Guiding Light
News (Page 10)

SOAPnet recently sat down with the head writer of Guiding Light, David Kreizman (pictured). Here are highlights from the interview:

SOAPnet.com: Congrats on the Daytime Emmy nomination. What was your first reaction?
David Kreizman: I was actually surprised by the nomination this year. I didn't even know it was nomination day until I arrived at the studio that day. And we were in a meeting, so I didn't find out until a little later. Of course, it's always nice to be recognized, but it's a strange year for writers. I think we're all still healing from the strike.

SOAPnet.com: Can you sum up your thoughts on Guiding Light in 2007? It featured the 70th Anniversary episode, which fans seemed to love. Any other highs or lows that stand out?
David: It was a real transition year for us. We knew the new format was coming, so we were always working toward that. I'm very proud of the Find Your Light campaign that Ellen [Wheeler, executive producer at Guiding Ligh] started. I spent a few days in Mississippi, and it was a very emotional experience for everyone involved. I had a great time writing the anniversary episode.

I kept putting it off and then finally locked myself in a hotel room with books of Guiding Light lore to write the script. Losing Tom [Pelphrey] and Stephanie [Gatschet] was difficult, but I think we got some great story by telling the tragic end of Jonathan and Tammy.

Television's longest-running program will live to celebrate its 72nd anniversary.

CBS announced recently that it had picked up Guiding Light for the 2009 TV season, despite the show's sagging ratings. The series, of course, debuted a new production model earlier this year, much to the chagrin of critics.

Here are a series of recently-published Guiding Light photos in honor of this announcement:

Here are a few spoilers for this week's episodes of Guiding Light...

• Reva and Jeffrey don't see eye-to-eye.

• Mallet reveals a secret to Dinah. What could it be?

• Josh's insecurities get the better of him.

• Rafe (E.J. Bonilla, pictured) attempts to understand Olivia.

The following story lines and angles take place next week on Guiding Light...

• Bill schemes to take down Lizzie's family.

• A spark is ignited between Ava (Michelle Ray Smith, pictured) and Remy.

• Marina vows to destroy Dinah.

• Harley and Cyrus (Murray Bartlett) might reconcile.

The Boston Globe has come out with an article giving an example of the new changes to Guiding Light. Here's the introduction to it:

On Guiding Light, the fictional Bauer family each year holds a big Fourth of July barbecue. The production crew typically sets up fake smoke, in a fake grill, in a fake backyard.

"That's how it has always been," said Ellen Wheeler, the soap's executive producer. "And we add the sound of sizzling hamburgers."

Now the annual event, set to tape in June, will look a lot different. No more actors in swimsuits with water sprayed on them from bottles. This time, the cast really will be outside, and Wheeler is contemplating the idea of having live sparklers during the scene - an impossibility in a studio setting.

"When you really are outside, it changes the feeling for you," Wheeler said.

Read the entire story now.

Here's an inside look at what is coming up on Guiding Light next week...

• Reva is shocked by a proposal.

• Harley (Beth Ehlers, pictured) agrees to do Josh's dirty work.

• Mallet (Robert Bogue) confronts Dinah on her betrayal.

• Lizzie puts Remy on her payroll.

Let's take a look at week's Guiding Light story lines...

• Olivia makes a decision about her marriage to Jeffrey.

• Ashlee (Caitlin Van Zandt, pictured) pushes herself too hard.

• Harley and Cyrus come to a painful conclusion.

• Beth (Beth Chamberlin) is shocked by Alan's reaction.

It's safe to say Kim Zimmer is a tad frustrated with the current state of her character on Guiding Light. Zimmer expressed as much in a message below fans on her official website.

My absence on the show has been greatly noticed! Not just by me and you, my fabulous die-hards, but also by my business manager who said to me the other day, as the market keeps falling:

"Is this one day a week stuff going to stop any time soon?" My response to him (as I talked myself down) was to say, "I have no idea what this regime is doing!"

All I know is that for the first time in my history on this show I am way under my guaranteed number of shows.

I don't understand why they would rather pay a character (actor) with such history and connection to what was Guiding Light to not work, than to work said actor their negotiated number of shows a week. But then I'm not the executive director nor am I the "suit" at P & G who has to put up the money (free money) to an under worked actor.

Continue Reading...

Gil Rogers will return to Guiding Light on May 1.

The veteran actor will make Reva a star-powered offer she can't refuse, according to Soap Opera Weekly. Rogers' return has fans wondering if his return will last for a few episodes or for an extended run similar to recent runs from favorites David Andrew Macdonald (ex-Edmund) and Tom Pelphrey (ex-Jonathan).

A Guiding Light source said:

"Gil is a recurring character who can come and go as the story dictates," while series head writer David Kreizman added: "Hawk will be around, and he'll definitely be part of [Reva's] story."

CBS has renewed Guiding Light for one more year.

The deal keeps the soap opera on the air through 2009 - but that doesn't mean fans will be stuck with the show's new artsy-fartsy, überjumpy format, reports TV Guide.

"I'm very pleased with some of it, and some of it needs to evolve," said CBS Daytime boss Barbara Bloom. "I agree that some of the camera work is shaky and frenetic and some of the close-ups are too tight — and that maybe we've broken rules that didn't need to be broken — but this is a work in progress.

We're just a few weeks into this new production model. I think everybody who's complaining needs to lighten up."

How do you feel about the recent Guiding Light changes? Leave a comment. Let us know.