Why Aren’t They Streaming Guiding Light

Proctor and Gamble – Do They Really Like Us?

On a Guiding Light Facebook group they recently posted a question about why they aren’t streaming Guiding Light episodes. They speculated that it was because Proctor and Gamble, who own the show, didn’t want them out there for some reason. I think there is a touch of that. After all they closed down production because there “wasn’t an audience” the last thing they wanted was to show that there was, in fact, a HUGE, profitable audience. However, it was only a couple of years after Guiding Light ended that Proctor and Gamble looked at improving the storage and stabilizing the videos. They also worked on trying to get copies of episodes they didn’t have from other sources, for example I know they got a couple As the World Turns episodes from Eileen Fulton. That was very good news that they were showing an interest and not just throwing them out. They could just throw them out. Corporate Archives at different companies have been easily thrown out before and there is no requirement that companies in any way preserve their history or any particular asset.

Let Me Introduce You To Soap Classics 

Proctor and Gamble have the episodes from the very, very late 1970s onward with a few episodes earlier and that’s all sunk costs to Proctor and Gamble. To pay for storage and preservation and NOT sell them when there is a market is foolish. BUT they did try to monetize those episodes. The problem was they thought it would be easy so they went with a start-up company, Soap Classics. So the start-up was having to make up infrastructure as they went and as can be expected that didn’t work well. (For instance, I bought one with express shipping because it was the Bauers and people who had bought it with regular shipping got theirs quite a few days before mine.)

The Beat Goes On Or Does It?

A second problem they didn’t realize was that P&G had made two decisions to do something cheaper while shooting the show and outrageously expensive to do now.  Namely they only bought one use of the pop music – which for a long time GL was brilliant at using – instead of forever use with that episode. You can do that. There are two price points and they always picked the one time cost which was lower. After all they were soaps, they didn’t air again and what else can you do with episodes? (Facepalm) Which means they NOW had to get music clearance for what were the big songs from those years and are the ones that cost most for using now. I mean, for instance, there are say 10 songs from 1984 are what people really remember a lot. Those are the ones with a high price AND those most popular songs were often the ones GL used. 

The other short term cheap, long term ridiculously expensive decision was that their music wasn’t on a separate track. If it WAS on a separate track would be easy to peel off  the music and replace it with a cheap option in most places, but instead it is recorded as part of the main vocal track, meaning there is no way to pull what they don’t want to pay for quickly and easily.

Tech Problems With a Start Up

A third problem was Soap Classics did have a limited website you stream episodes and it had major issues with hacking and with people simply copying episodes off and posting them to YouTube. This was a huge headache to deal with and I think made them step away from standalone streaming systems.

So if they ever WERE to do a system they’d need an established company with music connections and a DVD system in place (even if they only stream them there are other issues and you need a business that does massive work with music right already) and a solid platform, maybe get one of the services to take it on. I always think Screen Gems and I’ve e-mailed them with requests for Guiding Light every time I see a post about what TV show they want them to do next. I still have hope, but it would take investment before they could pull it off and as of right now P&G seem content to lose the sunk costs rather than to invest more to get a workable system.

Here’s my conclusions from when the Soaps Classics company closed down. They are a little detailed.

Robansuefarm is the handle of one of Manny and Guiding Light‘s biggest fans following in her family’s footsteps of Guiding Light fandom since 1939. This blog is an effort to make it easy to find Guiding Light and especially Manny online. Check back here for her blog, find fanfic previews and fake WSPR newscasts on her YouTube, find podcasts that look back to old shows and audios of her fanfics on Blog Talk Radio, and finally follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Soap Classics Ending

By now I’m sure everyone has heard the awful news that Soap Classics did not renew their rights for the P&G soaps. My response was delayed by the holiday posts, but I didn’t want it to pass by without comment. Soap Classics have put up a message on what was once their website saying they haven’t closed the company and intend to move on to other shows. Good luck to them and I’m grateful for what they did release and what we can learn from their experience. http://www.soapclassics.com

What we’ve learned:

1. The market for soap opera DVDs is now proven. In 2012, we had two separate companies (three if you count Dark Shadows which is an outlier for several reasons) successfully sell soap opera DVDs. Soap fans have long claimed that soap fans were just as fervent as sci fi fans or sports fans and would spend money accordingly, even though we haven’t gotten much of a chance to prove it. Although Soap Classics is closing both they and people who know have said sales were good, this despite the fact advertising was nearly non-existent and that many people who did know put off purchases that they would likely have made later if the company had continued with production. The market is now proven. I’m sure P&G had something in place to monitor sales, so they know that they were good.

2. Soap opera DVD distributor isn’t a job for a start up. The company had done processing before and they were looking at it through the lens of a technological problem. While there were tech issues, as a tech problem it was totally doable to pull episodes, process them and create either DVDs or online streaming. There were other problems that they didn’t see coming, including communications (see note 1) and rights (see note 2). Plus troubles with hacking their free streaming sites directed at other countries, clearly some work still needed to be done on the tech side too. I happen to be friends with two different owner/operators of small documentary companies and all these problems are very familiar to me from talking with them. They will be continuing issues for small companies, but they are not unexpected and there are ways around them. System problems plague all small time video distribution when trying to build up a company from the ground up and with Soap Classics they were never successfully overcome. A larger company would certainly have systems in place for many of these issues and be able to deal with more quickly and effectively.

3. Organization – Recordings are labeled by episode number. All synopsis are organized by date, or in some period publications the month, aired a difference in perception between the production people and the fans, but except for large round numbers fans didn’t know or care about episode numbers and production crew didn’t make notes of air dates for numbers in any format that we currently have access to making it inconvenient to mesh the two systems to find specific episodes. This will remain a problem until someone creates an inventory-directory that makes conversion from one system to the other, at least approximately, a workable system.

4. Rights – Soap operas are by nature a collaborative art form. As a result they are a property with a complicated rights package. This doesn’t seem to have been fully appreciated by Soap Classics going in. Rights have to be purchased from several sources, the most problematic were music rights. In the 1970s and 1980s a lot of top 10 hits were used on soaps which means that if there is any song you might want to hear again from say 1981, it was probably used on a soap and the rights holders know people still want to hear it and charge accordingly. The person who owns the music rights intend to make the most money off  of their rights, most of these holders have now bought as a deliberate investment which they expect to pay off. However, even if it doesn’t seem like it, in most cases they want their songs to be played and used, because it can only make them more valuable. While we can pause a moment to look askance at former TPTB for not just buying permanent rights in the first place and saving us this hassle, there are systems in place to deal with it and while it might take more time and money than originally expected in most cases this too can be overcome with a proper system by someone who knows the ropes. Originally it was hoped that it could be worked around, but most of the earlier tapes have a single sound track instead of multiple tracks (where voices would be on one and music on another) so that wasn’t possible, but again this problem is neither unexpected nor insurmountable.

5. Pioneers don’t prosper – The pioneer in any industry is seldom rewarded. Much more common is when the pioneer company introduces the idea/product/service makes a short burst of money and an established company swoops in and actually figures out how to make money long term with the new idea, product, or system. A company already established that has a system in place for handling rights, for having space on shelves in stores, a duplication system, and existing relationships with rights holders (both individuals and groups) might well be successful and profitable where the pioneer failed. Now there isn’t an offer on the table as far as I know, but with a now established market and a desire by Proctor and Gamble executives to cash in, I’d be surprised if they didn’t shop it around to companies who are already offering either TV shows on DVD or TV shows via streaming.

I haven’t given up hope and a new project might be even better. There is no guarantee that they will follow up and there may be further loss of episodes if this project doesn’t move forward quickly, but there are as many good options for the future as bad ones and I’m betting on P&G to go for the money.

Note 1: Communication was always a problem with the Soaps Classic company. Even though they had a willing fanbase wanting to be utilized to spread any news, instead of telling us what was going on they always went for a surprise and vagueness. We should have known exactly what they were doing at all times to help them create Buzz. They primarily focused advertising online because it is cheaper, but they then didn’t follow up. They should have responding to tweets on Twitter and comments on Facebook. When they heard we were having watch alongs, they should have been all over that and promoting it all over the place. Actually they could have organized some themselves. They also seemed to have problems with communication across the board. I ordered various ways, direct by phone, online, through Amazon, and encountered problems with people knowing what was going on multiple times. I also one time paid for Express Shipping and it didn’t get here one minute faster than standard would have. They exhibited this kind of incompetence over and over, but those problems were inherent with a company trying to do too much too soon and nothing to do with soap opera episode sales and distribution in particular.

Note 2: The big issues that will define the 21st century will involve rights, who own things and who will get to use them, namely water and copyright/license rights on digital copies. Systems that have developed over time and piece meal don’t always address society’s current needs. There is an inevitable three way crash coming. On one side you have content owners, lead by the Walt Disney Company (who I most sincerely hope Walt himself would be ashamed of) trying to grab more and more rights for longer and longer times (the copyright on early Mickey Mouse cartoons should have expired by now, to prevent that happening a coalition lead by Disney dumped huge amounts of money on Congress to get them to extend copyright blanket across the board, it was unofficially known as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act). On the second side, you have a wave of people, mostly the group (rather stupidly) known as Generation Y whose education and play time has been focused on how you technically do things online without the necessary Information Literacy back up (due to school cuts in library programs among other issues) and so they think if they can do something  technically they should be able to no matter who owned the original content. The third group will be those owners who are smart enough to realize that strict enforcement might not be their best bet and will allow some leeway to help word of their content go viral and ultimately get the best of both, like when movie owners tried to get the VCR declared a rights violation, only to fail and find they made more money than ever before through the new market for VHS and later DVD movie sales it created. However, this third group will still likely be attacked by both sides in the short term. Questions of who opens what, what rights does the original owner have, how much change is required to create a new original object, what rights for free use and to keep inspiring new products does the general public have, must all be redefined and answered before we go forward.  Soap Classics might be a relatively early casualty of not including the mess that rights are right now into their business plan, but they will not be the last. We have some rocky roads ahead as figure out digital and content rights (and this is the easy one be glad I didn’t explain the water rights problem to you).

GL DVD Directory Update 4

Updating the directory since the new release, here is a directory of the episodes offered on the Soap Classics Guiding Light DVD sets (the more we buy, the more they offer), I’ve constructed a chart of the episodes available for purchase so far in date order. I’ve also added the day of the week the episode originally aired to help set it up better.

• Set 1 is the original sampler set.
• Set 2 is the Reva Collection.
• Set 3 is the Phillip Collection.
•  Set 4 is Bauer Family Collection.
• Set 5 is Farewell Springfield.
• Set 6 is The Jennifer Richards Trial.

The  number I’m giving to help you on the chart is to find each episode is by set, by disc number within set, and episode on disc, plus the name of the disc it appears on to make them easier to find. For example, the episode “The Truth About Phillip” is 1.2.3 which is set 1, disc 2, and the third episode on the disc. The a final column has an X in that column if there was a back to back episodes available on any of the DVD sets.

Last Updated October 20, 2012

Name	Name of Disc	Number of Set. Number of Disc. Number of Episode	Date Originally Aired in US	Day of the Week	BAC K 2 B A C K
Death of a Patriarch (Papa Bauer’s Funeral)	Bauer Family	4.1.6	Feb. 27, 1973	Tuesday
Mike Bauer: Man of the Year	Bauer Family	4.1.1	Nov. 14, 1977	Monday
Meet the Spauldings (a very early episode soon after the Spauldings arrive in town)	The Story of Phillip Spaulding	3.1.1	Nov. 23, 1977	Wednesday
Where in the World is Santo Domingo (day after Roger grabs Holly)	Bauer Family	4.1.2	Jan. 10, 1980	Thursday
On the Trail of Roger Thorpe (Roger Goes Over Cliff)	Villains & Vixens	1.4.1	April1, 1980	Tuesday
A Second Chance – Jennifer Richards gets a 2nd trial	The Jennifer Richards Trial	6.1.1	Jan. 9, 1981	Friday	X
Tainted Evidence – Jennifer tries to damage her own case	The Jennifer Richards Trial	6.1.2	Jan. 12, 1981	Monday	X
Surprise Witness – man who knows her secret comes back to town	The Jennifer Richards Trial	6.1.3	Jan. 13, 1981	Tuesday	X
Birth Certificate – Mike finds a crucial clue	The Jennifer Richards Trial	6.1.4	Jan. 14, 1981	Wednesday	X
Web of Lies – Jennifer tries to force Mike to keep secret	The Jennifer Richards Trial	6.1.5	Jan. 15, 1981	Thursday	X
Courtroom Shocker – Another surprise witness	The Jennifer Richards Trial	6.2.1	Jan. 19, 1981	Monday	X
True Confessions- Jennifer spills all on witness stand	The Jennifer Richards Trial	6.2.2	Jan. 20, 1981	Tuesday	X
Repercussions – Amanda and unborn child in danger	The Jennifer Richards Trial	6.2.3	Jan. 21, 1981	Wednesday	X
About the Baby – Amanda has life-threatening surgery	The Jennifer Richards Trial	6.2.4	Jan. 22, 1981	Thursday	X
Truth and Consequences – Springfield reacts	The Jennifer Richards Trial	6.2.5	Jan. 23, 1981	Friday	X
Many Sins of Nola Reardon, The	Secrets And Scandals	1.2.1	July 27, 1981	Monday
Kelly Nelson Marries Morgan Richards	Great Weddings	1.1.1	Aug. 18, 1981	Tuesday
And Carrie Makes Three	Secrets And Scandals	1.2.2	July 12, 1982	Monday
Quinton Chamberlain Marries Nola Reardon	Great Weddings	1.1.2	June 24, 1983	Friday
Truth About Phillip, The (Phillip’s Real Parents)	Secrets And Scandals	1.2.3	Aug. 29, 1983	Monday
When Reva Came to Town (Reva’s 1st Episode)	Story of Reva Shayne	2.1.1	Nov. 28, 1983	Monday
On the Run (Beth and Phillip in NYC)	The Story of Phillip Spaulding	3.1.2	Dec. 19, 1983	Monday
Christmas, 1983	Springfield Through The Years	1.3.1	Dec. 23, 1983	Friday
Courage (Bert inspires Josh to begin physical therapy)	Bauer Family	4.1.3	June 27, 1984	Wednesday
Fountain of Truth, The (Original Reva in Fountain – Slut of Springfield)	Villains & Vixens	1.4.2	July 30, 1984	Monday	X
Slut of Springfield, The (Day after fountain scene)	Story of Reva Shayne	2.1.2	July 31, 1984	Tuesday	X
Unexpected Arrival (Alan-Michael Spaulding parachutes into Bauer BBQ during 50th Anniversary Week)	Bauer Family	4.2.1	July 2, 1987	Thursday	X
50th Anniversary Show, The (Charita Bauer Tribute)	Springfield Through The Years	1.3.2	July 3, 1987	Friday	X
Sinister Sisters (Reva discovers Sonni/Solita are alters)	Villains & Vixens	1.4.3	Dec. 30, 1988	Friday
Joshua Lewis Marries Reva Shayne	Great Weddings	1.1.3	July 18, 1989	Tuesday
Arrivederci Reva (Reva Drives Off Bridge)	Story of Reva Shayne	2.1.3	July 23, 1990	Monday
The Wedding (Beth Raines and Phillip Spaulding finally marry on Valentine’s Day)	The Story of Phillip Spaulding	3.1.3	Feb. 14, 1991	Thursday
Payback is a Bitch (Alexander humiliates then husband Roger Thorpe at Lakeland Country Club)	Villains & Vixens	1.4.4	July 12, 1991	Friday
Dreamgirls (Ross Marler Election Night Nightmare)	Springfield Through The Years	1.3.3	Nov. 3, 1992	Tuesday
Husbands, Friends, and Lovers (Maureen’s Death)	Secrets And Scandals	1.2.4	Jan. 11, 1993	Monday
Dueling Barbecues (Roger Thorpe throws his own bbq)	Bauer Family	4.2.2	July 4, 1994	Monday
Return (Meta returns to Springfield after 20 years)	Bauer Family	4.1.4	Nov. 22, 1996	Friday
Party Crasher (Annie Dutton shows up at BBQ drunk after Reva cleared of killing baby)	Bauer Family	4.2.3	July 4, 1997	Friday
Annie’s Wedding From Hell (Reva stops Annie Dutton’s wedding to Alan Spaulding by showing up with Annie’s current husband)	Villains & Vixens	1.4.5	Jan. 26, 1998	Monday
The Confession (Lizzie Spaulding confesses she killed her mother Beth’s abusive boyfriend Carl Stevens)	The Story of Phillip Spaulding	3.1.4	June 1, 1998	Monday
Married to the Mob (Michelle Bauer Marries Danny Santos, in their 2nd or church wedding)	Bauer Family	4.1.5	Feb. 16, 1999	Tuesday
America The Beautiful (Everyone says what they love about the US post 9/11)	Bauer Family	4.2.4	July 4, 2002	Thursday
Spaulding Ex-Wives Club, The (Joan Collins uses Phillip’s ex-wives against him)	Secrets And Scandals	1.2.5	Oct. 18, 2002	Friday
Like Mother, Like Son (3rd Fountain scene, Jonathan Randall)	Story of Reva Shayne	2.1.4	Nov. 17, 2004	Wednesday
Gus Aitoro Marries Harley Cooper	Great Weddings	1.1.4	Aug. 19, 2005	Friday
Reva and Josh 4-ever (Jeva decide not to divorce after all)	Story of Reva Shayne	2.1.5	April 12, 2006	Wednesday
15,000th Episode, The (Alternative Universe Springfield, everything’s opposite)	Springfield Through The Years	1.3.4	Sept. 7, 2006	Thursday
70th Anniversary Show, The (History of the Show recreated by current cast)	Springfield Through The Years	1.3.5	Jan. 25, 2007	Thursday
One Last Time (last Bauer BBQ, with Rick’s toast to Bert)	Bauer Family	4.2.5	July 3, 2009	Friday
Final 10 – 1	Farewell to Springfield	5.1.1	Sept. 3, 2009	Thursday	X
Final 10 – 2	Farewell to Springfield	5.1.2	Sept. 4, 2009	Friday	X
Final 10 -3	Farewell to Springfield	5.1.3	Sept. 8, 2009	Tuesday	X
Final 10 – 4	Farewell to Springfield	5.1.4	Sept. 9, 2009	Wednesday	X
Final 10 – 5	Farewell to Springfield	5.1.5	Sept. 10, 2009	Thursday	X
A special double wedding. (Vanilly/Lillibuzz)	Great Weddings	1.1.5	Sept. 14, 2009	Monday	X
Final 10 – 6	Farewell to Springfield	5.2.1	Sept. 14, 2009	Monday	X
Making Peace (As show fast approaches last episode, Alan and Phillip reconcile a final time)	The Story of Phillip Spaulding	3.1.5	Sept. 15, 2009	Tuesday	X
Final 10 – 7	Farewell to Springfield	5.2.2	Sept.15, 2009	Tuesday	X
Final 10 -8	Farewell to Springfield	5.2.3	Sept. 16, 2009	Wednesday	X
Final 10 -9	Farewell to Springfield	5.2.4	Sept. 17, 2009	Thursday	X
Final 10 – 10	Farewell to Springfield	5.2.5	Sept. 18, 2009	Friday	X

Trial of Jennifer Richards

Well, true believers and fellow Springfielders, we’ve had a long dry spell, but I’m very happy to tell you that Soap classics have released another DVD set. They seem to be sticking with the string of episodes in a row pattern. I really think that is wise. Although that might limit the demand of a set, it makes sense because it’s easier to get caught up in story when you don’t have to figure out where you are at the beginning of each episode. I’m also glad of the relatively early place in the run of the archive means that we’ll see a lot of our old favorites, especially Mike Bauer in all his court room glory. It’s also nice because these episodes were preempted they literally have never been seen in some areas. I just ordered mine. Look for my directory update soon.

Summary and order:
http://www.soapclassics.com/index.php/jrt-page.html

We Love Soaps report, including actor credits for who appeared in each episode:
http://www.welovesoaps.net/2012/10/jennifer-richards-trial-new-guiding.html

Or find it on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Guiding-Light-Trial-Jennifer-Richards/dp/B009OOXXLG/

SPOILERS: If there can still be spoilers on something from 1981. Jennifer’s most interesting actions took place before she came to our screen. She was the mother of young Morgan Richards, of my beloved Kelly and Morgan fame. She also secretly is the biological mother of Amanda Spaulding who is then living with her unbeknowst to her, her adoptive mother under the name Amanda Wexler. The adoptive mother, Lucile Wexler, is the murder victim Jennifer is on trial for. In the nastiest part, Amanda at first thought Alan was her father, he hadn’t known, but then it came out she was really Brandon’s daughter since Jennifer had been sleeping with both father and son. Many of these people were on my Worst Parents list, find it here: https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/worst-parents-in-springfield/

The Final Episodes

I was really hoping to do a few more episodes this month in honor of the anniversary of cancellation of Guiding Light, sadly real life has kept me from doing as much as I hoped, but there are still a few neat things that I have in store. For tonight, I’m going to republish a lightly edited post from back in May when the “Farewell to Springfield” DVD set came out.

Those of you who were not with me from the beginning, might not know that this blog started out in 2009 as the part of an effort to put the episode descriptions and the links to Manny videos in one place online. About when I decided to get started, Manny was announced to return so I held off in hopes that I would be able to tell a last great chapter in the Manny story. Sadly there wasn’t much story to add on the Manny front, but I reported on what Manny episodes and news there was and news about the then upcoming finale.

Finally I couldn’t stand it anymore and started reporting on every episode in late July and kept up daily until the end. In honor of the final 10 episodes being out on DVD, here are links to my initial day of airing reports (or once or twice the next day) on them. I should explain a couple of things. I tried to sort the scenes into blocks of story because I thought it made more sense that way, but gave time codes so you can use them to find the part of the episode I’m talking about for any given comment or description. I also was feeling a bit resentful about the end, so I might be a bit more bitter than I would be commenting on the same episodes now. I had a tendency to put in bitter sobs to express my extreme sorrow at the cancellation. I also picked out a line of the day for each episode that I thought was cleverest, funniest, or just made me cheer in general, sometimes I picked two. I also show a blatant favoritism to characters in the Manny story and the Bauer family in general. If you didn’t pick that up from the name of this blog, you might not be up to reading these. LOL I hope you enjoy my take on these episodes. And if you want to see these episodes, check in with Soap Classics and buy “Farewell to Springfield”. Plus word on Twitter is the next two DVD releases will be Guiding Light. I can hardly wait!

Sept. 3, 2009
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/guiding-light-september-3-2009

Sept. 4, 2009
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2009/09/05/guiding-light-september-4-2009

Sept. 8, 2009
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2009/09/09/guiding-light-september-8-2009

Sept. 9, 2009
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/guiding-light-september-9-2009

Sept. 10, 2009
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2009/09/14/guiding-light-september-10-2009

Sept. 14, 2009
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/guiding-light-september-14-2009

Sept. 15, 2009
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/guiding-light-september-15-2009

Sept. 16, 2009
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/guiding-light-september-16-2009

Sept. 17, 2009
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/guiding-light-september-17-2009

https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/last-day-of-guiding-light/

Sept. 18, 2009
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2009/09/20/guiding-light-september-18-2009

Thank you to the Fans from the Cast
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/thank-you-to-the-fans

UPDATED September 7 2019: I added my current signature block.

Robansuefarm is the handle of one of Manny and Guiding Light‘s biggest fans following in her family’s footsteps of Guiding Light fandom since 1939. This blog is an effort to make it easy to find Guiding Light and especially Manny online. Check back here for her blog, find fanfic previews and fake WSPR newscasts on her YouTube, find podcasts that look back to old shows and audios of her fanfics on Blog Talk Radio, and finally follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

ATWT DVD Directory Update 2

Updating the directory since the new release, here is a directory of the episodes offered on the Soap Classics As the World Turns DVD sets (the more we buy, the more they offer), I’ve constructed a chart of the episodes available for purchase so far in date order. I’ve also added the day of the week the episode originally aired to help set it up better.

• Set 1 is the original sampler set.
• Set 2 is Christmas in Oakdale.
• Set 3 is the CarJack Collection.
• Set 4 is Linden Collection.
• Set 5 is Farewell to Oakdale (last 10 episodes), available with copy of shooting script.
• Set 6 is The James Stenbeck Story.
• Set 7 is The Wedding of Bob and Kim.

The  number I’m giving to help you on the chart is to find each episode is by set, by disc number within set, and episode on disc, plus the name of the disc it appears on to make them easier to find. For example, the episode “Something About Carly” is 1.2.3 which is set 1, disc 2, and the third episode on the disc. The final column has an X if there are back to back episodes available on any of the DVD sets.

Last Updated August 17, 2012

Name of Episode	Name of Disc Set	Number of Set. Number of Disc. Number of Episode	Date Originally Aired in United States	Day of the Week	B2B
Bob and Dana Face the Music (Everyone at the ballet, director collapses)	Secrets & Scandals	1.2.1	Sept. 29, 1979	Sat.
Last Bus to Nowhere (James Stenbeck tracks down Barbara Ryan in Oakdale)	The James Stenbeck Story	6.1.1	Feb. 28, 1980	Thurs.
The Bride Decides (Barbara Ryan Chooses James Stenbeck Over Tom Hughes)	The James Stenbeck Story	6.1.2	May 2, 1980	Fri.
John Dixon Takes a Fall	Villains & Vixens	1.4.3	May 14, 1981	Thurs.
Best of Enemies (James Stenbeck begins his blood feud with John Dixon)	The James Stenbeck Story	6.1.3	July 15, 1981	Wed.
Another Time, Another Life (A Stenbeck Fantasy)	The James Stenbeck Story	6.1.4	March 10, 1982	Wed.
The Man of Her Dreams (James risks losing his wife and his fortune)	The James Stenbeck Story	6.1.5	Oct. 15, 1982	Fri.
Into the Ring (James sets a trap for Barbara)	The James Stenbeck Story	6.2.1	March 22, 1983	Tues.
Tom Hughes Marries Margo Montgomery	Great Weddings	1.1.1	June 1, 1983	Wed.
Come Fly With Me (Stenbeck plans a deadly plane flight)	The James Stenbeck Story	6.2.2	Oct. 28, 1983	Fri.
Steve Andropoulos Marries Betsy Stewart	Great Weddings	1.1.2	May 31, 1984	Thurs.
Frannie  Comes Home (Julianne Moore’s first day)	Bob and Kim’s Wedding	7.1.1	April 2, 1985	Tues.	X
Runaway Bridesmaid (Frannie misses fitting)	Bob and Kim’s Wedding	7.1.2	April 3, 1985	Wed.	X
The Wedding Planner (Lisa takes over wedding)	Bob and Kim’s Wedding	7.1.3	April 4, 1985	Thurs.	X
Dueling Lectures (Frannie and Bob lecture each other)	Bob and Kim’s Wedding	7.1.4	April 5, 1985	Fri.	X
An Unusual Plan (ToMargo plan bachelor party)	Bob and Kim’s Wedding	7.1.5	April 8, 1985	Mon.	X
The Bachelor Party (Bob when he married Kim)	Bob and Kim’s Wedding	7.2.1	April 9, 1985	Tues.	X
Special Gifts (Bob and Kim exchange wedding gifts)	Bob and Kim’s Wedding	7.2.2	April 10, 1985	Wed.	X
Unexpected Guests (Bob’s siblings arrive for wedding)	Bob and Kim’s Wedding	7.2.3	April 11, 1985	Thurs.	X
Bob Hughes Marries Kim Andropoulos	Great Weddings	1.1.3	April 12, 1985	Fri.	X
The Ceremony (Bob and Kim original)	Bob and Kim’s Wedding	7.2.4	April 12, 1985	Fri.	X
The Reception (Bob and Kim original)	Bob and Kim’s Wedding	7.2.5	April 15, 1985	Mon.	X
A Rocky Start (Lily and Holden meet for the first time)	Linden	4.1.1	Oct. 16, 1985	Wed.
Christmas Eve, and a Birthday	Christmas In Oakdale	2.1.1	Dec. 24, 1985	Tues.
Cry of the Wind (Holden and Lily develop feelings for each other)	Linden	4.1.2	Jan. 10, 1986	Fri.
The 30th Anniversary Show (Chris and Nancy celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary)	Oakdale Through The Years	1.3.1	April 2, 1986	Wed.
The Return of James Stenbeck (Hello, Barbara)	Villains & Vixens	1.4.1	Nov. 7, 1986	Fri.
The Comeback (After a long absence, Stenbeck returns to Oakdale)	The James Stenbeck Story	6.2.3	Nov. 11, 1986	Tues.
When Villain Meets Vixen (John and Lucinda in the tub)	Villains & Vixens	1.4.2	March 20, 1987	Fri.
Lily’s World Crumbles (Lily learns she’s adopted & who her biological parents are)	Secrets & Scandals	1.2.2	June 24, 1987	Wed.
A Lie for Lily (Lily must live with a shocking secret)	Linden	4.1.3	Aug. 25, 1987	Tues.
After Midnight (Stenbeck gets a late night visit from some murderous neighbors)	The James Stenbeck Story	6.2.4	Nov. 9, 1987	Mon.
Holden Blows It (Holden becomes engaged to another woman)	Linden	4.1.4	Dec. 16, 1987	Wed.
Last Chopper Out (Stenbeck makes an emergency exit from Oakdale)	The James Stenbeck Story	6.2.5	March 20, 1989	Mon.
Margo’s Memorable Christmas	Christmas In Oakdale	2.1.2	Dec. 24, 1992	Thurs.
The Bell Tower (Lily makes a fateful decision)	Linden	4.1.5	Feb. 1, 1994	Tues.
Meet Luciano Grimaldi(Lily gives birth to her first child)	Linden	4.2.1	May 16, 1995	Tues.
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree	Christmas In Oakdale	2.1.3	Dec. 25, 1995	Mon.
Humiliation (John humiliates Lisa at their engagement party to pay her back for charging him with malpractice)	Villains & Vixens	1.4.4	March 15, 1996	Fri.
The 40th Anniversary Show	Oakdale Through The Years	1.3.2	April 2, 1996	Tues.
First Kiss (CarJack in Montana)	CarJack	3.1.1	Sept. 19, 1997	Fri.
Lily Walsh Marries Holden Snyder (2nd wedding 1 w/ Martha Byrnes)	Great Weddings	1.1.4	Jan. 12, 1998	Mon.
At Teague’s Cabin (Carly & Jack held hostage in basement)	CarJack	3.1.2	Jan. 29, 1998	Thurs.
A Very Happy New Year (Carly gives birth to Parker)	CarJack	3.1.3	Dec. 31, 1998	Thurs.
The Compass (Jack gives Carly the True North Compass)	CarJack	3.1.4	July 13, 1999	Tues.
Something About Carly (Brad reveals Parker is really Hal’s son & Carly lied about it to get Parker’s trust fund)	Secrets & Scandals	1.2.3	Aug. 2, 1999	Mon.
Switched at Birth (Lily and Holden’s baby is not who she seems)	Linden	4.2.2	Aug. 16, 1999	Mon.
The Impostor (Rose poses as Lily)	Linden	4.2.3	Sept. 6, 2000	Wed.
The Lie (Carly confronts Jack about Julia)	CarJack	3.1.5	Dec. 12, 2000	Tues.
Family Reunions (Penny and Lyla return)	Christmas In Oakdale	2.1.4	Dec. 26, 2000	Tues.
The Explosive Truth (the boathouse blows up with Barbara inside, driving her into a long trip in crazytown)	Secrets & Scandals	1.2.4	June 18, 2001	Mon.
The Funhouse (James Stenbeck Strikes Again)	CarJack	3.2.1	April 23, 2002	Tues.
The Trials of Barbara Ryan (Barbara on trial for kidnapping Carly, Rose & Emily to aging spa)	Villains & Vixens	1.4.5	July 22, 2002	Mon.
Worth it All (Jack and Carly Share a Romantic Getaway)	CarJack	3.2.2	June 9, 2003	Mon.
Carly Tenney Marries Jack Snyder	Great Weddings	1.1.5	July 3, 2003	Thurs.
Bringing Back Jack(Carly Must Cure Jack’s Amnesia)	CarJack	3.2.3	Nov. 24, 2004	Wed.
Another Twist in the Road (Lily and Holden go their separate ways)	Linden	4.2.4	Dec. 5, 2005	Mon.
Ever After (Lily and Holden begin anew)	Linden	4.2.5	Jan. 13, 2006	Fri.
The 50th Anniversary Show (“Seven Divas on a Bus” show, honoring Helen Wagner)	Oakdale Through The Years	1.3.3	April 3, 2006	Mon.
Luke Comes Out	Secrets & Scandals	1.2.5	May 9, 2006	Tues.
Till Death Us Do Almost Part (Carly is Dying)	CarJack	3.2.4	Sept. 25, 2007	Tues.
The Dollhouse (Stand alone episode – characters Victorian versions of themselves)	Christmas In Oakdale	2.1.5	Dec. 21, 2007	Fri.
Christmas at the Snyder Farm (The Snyders reminisce about the past and look to the future)	Oakdale Through The Years	1.3.4	Dec. 25, 2009	Fri.
Bob and Kim Hughes’ 25th Anniversary (Julianne Moore special guest as Frannie Hughes)	Oakdale Through The Years	1.3.5	April 5, 2010	Mon.
Final 10 – 1	Farewell to Oakdale	5.1.1	Sept. 2, 2010	Thurs.	X
Final 10 – 2	Farewell to Oakdale	5.1.2	Sept. 3, 2010	Fri.	X
Final 10 – 3	Farewell to Oakdale	5.1.3	Sept. 7, 2010	Tues.	X
Final 10 – 4	Farewell to Oakdale	5.1.4	Sept. 8, 2010	Wed.	X
Final 10 – 5	Farewell to Oakdale	5.1.5	Sept. 9, 2010	Thurs.	X
Final 10 – 6	Farewell to Oakdale	5.2.1	Sept. 13, 2010	Mon.	X
Final 10 – 7	Farewell to Oakdale	5.2.2	Sept. 14, 2010	Tues.	X
I Really, Really, Do (final CarJack wedding)	CarJack	3.2.5	Sept. 15, 2010	Wed.	X
Final 10 – 8	Farewell to Oakdale	5.2.3	Sept. 15, 2010	Wed.	X
Final 10 – 9	Farewell to Oakdale	5.2.4	Sept. 16, 2010	Thurs.	X
Final 10 – 10	Farewell to Oakdale	5.2.5	Sept. 17, 2010	Fri.	X

Guiding Light Watching Party 15

I’m starting the numbering where I left off, although there were several in between then and now. The next Watch Along is going to be a bit different. Last week we watched the current free episode on the Soap Classics website. The entire next episode is on YouTube so we’ll be watching that instead.  Find it here:

Join us on Twitter, Wednesday night, July 25, 2012

10 pm ET, 9 pm CT, 8 pm MT, 7 pm PT
Also as an update they also have a new Twitter feed @SoapClassics be sure to follow it.

Bauer BBQ Roundup 2012

This is a round up of GLManny Bauer BBQ Week posts. Included are the Bauer BBQs I’ve found on YouTube. I hope I’ll be able to continue to add years and better copies. I also have posts with collections of photos, information about the Bauer BBQ, and I’m going to start adding the texts to the yearly speeches. With any luck we can do it all again next year. I’ll add a link to this in my GL clips list. Please stop back.

Bauer BBQ Scrapbook
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/bauer-bbq-scrapbook

Bauer BBQ Meal
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/bauer-bbq-theme-meal

Introduction and Awesome Michelle Quote
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/michelle-remembers-bauer-bbq

Video Tribute to Bauer BBQs through the years
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2011/07/02/bauer-bbq-kickoff

Soap Opera Jargon: Tradition
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/tradition

Bauer BBQ Episodes Available on DVD
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/bauer-bbq-on-dvd

When Did the Bauer BBQ Begin?
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/when-did-the-bauer-bbq-begin

Traditions of the Bauer BBQ
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/traditions-of-bauer-bbq

Springfield Insider Videos on Bauer BBQ 2009
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2012/07/04/springfield-insider-on-bauer-bbq

Bauer BBQ Speech 2009
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/bauer-bbq-speech-2009

Summary on the Bauer BBQ 2009
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/manny-returns-july-2-3-2009

Commentary on the Bauer BBQ 2009
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2009/07/10/commentary-on-the-bauer-bbq

Bauer BBQs Through the Years

Bauer BBQ 1984
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2011/07/03/bauer-bbq-1984

Bauer BBQ 1987
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/bauer-bbq-1987

Bauer BBQ 1988
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/bauer-bbq-1988

Bauer BBQ 1995
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/07/03/bauer-bbq-1995

Bauer BBQ 1998
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/07/04/bauer-bbq-1998

Bauer BBQ 2001
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/07/05/bauer-bbq-2001

Bauer BBQ 2002
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/bauer-bbq-2002

Bauer BBQ 2003
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/2003-bauer-bbq

Bauer BBQ 2005
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/bauer-bbq-2005

Bauer BBQ 2006
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/bauer-bbq-2006

Bauer BBQ 2008
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/07/07/bauer-bbq-2008

Bauer BBQ 2009
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/bauer-bbq-2009

Bauer BBQ Fanfic

Mindy Bauer Lewis tweets Bauer BBQ 2011
https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/mindy-tweets-bauer-bbq-2011

Bauer BBQ Fanfic –  a selection of fanfic that has at least one chapter set at the Bauer BBQ

https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/bauer-bbq-fanfiction

https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/bauer-bbq-fanfic-2

https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/07/03/bauer-bbq-fanfic-3

https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/07/04/bauer-bbq-fanfic-4

https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/07/05/bauer-bbq-fanfic-5

https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/bauer-bbq-fanfic-6

https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/07/07/bauer-bbq-fanfic-7

https://glmanny.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/bauer-bbq-fanfic-8

Bauer BBQ on DVD

Those of you who have been following along with our #GLParty will be aware that we’ve been counting down the Bauer BBQ episodes that are available on DVD. Most years the Bauer BBQ would stretch over a couple of days. For example in 1998 there were two days of preparations and three days of actual BBQ.  Some years didn’t get that much time devoted. Most of the episodes listed below are a single episode out of the stretch. The one exception in 1987 which saw the show celebrating the 50th year of its existence with a special week of classic episodes. So far two episodes of that week have been released on video so we have two back to back episodes of the Bauer BBQ that year.

Unexpected Arrival (Alan-Michael Spaulding parachutes into Bauer BBQ during 50th Anniversary Week)	Bauer Family	4.2.1	July 2, 1987	Thursday	X
50th Anniversary Show, The (Charita Bauer Tribute)	Springfield Through The Years	1.3.2	July 3, 1987	Friday	X

Dueling Barbecues (Roger Thorpe throws his own bbq)

Bauer Family

4.2.2

July 4, 1994

Monday

Party Crasher (Annie Dutton shows up at BBQ drunk after Reva cleared of killing baby)

Bauer Family

4.2.3

July 4, 1997

Friday

America The Beautiful (Everyone says what they love about the US post 9/11)

Bauer Family

4.2.4

July 4, 2002

Thursday

One Last Time (last Bauer BBQ, with Rick’s toast to Bert)

Bauer Family

4.2.5

July 3, 2009

Friday

Find the DVD set on http://www.soapclassics.com or on Amazon. Find links to sample scenes from most of these episodes

http://www.soapclassics.com/index.php/bf-page.html

Bauer BBQ Countdown 4

Guiding Light Watching Party 17 is the start of a new set. We’re going to do all the Bauer BBQs that are currently available on DVD in order.

Are you on Twitter? Do you have the Bauer Family DVD set? Then join us on Twitter, Wednesday night, June 27, 2012

10 pm ET, 9 pm CT, 8 pm MT, 7 pm PT

We’re using the hashtag #GLParty.

So slip in the second disc of the Bauer Family DVD set, and cue up “Party Crasher,” the third episode. Start tweeting with us. It originally aired July 4, 1997.

Party Crasher (Annie Dutton shows up at BBQ drunk after Reva cleared of killing baby)

Bauer Family

4.2.3

July 4, 1997

Friday

1997 is an interesting Bauer BBQ. This part though is all about Annie Dutton’s latest downhill spiral.

We hope that you help spread the word and come watch with us.

Find the DVD set on http://www.soapclassics.com or on Amazon.