The Edge of Night

The Edge of Night was a long-running American television crime drama mislabeled as a soap opera. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956. It ran on that network until November 28, 1975 and aired on ABC from December 1, 1975 until December 28, 1984. 7420 episodes were produced, with some 1800 available for syndication.

Format

Edge was the second of the two original half-hour soaps; As the World Turns also premiered in this format earlier the same day. These two programs were the last two American soap operas generally to be aired live, which they were into the 1970s and which also accounts why only about one-fourth of the episodes of The Edge of Night are available for syndication. The last live episode aired on November 28, 1975, which, coincidentally, was the last episode aired on CBS. The episode ended with Serena Faraday (Louise Shaffer) shooting her husband on the steps of the courthouse. The next Monday, ABC aired a special 90-minute episode, which started with dowager Geraldine Whitney (Lois Kibbee) in a coma after she was knocked unconscious in a robbery.

Related Topics:
As the World Turns - 1970s - Louise Shaffer - Lois Kibbee

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The show was originally conceived as the daytime version of Perry Mason, which was popular in novel and radio formats at the time. Erle Stanley Gardner was to create and write the show, but a last-minute tiff between him and the network caused Gardner to pull his support from the idea. A writer from the Perry Mason radio show, Irving Vendig, created a retooled idea and the show as we know it was born. Gardner would eventually patch up his differences with CBS and Perry Mason would debut in prime time the next year.

Related Topics:
Perry Mason - Novel - Radio - Erle Stanley Gardner - Irving Vendig - Prime time

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Unlike Mason, whose adventures took place in Southern California, Monticello, the city of The Edge of Night, was somewhere in a generic state in the Midwest — a state so generic that its capital city was "Capital City". It was admitted that the city skyline seen in the opening credits was that of Cincinnati, Ohio, where the show's sponsor, Procter & Gamble, was based.

Related Topics:
Southern California - Midwest - Cincinnati, Ohio - Procter & Gamble

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Edge of Night was unique among daytime soap operas in focusing on crime, rather than domestic and romantic matters. The police, district attorneys and medical examiners of fictional Monticello, USA dealt with a steady onslaught of gangsters, drug dealers, blackmailers, cultists, international spies, corrupt politicians, psychopaths and murderous debutantes while coping with more usual soap opera problems such as courtship, marriage, divorce, custody battles and amnesia.

Related Topics:
Crime - Police - District attorney - Gangsters - Cultists - Spies - Politician - Marriage - Divorce - Amnesia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~