Guiding Light (1950–59)

Guiding Light
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The Guiding Light (TGL) (known since 1975 as Guiding Light) was a long-running American television soap opera.

Show development

On June 30, 1952, The Guiding Light began airing on CBS television. From June 30, 1952 to June 29, 1956, The Guiding Light ran on both CBS television and radio, with the actors performing, the same scenes but for different audiences, live twice each weekday. The live television performances were in the morning, and then in the afternoon the actors read for the live radio show. On July 2, 1956, The Guiding Light became a CBS television show, only, and the show no longer was heard on radio. Episodes continued at 15 minutes in length.

In 1953, CBS strongly persuaded Irna Phillips to let The Guiding Light experiment with television's first color broadcast. Phillips was not thrilled with the concept of color television, and thwarted the effort by CBS by having that day's episode take place entirely in a hospital setting with gray walls and white uniforms. The Guiding Light would remain broadcasting in black and white for the remainder of the decade.

In 1956, Phillips created As the World Turns, which first started airing on April 2, 1956 on CBS. When the workload of writing both that show and The Guiding Light became too much for her, Phillips handed the reins at The Guiding Light to her protégé Agnes Nixon. There is some indication that Procter & Gamble and CBS may have forced Phillips out of writing for The Guiding Light when on the March 31, 1958 episode, popular heroine Katherine "Kathy" Roberts Lang Grant Holden (played by the equally popular Susan Douglas Rubes) was killed off in a Phillips-created story. Kathy, confined to a wheelchair, was killed after being struck by a car. CBS was deluged with protest letters.

Prior to the launches of the half-hour shows As the World Turns, and The Edge of Night (both launched the same day), CBS and Procter & Gamble tried to convince Phillips to combine The Guiding Light and Search for Tomorrow into one single half hour show. Phillips declined.

Major characters

Original television cast (starting June 30, 1952)

Replaced original television cast members

Other characters

Plot development

In the late 1940s the show started focusing on the Bauer family, where it would remain the main focus in the 1950s. The Bauers, living in the fictional suburb of Los Angeles, Selby Flats, were headed by a wise patriarch, Friedrich "Papa" Bauer, the father of three children, William "Bill" Edward (originally a pharmacist), Meta, and Gertrude "Trudy". Papa Bauer, who immigrated to this country from Germany with little more than a dream, and was a hard worker who was full of wisdom. He imparted his wisdom to his children in a folksy tone, commonly interweaving German words. The original primary focus of the Bauer story line was on Meta, who at one point earlier in the 1940s had left the Bauer household to pursue a career in modeling under the alias Jan Carter Meta as Jan had gotten involved, romantically, with the British Theodore "Ted" White, who headed for his father the California advertising agency that handled Jan's modeling career. Jan found herself pregnant with Ted's child and decided to get her son up for adoption to Ray Brandon and his wife, the former, Charlotte Wilson. Around the time Jan found out that Ray and Charlotte were the adoptive parents of her son, Charles "Chuckie", Ted reentered her life and she got married to him, so she could sue Ray and Charlotte for custody, despite the advice of her friends, pediatrician and the married Dr. Ross Boling and Dr. Mary Leland (Ross' wife) not to do so. Jan and Ted did win custody of Chuckie, but at the time they did Mary told Jan (who revealed her true identity as Meta) that her mother "Mama" Bauer was ill with cancer and would soon die and Papa was continuing to ask for her and to make amends to Meta for what had happened to drive Meta out of the household. Bill meanwhile had gotten married to a woman who was striving for material success and thought Bill should as well, Bertha "Bert" Miller, who convinced Bill to give up his job working at the pharmacy to go into the work he had trained for, advertising. Meta, still as Jan to him, convinced Ted to hire Bill at his father's advertising agency. Ted did so, but later got mad at Meta for covering up who she really was. Meta and Papa did make amends, although Trudy was jealous of her older sister and her lifestyle and was in love with the married Dr. Ross Boling. Ted then started turning violent to her and Chuckie, and Meta sued for divorce and then Ted and Meta ended up in a custody battle over Chuckie which Meta won, but Ted was granted some lenient time of visitation and to take Chuckie on outings of his own. That's when Ted left the now, five-year-old, Chuckie to die in a freak boxing accident. Meta then left her house and then the Bauers in a daze and ended up in front of Ted's house and shot him dead! In 1950, on the radio version at one point listeners got the chance to choose whether or not to find Meta guilty of murdering her ex-husband Ted White. Ray, on Charlotte's urging, who defended Meta despite the previous custody battle, must have been convincing because the radio audience had Meta acquitted due to temporary insanity. Ray and Charlotte Brandon and Dr. Ross Boling and Dr. Mary Leland faded into obscurity shortly after this, with the only mention of the Brandon's being with Bill and Bert bought their house in the Hollywood Hills. Meta and Trudy later became best friends, with Trudy later marrying the well-off Clyde Palmer and they moved to New York City.

The conflicts between the Bauer clan and Bill's headstrong wife Bert were an integral part of the plot in the television show's first decade. Although Bert and her sister-in-law Meta eventually became very close, initially there was a considerable amount of hostility between them. An additional plot-line in this period focused on Bill Bauer's alcoholism and his career difficulties, which were exacerbated by Bert's materialistic nature: she wanted to live much more extravagantly than Bill's salary would allow. Enter to all of this, in 1951, were two people who were going to cause this marriage much turmoil for the next four years of Bill and Bert's marriage. After Ted White's death, Bill had to seek employment with another advertising agency and worked with show business manager, Sid Harper, who was trying to get a singer named Gloria LaRue to sign with him and sought Bill's help. What neither one of the men knew was that Gloria was also an alcoholic and she and Bill started an affair. Gloria nearly had Bill divorce Bert, but Bert refused to let him go and then Bert discovered she was pregnant. When Bill discovered that Bert was pregnant, he agreed to stay with her. Gloria then fell off the wagon, and Sid offered her a new radio and television career which gave her the strength to get sober. Gloria and Sid then got married, and with Bill back with Bert and her expecting their first child, things seemed to stabilize for the Bauers. Bert gave birth to a boy named Michael (later named, "Mike", and named after Charita Bauer's first son who was also named Michael.) Unfortunately later in 1952, Bill kept a secret from Bert when he was instrumental in signing Gloria LaRue Harper and new television contract! Soon both Bert and Sid had to watch in anger as Gloria became more emotionally dependent on Bill for her new career. Fortunately for the two of them, Gloria developed vocal problems and had to abandon her new show and she and Sid moved to New York City. Things might have been fine after this, but in 1953, a new wrinkle was added to this problem via Meta's new stepdaughter and her former roommate.

During Meta's murder trial, she got a champion for her cause to be acquitted, via City Times newspaper reporter Joseph "Joe" Roberts, Sr. who wrote a series of articles that helped Meta get acquitted. They quickly fell in love and it was found out that Joe had two children from a previous marriage, Katherine "Kathy" Roberts, an older teenager who was the oldest, and Joseph "Joey" Roberts, Jr., who was a pre-teen. Kathy and Joey's mother, and Joe's first wife, had died a few years earlier. A nanny, who was also a nurse, named Peggy Ashley Regan had been hired to look after the family, and Kathy and Joey had become quite fond of Peggy. But then Meta started hanging around Joe and the household, as Joe started dating Meta, and Joey liked Meta, but Kathy definitely did not. That's how innocent the problems Kathy was about to face, started, and would be reminiscent to Meta in many ways to what she had just faced in going to trial for shooting and killing Ted White.

Joe wanted to marry Meta, but Meta kept putting him off, feeling that if both of his children were not comfortable with her being their new stepmother (i.e., Kathy), she was unwilling to proceed with a marriage. Meta even tried to escape to New York City and to her sister Trudy and her husband Clyde, to sort out her feelings, and she even started to become involved with one of Clyde's friends, Dr. Bruce Banning, who wanted to marry Meta. But Joe followed Meta there and wore down her defenses and finally she and Joe married, but they decided to keep the marriage a secret to everyone (Bill, Bert, Papa, Kathy and Joey) with only Trudy her bridesmaid and Clyde the best man knowing about this union. Meta, although thrilled to be married to Joe, who she truly loved, knew that they were in for some troubles with Kathy and Joe agreed that when they returned to Selby Flats that Meta would live separately from Joe and his children, until they could win Kathy over. But once back in the Los Angeles area, Meta continued to struggle to get along with Kathy.

Unknown to everyone else, including Meta and Joe, Kathy was having her own romantic difficulties. Kathy first got involved with a garage automobile mechanic several years older than her named, Bob Lang. Bob Lang tried his best to take Kathy to bed with him, but the teenaged Kathy wisely continued to feel that might not be for the best, but Kathy's defenses were weakening where Bob was concerned. Then Kathy suffered an illness for a few days and was taken to Cedars Hospital and that's where she met the eligible bachelor and first cousin to Peggy Ashley Regan, Dr. Richard "Dick" Grant, Jr. who had just moved from San Francisco. (Peggy was the niece of Dick's mother, Laura Ashley Grant, who was married to Dick's father, Richard Grant, Sr.) Dick was everything Kathy dreamed about when it came to a man, unfortunately although Meta and Joe approved of Dick, and Richard approved Kathy, the rich snobby Laura DID NOT! Dick even proposed marriage to Kathy, but seeing how Laura disapproved her, she turned him down! Meta and Joe were still not be forthcoming about their marriage, until Kathy overheard them talking one day and found out about the whole marriage! Kathy was livid that her father would betray her and Joey and their feelings regarding Peggy and wound up moving out of Joe's house and getting an apartment with a model that worked for Bill's advertising agency, Alice Graham. Then Kathy decided to accept Bob Lang's marriage proposal only telling Alice and Dick that she was marrying the man! Dick was not thrilled about this union, and when Kathy ended up getting pregnant with Bob's child, neither was she! For Bob, in marriage, became abusive and Kathy was unfortunately his #1 target for the abuse. Finally having enough of the abuse, in the spring of 1952, Kathy moved out of the house she shared with Bob, and moved back in with Alice, who wasn't too thrilled to have a mother-to-be, as her roommate. Dick tried to get Kathy to divorce Bob, but she refused. But unknown to Kathy, Joe found out about his daughter being pregnant and then got her and Bob's marriage annulled. But in the summer of 1952, Bob was very unhappy about the marriage being ended and tried to force Kathy back into their sham of a marriage, but Kathy refused. So Bob tried to woo her, by becoming as romantic as he could, but Kathy still didn't budge, but agreed to see Bob, even while she was dating Dick. Caught in the middle of all of this was both Alice Graham and Meta Bauer White Roberts. Alice was caught in the middle, because she was the only one who knew that the pregnant Kathy was seeing both Bob and Dick, and Meta was caught in the middle, because Meta could wisely see that Kathy's actions were a direct result of Meta and Joe's marriage, so Meta ran off again to New York City and Trudy and Clyde!

Then on September 12, 1952, a tragedy occurred that was to set the stage for Kathy to face a similar legal troubles as Meta had two years earlier. Kathy agreed to go for a driving date with Bob Lang, and during this date, Bob's car ended up having brake trouble. Bob got Kathy to leave the car shortly before it ended up going off a cliff near the Hollywood Hills, but Bob Lang was much less fortunate and ended up going, with the car, off the cliff to his death! Kathy was beside herself and had no idea what to do, but realized she needed to get away from the accident. Now a very much pregnant Kathy was not sure what to do or who to turn to. Fortunately Dick, going against Laura's wishes, agreed to marry Kathy, not only for the sake of her unborn child, but also to keep her from possibly getting into legal trouble over Bob Lang's death. Unfortunately, Kathy realized she left one of her gloves in the crime scene, Bob Lang's car, the night he went over the cliff and the police found it. Then to top it all off, Kathy's new uncle and aunt, by marriage, Bert and Bill Bauer were dragged into the whole mess, when Alice Graham (Kathy's now former roommate) ended up being in breach of contract when she signed a deal to do television commercials without telling Bill's advertising agency! Then when Bill tried to force Alice to do the right thing and disavow the commercials, which Alice was unwilling to do, Alice spilled all the beans to Bill as to what and how much trouble Kathy was in including about Bob Lang's death and she was going to the police with the information, which would make Bill an accomplice after-the-fact to Kathy's "crimes"! Meta reading all about this in New York City, agreed, it was time for her to come back home, unfortunately the first few months of 1953 were going to be anything but comfortable for the Bauers or the Roberts or even the Grants!

Kathy of course was put on trial for the murder of Bob Lang, with the District Attorney, Richard Hanley out for blood. The articles in the newspapers, both in the City Times (which had to be done, despite Joe pleading to his boss his editor not to do so) and the Times competition, had the effect of causing problems in the marriage of not only Joe and Meta (who finally had to reveal they were married to everyone), but also the marriage of Bill and Bert (with the latest episode with Alice Graham reminding Bert way too much of Bill's problems with Gloria La Rue Harper, fortunately Alice backed off her naming Bill as Kathy's accomplice, but she still testified at Kathy's trial and her testimony was nearly damaging enough to send a pregnant Kathy to prison), and the marriages of Kathy and Dick and Laura and Richard, with Richard trying to be lenient to the young couple, but Laura trying to take pound-of-flesh against Kathy at every chance she could. Bill also got fired from the advertising agency due to all of this, and unfortunately had to deal with a demanding Bert trying to get him to get another job, soon. Fortunately Kathy was acquitted, by the end of March 1953, when Joe discovered that another mechanic who had claimed he had repaired Bob Lang's car's brakes, had really not done so, so it wasn't actually Kathy who caused Bob's tragic and fatal car accident. Shortly after this Meta, Joe and Joey faded into supporting roles, as Kathy and Dick's romantic difficulties started to take center stage on the show, with some story still given to Bill and Bert and their young child, Michael "Mike". Unfortunately for Meta, Joe would end up dying in his sleep, peacefully, on Christmas Eve 1955, and she would have to begin again. Joe's funeral would be the last time that Joey Roberts would appear. Joey who had never had problems with Meta and Joe's marriage, had since become a successful member of the Air Force had moved away to Arizona with his wife, Lois. Joe's death, though, would finally show to Meta that she and Kathy were finally the mother-and-daughter team that Meta had hoped for from the beginning as both women consoled each other over the man both of them loved.

Bill soon did get another job at an advertising agency, but unfortunately this new job required many hours and days away from his family and Selby Flats (although Bert was thrilled when they were able to afford to buy the Hollywood Hills home formerly occupied by Ray and Charlotte Brandon, and Papa moved out of Selby Flats and in with them.) Bert started relying more on Papa's sage advice and actually started feeling as his daughter as Papa had said for years she was to him. A young, slighly SORASed Michael though was another issue. With Bill spending so much time alone, Michael started feeling as though he was abandoned by his father. He even started telling Bert and Papa that he had no father and that he had died, which greatly hurt and confused the two of them. Bert took Michael to a child psychologist, despite Papa saying he had enough of advice to help, but the psychologist could do nothing but agree with Papa that Michael was headed for many problems down the road, unless Bill spent more time with him, soon. Bill finally on persuasion of Papa and Bert, took Michael on one of his advertising agency trips and in the hotel Bill made a game out of Michael trying to find his father, which Michael did and soon he and Bill bonded and became best of pals and Michael never spoke of his father being dead, again. (Well, at least not until the summer of 1969.) On New Year's Eve 1954, Bert gave birth to her and Bill's second son, named, William Edward or at the time "Billy" for short (later in the 1960s, when he got older, he'd refer to himself as Edward or "Ed" for short.) Coming from Arizona to help out was Bert's recently widowed mother, Elsie Miller, who Michael took an instant disliking too and acted up around, but Michael had every reason to do so, because Elsie herself started to turn the Bauer household upside down! Even Bill and Papa started to dislike her and her demands. And eventually even Bert became fed up with her own mother! Fortunately Elsie was soon taken care of when the new man in her life, that she was actually escaping, Albert Franklin, came for a visit and quickly broke down her defenses and she and Albert soon married and left the Hollywood Hills home for Arizona. For a time, peace reigned in the Bauer household, but not for long, as Michael who was soon to go by the name of Mike was to face SORASing yet, again, and quickly become a teenager by the end of 1957!

Meanwhile, Kathy's marriage to Dr. Dick Grant took some rather interesting twist and turns. Kathy gave birth to Bob Lang's child, whom she named Robin, for the spring time that she was born into. It wasn't an easy childbirth, with Kathy needing to be hospitalized both before, during and afterwards. Dick agreed to adopt Robin, despite his mother's protest, but Kathy faced an internal infection that caused her to hallucinate that many people were out to get her, and actually one was out to get something of hers, her new second husband, Dr. Dick Grant! Hired by Laura to look after and care for Kathy, was private nurse Janet Johnson, who took an instant shine to Dick and she was encouraged to go after him and break up his marriage by Laura herself! And Dick, waiting for Kathy to get better, nearly succumbed to the charms of Janet Johnson! Fortunately Kathy would get better, and seemed things to be working themselves out in the marriage of Dick and Kathy Grant, that is until Dick faced personal and professional crises at work, where he was overworked at Cedars and had to face a father and son team of doctors, who didn't realize for a while were father and son, that caused Dick to want to give up both his marriage to Kathy and also his profession as a world class surgeon. Soon, Dick left Cedars (during a middle of an operation) and then left Los Angeles and moved to New York City, where for a while he lived under an assumed name and met a young woman who would become his new love interest, artist Marie Wallace! Laura, finally agreeing Kathy was not as bad as she had once seemed, rallied with both Kathy and Richard to try and figure out a way to get Dick back home, but unfortunately none of them knew where he was and eventually Kathy sought a divorce due to abandonment of affection from Dick. Laura and Richard Grant would soon after this, not be seen, again, in story line or on air.

Dick would soon show back up in Los Angeles, and then Marie would as well, and it was soon realized by all that they truly loved each other when Marie went temporarily blind, and Dick was the one who helped Marie regain her eyesight. By this time, it was 1957, and a new wrinkle entered the lives of the newlyweds Dick and Marie Grant. Cedars hired yet a new surgeon named, Dr. Paul Fletcher, and despite Dick and Marie's new marriage, Paul and Marie instantly hit it off, much to Dick's chagrin. Marie was also feeling less than a woman, when it was learned she couldn't get pregnant, and adoptions were not easy to move along enough to satisfy Marie's maternal instincts. Marie nearly had an affair with Dr. Paul Fletcher, but fortunately for Dick, not all was as it seemed for his rival. Dr. Paul Fletcher was actually his assumed name that he adopted during the Korean War, based on what his mother Marion Winters Lipsey had told him about his biological father, Fred Fletcher, who had abandoned him and his mother many years earlier (or that's what he thought.) Paul had thought up to that point that the man who adopted him, his mom Marion Winters' husband, John Lipsey had done so because Fred had abandoned him and his mom, but as it turned out Marion left Fred. Paul did get to finally meet and forgive Fred a few short months before Fred died of cancer in April 1958, but for a time Paul felt he was less deserving of love than others. (Bert Bauer nicknamed Paul a "sour apple" due to Paul feeling this way during the first two years she knew him, 1956 to 1958.) Fortunately another woman soon entered Dr. Paul Fletcher's life, Anne Benedict from San Francisco, who soon became the love of his life and made him realize that he did deserve love. And the change in Paul even made Bert realize his personality wasn't bad as she first thought it was. Anne and Paul soon married, despite for a while Anne's rich father Henry disapproving. Anne Fletcher would give birth to Dr. Paul Fletcher's son, that they named Johnny, which sealed Henry, as well as his wife Helene approving of their daughter's marriage to Paul. In 1959, Dick and Marie Grant got caught up in criminal Joe Turino's illegal adoption scam ring, although quite innocently for them. One of Dick's patients was a run away drug addict by the name of Amy Sinclair, who gave birth in the spring of 1959 to a daughter she named Nora. Feeling as though she couldn't raise Nora on her own, she agreed to let Dick and Marie Grant adopt little Nora who they renamed Marie, but unfortunately this adoption was set up through Joe Turino's scam ring. In 1960, the District Attorney's investigation into this scam would lead Dick and Marie Grant heartbroken, when they lost custody of Marie and she was returned to Amy. (Dick gave Amy money to hide from Joe Turino and skip town in the process.) Later in the fall of 1960, Dick and Marie Grant would try, again, to adopt and succeeded, adopting a boy by the name of Phillip Collins. Dick and Marie Grant would leave town with their adopted son, Phillip Collins Grant, in 1962, and would not be heard from, again.

After Joe Robert's funeral, Meta, started seeing a man named Mark Holden, who was a rich well-off structural engineer friend of her brother-in-law, Clyde Palmer, hired at Cedars to do some work on the building. Bert tried to set up Meta with Mark, but unfortunately for Meta, Mark took a shine to Meta's stepdaughter, Kathy. Meta agreed to step aside for Mark and Kathy, on the advice of Dr. Bruce Banning, who continued to have romantic feelings for Meta. Kathy soon married her third and final husband Mark Holden. It didn't take long for Kathy to find out that the old adage of "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" was very true when it came to her daughter with Bob Lang, Robin's personality, was concerned. By the time Kathy married Mark, Robin had also been SORASed into a pre-teen and she acted every bit the brat around Mark, at first. Kathy and Mark couldn't understand why, until she told him that she wanted Kathy to still be married to Dr. Dick Grant! Fortunately that time, once both Meta and Dick had talk with the young girl, Robin turned around and agreed to accept Mark, just in time for Mark to agree to adopt Robin and Dick allowing that.

Meanwhile Mark's younger sister, a rebellious 16-year-old, Alice Holden showed up in Selby Flats to live with Kathy, Mark and Robin. Right away it was clear that Alice and Robin mixed like water and oil, nearly not at all. Alice was resentful how spoiled Robin appeared to be, and Robin couldn't stand having the older more wordly-wise Alice living in the same household. Enter into all of this a just turned teenaged Mike Bauer, the "cousin" of Robin, who Robin had a crush on and Mike did allow her some flirtations. But for the 13-year-old Mike, his hormones made him fall under the spell of the older Alice. And Alice picked up on that. This stalemate of constant tension between Robin, Mike and Alice was going to soon lead to a tragedy that would just compound for the helpless Kathy. And all of this started just as Kathy found out she was pregnant, again, this time with Mark's child! One day to get back at Robin and to treat her as the spoiled brat she was, Alice took a kitchen chair that Mike, being the young gentlemen he was, would usually pull out for Robin and decided to screw out some of the bolts used to hold the chair together, so it would fall apart when Robin sat in it -- so Robin would be embarrassed and perhaps keep her spoiled bratty mouth shut. Unfortunately at that exact time, a pregnant Kathy decided to use that chair to do some work in one of the kitchen cabinets and when Kathy stood on the chair, sure enough as Alice had intended (but for the wrong victim), the chair gave way and Kathy fell hard on to the kitchen floor. Kathy was taken to Cedars and it was clear the injury Kathy sustained was serious and she miscarried her and Mark's child! Kathy then developed another infection and soon found herself permanently restricted to a wheelchair as she developed paralysis. Alice was soon sent packing back to Mark's parents home, and then a year later to a school whose living arrangements were closer to where Mark lived with Robin. In March 1958, Kathy was killed when bicycling children accidentally pushed her wheelchair into oncoming traffic. Mark had to raise the now SORASed to a teenager Robin on his own.

Robin and Mike as teenagers soon became more seriously romantically involved. But Robin also became a terribly troublesome to Mark and Meta, trying to break up Meta's romance with Bruce and get her to marry Mark so Meta would become her stepmother. Robin also took an instant disliking to Mark's new romantic involvement with housekeeper Ruth Jannings, a widow herself. Unfortunately for Robin, on New Year's Eve 1959, Robin would find out very harshly she couldn't control everything when she came to Mark's hotel only to discover there was a new Mrs. Mark Holden, and they were on their honeymoon. It only got worse for Robin when she went to Mark's hotel room and when the door opened to the hotel room the new Mrs. Mark Holden answered and it was revealed to be the former Mrs. Ruth Jannings! But Robin was soon to cause more trouble, in the New Year and first year of the new decade, 1960, by getting involved romantically, more, with Mike Bauer, but also Ruth's son, Karl.

References

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