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Guiding Light: The future of daytime drama?
WARNING: Contains spoilers for non-US viewers!
It may be the world's oldest soap, starting off on radio in 1937 before moving to television in 1952, but Guiding Light has positioned itself at the cutting edge of daytime TV with a new look that has divided fans.
Struggling in the ratings and losing viewers, it was clear that the show needed to do something to arrest the decline.
Daytime soaps in general are battling to survive in a world very different from the one that spawned them. Desperate times sometimes call for brave action and the producers of Guiding Light have dramatically revamped the show in a bid to reinvigorate the soap genre and make it relevant to a twenty first century audience.
Gone are the old style sets and static camerawork that have been a staple of soap production in America for over half a century. In their place, Guiding Light is now shot on hand held digital cameras in newly constructed three dimensional sets. The action is also getting out of the studio - 20% of the show is now filmed on location, with the New Jersey town of Peapack doubling as the fictional Springfield.
The emphasis is on realism - the forty new sets have four walls and ceilings to give a real sense of space, and reality TV style camerawork is meant to create a greater intimacy between character and viewer.
The new look debuted on February 29th, but has it worked? Read the many blogs and comments on soap fan sites and you would be forgiven for thinking the revamp has been a complete disaster, more likely to alienate the show's remaining viewers than save it from the dreaded axe. But soap fans are notoriously protective of "their" shows and it would be unrealistic to expect such major changes to a long established programme to be painless.
Certainly though, some of the criticism seems justified. It is true that wonky camera angles and jerky movements can bring on a feeling of nausea, and at times the tinny sound gives the show a distinctly amateurish feel. What's more, the heightened realism of the new look sometimes sits uncomfortably with the heightened unrealism of the traditional soap opera acting style.
On the plus side, Guiding Light has taken a bold step out of the confines of a genre that has long since had its heyday. Some stalwart fans may complain, but they alone are not enough to guarantee the show's future - daytime soaps need bigger audiences and a younger demographic if they are to compete in today's fractured digital landscape. This has been recognised by some fans, granted a minority, on the bulletin boards, who welcome Guiding Light's attempt to refresh itself and reach out to new viewers.
In the coming months we should expect some of the production problems, especially the poor quality sound, to be ironed out. Viewer feedback should also, hopefully, lead to some of the more "creative" camerawork being scaled back. Revamping a much loved soap opera is always a gamble - loyal viewers may abandon a show they no longer recognise and the hoped for new audience may not come, but keeping the status quo probably wasn't an option for a show dogged by rumours that its days were numbered.
Look at episodes of the soaps from the 1950s and 1960s and it is clear that daytime dramas have always been influenced by the production techniques and demographics of the time. Early television soap was little more than radio with pictures until producers starting experimenting with the new medium of TV and reinventing the genre. Fifteen minute programmes aimed at housewives have given way to soaps broadcast on the internet or as podcasts, for a generation who are no longer sitting at home during the day.
Certainly some of the other shows lurking in the bottom half of the ratings will be watching what happens next with interest. The new look Guiding Light could be the first move towards daytime drama in America ensuring it can survive another 50 years, or it may be the beginning of the end for the longest running drama in broadcasting history. Either way, the producers of Guiding Light deserve credit for standing out from the crowd and creating arguably the first truly contemporary soap of the new millennium.
