Thu 18 Mar 2021
A TV Episode Review: THE EDGE OF NIGHT (October 16, 1958).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV Drama[18] Comments
THE EDGE OF NIGHT. CBS, 16 October 1958. Cast and crew unknown.
The recent HBO production of Perry Mason may be all the rage, but besides the books by Erle Stanley Gardner it was purportedly based on, most people are aware of the long-running TV series starring Raymond Burr. (There was a later and very short-lived series starring Monte Markham that no one remembers and even fewer saw.)
Quite forgotten altogether was that Perry Mason was also a radio program that ran as a 15 minute soap opera on CBS radio from 1943 to 1955. When it became time to convert the radio serial to TV, Gardner did not care for the format and refused permission for the project.
So some changes were made, and the producers of the would-be TV serial changed the title and all of the characters’ name and came up with The Edge of Night. As a soap opera with a harder edge than the competition at the time, it ended its 30 year run in 1984, there being over 7000 episodes before its finish.
Being telecast live, most of the early episodes have vanished. Here’s one of the earliest ones I’ve discovered. You can watch it here.
By watching it you can write your own review. Coming the middle of a couple of different stories, with no beginning or end to either, there’s little point in going over the story line, nor even to point out the fact that in the course of a 30 minute format, including commercials (not included), very little seems to happen. What are interesting are the quite inventive camera angles, the sometimes over-the-top acting (but not always) and the fact that everyone seems to smoke!
March 18th, 2021 at 9:12 pm
Wasn’t Henry Slesar either the creator or one of the creators of EDGE OF NIGHT?
March 18th, 2021 at 9:36 pm
I’m not sure. I know he was the head writer for many years, and sometime in the 1970s (1974) won an Edgar for doing it. But (one of the) creator(s)? I haven’t found anything that says so that specifically.
March 18th, 2021 at 9:38 pm
All I had to do is keep looking. The following comes from
http://edgehomepage.com/storylines.html
“During this period, headwriter Lou Scofield took a three month sabbatical from the series in order to care for his terminally ill wife. Procter and Gamble hired veteran mystery writer Henry Slesar to substitute for him in the summer of 1967.”
March 18th, 2021 at 9:44 pm
Henry SLESAR (pronounced slesser) became head writer of The Edge Of Night sometime in the mid-to-late 1960s (uncertain of the exact dates involved); Procter & Gamble brought him in to keep quality up after a staff shakeup.
Slesar held the headwriter post from 1968 through mid-1983, during which tenure he won an Edgar for his work, as well as a Daytime Emmy in 1974 (he was nominated many times).
All this while, Henry Slesar continued to write for primetime TV, occasional motion pictures (some of them written up on this site), and numerous short stories for EQMM, AHMM, and other venues.
Following his losing the Edge position in ’83, Slesar caught on with other soaps, mainly without success (the economics of daytime TV were changing about then); ultimately he became disillusioned with the medium, and spent the rest of his career in prose.
In recent times, you can find much of Slesar’s Edge Of Night run on YouTube: picking up circa 1979, up to the last long storyline he did in the first half of 1983. Some episodes are missing here and there, but if you stick it out you can follow it pretty well.
Happy Hunting!
March 18th, 2021 at 9:55 pm
Thanks for letting us know about the YouTube videos, Mike, and agreeing with all of the info I found online. I have a feeling, though, that starting to watch those videos would mean I wouldn’t get anything else done all day. I’m not sure when Mandel Kramer came aboard as police captain (inspector?) Bill Marceau, but those were the days I watched the show after coming home from school, which would make it around four o’clock and 1959. Then I went off to college, and who watched soap operas when they were in college?
March 19th, 2021 at 6:39 pm
If nothing else one of the great titles and one of the most dramatic intros to a soap.
March 19th, 2021 at 6:50 pm
Here’s the earliest I’ve been able to find so far:
March 19th, 2021 at 8:01 pm
A nice lady who babysat us kids circa 1960 watched THE EDGE OF NIGHT. It both fascinated me, and scared the heck out of me!
Started watching it in 1983 again. Especially enjoyed two favorite characters, good guy Cliff Nelson, and bad boy Preacher. Watched some of these on YouTube a few years ago. Enjoyed them all over again.
I did both enjoy and remember some of the Monte Markham Perry Mason’s. Haven’t seen them since they first came out.
Will watch this old EDGE soon!
Thank you for telling us about it.
March 20th, 2021 at 12:57 am
The Monte Markham MASON’s do exist. There hasn’t been an official release on DVD; you’d have to be willing to own them only in collector-to-collector editions. I remember watching the show too, but in comparing them to the Raymond Burr originals, it came in a far second.
March 19th, 2021 at 8:37 pm
Here And There:
– A shout-out for Paul Taubman, the organist/composer of Edge‘s music for the first decade or so of its run – live every afternoon, and scheduled among many organ gigs on game and other shows during the ’50s and ’60s.
As a ’60s kid, I was duly impressed that Paul Taubman was playing jaunty organ music for Camouflage, an ABC game show, and just a few hours later was doing mysterioso themes for Edge on CBS (they did have talent back then, didn’t they?).
After Taubman was “retired” from Edge in the ’70s, he hooked up with Bob & Ray’s daily New York City radio show.
When B&R did their stage presentation, A Night Of Two Stars, Paul Taubman appeared on stage with them – and wowed the audience with the opening piano/organ riff from Edge Of Night – to major applause (at least on the Original Cast CD …).
Just thought you’d like to know …
Bad day today; back when I can think of more.
March 20th, 2021 at 9:40 am
Here’s a good interview with Lee Sheldon, the final head writer on THE EDGE OF NIGHT. I enjoyed his run on the series, although Slesar’s is more impressive when you consider how he kept the quality so high for so long.
March 20th, 2021 at 11:49 am
Sorry, forgot the link:
http://pgpclassicsoaps.blogspot.com/2007/02/where-are-they-now-lee-sheldon-eon.html
March 20th, 2021 at 1:25 pm
Thanks, James. Besides some interesting info about Sheldon’s work for EDGE OF NIGHT, I has no idea that he (or anyone!) had adapted any of Agatha Christie’s novels into a video game format. How is that possible? I’ll have to read the article again and look for more.
March 22nd, 2021 at 10:15 am
Boyoboyoboyoboyoboy…
All these years I’ve been coming here, hoping that someday somebody would mention my all-time fave rave daytime drama – what’s a boy to do?
(Especially a 70-year-old boy like me?)
Years ago, James Reasoner wrote up Edge Of Night on his Rough Edgesblog; I sent him a modest comment in reply, one of the first I ever sent in to anyone.
I spent much of last night trying to find it – I can’t remember the date – to no avail (James, if you recall the screed I sent, you might want to pass it along …).
Anyhoo, as long as I’m here, I’d like to share a thing or three:
– As noted, you can find a bunch of Edges on YouTube, and while I’d never dream of asking any of you to make a project of this, I can steer you to a few points of interest.
Such As:
– August 26, 1983, in which one story seems to end, but a dormant one rears up; James Reasoner will likely remember this one, as it puts the lie to the old saw about how slow-moving soaps were supposed to be (watch and see for yourself).
– October 21, 1983, which (sort of) ties in to the last one (James will know); lots of questions asked and hints dropped, and some interesting people turn up (Note: this was a Friday episode, which tags into the following Monday, October 24; watch them together (less than an hour without commercials) and see if your curiosity isn’t piqued).
– The above shows are from the Lee Sheldon period, where I think the show really scored a comeback (ABC’s neglect notwithstanding, and James Reasoner agrees with me *I think*), and I can cite lots more arcs of varying durations, if you dare me.
For now though, I’d like to direct you to the episode of June 16, 1980.
Just watch the episode all the way through, and react to what you see (no spoilers here, just do it).
Who knows, you might get a surprise …
March 22nd, 2021 at 11:10 am
Mike
This is probably the post on James Reasoner’s blog you mention:
https://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com/2011/10/tuesdays-overlooked-tv-edge-of-night.html
Now to check out those episodes you tell us we ought to see, and therefore we must. Thanks!!
March 22nd, 2021 at 2:01 pm
100% on the Reasoner entry – many thanx from here.
I hope that those episodes make you (and everybody else) sufficiently curious to want to pick up on the whole thing (which, after all is the appeal of the serialized story, isn’t it?).
(2011? Boy howdy, does time fly!)
March 24th, 2021 at 4:23 pm
Well, I was sort of hoping that some of you might have picked up on my Edge Of Night recommendations by now – maybe later, perhaps …
That said, Comment 9 brings me to the following:
Thanx to the Collector’s GreyMarket, I was able to find 10 episodes of The New Perry Mason – Monte Markham Version (out of the 15 total).
I found most of them at the Windy City Pulp & Paper Show, the most recent one that they were able to hold, before the Plague set in (and I solemnly await any kind of next one).
I’ve been spacing out the viewing (I don’t believe in binge-watching), but there was one aspect that I even noticed in 1973; seeing it again forcibly brought it to mind:
Many of those who were behind-the-scenes on NewMason were direct carryovers from the original series.
Start at the top, with Erle Stanley Gardner’s longtime agent Cornwell Jackson and his (by then) ex-wife Gail Patrick, the Exec Producers.
Then, the Line Producers: Art Seid (long term co-producer of the original series) and Ernie Frankel (one of the headwriters of Season 9).
The Head Writer: Orville H. Hampton (the other Season 9 headwriter, op cit.)
Many of the crew were part of the later Mason run (compare the credits if you get a chance).
What NewMason was trying to update/streamline the classic approach, using newer actors while respecting a format that millions loved; I’m not saying that they succeeded – or would have, given more time – but half a season was scarcely enough of a test, in my view at least.
Anyway, that’s my opinion – and given how many time Edge Of Night had to self-renew over 28 years, I would have been interested to see what might have been …
March 24th, 2021 at 5:58 pm
Thanks once again for the veritable flood of information about the NEW PERRY MASON show, Mike. I remember watching it when it was on, but only vaguely, and even whether I watched them all or not, that’s completely gone. I do remember not particularly caring for it, and when it disappeared, I felt no sense of loss.
But, and this is a huge but, I admit to wanting to give it another try, now that the image of Raymond Burr in the role is a lot less overwhelming. Markham had big shoes to fill at the time, and the fault may not have been his. It might be that TV audiences, like myself, really really weren’t ready for a new Perry Mason.