Edge of Night & Search For Tomorrow

[KMan101]

Hey guys! I need some help. I'm TOYING with the idea of writing fanfic for both shows, picking up where they ended. But I need major help first. I can find a lot of general information, but I need little details, like careers, friendships, rivalries, businesses they ran, etc.

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW

What was Jo's career. Was she married at the end of the show? Same for Stu. Do they have any kids or exes I could bring back? What was the main cast at the end of the run, some of the storylines? And if so, what characters would be worth salvaging. I'm probably going to completely refocus the show on Jo and Stu though. Any characters that could be brought back?

EDGE OF NIGHT

What was the main cast at the end of the run? Any major characters that weren't killed off that could be brought back? Any mistakes to fix? Who are the main characters I should focus on? What were the main stories towards the end?

I know this is general, but I'm really interested, so any help is appreciated!

Oh and what were some of the main sets, like was there a diner everyone went to? A restaurant? A dive? A hospital name? Things like that.

[Matt]

On SFT, Jo had a variety of careers over the years, but she primarily ran various Henderson businesses. Typically, this was an inn or hotel of some sort. I don't remember exactly what she was doing at the very end, but nearly everyone in town was living at Liberty House after the town was destroyed by a flood the previous spring. Jo was divorced from Martin Tourneur (played by John Aniston) at the end of the show. Jo has one surviving child -- Patti -- who was part of the cast (and played by Jacqueline Schultz) at the end. In fact, the final episode of the show focused on Patti's wedding to Hogan McCleary (played by David Forsyth who later played John Hudson on AW). Jo had a son named Duncan Eric Tate who died as a small child in the early 1960s. Whether Patti had kids was something that changed depending on the writer. I hear she had an adopted daughter who was killed by a serial killer in the early '80s as well as 2 natural children who were completely forgotten and disregarded in the last few years of the series. Stu had 2 children --- Janet and Tom. Janet (played longest by Millee Taggart) was married several times and had several children. Her first child by Jo's cousin (or brother, I forget which) was never mentioned after the early 1960s. Janet later had Liza and Danny. Liza was married a few times and had a son named Tourneur Sentell. I'm not sure whether Danny ever married nor am I sure whether Tom ever married. Tom was played for a bit in the 1970s by AMC & Dynasty's John James. By the end of the show, the series focused on Jo, Stu, Liza, Sunny Adamson (who was happily pregnant by Bela Garody at the end of the series). Jo also had a sister named Eunice who was murdered by Jennifer Phillips (Morgan Fairchild) in the 1970s. Eunice had a daughter named Suzi who later married Hogan's brother Cagney (played by Matthew Ashford) and they had a son named Jonah, but Suzi was killed in a car accident shortly before the end of the series. Hogan and Cagney's other brother Quinn (played by Jeffrey Meek, soon to be departing ATWT as Craig Montgomery) and parents Matt & (her name escapes me) played by Patrick Tovatt and Maeve McGuire. Quinn had reunited with Irish girl Kat at the end of the series. Another character that might be very good to revive would be Wendy Wilkins (played for years by Lisa Peluso from a child into adulthood) who departed the show (alive) during a serial killer storyline about a year and a half before the show ended. Her mother Stephanie Wyatt (played longest by Maree Cheatham) was killed by the serial killer and was the show's key bitch for a decade.

For everything you ever wanted to know about Edge, check out The Edge of Night Home Page.

[KMan101]

Oh, the EON homepage! Oh my god, I forgot all about it! Thanks for the link Matt.

And I love you by the way for that SFT recap. If I have any questions I'll definitely be PMing you or asking you in here, if you don't mind.

And I was watching an episode of SFT on the P&G Soap Classics page and swore it was Lisa Peluso. If it was, her character was the most interesting, by far, of the episode I watched. I'm definitely going to revive her character. I also liked Sunni (or however she spells it) the most as well. I doubt I'll even write for any of the McClearys, were they ever popular anyway? I'm going to totally refocus the show.

[KMan101]

And about Liza ... what type of character was she? Good girl, bitch? Was she involved with anyone at the end of the show? What was her age range? Her career? And what was Sunny's career, and what about Stu? What did he do? Same for Wendy.

[Matt]

Actually, the McClearys were quite popular near the end of the series and the bulk of the series focused on them. Thanks to the McCleary centered Ireland remote during the final months of the series, the show's ratings actually started to GO UP, but it was cancelled anyway. Actually, in a correction, I don't think that Cagney was the bio-father of Suzi's son Jonah. I think that was really villainous Warren Carter (played by Michael Corbett). Cagney raised Jonah after Suzi died much like John Wyatt (final husband of Eunice) raised Suzi after Eunice died. John married Stephanie (Wendy's mother) making Suzi & Wendy stepsisters (Stephanie was also Jo's arch-rival for years). Suzi, Wendy, & Warren were involved in quite the triangle in the early 1980s with both Suzi & Wendy marrying Warren at various points.

[Brandeis]

I only have very vague recollection sof Search. Didn't the lovely Lisa Peluso play Wendy?

[KMan101]

Anything else any others could add? I'd really like to hear more about Liza and Wendy and Stu.

[dc11786]

I believe that Jo owned Liberty House. Everyone was living there in the end. Before the storm, I believe Stu and Jo ran the Riverboat, which was a restaurant.

Patti Barron and Len Whitting were key in the 1960s and the 1970s. Len had a son, Chris, by Grace Bolton (Jill Clayburgh), who was raised by Patti. Patti and Len had one natural child, Tracy. In the 1980s, Patti's adopted daughter Sarah was introduced. Sarah was a nurse/folk singer (odd combo) who was briefly involved with Quinn and one of the Kendall boys I think. The Henderson serial killer murdered Sarah in November 1985 and Jo found her granddaughter's body in the basement. In the 1980s, Chris was said to be in the military and Tracy was away at college.

The Kendalls were pretty prominent despite being non-existant when the series ended. Lloyd Kendall was the rich media magnate who nearly every soap had at that time. He was married to Liza after Travis' death. Liza miscarried his baby in the final year. Lloyd's ex-wife Estelle was a real trip. She was played by the marvelous Domini Blythe. The Kendall kids included Steve, Michael, Chase, Alec, and Rebecca. Rebecca/T.R. was raised by the Tourneur family, and I believe this was the initial link between Lloyd and Liza. Steve was a sportscaster who had an affair with his boss Stephanie Wilkins. Michael was blind and I believe he ended up marrying Jenny Deacon, who was at one time romantically linked to Stu.

Sunny was a newspaper journalist. She was involved with Hogan McCleary, who initially penned romance novels under a nom de plum. Sunny went through a string of unsuccessful relationships including Lee Sentell. Sunny had a sister Lanie, who is the mother of Gary Walton's son Craig. Craig stayed with Aunt Sunny during the summer of 1986.

Liza ran Tourneur Industries after Travis died. Before that, she worked as a model despite facial scars she substained in an accident. When her first love Steve Kaslo died, Liza worked on producing the song Steve wrote before he died. That is how she met Travis. Travis and Liza's romance was very popular. Travis' large Louisiana family was pretty popular in the late 1970s. The show is considered by most to be at it's creative peak during this period.

Janet's kids were Chuck (by Bud Gardner who was forgotten), Gary, Liza and Danny Walton. Danny was involved with T.R. Kendall I believe. Gary was married to psychiatrist Carolyn and had a child with Lanie Adamson. Gary was a doctor I believe. During college, he was briefly involved with Jennifer Pace (Morgan Fairchild).

Tom was with the FBI when he was last seen. He was involved with a nurse in the late seventies Cindy French. I don't know about any other significant relationships.

Stu was involved with a singer when the show ended, but she got back together with her husband. Before that, Stu was involved with Jenny Deacon, who helped him run his restaurant. Jenny had a daughter named Andie who she gave up for adoption. Andie was raised by her adopted brother, Keith, who was Wendy's first love. Stu was also involved with Barbara Moreno. His second wife Ellie ran off on him with a chef. Ellie's nephew Scott Phillips was pretty popular. Scott was married to Kathy. Kathy had an affair with David Sutton and David was the father of Kathy's son Doug. David also had a daughter with his wife Renata who died in a hotel fire. Renata was Travis' half-sister.

Wendy's youth romances included: Spencer Langley (a law student who pretended to be her half-brother), Keith McNeil (her first love), Warren Carter (her partner-in-crime), and I believe she may have been involved briefly with Quinn McCleary.

[SteveFrame]

When Tom returned to the show - played by Mitch Litrofsky and then by Robert Lupone (brother of Pattie Lupone) - there was a flirtation with Kathy (then played by Nicolette Goulet from 1979-82). I really liked them together.

dc - does have Janet's children right. Gary was a doctor and the Lanie/Carolyn/Gary triangle was pretty popular. I loved it. Carolyn was blind when he had the affair and impregnated Lanie.

Liza/Travis was the couples most popular couple - probably ever besides Mary Stuart as Jo and Robert Mandan as Sam Reynolds. After Mandan left the role Jo & Sam fizzled. But under Mandan & Stuart there was great chemistry and with Joan Copeland thrown in the mix as Sam's jilted lover and Jo's nemesis Search saw some great times. They never had another couple that stirred things up that much until Travis & Liza even though Liza's romance with Steve Kaslo (played by Michael Nouri) was great too.

The biggest mistake that the show ever made was deaging Patti. I think that is the biggest reason her son and daughter were not used. Liza left the show in the 1970's played by Tina Sloan (now GL's Lillian). She and Janet had grown up together and were best friends. When Patti came back played by Jacquenline Schultz she was made Liza's age and competed with Liza & Sunny for men. That was a mistake that never should have been made.

There were several Patti's over the years I loved but Nancy Pinkerton & Tina Sloan were my favorites. I have only seen Nancy Pinkerton in some old eppy's someone shared with me. She didn't catch on as Patti for most. She was the first Patti after Lynn Loring left the show and she had grown up on the show for 10 years as Patti - so naturally she had big shoes to fill.

My favorite Liza's were Meg Bennett & Sherry Mathis (now deceased).

Millee Taggart played Janet the longest. She was very popular as Janet having just come off a successful run on The Edge of Night.

The biggest obstacle in the Jo thing is that Mary Stuart is dead. She and Larry Haines as Jo & Stuart were such a great team.

[KMan101]

Holy cow DC and Steve! Thank you!

And yes, I know Mary Stuart has passed on, which makes it kind of hard to actually write for it.

[ClassicsSoapFan]

Click here for a Search for Tomorrow website

This is a link to a website about SFT. It hasn't been updated in a while.

[Soapsuds]

I use to love Search for Tomorrow. Sad part is I dont remember much about it. And I was a faithfull viewer. I was not a fan of Edge of Night though...LOL. Didnt it appear at 3 after GH?

[dc11786]

The main issue you'll run into trying to revive "Search for Tomorrow" is the real life and onscreen deaths:

Mary Stuart's would be the biggest, but Jo's death could be a powerful storyline. The most fondly remembered Liza is Sherry Mathis and she too has passed on.

There are three major onscreen deaths that were major blows to the series: Travis Sentell, Stephanie Wyatt, and Suzi Wyatt.

[SteveFrame]

I think Jo (after all this time and for a blog could be kept alive and recast). Actresses in that age group who would be good are:

Teri Keane (who actually played Jo for a little while during one of Stuart's materinity leaves)

Lois Nettleton

Audrey Peters

Rosemary Prinz

Peggy McKay

all 4 of those last ones are just a few years younger than Stuart

The death of Suzi did hurt as she was the future Jo of the show, but Patti's daughter could be brought into the show to fill that void.

I always thought if SFT was to ever come back on Tina Sloan should come back as Patti and Judi Evans should play her daughter.

In fact both of Patti's kids should be central to the show as well as Patti, Jo & Stu.

[KMan101]

I'd likely revive Patti after a while and make her the matriarch and try to build up the family around her.