The longest-running drama in broadcast history, CBS' "Guiding Light," wrapped up its 72-year run this afternoon.
CBS in April decided to pull the plug on the program because of its high cost of production and flagging ratings. This past year, the show mustered an average 2.1 million viewers an episode -- a far cry from the more than 5 million viewers it attracted a decade ago. CBS plans to replace the soap opera on Oct. 5 with a remake of "Let's Make a Deal," hosted by Wayne Brady.
"Guiding Light" was created in the depths of the Depression, in 1937, as a 15-minute radio program aimed at selling soap and other products to housewives -- thus earning it the moniker of "soap opera."Â In 1952, the show moved to television, where it has been a mainstay ever since. It is owned by packaged products giant Procter & Gamble, the maker of Ivory, Tide, Mr. Clean and Crest toothpaste.Legions of the show's fans protested the cancellation, saying they had a special place in their hearts for the program about the families of the fictional Midwestern town of Springfield. Some begged CBS to reconsider its decision. But the network said that neither it nor P&G could make the finances work, and they joined those who mourned the death of the history-making serial.
Beyond entertaining millions of viewers with the love lives of the characters, the show explored themes that were once taboo for television: rape, abortion, adultery and AIDS.
It was produced in New York and provided jobs for thousands of people over the years.
"This ground-breaking program has provided steadyemployment, wages and benefits for thousands of AFTRA performers and otherunion members working in the entertainment and media industries," the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists said in a statement today.
When CBS made its decision, the show's executive producer, Ellen Wheeler, was philosophical.
"This show has been here since before World War II," Wheeler said in early April. "It has gone through wars and tragedies and triumphs -- man walking on the moon, and the dawn of the computer age. This show chronicled all these changes in society. It has been our mirror on society for generations, and when you lose something that is part of the fabric of society you lose something precious."
-- Meg James
Enthusiasm for men behaving badly on 'Curb' ('Bored' and 'Crash,' not so much)
The second episode of the new season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm†(9 p.m. Central Sunday, HBO; three and a half stars) put me in a bind â€" in a good way.
One of the story lines revolves around something that cannot be discussed in a family newspaper. But those who find something amusing about creator Larry David’s cranky worldview should make sure the kids are far away from the TV on Sept. 27 and prepare to laugh themselves silly.
The seventh season of “Curb†is getting a lot of attention for the faux “Seinfeld†reunion that will take place over several episodes of the show (David was an executive producer, co-creator and writer of that long-running NBC comedy). Just as a semifictional version of David anchors this confrontational comedy, semifictional versions of the “Seinfeld†stars â€" who play themselves â€" turn up in the third episode.
The actors think a “Seinfeld†reunion is a terrible idea, but David cajoles them into it, thinking it will somehow draw him closer to his estranged wife, Cheryl (Cheryl Hines). But the reunion has its problems: David can’t keep himself from insulting a network executive and otherwise alienating almost everyone he encounters.
Almost? What am I, dense? Of course he manages to alienate everyone.
Yet the David of “Curb†is so scathingly direct that he’s also quite funny; half the time he’s just saying things that the rest of us are too polite or repressed to say. And what redeems “Curb†is that David’s despair over the stupidity of the world is balanced by a healthy amount of self-loathing â€" he may think everyone else is a moron, but quite often thinks he’s an idiot too.
"Bored to Death" (8:30 p.m. Central Sunday, HBO; two stars) features another man old enough to know better who nevertheless does whatever he wants. In this arch, mannered comedy, Ted Danson plays George Christopher, a magazine editor who never met a trend, a party or a drug he didn't want to try.Danson is so typically deft that he makes Christopher's raging egotism and arrested development engaging. Zach Galifianakis gives a similarly nuanced performance as the put-upon best friend of magazine writer and would-be detective Jonathan Ames (Jason Schwatzman).
Danson and Galifianakis, however, can't quite make up for the fact that Ames and his various pursuits are juvenile and predictable. The show does have a good premise: After a messy breakup, Ames put an ad on Craigslist advertising himself as an unlicensed detective, but this leads to "adventures" that end up being, for the most part, tedious.
Speaking of men of a certain age behaving badly, Dennis Hopper returns to the tube in the second season of "Crash" (9 p.m. Central Friday, Starz; one and a half stars).
The actor has dialed down his performance a couple of notches this season, and as it happens, he's the best thing about this otherwise leaden drama. It's hard to establish how the many characters in this sprawling show about modern-day Los Angeles relate to each other. But given that much of the show is dour and uninteresting -- so much so that I almost found myself enjoying the hambone acting of new cast member Eric Roberts -- it's pretty hard to care.
Broadway revival of 'South Pacific' comes to the Bay Area
The blockbuster first Broadway revival of 'South Pacific' sails into San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre from Sept. 18 to Oct. 25, before heading out on a long-awaited national tour that may well change the way we think about the musical theater chestnut.
For Amy Poehler, Comedy Is A Walk In The 'Park'
The star of NBC's Parks and Recreation kicked off her comedic career in Chicago, studying improv at The Second City.
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