Guiding Light - 5/28/80 pt. 8

[@jad8123]

I would get home shortly before this started & was fascinated. The music, leaves & sun peaking through. I was just waiting to watch One Day at a Time or Match Game on the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia. I started watching the show full time around 1978/1979 and watched until it was cancelled. ATWT & GL were the best. It was like Broadway acting but on a soap. Good times.

[@ratesforless]

This had to be one of the greatest themes to a TV show in history. I can close my eyes and harken back to summers at my Grandmother's house from just listening to it. A simpler time but...well, I'll stop right there...

[@lindamendoza9283]

Me too

[@janicesmith6585]

This was the theme when I started watching as a young teen with my mom. Memories

[@allenjones3130]

Beautiful theme song!

[@misterhot9163]

I always loved to tune in on Fridays to see the full cast and crew and listen to the entire score. I used to think I’d see my name up there!! 😁

[@jusssayin480]

Hard to believe this episode will have aired 40 years ago in May!

[@TimsDale4ever]

An EXTREMELY beautiful time for GL and its viewers. The stories and cast were so interesting back then. This takes me back to college when I fell in love with AS THE WORLD TURNS and their wonderful long closings as well, and then I did indeed "stay tuned" for GL although it never reached the special place in my heart that was there for ATWT -- although it was still a great show. I remember this closing sequence well, but did forget how extremely slow the crawl was. Wow! A time long ago!

[@jondriscoll9471]

This has been the award winning - guiding light !!!

[@softwater88]

Phantom3377 Thank you so much for posting this. This is the Guiding Light that I remember and adored as a kid. This theme was my favorite, too beautiful. The characters/actors in the 'crawl' bring back nice memories and tears of nostalgia. My God can't believe this was 31 years ago!! Too bad the soaps aren't like this any longer . . . if there will be soaps any longer . . . This was before that Pam Long came along and ruined everything! ! I cried when this theme was changed in Nov '81.

[@christopherraven]

This music is incredibly beautiful!

[@MrCraigblaze]

Yes it is !!

[@williamsmith3233]

Absolutely one of the most beautiful theme songs I've ever heard!

[@kjchicago1]

Have you seen Guiding Light's old "Sunlight Peeking Through The Leaves" 1975-1981 opening and closing? It's beautiful! I remember it as a young child!

[@donmccullen1973]

Me too, and I did not sit through this show...but I did like this title card.

[@StukInBuf]

@kjchicago1(open): I was 8-9 years old at the time, and would see this end sequence daily because, right after *GUIDING LIGHT,* WWL(Channel 4 in New Orleans) would air *The Joker's Wild.*

[@mariellclement8092]

The Theme from 1983 is so gorgeous. My absolute fave. Those high strings towards the end. You just clutch your throat when they come in. Beautiful.

[@m.e.d.7997]

Sounds like spa music they play now.. When you have the little glasses over your eyes when they darken the room when you have a facial.

[@ozzielee9058]

Totally agree. Loved the soaring orchestral theme of 1983.

[@softwater88]

Your describing the My Guiding Light theme. Totally agree with you.

[@moogyboy6]

I remember this title sequence well from my early childhood. A very haunting and poetic combination of visuals and music. I find it very evocative of that era, I especially think of it in the context of my mom, rest her soul, and our house at the time. I imagine her sitting at the dining room table with her sewing machine having finished with the dishes and the vacuuming (an old orange Hoover convertible upright). Perhaps it's raining outside. My dad's at work, my brothers are at school, maybe I'm home with a cold and wandering around the house trying to keep myself occupied, and our old black and white RCA console TV is on in the living room. Everything is quiet in a way that nothing is quiet anymore. This is the world that this simple and beautiful title sequence reminds me of--a world where housewives still existed, I guess you could say.

[@kjchicago1]

I remember it, too! I was in the hospital getting my foot operated on(I was 14 years old at the time)and I saw it when it debuted in November 1975 all the way thru 1981 when they switched to disco in 1982!

[@XavierLaMar1970]

That was my favorite Guiding Light theme!!

[@m.e.d.7997]

Like SPA music.

[@hanselbaker179]

Stay tuned for One Day At A Time on most of these CBS stations. I loved One Day At A Time!

[@johnodonnell5474]

I remember this theme so well. Loved it. Be sure to be with us tomorrow for another full hour of The Guiding Light

[@kjchicago1]

Also, the tune you're hearing in this 1980 closing is "Ritournelle" written and performed by Charles Paul when the opening debuted in 1975

[@AllenJones-w3p]

It figures! Charles Paul was a prolific composer of soap-opera theme songs.

[@MrCzechers]

They used to show the actors' names only on Fridays. So every Friday afternoon I sat with a pen & paper quickly trying to write down the names of the actors who played the characters on GL. Got hooked on GL over the summer of 78, and watched it pretty much every day until 82.

[@johnrunion5357]

kevin bacon played tim aka tj. he had a crush on morgan, but morgan was in love with kelly. the really weird thing to me is kevin bacon was in friday the 13th 1980. after he left the guiding light another actor played his role of tim. amy steel was in friday the 13th part 2 1981. she then joined the cast of GL in 1981 as trudy who went on to become the love interest of tim, but by the time she joined the cast bacon had departed and the role of tim recast.

[@excrono]

As someone who has never been into soap operas, I must say this is a quality theme and set of titles. It's understated and organic, and I think it would have quite a bit of appeal in this day in age. It never should have been tampered with; they achieved perfection with this. But I guess back in the day everyone was getting turned on by electronic music, so yeah. I imagine it must have been a shock to see the first set of "disco" titles after chilling to this for so many years.

[@rcb1952oct]

This makes me so nostalgic. My kids were babies when this played.

[@johntaylorjr4344]

Ah, the Douglas Marland days. Now that was writing!

[@vistatiger7493]

Yes. He had screenwriter and playwright Harding Lemay on the writing team also who had been the amazing head writer at Another World on NBC from 71-79 . Both he and Marland's stories were brilliant.

[@tonyparrish1978]

This Has Benn Guiding Light!

[@BetamaxBabe]

Soaps had great theme music from the '70s through the mid-'80s. GL's is particularly mellow.

[@johnrunion5357]

kevin bacon played tim aka tj. he had a crush on morgan, but morgan was in love with kelly. the really weird thing to me is kevin bacon was in friday the 13th 1980. after he left the guiding light another actor played his role of tim. amy steel was in friday the 13th part 2 1981. she then joined the cast of GL as trudy who went on to become the love interest of tim, but by the time she joined the cast bacon had departed and the role of tim recast.

[@kjchicago1]

This is the "Sunlight Peeking Through The Leaves On The Tree Branch" visual of Guiding Light(called "The Guiding Light" by the show's late announcer, Alan Berns)which debuted in 1975 along with the Charles Paul theme "Ritournelle" which at one time had a female singing and then later replaced the voice with strings.

[@usesid]

I was so mad when they killed off Diane Ballard....she could have been a story catalyst for years.

[@josephgraefe4886]

I so agree with you! Diana Ballard was excellent on GL! She could have taken Spaulding Enterprises away from Alan Spaulding.

[@brooke050870]

LOL...I do remember the disco Guiding Light! A sign of the times, I guess!

[@heatherschulz-behrend7917]

That's the one making me kinda sad cry a little bit not uncontrollably

[@hanselbaker179]

The classic daytime soap opera closing theme which made the legacy of Guiding Light to always be enjoyed by its fans including me for future generations to come!

[@abe_froman8360]

Douglas Marland was the best soap opera writer of all time.

[@josephgraefe4886]

Yes he was!!

[@brooke050870]

Now, this I did not know! The "Sunlight Through the Leaves" opening is beautiful. The song is beautiful too, but it makes me sad now.

[@kjchicago1]

Also, did you know that before this "Sunlight" visual, Guiding Light had a "Lighthouse at Dusk" from 1974-1975 and the theme was "La Lumiere"(Illuminating Light)also by Charles Paul?

[@njman1967]

I always liked the end credits music in the early 1980"s

[@booberry349]

Bring this back

[@mthivier]

Must have been just before Lenore Kasdorf (Rita Bauer) came back from maternity leave, since she's not listed in the credits. She was gone from something like March - late May/early June 1980.

[@johnrunion5357]

thanks for the info. thanks for sharing.

[@tomtrout6593]

I was looking for Lenore Kasdorf as Rita Bauer. She was the actress that lured me into the show. I loved this soap. It was the absolute best. It’s a shame Rita never came back. But the show was ruined by the Texas team that destroyed the history and legacy of the show.

[@saskwatcher]

This comes from a truly golden era for the show and its holding very strong against timeslot competitor at this time, GH. Miraculously, at the time General Hospital's ratings continue to grow, so too do Guiding Light,although not quite as much. The third soap in that same time slot is Another World with audiences either turning the show off or switching channels to these shows.

[@MrCraigblaze]

Funny you mentioned in that. The head writer from Another World was Now on GL..

[@josephgraefe4886]

Guiding Light was and always will be better then GH. I wouldn't even watch GH today

[@sb61fury]

I was very sad when Guiding Light was taken off the air

[@kjchicago1]

Guiding Light started in 1952 and ended in 2009

[@kjchicago1]

As I said before, this is the "Sunlight Through The Tree Branches"(I remember this)and the song "Ritournelle" Guiding Light had this from 1975-1981(I was a little kid in 1975 then-about 14 years old)

[@feehasfleas3291]

My mom loved this show😢💔

[@gymnastix]

@softwater88 And I like the image, too, of a ray of light shining through the leaves on branches of trees. It fits the soap's title, just as the beam of light from a lighthouse, used before and since this title sequence. There is also a closing credits scroll that dissolves from the tree branches into a solid black with yellow credits. That is very stark and effective.

[@derekdestep40]

Douglas Marland was the best writer

[@gymnastix]

@softwater88 Believe it or not, this wasn't even the very best period of this soap. I watched regularly from 1963 until 1976 or so, and from about 1967 to 1974 was when it was at its absolute peak. But I hadn't realized there were still so many of the characters I knew still on this soap by 1980--"Dr. Sara McIntyre Werner," "Mike Bauer" still, "Dr. Steve Jackson," and some others, "Bert" and "Dr. Ed," "Roger Thorpe," of course.

[@kjchicago1]

People just aren't watching soaps like they used to back in the old days! Times are changing and soaps are declining(Even though people have to work, etc)although there are some soaps still around!

[@TimsDale4ever]

What I always found so interesting about this title card was that the actual title was not only toward the bottom but also over to the right. I know this was to get it away from the sun rays filtering in through the trees, but I still think it was clever and different NOT to have it exactly in the center of the screen.

[@TIPTON340]

The last woman at the door of the no-pest commercial was Ruth Buzzi of Laugh-in.

[@mariellclement8092]

Tim Tipton You Bet Your Bippy!

[@skingerskanger]

I THOUGHT she looked familiar!

[@kjchicago1]

Did you know that "The Guiding Light"(As Guiding Light was called back then)occupied "The Edge Of Night" which moved to ABC from CBS in 1975. What I mean by that is that the show occupied Edge's old 1:30 time slot when Edge moved to ABC in '75(the year that GL debuted its "Sunlight Through The Leaves" opening)

[@kjchicago1]

You miss ATWT! Been on TV since 1956 and Dan McCullough & Dan Region were the announcers!

[@brooke050870]

Stay tuned for "One Day at a Time?" That's odd. For as long as I can remember, that show came on Sunday evenings. "The Guiding Light" was on weekday afternoons from 2 to 3!

[@moogyboy6]

Ok I know your comment is from 14 years ago but I might as well reply if you're still with us. In the '70s and '80s CBS used to air daytime reruns of some of its current sitcoms, of which "ODAAT" was one; "Alice" was another. So you'd get new episodes every week in the proper evening time slot, and daily episodes from previous seasons in the afternoon. This was before the onslaught of syndicated afternoon talk shows in the mid '80s (ie Oprah Winfrey, Sally Jesse Raphael, etc) put an end to that practice.

[@brooke050870]

@moogyboy6 I do remember CBS airing reruns of Alice during daytime tv, I think around 9 a.m., before The Price is Right! And I love that you answered my comment from 14 years ago. Thank God for KZbin and all of the commenters who love and cherish the old shows and commercials.

[@kgrkid]

@brooke050870 They used to run re-runs of "One Day at a Time" after "Guiding Light" during the late 70's-early 80's

[@mrmoore1972]

Interesting...Lenore Kasdorf is not listed as Rita Bauer. Was the character out for this period? I know she was on the show until 1981

[@gymnastix]

@softwater88 Mart Hulswit was probably my favorite "Dr. Ed Bauer," although I also very much liked the first adult "Ed," played by Robert Gentry, who briefly returned in the 1990s. His work (from 1966) may be seen here on You Tube. The kinescopes of those episodes are now so old the black & white has naturally tinted into sepia-toned.

[@josephgraefe4886]

Actor Mart Hulswit was always my favorite Dr. Ed Bauer!

[@kjchicago1]

And that same Lighthouse(Fire Island Lighthouse in upstate New York)and bluish look from 1970-1973

[@m.e.d.7997]

Show was peaking at this time.

[@gymnastix]

@softwater88 I saw the original "Timothy Werner," when known as "T.J.," the character's name taken from the actor who played him, T.J. Hargrave, who left acting and worked as a vice-president of Cantor-Fitzgerald, was killed in one of the Twin Towers on 9/11/2001. Kevin Bacon took over the role and became "Timothy." Hargrave appeared in a famous Morton Salt commrcial as a boy, a commercial almost as well-known, in its time, as the Mikey/LIFE cereal commercial. He was a bright, spunky kid.

[@marmas58ink]

Really love this version of the theme. Thanks. - I guess an ultimate version doesn't exist. ...w/out the announcer's voice coming in. I sometimes use to flip over to channel 7 just for the music. (1988 was first time I really watched GL)

[@MattFrame]

Don Stewart (Mike Bauer) is missing from the credits.

[@radiodj1520]

In This Clip, From 0:30 To 3:03, It Was "The Guiding Light" Video Close From May 28, 1980.

[@gymnastix]

@softwater88 The theme song ("Ritounelle") of this era, here, was beautiful, though, to be sure. Much as I loved the one (La Lumiere') just before it, originally still played on organ, this one is even more beautiful. I also recall a vocal version of this one, just a female voice humming with the music. I liked that one too.

[@josephgraefe4886]

Where is actor Mike Bauer played by Don Stewart. I know he was on the show during that time.

[@brooke050870]

@jmsweat You see, I didn't know this! I guess I must have changed the channel after GL was over. :) The above Guiding Light theme was my very favorite. Kind of makes me sad, seeing it now.

[@PavedParadise]

I remember that reruns ran in the late afternoon slot in those pre-Oprah days.

[@StormsongK]

Ruth Buzzi! Hey girl!

[@DigimonDarkMaster700]

I just realized Don Stewart wasn’t credited

[@brooke050870]

@kgrkid Ah, makes sense. Oh, how I loved the way TV was back in those days.

[@kjchicago1]

You mean the sunlight through the leaves opening which GL had started in 1975-1981

[@kjchicago1]

Oops, Let Me Rephrase That! "La Lumiere" was by Mi-Voix, not Charles Paul

[@kjchicago1]

Really? "Ritournelle" by Mi-Voix(written by Charles Paul)? Mine, too!

[@brooke050870]

@jmsweat I especially can't believe that ATWT isn't on anymore. I work from home and sometimes keep the TV on for a little noise and company. I still expect ATWT to come on at 1:00. :( I think The Talk is an okay show, but I prefer the old CBS. And now they're doing away with the hosts of The Early Show...all these changes.

[@josephgraefe4886]

The Talk is crap.

[@nicoleberry2750]

@Phantom3377 I would like to know if I can make requests and if you can please send me a message via KZbin.