Re: Selected programming for Dec. 14-15, 2024

Nyssa <Nyssa@LogicalInsight.net> wrote:

Edge of Night started out as more of a mystery/lawyer/cop show than
a traditional soap opera.

The Edge of Night was literally Perry Mason as Erle Stanley Gardner
developed a serial format for CBS television based on the serial for CBS
radio. Gardner was also going to write it. CBS then screwed Gardner over
by taking his concept and characters but changing the names and settings
and title. Gardner and CBS later kissed and made up which is how the
weekly Saturday night television series aired for nine seasons.

The lead was Mike Carr, lawyer, originally played by John Larkin  and
many of the supporting castwas  "daylighting" from Broadway and off-
Broadway productions.

It stayed true to its mystery/cop roots while it was on CBS, but got
all soapy once it moved to ABC, and the focus was less on the cops
and lawyers and more on soap-typical "relationship" stuff. Bleah.

Factoid: A teenaged Lori Laughlin was on Edge of Night as it neared the
end of its run. I think that was her Big Break job in acting that led to
whatever you'd call her career lately.

Nyssa, who was lucky that EoN came on late enough in the afternoon
that she could watch after school all those years (decades!) ago