Edge of Night (EON) (No spoilers please)

[danfling]

Mr. Parker was bi-sexual.   I think that both Mr. Jarrett and Mr. Brooks were heterosexual.

[Soaplovers]

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So weird seeing Dixie Carter playing drama... I'm just waiting for her to go into Julia Sugarbaker mode

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[victoria foxton]

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[Paul Raven]

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[robbwolff]

 

This newspaper article was posted on my hometown's Facebook page. It covered the taping of April Scott's car accident on "The Edge of Night" in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Some years later, an autographed copy of Edge's final script was auctioned off at my old elementary school. As I understand it, one of Edge's personnel (maybe a director) lived in East Brunswick. Have never attached images here before, so fingers are crossed this works!

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[DramatistDreamer]

Here's an interview that Mariann Aalda (DiDi) did with the blog The Soap Spiel. I now realize that I've seen her in lots of sitcoms growing up in the 80s yet didn't remember her name.

 

~SPECIAL FEATURE-MARIANN AALDA~


            SPECIAL FEATURE-MARIANN AALDA
 

 

 

 

 

 

What are you up to now?

 

Well, after being based in Chicago (my hometown) for the last three years, and in New York City for several years prior to that, I’m getting ready to make a big move back to Los Angeles, where I lived and worked for more than 20 years.

 

 

 

Why did you leave LA…and why are you moving back?

 

 

I moved away when the television industry moved away from me!   I was in my mid-50’s when the phone stopped ringing.  And it wasn’t just that casting directors stopped calling me…most women over 50 pretty much disappeared from both the large and small screens.  But the reason I’m moving back, is because there’s been a change in the culture…and I can once again see a place for me on TV. 

 

Last year, AARP Studios did a profile on me for their #DisruptAging campaign, as a representative of the Positive Aging movement.

( https://www.aarp.org/disrupt-aging/stories/disruptors/info-2017/mariann-aalda-career-reinvention-video.html )

The last of the Baby Boomers – over 76 million of us in the U.S. – are now over the age of 50. And according to the 2017 U.S. Census, 90.7 million Americans aged 50 and older account for 41.6% of all consumer spending…and they watch television 63% more than do Millenniums.

 

 

 

 

 

What brought about doing comedy?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I actually began my career in New York as a sketch comedy writer and performer with Off-Center Theatre and later toured with the Boston-based improv troupe, The Proposition. But after I started getting recognition as one of the few African-American soap opera heroines – playing DiDi Bannister on Procter & Gamble’s EDGE OF NIGHT on ABC – people tended to forget that I had ever done comedy.

 

That changed, though, in 1984, when Edge (which was produced in New York) was cancelled and I moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in prime-time television.

 

I guest-starred on a ton of sitcoms, playing a wide variety of characters, most notably – and probably the most diametrically opposite – recurring as Meshach Taylor’s yuppie-from-hell girlfriend, Lita Ford, on DESIGNING WOMEN (http://youtu.be/HnSZeyzEwbU )

and as Sherman Hemsley’s ditzy stripper girlfriend, Lois Keller, on FAMILY MATTERS.

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7_Hv3u8OZw&sns=em )

 

 

I was also the wife or girlfriend to leading men Ernie Hudson, Dennis Haysbert, Clifton Davis and O.J. Simpson and played opposite comedy luminaries Mo’Nique, Kirstie Alley, John Ritter and Robert Guillaume. I was also a series regular  on the CBS sitcom, THE ROYAL FAMILY as the boomerang daughter of Redd Foxx and Della Reese.

 

realize that casting older actors and telling our stories – instead of just keeping us on the sidelines and incidental to the plot – is good business. It’s an exciting time…and I’m ready to get back into the game!

 

 

You’ve had quite an illustrious career, so far! Who would you like to work with that you have not? 

 

 

Donald Sutherland and Viola Davis…which probably seems like an odd pairing, but I think they’re both really interesting actors and I feel I could learn a lot from them.

 

 

 

What was your toughest role?

 

Being unemployed! And that is not a glib answer.  Actors are creative people.  When an actor isn’t working, it’s all too easy to turn all that pent up creativity into negative energy, causing depression.  That’s why I went back to my comedy writing and started creating and producing projects for myself, including standup ( www.FunnyColoredWomen.com );  a 25 episode improv comedy web series ( www.TalkToMeGinger.com ), and a 70-minute solo show

( www.OccupyYourVagina.com )...which, by the way, is available on DVD at the show’s website!

 

 

 

 

 

What would be your dream role?

 

I’d like to be a series regular, again, in an ensemble comedy. I’m actually developing something with Ted Lange (Isaac from LOVE BOAT) that is absolutely hilarious. It would be great if that got picked up!  Other than that, I’m an actor-for-hire.  I love acting – comedy OR drama – and I’ll go wherever the work takes me, including another soap. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What advice would you give to up and coming actors or comedians?

 

 

A lot of young people came of age during the era of Reality TV and they just want to be stars.  But for those who are serious about acting – either drama or comedy – I’d say: “Learn your craft; be persistent; be patient; learn your lines; be on time; be polite; be a team player; develop your own projects instead of waiting for somebody to hire you…and most importantly, NEVER give up!” 

Edited July 13, 2018 by DramatistDreamer

[j swift]

I'm watching the Eden story finale that has been recently uploaded.  I know the whole thing is ridiculous but, why was the Republic of Eden having their Tricentennial Celebration in upstate New York?  It is such an odd detail that they repeat in two different scenes.  As an audience, we knew that they weren't in Paris or St. Moritz.  So why not go to Eden?

 

That being said, I would watch any scene with Geraldine, Raven, Mitzi, or Jodi.  Geraldine is especially great in these episodes.  Her TV station has a liberal leave policy as both Jodi and Nicole need time off from their live daily shows to go to the Eden party.  She never moves, she is nice to everyone, and she is super cool about telling Jodi to go have fun at a summer party while she still young but to be careful.

Edited July 23, 2018 by j swift

[victoria foxton]

Doesn't seem like a story Henry Slesar would write. I wonder if TPTP forced him to write that mess? It's so pitiful that Edge couldn't shoot those scenes on location. Those in studio ''location'' scenes looked really bad. After the Republic of Eden mess. Nora Fulton will begin her reign of terror on the Cavanaugh's. Which is amazing stuff.

Edited July 23, 2018 by victoria foxton

[danfling]

correction:  Nora Fulton (real name Roxanne Walker)

 

The Nora Fulton story was one of the best written for the series (although i was able to identify the killer from nearly the beginnning).

[j swift]

Agreed but, there is still great dialogue and characters. 

 

While Jody, Nicole and Miles are cavorting in a cardboard castle, there is tons of humor and mystery. Mitzi has a cold and is fending off Gunther, Raven calls Geraldine while being held hostage and Geraldine assumes she's calling for money while Calvin and Gavin are trying to use a landline to get in touch with their loved ones.  Also, it fills in Jody's backstory and we learn if we'll meet other members of her family (spoiler alert: we won't) and it is mob related which is very much in tune with EON's history.  I think if they had just called it Sicily rather than Eden it would have seemed less silly.  All of the bad guys were obviously Italian so to make up a phony foreign land does not give the plot any credence.    

[robbwolff]

The whole story, although it started off with much promise, was a bust. I recall it being the only story that made me consider giving up Edge. What disappointed me was the emphasis given to such a weak actor like Mark Andrews in the role of Chad Sutherland. His performances were difficult to watch. Meanwhile, the two most interesting new characters in the story - Viva and Pietro -- were quickly killed off. It was a shame was both actors were very good in their roles.

 

What other members of Jody's family could we have met?

[j swift]

Jody mentions her father and brother died fighting the mob and that is her motivation to free the Republic of Eden.

[danfling]

I have forgotten.   Who played Pietro and Viva?   I remember that the actress who played Viva was quite attractive.

[robbwolff]

According to the Edge homepage, Mary Lynn Johnson played Viva and Peter Webster played Pietro.

[j swift]

The Clown Puppet Murders is one of my favorite stories but, upon reflection, why did Elliott Dorn have a puppet theater built into his disco/nightclub?