SO long, old friend.
Veteran soap opera “Guiding Light” fades to black today — after an astonishing 72 years on radio and TV.
Today’s finale (10 a.m./Ch. 2) was taped last month, and CBS has been careful to protect the secrecy over how it will bring down the curtain on the denizens of Springfield, the leafy Midwestern burg that’s been “GL’s” universe all these years.
“Not everything is wrapped up in a pretty little package,” says one insider.
It’s a risky proposition — which could further anger the show’s notoriously finicky fans who are already in mourning over the loss of TV’s longest running scripted series.
There is hope inside and outside the show that “Guiding Light” could find another life elsewhere on TV or on the Web.
“They could go on this way, so today’s episode is like, ‘This is not how it all ends,’ ” says the insider.
“They always knew it could get picked up somewhere else.”
Here’s what to watch for in today’s finale:
* Will on-again/off-again couple Josh (Robert Newman) and Reva (Kim Zimmer) finally get back together?
* How will Springfield continue to deal with the death of cad Alan Spaulding (Ron Raines)?
* What will become of Daisy (Bonnie Dennison)? Yesterday, “GL” fans learned she was accepted to Berkeley — will she stay in town or fly the coop?
* And what about Olivia (Crystal Chappell) and the pregnant Natalia (Jessica Leccia)? The lesbian couple, known as “Otalia,” are making plans to raise their baby, fathered by Frank (Frank Achilles Cooper, Jr.). Is that still a go?
Stay tuned.
Starting Oct. 5, a new version of “Let’s Make a Deal,” hosted by Wayne Brady, will begin airing in its place.