Nothing to add other than that I have a fixture in my kitchen exactly like the one pictured in the OP, and it is a pain in the ass to change the bulbs. You almost need three hands for this task. I usually wait until I’m down to one lit bulb out of the three so that I can replace two at a time and not have to mess with it as often.
Plan B, good luck with yours and I hope you don’t have to break the glass to get it off!
Success!!!
Here’s what worked. Somewhere in the middle of the week I squirted a lubricant all over the outer edge of the glass. Of course with gravity working against me I got more of it on my hair and face than on the correct part of the glass. Then it was impossible to grip the glass because of all the lubricant that had dripped down. So I gave up for a couple of days.
Then I came back with a pair of kitchen gloves and some warm soapy water and paper towels to dry everything off and I washed all the lubricant off the part of the glass I wanted to grip and I dried it off. Then without using the gloves I tried magiver’s suggestion of shaking the sucker back and forth and it came off in a few seconds. I replaced two bulbs and but the glass back in place safely, but not tightly. QED
Thanks for the support and suggestions.
Congratulations, Plan B.
So now, as I said above, we can answer the highly significant question “How many Straght Dopers does it take to change a lightbulb?”
Well, someone out there may want to count how many different people contributed to this thread and use that number. But I’m too lazy to do that. Instead I’ll note that Plan B’s “Success” post is the 42nd message in the thread. That number is of supreme cosmological significance, as most of you know, so I propose it be the answer to the question.
There! That was easy.
I can’t believe that nobody has yet posted the link to the humorous classic SDope thread about changing a broken light bulb
146 posts of fun…
Douglas Adams was right! 42.
Thanks for posting that link. I really needed a good belly laugh. Somehow I missed that thread when it was active.
So did Plan B try a potato in changing his lightbulb? And was the power turned off first?
SonOfABitch! That site installs a Trojan.Maliframe!html virus!! Do not access!!
A request for next time: If a link installs malware on your computer, please don’t quote it. That just makes more work for the moderators. Thanks for letting us know about it, though!
**
Gfactor**
General Questions Moderator
Oops, my bad; jumped into panic mode without thinking! :o
No problem.
Ah, but now we have found the question!
That was the initial issue, you know.
hmmm… Doesn’t that mean that the universe will now be instantly destroyed and replaced with something even more bizarre and improbable?
Big amen from this corner of the congregation 
Gotta love the helpfulness of this here gang of Dopers. I was preparing to post my recommendation regarding bockety screw-in ~ screw-off devices when I read the good news. Squirting gobs of lubricant is always a good first step. An old mechanic once advised me the best way to loosen a seemingly immovable screw/nut/globe is to turn it slightly tighter first Often that is enough to break the frozen seal, and then the counterclockwise turns are a breeze.
You unscrew the thing that looks like a brass nipple in the centre of the glass globe!
I have to admit when I first read the thread title, “How many Dopers does it take to screw in a light bulb?” my initial reaction was, “How do they fit inside it???”
Tsk…one can tell where my mind wanders, eh wot?
Take an uncooked potato, cut it in half. Make sure that the light is switched off. Take the potato and gently shove it into the light bulb socket, exposed pulp side toward the socket. Gently turn to the left (counter-clockwise) until the metal base of the bulb comes out. Clean out any pieces of potato that may be left before replacing the bulb. This is REAL old school! Hope this helps.
I just had the same problem, googled “can’t change my light bulb” feeling like a retard. Eventually, I stumbled upon this link. After reading through the hilarity, I finally realized my problem. As one of the other posters mentioned, I had to twist the nipple rather than the areola. I ran back to the living room and tried and it worked!!! Although I have never felt so dirty while doing something so simple. Thanks for the help and the very easy to understand instructions. I hope everyone has as much fun as I did. Thanks for the memories! 
Yes, Did you try maybe WD 40?
For me, this was the key to opening the fixture. I was twisting the main part of the nipple (the washer) when I should have been twisting the tip.
Wow! That took 10 years.