In 1953, CBS strongly persuaded Irna Phillips to let The Guiding Light experiment with television's first color broadcast.
Phillips was not thrilled with the concept of color television, and thwarted the effort by CBS by having that day's episode take place entirely in a hospital setting with gray walls and white uniforms.
There is some indication that Procter & Gamble and CBS may have forced Phillips out of writing for The Guiding Light when during the February 27, 1958 episode, popular heroine Katherine "Kathy" Roberts Lang Grant Holden (played by the equally popular Susan Douglas Rubeš) was killed off in a Phillips-created story.
Other characters In the late 1940s, the show's focus shifted to the Bauer family, who lived in Selby Flats, a fictional suburb of Los Angeles.
The family was led by the patriarch, Friedrich "Papa" Bauer, who immigrated from Germany and imparted his wisdom to his three children: William "Bill" Edward, Meta, and Gertrude "Trudy."
The original storyline followed Meta's career in modeling under the name Jan Carter, her romance with Theodore "Ted" White, and her decision to give their son up for adoption.
The Brandon family and the doctors faded into obscurity, and Trudy married Clyde Palmer and moved to New York.
Joe, a newspaper reporter who championed Meta's acquittal in her murder trial, falls in love with her, but Kathy, his daughter from a previous marriage, does not like her.
Meanwhile, Joe, Meta, and Joey fade into supporting roles as Kathy and Dick's romantic troubles take center stage.
Dick agrees to adopt Robin despite his mother's protest, but Kathy's internal infection causes her to hallucinate that someone is out to get her and her new husband.
Private nurse Janet Johnson is hired to care for Kathy and takes a liking to Dick, encouraged by Laura.
Dick leaves Cedars and Los Angeles for New York City, where he meets artist Marie Wallace, his new love interest.
Cedars hires a new surgeon Dr. Paul Fletcher, and Marie almost has an affair with him when she learns she can't get pregnant.
In 1959, Dick and Marie Grant unwittingly get caught up in Joe Turino's illegal adoption scam ring.
Meta starts dating Mark Holden, a wealthy structural engineer and friend of her brother-in-law, Clyde Palmer, after Joe Robert's funeral.
Alice sabotages a kitchen chair, hoping to embarrass Robin, but Kathy ends up using it and falls, resulting in a miscarriage and paralysis.
Additionally, Robin shows an immediate dislike towards Mark's new romantic partner, widow, and housekeeper Ruth Jannings.
On New Year's Eve in 1959, Robin learns that she can't control everything when she visits Mark's hotel and discovers he has married Ruth and they are on their honeymoon.