Concept

The Edge of Night

Summary
The Edge of Night is an American television mystery crime drama series and 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. 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 in 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. 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 Better Known As Ohio.
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