Friday, October 14, 2011

EXCLUSIVE: Classic Soap Opera GUIDING LIGHT Next to be Released on DVD; SEARCH FOR TOMORROW, ANOTHER WORLD, THE EDGE OF NIGHT & TEXAS May Follow

In an exclusive interview with WE LOVE SOAPS TV, Mark Yates, President of SoapClassics.com, rocked the soap opera world with the announcement that the beloved GUIDING LIGHT will follow AS THE WORLD TURNS as the next of the "P&G Soaps" to be resurrected and released to the public, in complete episodes, in a special boxed-set DVD collection.  As long as there is enough interest, other soap classics will follow.

"We are the distributor of the Procter & Gamble collection," Yates explained.  "AS THE WORLD TURNS, GUIDING LIGHT, SEARCH FOR TOMORROW, ANOTHER WORLD, THE EDGE OF NIGHT and TEXAS. We know the next project we want to launch is the GUIDING LIGHT version of what we just did with AS THE WORLD TURNS. You can break the news that the next planned release is 20 classic episodes of GUIDING LIGHT."

Exactly how far back can SoapClassics go? For some serials, episodes only back to the seventies sadly, thanks to the WIPING process we called out in our 25 Biggest Blunders list.

"We originally thought we only had 1986 on GUIDING LIGHT and that was actually misquoted in the MIPCOM story but we do go back to September 1979 for both shows," Yates clarified. "Obviously TEXAS we have the whole thing. ANOTHER WORLD and SEARCH FOR TOMORROW haven't been inventoried yet, because we've been so focused on this so I don't know exactly what we have for those shows."

Are you excited that classic GUIDING LIGHT episodes will also be released on DVD at some point in the future? With September 1979 as your starting point, what episodes stand out the most for you?

60 comments:

  1. This makes me so happy I'm teary eyed!!

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  2. This is excellent news!! I sure hope The Edggggge of Night makes it to DVD! Minus the Sheldon years.

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  3. omg....guiding light on dvd....hello otalia fans!!!

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  4. OMG! I love this! I was so happy to hear about ATWT and cant wait to buy my copy. In all honesty though, it was bittersweet as GL has always been my favorite soap. Now I'm ecstatic to hear that GL will be next in line. Thank You to everyone involved!

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  5. Ironically, September 1979 was when I started watching GL (freshman year of college). Can't wait to see Roger and Holly, Diane and Alan and a very young Kevin Bacon.

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  6. I'm very happy for the fans of these soaps that DVDs are being released. Still keeping my fingers crossed, though, and hoping that someday soon the same will be done for PASSIONS!!! That's my favorite soap. Please let TPTB know how much PASSIONS is still loved by its fans. We'd sure love to have DVDs too!

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  7. weeeeeeee.. love the idea.. Go OTALIA fans....

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  8. I would like to see Nick McHenry (Vincent Irrizarry) and Melinda Sue Lewis (Kimberley Simms) on DVD!!!!!!! :)

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  9. Hope the GL DVDs have:
    Reva's slut of Springfield episode, the Four Musketeers in NYC, Roger/Holly anything, Olivia Spencer's Lover of Tosca episode, Anything from the wedding week where Olivia and Natalia admitted their love for each other, Tammy's death/funeral, Bauer BBQ where Rick sings Yankee Doodle Dandy, Maureen Bauer's death, Matt/Vanessa, Mallet/Dinah, Edmund Winslow, Cassie/Prince Richard's wedding. OMG. So many good ones!

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  10. I cannot express how excited I am to read this news and how grateful I am to those who put this plan into motion. There is a legion of fans with deep passion for these programs and thankfully there are industry leaders (like those behind soap classics) who are meeting their needs. If ATWT/GL fans can support these releases and online streaming, it might not be completely impossible to realize the resurrection of these shows.

    For those of us who turned to these shows daily to reconnect to people or times in our lives that are now out of reach, this news is a bouy in this tumultuous sea of life.

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  11. Vanessa dropping her fur coat when greeted by Ross at his front door. - Vanessa and Nola fighting in their Scarlett gowns at the ball, followed by Vanessa and Billy meeting for the first time. - Vanessa meeting Matt on the boat and getting stranded on the island. - Vanessa reading Henry's letter after his memorial... OK clearly Vanessa is my favorite character, so sue me! Others are: The 4 musketeers at the prom and Phillip finding out about his parentage. - The 4 musketeers in New York, being helped by "Nick". - Nola and her fantasies about Quintin. - Holly and Roger, doing anything, really. - Then jumping ahead to some of the In the Light episodes, especially "Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?", "Plan B", and "My Life" - plus Otalia! I would love a dvd of My 2 Mommies story and the entire week of Natalia/Frank wedding with Otalia love confessions. :D

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  12. You guys are awesome. Love the positive energy. If you have any way to find out the airdate and episode # of the shows you suggest, please include those.

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  13. I can't wait for the Otalia episodes!!!!! This is the best news I have gotten in a long time!

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  14. 1979 The rape of Holly by Roger of course. GL is my soap. That baby has to be the start. Roger you an expert 1979 is when Doug Marland came to GL or was that 1980? I think '79, because it was late '79 and Nola Reardon first appeared by '80 it was full speed with Kelly, Nola & Morgan. That was the start of golden decade of GL.

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  15. Oh, wow, this is fantastic news! I started watching around 1977, I think, so start date of 1979 makes me happy! Roger/Holly, Kelly/Morgan/Nola, Nola's fantasies, 4 Musketeers, Alan/Phillip's paternity, Roger/Alexandra, Reva/Josh/HB, Sonni/Solita, Susan Piper/Tony/Annabel, Tammy/Jonathan/Sandy, Olivia/Josh anything (Saran Wrap anyone?), Cassie/Richard wedding, Beth/Phillip reunions, Phillip/Olivia/Alan, Gus/Harley, and the Olivia/Natalia/Frank entire wedding week. That's just off the top of my head!

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  16. Anything Olivia Spencer especially Otalia.

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  17. great news already ordered my copy of atwt. the on line streaming is something i am really looking forward to of all the p&g soaps. thanks roger for your help in bringing the classics back to the fans.

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  18. Yea!!! Been watching for 30 yrs. Miss it lots. What people have said sounds great. Nolan and Quint, 4 Musketeers, 15,000 eppy, Jeva, Lizzie and Bill, Tammy and jon, anything Tom P, Alan w/ Alex, Peter Simon, Tina Sloan, Richard and Cassie's wedding, Eppy's w/ lots of the cast would be super. People who are gone like Larry Gates, Michael Zazlow....We want it all. Gl deserves this as it is the longest show in history and by far the BEST. Many thanks!!!! 4 musketeers prom and then the one 20 yrs later. Alan's death. I am not as interested in Otalia but can watch it.Show us the old sets; Cros Creek, Spaulding mansion, COMPANY, San Cristobal, the diner, the Bauer house, Josh and reva's mre recent wedding when the old cast returned, Reva and Jon, the food fight eppy from years ago!, once there was a female mud fight that was funny, some Cooper stuff, bert Bauer in her kitchen w/ family and the BBQs, .....

    I could go on forever. Thanks so much for this. Ask Jill Lori Hurst and some of the writers, they can help you. Hurry please!!!

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  19. I WANT SANTA BARBARA ON DVD. IS IT POSSIBLE???

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  20. OMG!! I have many Classic Eps of GL on DVD but, will have to get the new set.

    Why couldn't they of done this a long time ago?

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  21. I would love to see Wendy Moniz and Laura Wright fighting! And who can forget the scene where they switched the Lewis door around? lol Like nobody would notice!

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  22. Yay, I can't wait to see you do Search For Tomorrow and The Edge of Night. I watched S.F.T. when I came home for lunch from public school and after school I watched TEON.....watched these with my Mother of course. She was the actual dedicated viewer, but I became one myself even as a kid. Now I'm a woman of almost 67 yrs. These classics will always remain a soft spot in my heart. And, of course, Guiding Light was another also. Good to hear this.

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  23. I'm insanely giddy over just the idea that Edge of Night might someday be released on DVD! Meanwhile, I plan on buying every one of these releases. The more support they get, the more likely we'll see more of them!

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  24. the Blackout, Ross' election nightmare (a great stand alone eppy), Mo's death, Roger/Holly in Acapulco, Roger gets shot (that's the one when he had a big screaming match with Alex about Mindy, right?).

    So much to choose from. Can't wait to see the list.

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  25. I was also excited when I read earlier in the week that As the World Turns was being released on DD's.Now I am excited that Guiding Light is coming out next on DVD's.

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  26. I've been dreaming of this since GL went off the air in 2009! There are so many episodes that I would love to see that I haven't seen floating around on youtube, but have heard about like:
    Hillary Bauer's death, Nola & Quint's wedding, Sonni/Solita drama, Susan Piper's reign of terror on Tony & Annabelle on the island, Brent's reign of terror as Marian Crane, Cassie & Richard's wedding. I would love the first box set to be solely episodes from the 80's and then the next one from the 90's, etc.

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  27. This is great though the only ones I would surely buy are Another World and Santa Barbara as they were my shows. Perhaps I think I have enough curiosity for Texas and Search for Tomorrow from my distant childhood.

    Please make Another World a third priority.

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  28. With GL, I hope we get various episodes from different time frames and characters.

    For example the anniversary set thing that ATWT has. GL could have something similar...They could have one of the 1987 Bauer BBQs episodes, the first episode of the 1992 blackout (for the 40th tv anniversary), the 1997 party for Cedars (where Mike Bauer came to visit), and the 2007 Irna remade episode. I don't know if there was a special event in 1982. The 2002 anniversary was a Josh/Reva wedding, and I would guess their first would appear on the wedding disk.

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  29. Reva's time travel! Food fight, Royal wedding w/ Cassie and Richard, Bayer BBQ w/ Ed and gang,Coopers at Company.... ALL of it please. Do all 72 years! Thanks.

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  30. For GL Roger, please include a great episode for my 2 favorite couples, Harley & original Mallet(Mark Derwin), and Harley and Gus. Harley was my favorite character so anything with her would be great, but her relationships with Mallet and Gus were my 2 favorites. They both have so many wonderful episodes to choose from and both had great wedding episodes. I know Harley & Mallet married 9/28/93 and Gus & Harley married on 8/19/05.

    Can't wait to see all the GL episodes though. Thanks!

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  31. I cannot believe that hardly no one has mentioned Ross and Blake. Although off again/on again(as most soap relationships are), 14 years together on a soap is an accomplishment. For me, Guiding Light's not Guiding Light without Jerry verDorn and Liz Keifer. They MUST be included!!

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  32. How about Roger kidnapping Rita to the "Enough is Enough" sequence, which was the last week of January 1980.

    Anything from the Marland (1979-1982) and Curlee (1990-1994) years would be great, though.

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  33. Roger Enough is Enough sequence:
    #8320 1-28-80

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  34. I would love, love, love to see the scenes where Alexandra gets Alan to confess to his dirty deeds in 1984 while she secretly tapes him. Actually anything with Beverlee McKinsey would pretty much be spectacular.

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  35. Lordy, so many eppys...so many men as the saying goes. Eras w\Pam Long, big time, Doug Marland, Nancy Curlee.

    Vanessa\Nola fighting, Nola\Quint's wedding the best & Reva \Josh's first wedding. Roger\Holly, Roger\Holly or anything with Roger\Holly. Ross\Blake meaning both Sherry Stringfield & Liz Keifer. Sherry's Blake is the one that set the tone for Blake and Sherry's Blake\Holly\Roger, India\Alex going at it, Lujack\Beth, Phillip\Beth, Rick\Mindy, Hamp\Gilly

    Showing friendships Vanessa\Maureen getting drunk, Ross\Ed, Billy\Hamp, Bridget\Kat\David\Hart,Roger\Maureen, Michelle\Drew. Michelle\L. Billy\Ben, Alex\Lillian.

    Cynthia Watros as Annie always and both Dinahs, Wendy especially, Gina. Vanessa\Henry, when little Billy stoled the Bentley. The bachelor party male episode awesome

    I personally don't want anything with Brent\Marian because he killed off my beloved Nadine...and Megan McTrashy!!! The only bright spot was A-M\Lucy. I don't want Reva's clone, time traveling painting, Amish Reva, Joan Collins as Alex, no #2 Annie as Teri DeMarco

    And the most important of course anything left with Bert Bauer being Bert giving sage advice to her family and friends and Bert's temper..she pulled no punches. I can't believe nobody as mention the heart of the show Bert Bauer

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  36. For The scandals DVD I would love to see when Alexandra told Billy Mindy was sleeping with Roger and had carried his child. Billy almost killed him. Good stuff. Also When Holly walked in on Ross and Blake in bed during the blackout. Loved Sherry Stringfield and Liz Keifer. Olivia/Natalia and my 2 mommies. Maureen/Ed/Lillian

    Weddings- Josh/Reva, Harley/Mallet, Blake/Ross, Eleni/Alan Michael or Eleni/Frank both were so good but different. Tammy/Jonathon, Richard/Cassie

    Villans and Vixens- Roger, Annie Dutton, Alan, Brent/Marian Crane, Daniel St. John, Edmund Winslow

    GL has so much great stuff that it makes it very hard to choose. They had a wealth of great actors and actresses. I miss it.

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  37. OMG!!!! This is the BEST news I have EVER heard!!! Can't wait!!!

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  38. thank you thank you thank you!!!!

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  39. What I would REALLY love as an "extra" feature would be a collection of the various openings of GL during the years, since this was a unique feature of GL for so long. I would treasure seeing these in a clear quality version rather than the Youtube copies (or my VHS copies!).

    I also would vote for episodes that stand alone so well, like Roger/Alex at the country club, Maureen's death, Kelly learns the truth about Nola, Carrie's release day from Cedars, Alex's black-and-white fantasy, Mindy and Kurt's wedding, etc...Jeff

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  40. Thanks so much for all of these wonderful updates.

    Here is the thank you note I posted on the About SoapClassics comment board:

    ----

    Hello to the team at SoapClassics -

    Thank you, thank you and triple thank you for introducing this initiative.

    The AOL On-Line venture of a few years ago gave us a taste of the invaluable holdings in the Procter & Gamble archives for millions of TV soap fans past and present. It was wonderful to come across news of SoapClassics and this first As the World Turns set on the web site of We Love Soaps.

    I was a huge fan of Texas and still have scratchy copies of the last few episodes from December 1982 that were passed on to me from another fan who recorded them on a primitive VHS. Please sign me up now for Texas holdings either in DVD or on-line archive form.

    I also grew up being exposed to Another World and Edge of NIght which were broadcast on the two main Canadian English TV networks for decades. I would also purchase the 20 classic episodes (and more) for each of those two soaps.

    For Another World, there would be a huge demand for the St. Croix remote episodes from early 1980, not to mention the stellar follow-up episode from later that year where Douglass Watson's Mac Cory realized on the witness stand of his TV wife Rachel's trial that he was not the father of her new baby. The writing, directing and acting did not come any better than that.

    I also have some 1979 Another World episodes lodged in my brain where the late, great Beverlee McKinsey's Iris was being held hostage in her penthouse. She is greatly missed from the TV landscape.

    The 1989 25th Anniversary episodes of Another World would also be wonderful to have along with the whole segment from that same period where Mac Cory learned that daughter Iris had betrayed him.

    There was wonderful use of humor in the mid-80s on Another World with the characters of Cass, Felicia, Cecile and Wallingford and I would purchase a box set dedicated to that period. The Majorca remote sequences from 1984 were well done.

    I was a late-comer to As The World Turns and Guiding Light, but would happily purchase any box sets featuring the characters of Luke, Noah and Reid.

    Thanks again. I am passing on word to some soap message boards filled with dedicated Procter & Gamble fans.

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  41. oh yayayay! i squealed when i read this! GL was my favorite soap of all! i hope they include more than one Bauer BBQ :)

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  42. I want to see some Marah and Tony (Jordi Vilasuso and Lindsay McKeon). One fo my favorite couples EVER and ended too soon because of the recast.

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  43. i would love AW set hope they eventually do releases as whole storylines, Texas loved this as a child, Santa Barbara and certain Days storylines. I heard that first few eps of Sunset Beach is availible in EU!

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  44. This is wonderful news. I'd love to see the following shows of GL from the summer of 1983, when the mystery of Annabelle began to take shape: June 1st, program number 9166, July 7th, program number 9192 and July 13th, program number 9196
    Of course I'd love to see all the classics from 1980 - 1984, but these I have been looking for a long time. Great Great news.

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  45. Another idea for the GL DVD: you could have a section of "Cliff Hangers". We've seen a lot from people who posted o Youtube over the years, but these have not been seen since the original broadcast:
    1. Late Aug/Sept 1980: After learning Jennifer Richards true identity, Lucille Wexler attacks her with a letter opener.
    2. Late Jan, 1981: During Jennifer's trial, the truth comes out that Amanda is the daughter of Jennifer and Alan Spaulding!
    3. July 13th, 1983 (#9196) The fishing trip picture that hangs in Tony Reardon's bar is stolen in a "ghost like fashion" late at night!
    4. Sept 21, 1984 (#9499) Susan Piper gives Tony and Annabelle a gift that is a bomb that goes off with Jim and Hillary Bauer present in the room.

    These were great cliff hanger moments in GL's history....

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  46. You all are amazing. You can imagine how difficult it is to pick 20 episodes.

    I created a topic on our Classic Soaps forum for those who can't post here for whatever reason. Please include the airdate and episode numbers if you have them.

    http://forums.welovesoaps.net/topic/7366432/1/

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  47. Please include Roger Thorpe episodes from Guiding Light. It would be great to eventually get whole seasons or years on dvd. Also, I loved the Brent Lawrence episodes and of course any with Reva. Keep creating DVDs of GL and other soaps and we WILL BUY THEM!!

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  48. Yes, please put Passions on DVD, too. That only had a few seasons. It'd be great to have them all!

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  49. Please hurry up and bring back Another World!!!!

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  50. I sincerely hope they show the tribute episodes for Charita Bauer
    and Michael Zaslow.

    I also am happy to see that an earlier poster (Mitch) shares the same opinion as I do, of our beloved Edggggge of Night. When Henry Slesar was let go and Lee Sheldon was hired, my heart just sank and I knew, from that point on, the end was near. 18 months later, Edge was gone.

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  51. Also...it would only take a minute or so...but if they could do a brief montage of TJ Hargrave, the GL logo and the new WTC memorial, as he was one of the WTC victims.

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  52. I cannot wait for The Edge of Night
    set. Sky and Raven along with many others. One of the best shows ever!!!

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  53. God Does Answers prayers..Thank You Jesus, I Was Interested In The Whole Drew Jacobs Story Line I Know Every One else But I Kinda Caught Hers At The End So I Would Like A Recap Of Her Story.. Thanks

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  54. This Is Such Good News I've Been Waiting For This Day About 10 Years Now. I Really Want To See When Drew Finds Out That selena Is Her Mother!
    And When Cassie And Reva First Met, I Wish It Was Possible To Release The Whole Year Of 1999 To DvD. That Would Be A Dream Come True!! But In The Meantime.I'll Be Waiting For Y&R's Release

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  55. Wish we could also see older soap years, particularly the DAYS in the 1960s! This will be great. What a disappearing art form--I can't stand the stupid shows they put on now. Anybody who trusts Oz and Phil needs MD care!

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  56. OMG!!! Edge of Night ASAP Please!

    also GL and all the others!

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  57. OMG!!! Yay!!!! I've been praying they would release the another world episodes. I was soooo upset when they stopped airing it on soapnet and then on hulu. I can't wait. I hope this will happen in the near future. I'll be glad to pay!!!!!!!!!

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  58. Has the "Texas" box set been released?---I am having trouble finding it and that was my favorite soap of all time!!!

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  59. I will purchase box sets of atwt & gl for myself and my grandmom. I will definitely be her favorite now!! Now I just need to be able to purchase Ryan's Hope and grandmom will never move from in front of her t.v.!!!

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