For the past 70 years, The Guiding Light has been a shining example of the drama, passion and inspiration to be found within the soap opera format. From its early days on radio, to a staple of daytime television, The Guiding Light has also been a perennial winner with audiences. But the audience of 2007 is a lot different from the '37, '47 or even '87 audience. The viewership has evolved, and entertainment has too. In keeping with the times, the new CBS is listening to their entire audience — all their children, so to speak — and decided to make some changes. How does this involve Star Trek you ask? It doesn't, yet. But watch closely over the next year and you will see the world turn towards a show that features a strong Trek twist!

In what could be described as a very bold and beautiful move, CBS takes a big step towards the merging of two entertainment juggernauts. The predominantly male Star Trek audience is about to be integrated with the predominantly female soap opera audience. The new show, titled "The Guiding Orb," is set to go into production later this fall at the CBS Television City studios and will eventually incorporate characters, storylines and even the stored Deep Space Nine sets that were kept on hold for a potential movie.

"Passions change, and this is the perfect way to leverage our assets within a new format. Soap opera fans today are young and restless. They need new content. Sci-fi fans have their passions, but are poorly served in daytime television. It's the old peanut butter in my chocolate mixing that we hope will satisfy the daytime viewers' sweet tooth," said CBS daytime programming chairman Jerry Ryan. It is Ryan's hope to see the franchise metaphor extended beyond the usual style of soaps. "It's another world out there, and in that endless search for tomorrow's next big thing, we have stumbled upon this brilliant concept."

In order to not lose key audience demographics, Ryan has stated that the changes will be gradual. "We will be introducing a character named Benny Russell, a name familiar to DS9 fans," said Ryan. "From his story, we will build out on his reality. Within six months to a year, the entire show will be set on DS9, and other locations in the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants including an outpost on the dark side of a Bajoran moon stationed on the edge of night."

Ryan would not give a firm date for the introduction of Russell's character, but did note, rather cryptically, "Like sands through the hourglass, these are the stardates of our lives."

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