The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night is an American mystery crime drama soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions.
It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network for most of its run until November 28, 1975. The series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984. 7,420 episodes were produced, of which some 1,800 are available for syndication.
Writer Sir P. G. Wodehouse, actresses Bette Davis and Tallulah Bankhead, as well as Eleanor Roosevelt, were all reportedly devoted fans.
Concept
The Edge of Night, whose working title was The Edge of Darkness, premiered on April 2, 1956, as one of the first two half-hour serials on television, the other being As the World Turns. Prior to the debuts of both shows, 15-minute-long shows had been the standard. Both shows aired on CBS, sponsored by Procter & Gamble.The show was originally conceived as the daytime television version of Perry Mason, which was popular in novel and radio formats at the time. Mason's creator Erle Stanley Gardner was to create and write the show, but a last-minute tiff between the CBS network and him caused Gardner to pull his support from the idea. CBS insisted that Mason be given a love interest to placate daytime soap opera audiences, but Gardner refused to take Mason in that direction. Gardner eventually patched up his differences with CBS, and Perry Mason debuted in prime time on September 21, 1957.
In 1956, a writer from the Perry Mason radio show, Irving Vendig, created a retooled idea of the show for daytime television—and The Edge of Night was born. John Larkin, radio's best identified Perry Mason, was cast as the protagonist-star, initially as a detective, eventually as an attorney, in a thinly veiled copy of Perry Mason.
Setting
Unlike Perry Mason, whose adventures took place in Southern California, the daytime series was set in the fictional city of Monticello, located in the Midwestern United States. A frequent backdrop for the show's early scenes was a restaurant called the Ho-Hi-Ho. The state capital, however, was known generically as "Capital City"; the state in which Monticello was located was never identified. From its beginning in 1956 until roughly 1980, the downtown skyline of the city of Cincinnati stood in as Monticello. Procter & Gamble, which produced the show, is based in Cincinnati. In later years, the Los Angeles skyline replaced that of Cincinnati. The skyline motif was eventually eliminated altogether in the final two years of the show, as was the word "The" in the title.Format
During most of the show's run, viewers were treated to an announcer enthusiastically and energetically announcing the show's title, "The Eeedge...of Night!" Bob Dixon was the first announcer in 1956, followed by Herbert Duncan. The two voices most identified with the show, however, were those of Harry Kramer and Hal Simms, who announced until the series ended in 1984.The Edge of Night played on more artistic levels than probably any other soap of its time. It was unique among daytime soap operas in that it focused on crime, rather than domestic and romantic matters. The police, district attorneys, and medical examiners of fictional Monticello, United States, dealt with a steady onslaught of gangsters, drug dealers, blackmailers, cultists, international spies, corrupt politicians, psychopaths, and murderous debutantes, while at the same time coping with more usual soap opera problems like courtship, marriage, divorce, child custody battles, and amnesia. The show's particular focus on crime was recognized in 1980, when, in honor of its 25 years on the air, The Edge of Night was given a special Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America. The Edge of Night had more prominent male characters than most soap operas, and included genuine humor in its scripts to balance the heaviness of the storylines.
Cast and characters
The show's central protagonist was Mike Karr, tireless crimefighter, introduced as a police officer who was finishing law school. This character evolved from the earlier Perry Mason character on radio. He then progressed to the district attorney's office as an assistant district attorney, hung his own shingle as a defense attorney for several years, then became district attorney of Monticello. Karr was portrayed by three actors: John Larkin, Laurence Hugo, and Forrest Compton.Among the show's cast members who appeared on The Edge of Night early in their careers and later gained fame were Mariann Aalda, Leah Ayres, Conrad Bain, David Birney, Dixie Carter, Kate Capshaw, Philip Casnoff, Thom Christopher, Margaret Colin, James Coco, Jacqueline Courtney, John Cullum, Marcia Cross, Irene Dailey, Frances Fisher, Jennifer Joan Taylor, Lucy Lee Flippin, David Froman, Penny Fuller, Scott Glenn, Sam Groom, Don Hastings, Patrick Horgan, Earle Hyman, Željko Ivanek, Peter Kastner, Lori Loughlin, Bill Macy, Nancy Marchand, Kiel Martin, Doug McKeon, Julianne Moore, John Allen Nelson, Barry Newman, Bebe Neuwirth, Christopher Norris, Antony Ponzini, Lawrence Pressman, Tony Roberts, Reva Rose, Mark Rydell, Dolph Sweet, Millee Taggart, Holland Taylor, Richard Thomas, John Travolta, Ann Wedgeworth and Jacklyn Zeman.
Over the years, the show featured many notable performers and celebrities, usually in small cameo appearances, but some in roles important to the storylines. Among the show's guest stars were Willie Aames, Amanda Blake, Dick Cavett, Nancy Coleman, Professor Irwin Corey, Selma Diamond, James Douglas, Alfred Drake, John Fiedler, Betty Guarde, Rita Gam, Eva Gabor, Jack Gilford, Frank Gorshin, Farley Granger, Cynthia Gregory, Micki Grant, Lisa Howard, Kim Hunter, Leon Janney, Rita Jenrette, Arch Johnson, Larry King, Ed Marinaro, Donald May, Sam McMurray, James Mitchell, Meg Myles, Tom Nardini, Wade Nichols, Peaches and Herb, Minerva Pious, Anne Revere, Rosemary Rice, Hugh Reilly, Wallace Shawn, Pat Stanley, Shirley Stoler, Elaine Stritch, Jane White, Ann Williams, and Jerry Zaks.
Storylines
For the show's duration, the stories either revolved around or touched upon Monticello lawyer Mike Karr.The 1950s
As the show began, Mike Karr's relationship with Sara Lane reproduced the radio serial's Perry Mason/Della Street relationship. Adding a complication for Mike Karr, Sara's family was involved in organized crime. In the early years of the show, Sara's younger brother, Jack, was drawn into the criminal world by corrupt uncle Harry Lane. Nevertheless, Mike and Sara eventually married. Their happiness was short-lived when Sara was written out of the show, killed as she saved the life of their daughter Laurie Ann, who ran into the street into the path of an automobile. By the 1960s, Laurie Ann was a teenager, supplying many plots for the show, and a young wife and mother by the 1970s.The 1960s
Mike later married Nancy Pollock, a journalist who helped in many of his cases. Nancy had two siblings: Lee, who eventually married Geri McGrath, and Elaine, nicknamed "Cookie". Cookie was also involved in major story arcs. Cookie was married first to Malcolm Thomas, who cheated on her and then made her a widow. Later she married Ron Christopher, whose dealings with loan sharks affected Mike's good friends Louise and Philip Capice.Other important characters were Police Chief Bill Marceau, who was one of Karr's best friends and shared a tremendous mutual respect, rare between a defense attorney and a chief of police, Marceau's secretary Martha, fellow attorney Adam Drake, his client, then secretary Nicole Travis, and wealthy socialite Geraldine Whitney.
In one storyline, Nicole Travis was victimized by two different women, Stephanie Martin and Pamela Stewart, who both wanted Nicole gone but for different reasons. Pamela was Adam Drake's ex-wife, and she knew Adam was falling in love with Nicole. She reasoned that Adam might return to her if Nicole were not there. Although Stephanie did attempt to kill Nicole on at least one occasion, she more interested in terrorising her in revenge for the deaths of her husband and daughter. Stephanie's husband had borrowed money from loan sharks who answered to Nicole's gangster father. He could not repay the debt, so Nicole's father ordered his men to cut the brakelines on his car. The whole family, including Stephanie, her husband, their son, and identical twin daughters Karen and Debbie were in the resulting accident, which only Stephanie and Debbie survived. Nicole's father was in prison, so Stephanie went after his daughter instead - gradually moving closer and closer, and eventually taking a job as one Nicole's two shop assistants. Stephanie was working late at the shop when she stabbed in the back, just as Nicole arrived to confront her - having learned earlier that evening that Stephanie was behind the threats on her life. Debbie, who had been sleeping on a window seat until just before the stabbing occurred, saw her mother on the floor with the dagger in her back and shouted "Pull it out! Pull it out!"; which Nicole did. Thus, Nicole was accused of murdering Stephanie because her fingerprints were on the weapon; and Debbie was struck dumb again. Adam Drake defended Nicole against increasingly impossible odds, eventually realising that Debbie was the key to Nicole's exoneration. He had to find a way to make her speak again. Knowing Debbie had strong affection for the therapist who was helping her, he proceed to accuse the woman of being the killer. This proved to be the catalyst the restored Debbie's ability to speak again, to defend her friend. Adam then showed Debbie a picture of Nicole and asked if it was the woman who killed her mother and Debbie answered no. In a classic Perry Mason-like climax, Debbie was called to testify at Nicole's trial; and when asked on the stand if the woman who killed her mother was in court, she said "Yes. Her!" as she pointed to Pamela Stewart - who had killed Stephanie by mistake. In the darkness and because she attacked from behind, Pamela thought she was stabbing Nicole.