Question about Guiding Light announcer

[KurtfromPitts]

How long was Alan Berns GL's announcer?

[JT]

1969-1997

[catlover79]

Who were the most famous/longest running soap announcers, JT?

[JT]

Originally Posted by catlover79

Who were the most famous/longest running soap announcers, JT?

Hmm...some of the major names that I can think of include Ken Roberts (Love of Life, The Secret Storm, Texas), Hal Simms (The Edge of Night), Bern Bennett (The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful), Alan Berns, and Don Hancock, who usually appeared onscreen at the beginning of each episode of Love of Life in the 50s.

Some of the more popular/well-remembered announcers:

Search for Tomorrow:
Dwight Weist (1951-1981)
Allison Steele (1981-1985)
Hal Simms (1985-1986)

Love of Life:
Don Hancock (1950s) - usually appeared onscreen before the actual show started in order to "welcome" the audience and hawk merchandise
Charles Mountain (1950s) - the actual announcer/narrator
Hebert Duncan (early 1960s)
Ken Roberts (mid 1960s-1980)

The Guiding Light:
Bud Collyer (1952 until about 1956 or so)
Hal Simms (brief run some time in the early 1960s)
Alan Berns (ca1969-1997)
Martin Bookspan (1997-mid 2000s) - used mainly for sponsor tags at the beginning of the show, and later replaced by random cast members

The Secret Storm:
Basically the exact same list as sister soap Love of Life.

As the World Turns:
Dan McCullough (1956-1982)
Dan Region (1982-1998)
Martin Bookspan (1998-present) - again, only really used for sponsor tags after the first act.

The Edge of Night:
Bob Dixon (1956)
Herbert Duncan (1956-1958)
Harry Kramer (1958-1972)
Hal Simms (1972-1984)

General Hospital:
Ed Chandler (1963-ca1976)

The Doctors:
Mel Brandt (entire run, 1963-1982)

Another World:
Bill Wolff (1964-1988) - also did the spin-off Somerset for its whole run from 1970 to 1976, the sister series For Richer, For Poorer from 1977 to 1978, and the other spin-off, Texas, from 1980-1981 (he was replaced by Ken Roberts for its last year)

Days of Our Lives:
Ed Prentiss (1965-1966)
Macdonald Carey (1966-present) - always pretty much limited to "Like sands through the hourglass..."

The Young and the Restless/The Bold and the Beautiful:
Bern Bennett (1973-2003) - also announced B&B from its premiere in 1987
Marnie Saitta (2003-present) - replaced in 2006 by cast members on Y&R, but still does sponor tags for B&B

None of the long-running ABC soaps besides GH really had announcers. The most that the ABC soaps ever had in the way of announcements were someone to do the "brought to you by..." after the first act (or incorporated into the opening like in the 1990s) and the mid-program break. That's usually an ABC person.

Today, B&B still uses Marnie Saitta for everything, Y&R rotates cast members, ATWT uses Martin Bookspan, the ABC soaps use a staff announcer (and cast members for the mid-show break), as does DAYS.

Thanks to YouTube, you can hear pretty much all of the above announcers doing their thing. It might seem like only a small part of what makes a show, but it really adds a lot, IMO, to have a good announcer. Especially back when the announcer played more of a role in the show. There's a great, great, great episode of The Secret Storm with Charles Mountain doing an awesome narration over a scene of evil Aunt Pauline relishing in the fact that she's framed her brother-in-law Peter for neglecting his kids. And Dan McCullough's announcing duties at ATWT are unrivaled when it comes to sheer majesty as far as I'm concerned.

[catlover79]

You really ARE the soap guru of SO, JT!! Thanks!!

[danderson400]

i think that Bill Wolff on 'Another World" is a fine example of how a announcer can add a lot to a show. same thing with Dan McCullough or Dan Region on "ATWT" or Alan Berns on "GL". I've never heard Bud Collyer do "GL" maybe he did it only on radio? Dwight Weist had done a few soaps on radio prior to "SFT": he did "Valiant Lady" on the radio in the 40s. did Wolff do any radio soaps before "AW"? he was a NBC staff announcer, so he did a few most likely. John Harlan did "The Brighter Day" at one point in the early 60s(when the show was at TV City). Mel Brandt did a few besides "The Doctors": Macdonald Carey of course did "Days" for years-do they still use his voice? Hank Simms did "Morning Star" in mid 60s i think. As far as Bill Wolff, nobody(other than maybe Dan McCullough or Alan Berns) could say "This portion of "Another World" (or "As the World Turns" or "Guiding Light") is brought to you by Ivory Soap"(or Duncan Hines or Folgers or whatever P&G product was sponsoring the show.) there aren't too many announcers that said that like those guys did

[danderson400]

Originally Posted by JT

Hmm...some of the major names that I can think of include Ken Roberts (Love of Life, The Secret Storm, Texas), Hal Simms (The Edge of Night), Bern Bennett (The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful), Alan Berns, and Don Hancock, who usually appeared onscreen at the beginning of each episode of Love of Life in the 50s.

Some of the more popular/well-remembered announcers:

Search for Tomorrow:
Dwight Weist (1951-1981)
Allison Steele (1981-1985)
Hal Simms (1985-1986)

Love of Life:
Don Hancock (1950s) - usually appeared onscreen before the actual show started in order to "welcome" the audience and hawk merchandise
Charles Mountain (1950s) - the actual announcer/narrator
Hebert Duncan (early 1960s)
Ken Roberts (mid 1960s-1980)

The Guiding Light:
Bud Collyer (1952 until about 1956 or so)
Hal Simms (brief run some time in the early 1960s)
Alan Berns (ca1969-1997)
Martin Bookspan (1997-mid 2000s) - used mainly for sponsor tags at the beginning of the show, and later replaced by random cast members

The Secret Storm:
Basically the exact same list as sister soap Love of Life.

As the World Turns:
Dan McCullough (1956-1982)
Dan Region (1982-1998)
Martin Bookspan (1998-present) - again, only really used for sponsor tags after the first act.

The Edge of Night:
Bob Dixon (1956)
Herbert Duncan (1956-1958)
Harry Kramer (1958-1972)
Hal Simms (1972-1984)

General Hospital:
Ed Chandler (1963-ca1976)

The Doctors:
Mel Brandt (entire run, 1963-1982)

Another World:
Bill Wolff (1964-1988) - also did the spin-off Somerset for its whole run from 1970 to 1976, the sister series For Richer, For Poorer from 1977 to 1978, and the other spin-off, Texas, from 1980-1981 (he was replaced by Ken Roberts for its last year)

Days of Our Lives:
Ed Prentiss (1965-1966)
Macdonald Carey (1966-present) - always pretty much limited to "Like sands through the hourglass..."

The Young and the Restless/The Bold and the Beautiful:
Bern Bennett (1973-2003) - also announced B&B from its premiere in 1987
Marnie Saitta (2003-present) - replaced in 2006 by cast members on Y&R, but still does sponor tags for B&B

None of the long-running ABC soaps besides GH really had announcers. The most that the ABC soaps ever had in the way of announcements were someone to do the "brought to you by..." after the first act (or incorporated into the opening like in the 1990s) and the mid-program break. That's usually an ABC person.

Today, B&B still uses Marnie Saitta for everything, Y&R rotates cast members, ATWT uses Martin Bookspan, the ABC soaps use a staff announcer (and cast members for the mid-show break), as does DAYS.

Thanks to YouTube, you can hear pretty much all of the above announcers doing their thing. It might seem like only a small part of what makes a show, but it really adds a lot, IMO, to have a good announcer. Especially back when the announcer played more of a role in the show. There's a great, great, great episode of The Secret Storm with Charles Mountain doing an awesome narration over a scene of evil Aunt Pauline relishing in the fact that she's framed her brother-in-law Peter for neglecting his kids. And Dan McCullough's announcing duties at ATWT are unrivaled when it comes to sheer majesty as far as I'm concerned.

Mel Brandt did a couple of soaps before The Doctors- he announced From These Roots and Our Five Daughters in the late 50s/early 60s. Wayne Howell, well known for other shows, did Young Doctor Malone in the late 50s/early 60s.