MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO SEMINAR SERIES, THE: WORLDS WITHOUT END: THE ART AND HISTORY OF THE SOAP OPERA: GUIDING LIGHT {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in this series of seminars conducted by The Museum of Television & Radio. This seminar, moderated by Museum television curator Ron Simon, examines the making and history of the long-running soap opera, "Guiding Light," and features a panel discussion and questions from the audience. After Simon makes opening remarks, he introduces a highlight tape that begins with a recreation of an early radio episode, followed by many memorable moments from the television series, "Guiding Light." Following the highlight tape, Simon introduces the panelists: executive producer Paul Rauch; head writers James Harmon Brown and Barbara Esensten; and cast members Kevin Mambo, Wendy Moniz, Ron Raines, Jerry Van Dorn, Cynthia Watros, and Kim Zimmer. The panel then discusses the following topics, among others: Irna Phillips, who created the original radio show, and her contributions to the series and to the soap opera genre; major changes that are occurring as daytime television grows in popularity; qualities that make "Guiding Light" so unique to daytime television; whether actors bring personal talents or ideas to their roles; the awe that some actors felt about working on the show after being fans for so many years; actors' experiences while auditioning for their roles; changes in production expenses during the past few years; the vivid and dim memories that performers have of their first day on the show; the way actors return to their roles after a hiatus, or come back to life after being killed off; alterations that are made in the show's stories and the way it is produced in order to keep ratings from slipping; and a description of a typical day on the set for actors and the production team. The panel then takes questions from the audience, leading to discussions about the following topics, among others: whether they would ever bring back the last surviving member of the original series so the fans could appreciate its foundation; the way the writing process works; the origins of the lavish wardrobes on the series; whether they want to move to a new time slot; the way the writers incorporate race issues into the stories; the age group that gives the series its highest ratings; the way they maintain quality writing standards; the number of script pages that actors must memorize for each episode; actions that are taken when ratings begin to slip; and the impact of a character's departure on the series.
Details
- NETWORK: Paley
- DATE: January 20, 1998 7:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:26:59
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:93673
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: She Made It Collection (Irna Phillips)
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ron Simon … Moderator
- James Harmon Brown … Panelist
- Barbara Esensten … Panelist
- Kevin Mambo … Panelist
- Wendy Moniz … Panelist
- Ron Raines … Panelist
- Paul Rauch … Panelist
- Jerry Van Dorn … Panelist
- Cynthia Watros … Panelist
- Kim Zimmer … Panelist
- Irna Phillips