'The Edge of Night' was an event around our house; my mother tried to have her housework done in order to see it where with most other soaps she just worked with them on in the background. My father liked it too; he carried the mail and was home by mid-afternoon. Apparently this was the only soap, at least of that era, with a significant male viewership Both of my late parentes were really big-time fans of the late John Larkin and never accepted the later Karrs as much; as a kid I guess I was more flexible, and besides, Forrest Compton was a known quantity as he had been "The Colonel" on "Gomer Pyle". Walter Grezea was superb as Police Chief Marceau; the supporting cast was really good, especially Ann Flood as Nancy and Donald May as Mike's colleague Adam Drake. This show had better plot lines than the other soaps because of its legal setting, with things like blackmail, loansharking and drugs (even back then) that would not likely have been on other soaps of the era. Even as a kid knowing nothing of the background, I saw that Mike Karr was really a daytime Perry Mason, but that just made the show better. In fact, because it moved so much more slowly since it was on for a half hour a day, the trials could be much more realistic and the real criminal didn't always have to break down on the stand and admit why they were the one who had done it; also Karr, unlike Mason, sometimes lost his cases. Three plot lines stick out in my mind; the Karr's in-laws the Capieces (Mike Karr and Phillip Capiece were married to sisters, Nancy and "Cookie", getting involved with a criminal named Calvin who wound up robbing their wall safe (first time that I'd ever seen one); the evil Jonah Lockwood, who I could tell, even as a kid, was based on Charles Manson, and finally (after I was a young adult), even the riff on "The Fugitive" where a wrongfully-convicted man escaped from the train taking him to prison. (Got to admit that a ripoff that flagrant took real brass!) This show, and "As the World Turns", were the last live soaps, so live that one day I can remember the announcer stumbling through his words and saying, "And now ... The Urge of Night!"
17 Reviews
On the edge of your seat! Another longtime soap bites the dust!
Sylviastel2 May 2006
The Edge of Night to me now is a distant memory. I do remember it being canceled which I thought was a terrible shame. There is only 1 half hour soap on television today. So I am going to write about the importance of daytime drama to the New York City entertainment community. It was the backbone and a place for actors and actresses to work their days at a show and work evenings on stage doing theater. Sadly, the New York City entertainment community is not growing as it once did before. Most people can't afford to live in the area to begin with and opt to work in Los Angeles or Toronto. I wish New York City Film and television would pay attention to these soaps cancellation as a warning that they shouldn't be happening. The Edge of Night was a brief memory. I remember coming home and it would be on at 4:00 P.M. and now it's Oprah. I do not mind talk shows but I do the growing choices of daytime dramas. I still think these shows have produced some of the finest actors and actresses today. At 28 years, the network yanked it off the screen and replaced it with Loving which would be canceled in less than 10 years later. Maybe they should have kept Edge of Night on along with the others. Every time a soap gets canceled, I just feel like losing a member of my family. I don't remember much about Edge of Night but the last episode. Now NYC only produces 4 soaps, the youngest soap of theirs being All My Children at 35. At least L.A. has 5 and it's youngest is 7 years old. I don't care where American soaps are made but that they are made.
Daytime Soaps meet Film Noir.
mark.waltz9 October 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Thirty years ago this month, "The Edge of Night" prepared to wrap up its 28 year run on daytime T.V. Countless murders and political scandals had dominated the screen on two different networks, featuring hundreds of actors from the stage as well as some very popular soap actors who had brief roles on this show before moving elsewhere. Unlike other soaps, "Edge" only had a handful of "core" characters at one time, focusing on a rotating cast of gangsters, gun molls, political big-wigs and daddy's girls who all ended up at some point either committing a murder, being on trial for one, or becoming a victim themselves. I only watched the last two years of the network run and caught up on some previous episodes later when it was re-run on the U.S.A. cable network. Old episodes dating back to the first episode have popped up, so the chance to see the early days of attorney Mike Karr (daytime's answer to Perry Mason) are now available as are sporadic episodes of the 1960's and 70's. One early episode available for viewing features Don Hastings who played Bob Hughes on "As the World Turns" for 50 years.
Former stage star/dancer James Mitchell is just one of many well known actors to have had a role on the show, episodes available to view him playing a crooked cop. Split personality Serena/Josie was played by the Emmy Winning Louise Shaffer, giving an intense performance that was equally as deserving. The D.A. in her trial was played by none other than that feisty "Designing Woman", Dixie Carter, equally as terminating here as she was as Julia Sugarbaker. Her boss was none other than "Ryan's Hope's" Johnny Ryan, Bernard Barrow. Another future T.V. star, Holland Taylor, gave a scary performance as the evil Denise Cavanaugh, the bitchy wife of the show's final romantic hero, Dr. Miles Cavanaugh (Joel Crothers).
Of the thousands of stories I would have loved to have seen unfold, the most interesting appears to be the early 70's saga of the Whitney family, especially as seen through the eyes of its sardonic matriarch, Geraldine. The wonderful Lois Kibbee would definitely have won an Emmy for her performance for this storyline where she reveals the secrets of her psychotic son who committed murder while disguised as a drugged out hippie and fell to his death while trying to kill Mike Karr's daughter, Laurie. This storyline was obviously based on scandals of the Kennedy family, with Geraldine definitely a fictional version of matriarch Rose who may not have been in public power but certainly ruled the roost behind the scenes. Geraldine mellowed thanks to the humanity of Kibbee, and her character became beloved, not only by the Monticello townspeople but by even the youngest of fans who felt a kindred spirit with her. Somebody in Hollywood must have liked the comic undertones of her character, casting her in an important role in the comedy classic "Caddyshack" as Ted Knight's uppity wife.
Of course, the show's longest running heroine was the gorgeous redhead Ann Flood, playing Mike Karr's second wife, Nancy, a hard-working reporter. A second major heroine, Nicole Travis (the equally beautiful Maeve McGuire), was also very prominent, and at times, Nancy and Nicole seemed like sisters, even though Nicole was originally brought in as a vixen. Recasts of Nicole after McGuire left the show seemed to youthen the character and made her seem like somebody different altogether. But when McGuire was there, cast opposite the handsome Donald May (Adam Drake), the show had two major couples for the audience to root for as they all went after the various criminals. The mid 1970's saw a major mob story, and this attracted a male audience who enjoyed the murder and mayhem of the daily drama which replaced the organ music and sappy romance on the other soaps.
Those "Another World" pals Constance Ford and Irene Dailey had separate stints as knife wielding murderesses, and Nancy Pinkerton, the original Dorian on "OLTL", had a rather lengthy stint as well. Major soap names as Gillian Spencer, Elizabeth Hubbard, Barbara Berjer, Conrad Fowkes, Millette Alexander, Nat Polen, Dorothy Lyman and Richard Schoberg were on for stints lasting usually six months to a year. Lyman's stint was a pre-cursor to her Emmy Winning role as Opal on "AMC", playing a hillbilly character with murder on her mind who got tossed out of a moving vehicle (with a stunt man wearing a wig), while Schoberg (also of "AMC") played her more worldly brother.
By the time I started watching, Mike and Nancy were still prominent, but the focus was on Sky Whitney and Raven Alexander. Larkin Malloy and Sharon Gabet became soap superstars as the dynamic couple. Malloy's Schuyler was revealed to be an impostor, but he was so popular that they brought him back as the real deal. While Malloy went on to popular hero roles on "Guiding Light" and "All My Children", Gabet wasn't so lucky, her characters on "Another World" and "One Life to Live" below expectations when compared to the memory of the much married vixen Raven. Veteran soap viewers name Gabet as one of the most missed actresses on daytime, but roles like Raven come along usually only once in a lifetime.
During its later years, "Edge" suffered in low ratings yet tried very hard to maintain its dignity even though the story lines often resembled the science fiction nonsense of "General Hospital". Even so, a long spy storyline and the mass hypnosis of Monticello through cable T.V. were entertainingly presented, the later storyline almost eerily representative of what is happening today through the obsession with social media and hand held devices. "Edge" is a show that certainly has not been forgotten, and its legacy is one of timeless entertainment, especially those episodes written with great care by the great Henry Slesar who obviously was influenced by the classic film noirs of the 1940's and 50's.
Former stage star/dancer James Mitchell is just one of many well known actors to have had a role on the show, episodes available to view him playing a crooked cop. Split personality Serena/Josie was played by the Emmy Winning Louise Shaffer, giving an intense performance that was equally as deserving. The D.A. in her trial was played by none other than that feisty "Designing Woman", Dixie Carter, equally as terminating here as she was as Julia Sugarbaker. Her boss was none other than "Ryan's Hope's" Johnny Ryan, Bernard Barrow. Another future T.V. star, Holland Taylor, gave a scary performance as the evil Denise Cavanaugh, the bitchy wife of the show's final romantic hero, Dr. Miles Cavanaugh (Joel Crothers).
Of the thousands of stories I would have loved to have seen unfold, the most interesting appears to be the early 70's saga of the Whitney family, especially as seen through the eyes of its sardonic matriarch, Geraldine. The wonderful Lois Kibbee would definitely have won an Emmy for her performance for this storyline where she reveals the secrets of her psychotic son who committed murder while disguised as a drugged out hippie and fell to his death while trying to kill Mike Karr's daughter, Laurie. This storyline was obviously based on scandals of the Kennedy family, with Geraldine definitely a fictional version of matriarch Rose who may not have been in public power but certainly ruled the roost behind the scenes. Geraldine mellowed thanks to the humanity of Kibbee, and her character became beloved, not only by the Monticello townspeople but by even the youngest of fans who felt a kindred spirit with her. Somebody in Hollywood must have liked the comic undertones of her character, casting her in an important role in the comedy classic "Caddyshack" as Ted Knight's uppity wife.
Of course, the show's longest running heroine was the gorgeous redhead Ann Flood, playing Mike Karr's second wife, Nancy, a hard-working reporter. A second major heroine, Nicole Travis (the equally beautiful Maeve McGuire), was also very prominent, and at times, Nancy and Nicole seemed like sisters, even though Nicole was originally brought in as a vixen. Recasts of Nicole after McGuire left the show seemed to youthen the character and made her seem like somebody different altogether. But when McGuire was there, cast opposite the handsome Donald May (Adam Drake), the show had two major couples for the audience to root for as they all went after the various criminals. The mid 1970's saw a major mob story, and this attracted a male audience who enjoyed the murder and mayhem of the daily drama which replaced the organ music and sappy romance on the other soaps.
Those "Another World" pals Constance Ford and Irene Dailey had separate stints as knife wielding murderesses, and Nancy Pinkerton, the original Dorian on "OLTL", had a rather lengthy stint as well. Major soap names as Gillian Spencer, Elizabeth Hubbard, Barbara Berjer, Conrad Fowkes, Millette Alexander, Nat Polen, Dorothy Lyman and Richard Schoberg were on for stints lasting usually six months to a year. Lyman's stint was a pre-cursor to her Emmy Winning role as Opal on "AMC", playing a hillbilly character with murder on her mind who got tossed out of a moving vehicle (with a stunt man wearing a wig), while Schoberg (also of "AMC") played her more worldly brother.
By the time I started watching, Mike and Nancy were still prominent, but the focus was on Sky Whitney and Raven Alexander. Larkin Malloy and Sharon Gabet became soap superstars as the dynamic couple. Malloy's Schuyler was revealed to be an impostor, but he was so popular that they brought him back as the real deal. While Malloy went on to popular hero roles on "Guiding Light" and "All My Children", Gabet wasn't so lucky, her characters on "Another World" and "One Life to Live" below expectations when compared to the memory of the much married vixen Raven. Veteran soap viewers name Gabet as one of the most missed actresses on daytime, but roles like Raven come along usually only once in a lifetime.
During its later years, "Edge" suffered in low ratings yet tried very hard to maintain its dignity even though the story lines often resembled the science fiction nonsense of "General Hospital". Even so, a long spy storyline and the mass hypnosis of Monticello through cable T.V. were entertainingly presented, the later storyline almost eerily representative of what is happening today through the obsession with social media and hand held devices. "Edge" is a show that certainly has not been forgotten, and its legacy is one of timeless entertainment, especially those episodes written with great care by the great Henry Slesar who obviously was influenced by the classic film noirs of the 1940's and 50's.
Brilliant, Unusual daytime serial
devalier9 January 2000
"The Edge of Night" was without a doubt one of the best daytime soaps ever. Unlike other soaps, Edge focused on intelligent, complex mysteries fraught with irony, suspense, and edge-of-your seat action. The show's ensemble cast was probably the best in daytime history, supporting Edge's reputation a classy, well-written, and terrifically acted program. Sadly, after 28 years of superior programming, Edge was dropped in favor of higher-budget, more popular soaps, all of which in effect plagiarized Edge's plots, action, and individuality. Accept no susbstitutes: Edge was The Best!
An Interesting Fact
Diosprometheus31 May 2004
An interesting fact about this show is that it had its origins in the Perry Mason radio show before it was a TV show.
The radio show ran from 1943 to 1955, five days a week, on the CBS radio network.
It was part soap opera and part detective story.
When the radio show moved, with most of the cast and the production staff, to TV, it was renamed Edge of Night.
The cast members were given new character names.
The Perry Mason character was dropped. On September 21, 1957, CBS aired a new show, Perry Mason, starring Raymond Burr.
The radio show ran from 1943 to 1955, five days a week, on the CBS radio network.
It was part soap opera and part detective story.
When the radio show moved, with most of the cast and the production staff, to TV, it was renamed Edge of Night.
The cast members were given new character names.
The Perry Mason character was dropped. On September 21, 1957, CBS aired a new show, Perry Mason, starring Raymond Burr.
Edge of Night was really one of the best DAYTIME SOAPS~
frank-walsh7 February 2006
I have been waiting and wandering if this great soap will ever appear in syndication somewhere. I remember watching it in the afternoon when I came home from school..every weekday. I found it compelling and very interesting even for a kid my age. I always loved the mysterious story lines and the actors too were always OUTSTANDING! It amazed me that ABC cancelled the soap in 1984. I don't think that I have been able to watch another soap since. I remember Ann Flood, Forest Compton, Sharon Gabet, and the wonderful Lois Kibbie - all these actors are sorely missed on television these days. The music that opened and closed the show still rings in my mind - such moody and melodic tones sets were used to great effect. Is the "Golden Age" of soaps over? Passions which I have not seen seems to be a cruel joke on the folks who chose it over the other long time soap it replaced but could not surpass? I really wish that the people who "red light" these projects would put on something that was similar to "Edge" with emphasis on Mysteries like the writers did on "Edge"? Does anyone out there know the chances of a "NEW" soap being put into production? Are the chances slim to none? Would just be interested in knowing if any of you know about this stuff. In the mean time how can we petition ABC/Proctor & Gamble to release DVD's of Edge of Night? Kind of like the did for DARK SHADOWS? Seems like these older/cancelled shows would generate great profit for ABC/PROCTOR & GAMBLE?
An addicted soap that went well for a crowd for teenagers and men
Totallyrad8024 September 2003
This was one true soap I got into as a kid due to my older sister that was pregnant with her first child that she use to watch this show and I was home one day with her and The Edge of Night was on. I remember how that crafted this murder of a gigolo who got killed and his lover, Raven, was accused of the murder and I thought it was good written and acting that I started watching the show as my afternoon entertainment for its last 4 and a half years on the air. When the news came out that it was being cancelled, I was completely devastated and could not find another show that was so intriguing to watch again for daytime. Days of our Lives could not do it for me. I hope someday that a film or a DVD comes out for a suspense of the show and what happened to its characters that were present on the show or maybe Soapnet could put something together as well as many fans which devastated more of the fans than anything else.
The Emmy-Winning Seventies
cpears9 September 2001
`The Edge of Night' was the consequential daytime drama of mystery, suspense, police detection and crime. For anyone who loved a good murder mystery, this was indeed the afternoon drama to watch. In most instances, you worried every week if lead attorney and crime stopper Mike Karr, his wife Nancy Pollock Karr, or daughter Laurie Ann, would vanish off the face of the earth or be murdered by a larger than life villain who was as well causing grief for Bill Marceau, the chief of police, and the very good citizens of Monticello. The romance between attorney Adam Drake, and socialite and often stalked Nicole Travis Stewart, started `The Edge of Night's' first real super couple and the dynamic twosome simply took our breaths away when they finally wedded in a handsome ceremony in the Karrs garden. It wasn't often that fans of `The Edge of Night' got treated to afternoon romance, bed-hopping and hen-peck husbandry similar to the scenery on most of the other daytime dramas...since `Edge's' important characters were simply too busy scheming about other relevant matters or solving `whodunnit' if `whodunnit' didn't kill them first.
The murder of fan favorite Adam Drake in 1977, was perhaps the show's biggest shocker.
The murder of fan favorite Adam Drake in 1977, was perhaps the show's biggest shocker.
One Of my Favorite Past Soaps
desilu190714 November 2005
Edge of Night was awesome...I use to run home after-school and watch the last twenty minutes of General Hospital (got out at three each day) and then watch the day's episode of Edge of Night before starting on my homework...Must have been around twelve or thirteen at the time but even back then I knew that the actors were awesome. I was crushed when they announced that the show was going off the air, because it was the only show other than General Hospital that had interesting teenagers and sexy young looking older people on it...I loved RAVEN...she was my favorite and when her husband revealed that he was living a lie the whole time and she remained his wife well they had me at hello... this was one of the shows that could keep people watching with only a half an hour of programming when TRUE serials (I use to call them Cereals...because I didn't know any better at the time) were an hour long. the others were Search for Tomorrow (another fave), Ryan's hope and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (Yeah that is OLD SCHOOL) Hoping the series comes to Soap Net...I'd so watch...
The Best Mystery Soap Ever Created!
Carrigon7 December 1999
Sadly, they do not make Soaps like this one anymore. I was literally sick when it was cancelled. Edge of Night had it all, wonderfully written mysteries and suspense stories. Great characters and wonderful actors. This soap will be sorely missed for a long time. Edge of Night was special. It just had a rare combination of the right writers, actors, directors, even the right sets. The soap may be gone, but its memories will last a lifetime.
The Edge of Night
ggillespie13 June 2006
I was fortunate enough to get a double serving of EON during summer break. When EON moved to ABC, the Baltimore affiliate aired the show at 4:00p.m. directly following GH. However, my hometown of Washington, DC would broadcast the same episode the next morning at 10:30 a.m. The quality of the Baltimore channel was clear when it was cloudy but otherwise snowy at best.
Murder mysteries were EON's forte and the one effect they did better than any other daytime drama was the quick fade to black. There was no slow resolve to black. The music would swell, then suddenly the screen goes black. I loved it!!!!!!
The character names were straight out of period pieces
Just to name a few: Adam Drake, Nicole Travis (Drake), April Cavanaugh, Preacher Emerson, Miles Cavanaugh, Margo Huntington Dorn, Elliot Dorn, and two of my favorites villains Molly Sherwood and Winter Austin.
My favorite Friday cliffhanger occurred at the WMON studios. Winter had reached wits end and decided to confront Nicole in the news studio. The mad chase lead to the catwalk and the overhead in the studio. They both wore a white button-up blouse and blue jeans. There hair were a similar honey hue. When the railing broke, one of the two flipped over the railing and fell face first onto the floor below.
It was awesome, but the kicker was, they waited until Tuesday to pick up the story. They sure don't make'em like they used to.
Murder mysteries were EON's forte and the one effect they did better than any other daytime drama was the quick fade to black. There was no slow resolve to black. The music would swell, then suddenly the screen goes black. I loved it!!!!!!
The character names were straight out of period pieces
Just to name a few: Adam Drake, Nicole Travis (Drake), April Cavanaugh, Preacher Emerson, Miles Cavanaugh, Margo Huntington Dorn, Elliot Dorn, and two of my favorites villains Molly Sherwood and Winter Austin.
My favorite Friday cliffhanger occurred at the WMON studios. Winter had reached wits end and decided to confront Nicole in the news studio. The mad chase lead to the catwalk and the overhead in the studio. They both wore a white button-up blouse and blue jeans. There hair were a similar honey hue. When the railing broke, one of the two flipped over the railing and fell face first onto the floor below.
It was awesome, but the kicker was, they waited until Tuesday to pick up the story. They sure don't make'em like they used to.
Edge of Night Forever
wha197212 February 2005
I remember this series when I was a young kid ,my mother used to watch this series when it was on CBS , because when it went to ABC many affiliates stopped carrying it , I would catch it on channel 27, but the picture quality for this station was terrible , but I was lucky enough to buy some episode's from video dealers ,and the last episode was a cliffhanger ,the Edge Of Night was a distinctive soap like Dark Shadows, now this is a series that Soap Net or T.V. Land should rerun ,The reason this show was canceled besides falling viewer ship was that Proctor and Gamble who owned the series dropped their sponsorship, so ABC had no choice but to cancel the series after 28 years and 7,000 episodes I am a fan of the show and i would like to see it in reruns , I do remember seeing it in reruns on USA around 1986 or 1987
Did anyone else get freaked out by this plot line?
redsemaphore10 November 2005
I remember watching this show when I got home from school in the late 70's and early 80's. What stands out most in my mind was a storyline involving the character April Scott. If I recall correctly, she was pregnant and having hallucinations for weeks involving the sound of a train whistle and a shadowy man. When her hallucinations finally ended, there was a really spooky finale scene where Satan (sinister laughter, horns, and all!!!!!) appeared in a cloud of smoke on the balcony of the apartment she shared with Draper. I was terrified for days! You weren't sure whether it meant that Satan had caused her hallucinations, or was just following her around for Halloween, or what, but the fact that a soap opera would use horror movie imagery like this will always make The Edge Of Night something I look back on REALLY fondly! :-)
A Daytiime Serial that went beyond the norm and The Edge of Night was that show-a mystery drama that kept its viewers tuned for the next four decades
raysond28 March 2008
"The Edge of Night" was the consequential daytime drama that totally different from the norm. This was a daytime serial that ran its course for an impressive 28 years from 1956 until 1984,producing a total of 7,420 episodes and it ran on two major television networks,CBS and later on ABC. It's staying power on CBS ran for 19 years ending in 1975 and later ended its run on ABC for nine seasons when it went off the air for good in the summer of 1984. Produced for Proctor & Gamble Productions. "The Edge of Night" was totally different from the regular basically melodrama of daytime soap operas,and it had a premise that kept its audiences tuned in to see what happens next. This was a show that was a mixture of daytime drama, mystery, police detection, courtroom drama,dealings with the supernatural, murders,and beyond. And what kept the show going was that the wonderfully written scripts about mysteries and suspense that in fact were written by some of the best writers of its day. And it shows in the number of Emmys the show received for the remainder of its run. It kept you on the edge of your seat.
A grand murder mystery serial. A brilliant whodunit leading to the causes of the scenes and the stark reality of the culprit who committed the unthinkable. And the innerworkings of both the police and the courtroom which fought on the side of the law. The show was so great it really boosted a strong alumni that went through its door including Dixie Carter,Larry Hagman,Richard Dreyfuss,Jon Voight,and even John Travolta played a delivery man in one episode. Not to mention Julianne Moore,Richard Thomas and even Hector Elizondo were part of the cast. It was just that brilliant.
"The Edge of Night"-The CBS Years from 1956-1975. The Black and White episodes: 1956-1967. The Color Episodes: 1967-1984.
"The Edge of Night"-The ABC Years from 1975-1984. *When ABC cancelled this brilliant show in May of 1984,the network replaced it with the greatest travesty of the worst kind..The Gary Collins Show.
A grand murder mystery serial. A brilliant whodunit leading to the causes of the scenes and the stark reality of the culprit who committed the unthinkable. And the innerworkings of both the police and the courtroom which fought on the side of the law. The show was so great it really boosted a strong alumni that went through its door including Dixie Carter,Larry Hagman,Richard Dreyfuss,Jon Voight,and even John Travolta played a delivery man in one episode. Not to mention Julianne Moore,Richard Thomas and even Hector Elizondo were part of the cast. It was just that brilliant.
"The Edge of Night"-The CBS Years from 1956-1975. The Black and White episodes: 1956-1967. The Color Episodes: 1967-1984.
"The Edge of Night"-The ABC Years from 1975-1984. *When ABC cancelled this brilliant show in May of 1984,the network replaced it with the greatest travesty of the worst kind..The Gary Collins Show.
The Eddddgggggeee of Night
RBTB523 June 2004
This show was amazing...the compelling mystery/crime stories that hit over the years like Nicole's PoisonedMakeup Murder (1983), Jinx Avery's Murder (1981), Calvin Stoner's shooting (80s), Claude holding Nicole prisoner (1977), Stephanie's poisoned chocolates, dead spiders Shakespeare notes and riddles of cryptic warnings to Nicole (1970s), and Elly Jo's fatal leap out of a speeding car, and the spy story in 1967 that brought on star Donald May (Adam Drake) and then countless murders and kidnappings brought this unusual soap to the daytime soaps core... The best actors in this whole show were Maeve McGuire (Nicole), Donald May (Adam), Holland Taylor (Denise Cavanaugh, this villainies spooked me to no end), Irving Allen Lee (Calvin), Mariann Alda (Didi), and the wonderful Larkin Malloy (Sky) and Sharon Gabet (Raven), and their story lines proved what a super couple they were, i loved Raven's final scenes in the telecasted final episode when the bloody sword was sent to her, that was so timeless and classic.... I also heard even Larry Hagman (future JR Ewing) had a role on EON as a Ed Gibson, thats so cool, and also Ellen Burstyn was on here too.... EON 4eva rules
More than likely the only soap opera that men would admit watching.
cnbpjb16 January 2005
It is more than likely that most soap operas are watched by housewives, even after all these years and changes in the medium. But for most of it's existence, "The Edge of Night" was an exception to that rule. It was always near the top of the ratings for afternoon shows, from 1956 to 1970, when CBS showed it at 4:30 pm. Sadly, when CBS shuffled their daytime lineup, in the 1970 - 71 season, "The Edge of Night" was shown earlier and lost ground. The show was a murder mystery serial and was great at showing the inner workings of both crime organizations as well as showing the inner workings of both the police and the courtroom. It had some really great names going through it's door, as alumni, including Dixie Carter, Larry Hagman and even John Travolta as a delivery man. The show was edgy, just as the name applied, and had a great ability to show whodunits. Actress Talluhah Bankhead was an early fan of the show and not even a call from President Harry Truman could get her away from the show. It even had the balls to kill off a really popular character, Sara Karr very early on.
The Glorious 70ties
cpears8 September 2001
`The Edge of Night' was the consequential daytime drama of mystery, suspense, police detection and crime. For anyone who loved a good murder mystery, this was indeed the afternoon drama to watch. In most instances, you worried every week if lead attorney and crime stopper Mike Karr, his wife Nancy Pollock Karr or daughter Laurie Ann, would vanish off the face of the earth or be murdered by a larger than life villain who was causing grief for Bill Marceau, the chief of police, and the good citizens of Monticello. The romance between attorney Adam Drake and socialite and often stalked Nicole Travis Stewart started `The Edge of Night's' first real `super couple' and the dynamic twosome simply took our breaths away when they finally married in a handsome ceremony in the Karrs garden. It wasn't often that fans of `The Edge of Night' got treated to afternoon romance, bed-hopping and hen-peck husbands similar to the scenery on most of the other daytime dramas...since `Edge's' important characters were simply too busy scheming about other relevant matters or solving `whodunnit' if `whodunnit' didn't kill them first. The murder of fan favorite Adam Drake was perhaps the show's biggest shocker.
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