GUIDING LIGHT.... WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS THE DOWNFALL OF THIS SOAP?

Sadly the Light is Out for good- they taped the Last episode last friday ( aug 7th) I really doubt that P&G/CBS did very much to Save this show- a Game show is much Cheaper to make and get a Profit from

Here is My opinion on Why GL died

1. Ellen Wheeler as Head producer- I had high hopes for her as she had been a soap opera actress for many yrs and knew how they worked but I was greatly disappointed in her.

2. The Writing-so many Bad storylines and character changes-

the whole Maryanne Curthers mystery was Awful and trashed characters like Ed Baurerand that was to me the beginning of the End for GL

3. Firing popular actors/characters- (danny/michelle/ and edmund) all at the same time. Interesting that GL Kept bringing Edmund Back knowing that the actor/character had a large fan following.the actor David Andrew Mcdonald (whom I have met )

stayed Professional during it all and never bad mouthed GL

4. Lack of PR by CBS/P&G- come on how many times was GL ever on the cover of the soap mags? even the CBS one?

GL won the best show emmy- where was the publicity? They should have been "out there" in the media taking advantage of the situation.

And GL was not shown in every market- not even in the larger ones-

in NYC GL is shown at what 9/10AM?

5. the Bad "edgy" camera/sound work-it looked so cheap and the actrors so uncomfortable with the "new" formatt

took them months to get it so it looked better

The downfall didn't happen overnight. There was poor writing on that show for a very long time and I had stopped watching awhile back. Some of the stories were a bit of a stretch and moved very slowly. I started watching again over the past 9 months or so and I am really enjoying it. I wish they could have gotten their act together sooner! They were losing money a long time ago which is why they switched to the outdoor filming and hand-held cameras. I like it better when they use the veteran actors like Vanessa, Aunt Alex, Buzz and Lillian. The families used to be the core of the show and it was good then. Bringing back Phillip was a good thing and it was one of the last ditch efforts to breathe some life back into the show - it was just too little, too late, unfortunately.

According to Soap Central, no other station has picked up the Soap. I was hoping someone would! The game show "Let's Make A Deal" will be shown in its time slot when it goes off the air.

I think too many viewers didn't like the changes to the set.. the on scene location and the jumpiness of the cameras. The camera problem has gotten much better, but people didn't hang around for them to fix the problems so their ratings went down. Also, some viewers stopped watching when certain actors left the show. As for me, I stuck around, but it's now too late. I don't think the return of Phillip has anything to do with it.. he is an original character on the show and is very much liked. He should have never left the show. Sad as it may be, GL should be thankful for all of the years they had. I don't know if any other TV show on now or in the future will have the run that GL had.

I feel like the Phillip's return actually contributed to the stability of the show during the last year. Despite it being canceled their viewership did increase slightly during the period of his return. And as far as Laura Wright vacating the role of Cassie, Guiding Light's loss was General Hospital's huge gain. I think that the following things contributed to their downfall.

1) The video camera system. That was a horrible idea. It probably made things worse.

2) The slow stories. At certain points, I quit watching and chose to wait out the stories they were so long.

3) The absence of veterans on the canvas. Maeve Kinkead and Elizabeth Kiefer specifically.

4) The focus on the teenagers lately. James, Daisy, Christina, and Remy's stories just bore me to death.

5) Coop's death. It cost them way too much.

6) Focusing on Reva for every story. There are other characters, too.

I'll miss Guiding Lighting truly, but they were their own worst competition.

In a column in the Hollywood Reporter's television blog, ShowBiz411.com, writer Roger Friedman insinuates that Procter & Gamble wanted Guiding Light to fail.

The reason, according to Friedman, is simple. P&G wants out of the television business so that it can focus on its core business: consumer goods. What has not been easy was getting fans to turn their backs on Guiding Light without threatening boycotts of the massive consumer products company's goods.

"Turn the fans against the show so they won’t miss it. In the last few weeks, maybe thinking no one’s watching, the GL producers have made the remaining episodes unwatchable," Friedman writes. "They’ve allowed the actors to use coarse language generally unsuitable to network TV. You can only imagine older fans wincing when they hear 'pissed off' or 'douchebag' uttered by their favorite characters.

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KEEP THE LIGHT SHINNING

A lot of great answers so far.

It's all about the $$$$$

P&G and CBS sabotaged this American icon of television, leading to it's cancellation.

I truly feel this show was murdered by the "powers that be" for financial gain.