Edge of Night (EON) (No spoilers please)

[vetsoapfan]

I began watching The Edge of Night before Henry Slesar took over as head writer, and kept with the show until the bitter end.

While Slesar might have had a rare, weak story or two, his success rate was stellar. He was a scribe who excelled at mystery and crime plots, romance, family drama, and even comedic vignettes. He also created many complex, multi-dimensional characters. In my experience, not all soap scribes have been so adept at versatile storytelling. He's not talked about on the internet as much as Irna Phillips, William J. Bell, Agnes Nixon, Harding Lemay et al, but I've always considered Slesar one of the greats.

The biggest tragedy here in that P&G fired him before TEON came to a close. Watching the series crumble under Slesar's weak replacement (Lee Sheldon) was painful.

Sharon Gabet put it best when she later commented about how much she loved Slesar's work, and how much she hated Sheldon's. That sees to have been the general consensus among long-time, die-hard viewers.

While I wouldn't wish advanced age on anyone, LOL, I wish more posters had been around to watch Slesar's masterpiece stories:

-The Jonah Lockwood/Keith Whitney reign of terror

-The Stephanie Martin conflict

-The Elly-Jo Jamison saga

-The Serena and Josie mystery

There are far too many to list, but that just goes to show how consistently brilliant HS was. 

And to think, in decades gone by, I simply took quality writing on "my" soaps for granted, with Phillips, Bell, Nixon, Lemay, Marland, Labine, Falken Smith, Slesar, etc., in their prime.

 

[Maxim]

Now I'm really... so sorry I wasn't born in the 60s! I would have loved to be able to watch these episodes... What are the chances of someone still having them on VHS tapes... None, probably... 

I am taking just a short 1-2 day break from watching, because I realized I would feel very sorry later on when I end up with nothing to watch. But I already giddy to see what Nola is up to... and maybe try to watch 3-4 episodes max a day from now on, so I won't be disappointed in the end. I won't be able to contain myself I know it. 

 

 

[vetsoapfan]

Copies of Ryan's Hope were unearthed in Ireland long after ABC had wiped the early episodes here in the USA. The Edge of Night aired on a Canadian network, the CBC, throughout the 1970s, so who knows what they may have kept? Am I holding my breath to see unearthed Monticello treasures? Sadly, no, but then again: I never expected to see The Doctors and Dark Shadows resurrected. I never thought early B&B would become available anywhere, and now scores of eps are on youtube.

While I do believe in my heart that golden-era EDGE is lost forever, overall, the recovery of the special 90-minute broadcast from 1975 gives me hope that other surprises may one day come to light.

Hope springs eternal for soap fans!

[Maxim]

Yes, Hope dies last. 

I am finding Henry Slesar a MASTER storyteller. 

[vetsoapfan]

HS did a lot of work outside the soaps, some of which I've tracked down and been able to enjoy.

To me, however, his crowning glory was his writing for TEON. He was also excellent on Somerset.

The only series that he worked on, which I found did not "gel" well, was One Life to Live. I wonder if he and his co head writer didn't have the same vision.

[Khan]

I really enjoyed watching his work on CAPITOL when I was a youngin', before I knew anything about HS or any writer.  I think he and Peggy O'Shea were the only HW's who made that particular show work.

[vetsoapfan]

I agree. Capitol was often a mixed bag; working well sometimes and falling flat at others. Slesar and O'Shea were good there.

I will, however, always contend that TEON was Slesar's ultimate achievement. His lengthy Jonah Lockwood murder mystery was the most intensely suspenseful story I've ever seen on daytime TV. It was a masterpiece, and in my Top 10 storylines of all time list.

 

[Paul Raven]

Slesar was one of a kind- also an award winning novelist. 

It's disappointing he was dropped from EON- he was hardly to blame for the ratings woes. 

Especially when Irwin Nicholson remained as EP. Maybe it was a financial thing as Slesar just became too expensive and Sheldon couldn't command the same salary.

[Maxim]

I'm feeling the set up for the Who did it murder storyline and am Loving it. 

[Maxim]

I am not ready to let Margo go! I have grown to love her and the actress that plays her. SOOOO SAD. 

[j swift]

Given that I watched knowing Margo's outcome, I wonder for you watching it the first time if the motive of primary suspect seems valid (name withheld to avoid spoilers)?

I get why that person was a suspect, but it doesn't seem like what Margo did to that person was reason enough to kill her. 

Edited May 15, 2024 by j swift

[Maxim]

It will be interesting to see. I already think I know... but they may surprise me. 

[Maxim]

I am loving how Nola's fingerprints are all around everyone's drama and nobody still knows it. That kind of viewer knowing, characters don't... is a favorite storytelling technique of mine. Of course when it's done tastefully, which in this case it is.

[Broderick]

I watched "live" in 1980, with no idea what was coming next.  Obviously I knew Primary Suspect hadn't done it, and as you said, the motive assigned to the Primary Suspect seemed weak.  But if I remember right, the jury was inclined to believe the Primary Suspect had a sudden agitated burst of anger and did the deed.  (Plus the Primary Suspect had prearranged a meeting with the Deceased.)

In hindsight, if I'd been on the jury, I perhaps would've convicted the Primary Suspect, based on the information that the Deceased had been seen alive and well, had received no visitors that evening except the Primary Suspect, and the Primary Suspect's fingerprints were on the weapon.  

As we know in Slesar's world, nothing is ever as it seems!

When I found out who the real Perpetrator was, I couldn't believe I hadn't figured it out.   

[Maxim]

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