1953: The Guiding Light

this complete episode, with commercials, organ music and all, first aired on March 4, 1953..was it murder?..the grand jury scene features Mandel Kramer who, as some of us will remember, played Police Chief Bill Marceau on The Edge of Night for 20 years!!

[@cuzitsnecessary]

The accents in this episodes are giving me life. "Apart-ment" and "Wash'er machine"

[@rwmurphy1]

Just seeing this brings a flood of emotions. Teri Keane and Mandel Kramer are probably my favorite all time soap opera characters. Mandel is great. He was even greater as Bill Marceau. the Edge of Night went down when Martha left the show. In comparison, The Guiding Light went down when Rita Stapleton let the show. Mandel ---- I SALUTE YOU. RIP. Randall Murphy

[@fromthesidelines]

The original radio edition of "THE GUIDING LIGHT" first went on the air in 1937. When the TV edition began in June 1952, at 12:45pm(et), the cast continued to appear on CBS radio an hour later, at 1:45pm(et), until the radio show ended in 1956. Originally, Duz was marketed as a detergent. Later, a Duz liquid was introduced for dishes.

[@ACcountryFan]

I've got the GL 50th and 60th Anniversary books and it's always neat to actually see footage of characters that had long since vanished from the show by the time the 1980's came along (the decade where I became familiar with the show).

[@ThorneAstor]

Thanks for so much for posting this! This is great stuff! Only fifteen minutes long and it held my interest every minute. Soaps can't do the same thing nowadays for me. This is what I love about the soaps back then. It's contemporary drama done right. Back then, people sat, they talked, and it was good stuff to watch. And the soaps back then actually had respect for the justice system. Plus, soaps knew the difference between drama and science fiction.

[@jeanneewaseck3987]

Harriett and Gwendolyn for Ivory Soap is adorable!

[@mariellclement8092]

I always thought that the Guiding Light had the best dialogue of all of the soaps. The characters seemed so real. As the World Turns was second.

[@lindaeasley5606]

Fascinating to see early tv soap operas

[@Michelle-jz8vl]

Luv! I miss the Guiding light!

[@debrareisdorf309]

Fascinating! This aired in the year i was born!

[@dianeesbeck-nichols9252]

I love 💕 these old soaps. I remember most of these... although Portia Faces Life & Valiant Lady through me for a loop. I even enjoy the commercials. Whoever put this up, thank you, thank you very much.

[@mrob75]

I remember those ringer washers! My grandma had one...what a pain in the butt to use! And the way the clothes would get TOTALLY flattened out when you put them through those rollers! Those rollers were deadly! HA! I remember when grandma got a "modern" washer and placed her old wringer outside in the yard...Forgotten and never to be used again! P.S. Grandma didn't use Duz but used something called: Bon Ami :-) Even added to dishwater!

[@MrRJMGREEN]

They were both awesome on CBS Radio Mystery Theater too. His voice got deeper over the years.

[@ms.communication8464]

OMGoodness! This is great! Thank you for posting!

[@fromthesidelines]

Yes, the same cast appeared on radio, delivering the same script that was seen on TV an hour earlier. In 1956, Procter & Gamble decided to concentrate on the TV version, discontinuing the radio show, to the disappointment of millions of faithful radio listeners {those that remained; CBS broadcast its final daytime radio serials in November 1960}.

[@gladasya1068]

One of the members in the front row of the grand jury was future movie star Pat Hingle. Pat may have done this episode around the same time he did the quick walk-on as the bartender in "On The Waterfront", which was filmed on location in Hoboken, New Jersey. "The Guiding Light" was produced at CBS Television in midtown Manhattan.

[@newguy90]

Weird. I did not know Mandel Kramer was on TV. I only knew him from the "Johnny Dollar" radio show and "CBS Radio Mystery Theater".

[@Soapking1965]

He played Chief Bill Marceau on THE EDGE OF NIGHT from 1958-79.

[@rogertemple7193]

"Yeah thats Pat Hinkle a very good character actor of film & television from the 50's onward until his death."-🤔🖥☕🇺🇲..

[@mrob75]

How interesting is that! Now I'm wondering this....Did the later 1:45 pm radio show simply "repeat" what was shown on television that day? And I also wonder if 1956 audiences were disappointed in the show leaving the radio.

[@elviajero007]

mrob75 1. Yes. 2. Probably not. People were excitedly moving on to television and didn't realize what they were losing.

[@keithalvarez6229]

The audience was excited by the show moving to television. They finally got to see the faces attached to the voices they knew so well where before they could only guess what the characters looked like.

[@stanbrown32]

They did the same dialogue for both TV and radio, but the radio script had the announcer narrate more, as they had to set the scene for radio in ways unnecessary for TV. A book about soap opera included excerpts from scripts to show the two versions.

[@fromthesidelines]

Have you tried Radio Spirits?

[@ACcountryFan]

Any show, in my opinion, goes 'downhill' only in the eyes of a viewer, actually. I didn't like the show's visual change and having all of those "reality show" style scenes during GL's last years, but yet others liked those changes. So, for me, the look of the show caused it to go downhill more so than anything else.

[@rhondahancock96]

There's no program like guiding light I miss it so much

[@disabled1955]

yep, and from what i remember reading, AW was initially successful at this length - then there was talk of ATWT becoming the next 90m show..of course, this never came to pass, with AW reverting to 60m after a year and a half.....

[@rogertemple7193]

"They were very limited in doing a whole lot in these days except sitting around and just talking."-🤔🖥☕🇺🇲..

[@johnkubica3003]

haven't the foggiest idea if the guy in the ivory commercial was harry von zell

[@504nlb]

14:21 This is the CBS Television Network.

[@mariellclement8092]

Is this an inquest, or an actual criminal trial? I don't see Kathy or her Defense Attorney.

[@disabled1955]

@ThorneAstor once soaps expanded beyond 30 minutes, sitting and talking became tedious to watch, so the energy and the interest level' had to be ramped up..the 60 minute (daytime) soap, in hindsight, may have been the beginning of the end..nowadays, seeing those with money and power buy and sell the justice system is the only true reflection of reality left - and its disgusting........

[@disabled1955]

my personal opinion is the advent of the 60-minute format..no longer could a plot be 'discussed' for 30 minutes and remain interesting; and shows like 'Love of Life' and 'Valiant Lady' had their primary focus on one central character and those around her. the 60m format made it necessary for the action to be stepped up - in ways soaps were never meant to be..AW as a 90-m show..puhleez...

[@ferociousgumby]

I do NOT remember watching this show and I do NOT think TV from back then was infinitely superior to what we have now.

[@notthefather3919]

ferociousgumby uhh..yea..thanks

[@adelgado75]

I believe that TV from back then, while not all great quality, was more creative. Perhaps because TV was new so they were basically creating it from the ground up.

[@juliemnm8273]

Uh....Yes it was.