The plug is about to be pulled on “Guiding Light.” After 72 years on radio and television the soap-opera “Guiding Light” will come to an end on Sept. 18, 2009, CBS announced on Wednesday, according to E! Online.
The soap-opera helped launch the careers of many Hollywood stars including “Hero’s” Hayden Panettiere, James Earl Jones, Brittany Snow, Kevin Bacon, Mira Sorvino, Christopher Walkin and more.
The show originally started as a 15-minute radio show aired on NBC Radio and had its premiere on Jan. 25, 1937.
“Guiding Light” moved into television in June of 1952 when CBS Television aired the soap-opera simultaneously with the radio show, and later aired as a full hour in Nov. of 1977.
“Guiding Light has achieved a piece of television history that will never be matched; it has crossed mediums, adapted its stories to decades of social change and woven its way through generations of audiences like no other,” said Nancy Tellem, president of CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group, in a statement. “While its presence will be missed, its contributions will always be celebrated and never forgotten.”
The network has yet to give a reason for canceling the Emmy Award-winning TV show, although it has suffered from declining ratings over the past few years.
