Light or its prospects for survival, one cannot fault CBS for not marketing the high holy hell out of the return of Grant Aleksander and the character of Phillip Granville Spaulding. GL/Phillip/Aleksander has been everywhere: print ads and a steady barrage of television commercials have been broadcast non-stop, right down to a live interview with Sarah Bibel on Fancast.com. Internet advertising has been almost overwhelming.

Think I'm exaggerating? Consider that the publicity has run so deep and so wide that outlets as disparate as TVGuide.com have featured two video packages to The Wall Street Journal's financial/investment website MarketWatch.com have featured Aleksander/GL related material. Hell, all that was missing was a Super Bowl commercial; given how ubiquitous the marketing has been, no doubt CBS would have run one had it broadcast the game! I don't believe I have seen this much publicity for a soap since the heydey of General Hospital's Luke & Laura or, more recently, Susan Lucci's reported pay cut. READ MORE

Funny how the universe sometimes lines up and minds think alike, isn't it? Guiding Light is in the thoughts of a lot of people these days. Bloggers, soap journalists and industry watchers — not to mention the writers, cast and crew of GL — are all on pins and needles about this 72 year old institution. The writing has been on the wall among commentators on the Internet and in the soap press for some time regarding GL's maybe/probably/likely cancellation, which would essentially signal the final march along daytime's trail of tears as the end of the genre.

The signs are obvious and ominous: GL has been hovering at a 1.5 rating for the last few months, a situation exacerbated by a genre-crushing free fall in advertising revenues, which have in turn led to massive budget cuts by the networks for all the shows. If GL doesn't get its act together by the Ides of April, as our own Jamey Giddens so aptly put it, the oldest series on broadcast television will bite the dust. However, there is hope. As has been reported here, Guiding Light needs the minimum of a steady 1.8 rating to avoid getting the ax.

Back to minds thinking alike: Just as I was finalizing this list, Mr. Giddens posted his "Top 10 Last Ditch Stunts To Save Guiding Light," followed by Spauldingfield's awesome GL promo posted by Luke Kerr. Because of their excellent efforts I almost decided to not post these recommendations, but the situtation at Guiding Light is so important to those of us who love the show that I felt it was more important to contribute to the call to keep GL on the air and risk repetition than not do so. Therefore, consider these considerations an addition to their efforts. GL needs viewers not tomorrow, but today and here are ten reasons to tune in right now! READ MORE