Light out

It's game over for Guiding Light as the 15,762nd and final episode is transmitted over the daytime airwaves. And with that, 72 years of drama, pathos, and tragedy come to an end.

Now that the death of daytime drama is official, perhaps the network will come to recognize that soap operas need to operate under a new paradigm. No more "Will X tell Y the truth about Z?" and all that jazz. That crap has been long played out, and indeed is replicated daily on many an anonymous reality series craptacular.

But most of all, the trailer court values need to go. That above all is what has turned people off to daytime. There is no moral value center. The creative process has turned to plot points and the theatre of the absurd where moral values are tossed out the window regularly.

A story grounded in the moral right will always triumph. Audiences will only invest in characters which they care about. 

A lesson learned too little, too late for GL, and other potential departures from the canvas in the future.