'Guiding Light' Goes Dark, But Lesbian Romance Will Go On

This week, the 72-year-old soap opera Guiding Light will sign off the air for the last time. Fans of the show's lesbian couple Olivia (Crystal Chappell) and Natalia (Jessica Leccia) won't be losing their relationship entirely, however, thanks to a new web series in the works.

Guiding Light first launched on NBC radio in 1937. The soap opera moved to television in 1952, airing more than 15,000 episodes during its run. Earlier this year, the show introduced its first lesbian couple, Olivia and Natalia. Sadly, the creators of the show announced only a short time later that Guiding Light would be going off the air in September.

Guiding Light's lesbian storyline was a refreshing boost for GLBT representation on the small screen. Olivia Spencer and Natalia Rivera were two rather normal (for soap opera land), middle-class mothers who just happened to fall for each other. The relationship between the two characters launched a legion of LGBT fans and brought a fresh new audience to the long-running show. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to keep Guiding Light on the air.

While the characters of Natalia and Olivia will vanish forever when Guiding Light shuts down this week, actresses Jessica Leccia and Crystal Chappell aren't quite ready to let the relationship go entirely. Chappell told the New York Times she had pushed to have Guiding Light transitioned to a web series or have Olivia and Natalia moved over to As the World Turns, but was unable to sell the idea.

Instead, Leccia and Chappell will launch their own web series to keep the 'spirit' of Olivia and Natalia alive. They won't be the same characters, of course, since those are the property of Procter & Gamble, creators of Guiding Light. The show, Venice, is set to launch in November and will feature Chappell as a single, gay woman living in Venice Beach. Leccia has also signed on for the web series and the two promise they will be kissing on screen in the first 30 seconds - something they were always pushing for unsuccessfully on Guiding Light.

Along with Leccia and Chappell, the web series will feature Hillary B. Smith from One Life to Live and Elizabeth Keener from The L Word, along with other friends and former co-workers who have agreed to appear on the series without pay for now. Fans who look forward to seeing Leccia and Chappell continue their romance on film can keep tabs on the upcoming web series at www.venicetheseries.com.

In addition to starring in the web series, Chappell will also be reprising her role as Dr. Carly Manning on Days of Our Lives.

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