From Lifelong Soap Fan to Accidental Insider

If you’re new here, welcome.

This site is a collection of stories about Guiding Light, daytime television, and broadcast media, told from both sides of the screen: as a lifelong viewer and later as someone who worked just steps away from the production world inside the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City.

I grew up watching Guiding Light in Iowa, watching with my mother and my sister. Years later, I worked as a news writer in the WCBS newsroom in New York City, just down the hall from the Guiding Light soundstage during its final years.

This project is about that overlap: fandom, television history, and the quiet moments when an era ends.

What You’ll Find Here

This is not a recap site, nor a spoiler blog.

It is a memory-based storytelling project about television and the people around it.

You’ll find:

Guiding Light: The Final Years

Stories from my childhood obsession with the show, and what it was like being near its production during its final years on television.

Newsroom Stories

Behind-the-scenes moments from working inside broadcast news at CNN, MSNBC, WCBS, WABC, and other major newsrooms, where television is made under extreme pressure and tight deadlines.

Reality TV Tales

Reflections from my experience as a contestant on a television competition series, and what it revealed about how TV shapes reality.

Where to Begin

If you’re not sure where to start, choose one of these paths:

If you love Guiding Light and daytime soaps:
Start with Guiding Light: The Final Years

If you’re interested in reality television:
Start with Reality TV Tales

If you’re curious about broadcast media and newsrooms:
Start with Newsroom Stories

Why This Exists Now

When Guiding Light ended, a version of daytime television disappeared with it. First Guiding Light, then As the World Turns, All My Children, and One Life to Live. It was a domino effect in which all the New York City-based soap operas were cancelled within roughly two years. 

But for many of us, those shows weren’t just entertainment; they were part of daily life.

This site is my way of preserving what it felt like to grow up with that world, and later stand close enough to see how a soap is actually made.

Some of these stories are nostalgic. Some are personal. Some are about change.

All of them are true.

Stay Connected

If you’d like to follow along as new stories are published, you can subscribe through Substack.

You’ll receive new posts about Guiding Light, television history, broadcast memories, and ongoing memoir writing.

A Final Note

This is a slow-building archive of memory and media history.

You don’t need to read everything in order.

Just start wherever curiosity takes you and enjoy.