Daytime soaps delved into topics once taboo for prime-time, including adultery, rape, abortion, homosexuality and AIDS. The shows hit their zenith in the early 1980s when 30 million people tuned in for the marriage of Luke and Laura on ABC's "General Hospital."
"But then all of these other shows came along, 'Jerry Springer,' and 'Oprah,' and all the reality shows, and suddenly they were interviewing your next-door neighbor who was a transvestite sleeping with his sister," Sussman Morina said. "Cutting edge got away from us."
And daytime themes moved into prime time, first with "Dallas" and "Dynasty," and currently "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers & Sisters." That offered women a weekly dose of their serialized drama.
"Guiding Light" is owned by Procter & Gamble, maker of Ivory, Tide, Mr. Clean and Crest toothpaste. P&G's TeleNext Media, which produces the show, said Wednesday that it would try to find a new home for the program, which was created in 1937. The radio show made the switch to CBS television in 1952, and in 1977 expanded to one hour.
Along the way, "Guiding Light" has helped open the door for several show business careers. Actors such as Kevin Bacon, James Earl Jones, Calista Flockhart, Taye Diggs and Hayden Panettiere got early breaks on the show. One of its pioneering writers, Agnes Nixon, went on to become the doyenne of soap operas, creating "One Life to Live" and "All My Children."
CBS executives said they agonized over the decision to end the longest-running drama in broadcasting. The final episode will air Sept. 18.
"We held off as long as we could out of respect for the show because of its place in CBS history as well as the history of television," said Nancy Tellem, president of CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group. "But neither P&G nor we could make sense of it financially as the ratings continued to decline."
Ten years ago, "Guiding Light" was attracting nearly 5 million viewers an episode. This season, it has been mustering a mere 2.17 million. The median age of its audience is 56.5 years, according to Nielsen, an age group that has fallen out of favor with advertisers.
In addition, unlike daytime talk shows, soap operas are more expensive to produce because producers and writers must churn out an hourlong episode five days a week -- a punishing schedule that can lead to burnout.
