The Most Brilliant but Canceled Soaps Ever

Another World: The first hour-long soap, and (for a few months in 1979) the only 90-minute soap. Still fondly remembered after a run of 35 years.

Search for Tomorrow: The longest-running soap until Guiding Light overtook it. Mary Stuart as Joanne was like a member of the family.

Passions: No middle ground with this one. People either loved or hated it. James Reilly let his imagination go with this one. NBC killed it last year and is now down to only one soap (Days of our Lives).

The Edge of Night: Got that title because it aired late in the afternoon. At first it used the cast of the Perry Mason radio show, playing the same characters under different names. Brought courtroom theatrics and crime to soapland. Memorable opening of a city going from day to night in a time-lapse shot. Though known as a CBS soap, it spent its last years on ABC.

Ryan's Hope: The fondly recalled ABC soap about the troubles of an Irish-American family in Boston. (Edit: actually New York) Got Kate Mulgrew her start.

Dark Shadows: The first and best "Gothic" soap. Who didn't fall under the spell of Barnabas?

Generations: First true attempt at a soap with an African-American cast.

Texas: NBC's dire ripoff of Dallas.

Capitol: CBS' attempt to bring D.C.-style politics and scandal to soaps. Revived the career of Western star Rory Calhoun.

Love is a Many Splendored Thing: Had nothing whatever to do with the Jennifer Jones movie.

The Secret Storm: Another soap with a well remembered opening (waves crashing against rocks). The travails of the Ames family enlivened the CBS lineup for years.

Hawkins Falls: Broadcast live from Chicago in the '50s, it first attempted to bring whimsical humor to soaps, but became more straightforward toward the end.

Young Dr. Malone, The Brighter Day: Remnants from radio.

Another Life: An attempt at a Christian soap, produced by Pat Robertson's CBN.

The Catlins: First made-for-cable soap, airing on TBS.

Without a doubt The Edge of Night was the best soap ever! Creator Irving Vendig (who also wrote Search for Tomorrow in its early years) was no stranger to creating suspenseful narrative. The original Mike Karr had portrayed the radio Perry Mason (also written by Vendig) for years. Because "Edge" aired on CBS at 4:30 it also had a heavy male audience. Suspense, murderous plots served with a light sauce of romance kept the show #1 in daytime for years. A nation mourned when Mike's wife Sara (Teal Ames) died. The CBS switchboard was so overwhelmed by phone calls that the next day, Mike (John Larkin) appeared at the end of the show with his "deceased" spouse where they both said she was alive and well and pursuing a movie career. This is not suburban legend, I was in college then and watched the show daily (along with many others) in the studio union.
John Larkin left the show but a new character Lt. Ed Gibson (played by Mary Martin's son Larry Hagman) and several other characters became the focus of the drama ... all friends and acquaintances of the Karr family. And Vendig's penchant for plotting became more fertile. Who can forget the great sequence where Ray MaDonall (now playing Dr. Joe on All My Children) as Phil Capice was duplicitly befriended by Casey Reno who had been hired by Scofield Kilbourne to frame Phil as a drug dealer because Kilbourne hated Phil's father-in-law Winston Grimsley who had him sent to prison for embezzlement years before? When Reno was exposed because Ed Gibson's blind sister recognized the voice of Reno's assistant Sam Haven who had blinded her in a murderous attack because she discovered her after-school job was actually running fixes for addicts instead of delivering books, Kilbourne hired an out-of-town hit man to kill Reno and then had plastic surgery performed on the killer so he looked like Phil Capice, arranged an accident for Phil so he could be kidnapped and the faux-Phil substituted ... the horror for Phil's wife Louise when she discovered she was living with an imposter ... Kilbourne murdering faux-Phil, framing Louise for the slaying and torturing her when she went on trial with phone calls telling her to keep her mouth shut and allowing the real Phil to briefly talk so she'd know he was alive but wouldn't be if she told the truth! Dudes, I'm not kidding, it's all true! Mike Karr returned now portrayed by Laurence Hugo (who'd been a rotten playboy on Search for Tomorrow earlier) to save the day.
Ironically at that point in Edge storyline NBC had cancelled what might actually have been the best soap ever for family-oriented drama and suspense From These Roots in which Ann Flood had been the series star. P&G, sponsors of From These Roots, knew they had a winning actress and put her on Edge of Night as Nancy Pollack, independent female reporter who was destined to become widower Mike Karr's romantic interest and future wife.
Up to the mid-60's on Edge you always knew who the killers and evil-doers were. Vendig left the show as head writer and several were tried before Edge acquired the most brilliant writer ever, Edgar-award winner Henry Slesar who not only brought in fascinating characters and families but was an absolute genius at creating murder mysteries which would take 6 months to a year tgo unravel.
Producer Erwin Nicholson and writer Henry Slesar brought us complex mysteries and off-the-wall characters who'll never be forgotten. The politically active Whitney family, the Hilliar family ... and who had been on the show since the Vendig days, the Marceaus - all utilized in terrific plots which kept the audience glued to the screen during airtime. The last super plotter, Raven Alexander who worked her way through most of the males on the show before marrying Sky Whitney.
P&G made an egregious error in dumping Slesar and taking on a new head writer in an attempt to capture a younger audience. Edge had declined in ratings as CBS kept moving it earlier, first 3:30 and finally 2:30, then wanted the time slot because As the World Turns was going to expand from half and hour to a full hour. ABC offered to pick up the show and air it at 4:00 which would have been ideal. Except many local ABC affiliates preferred to air syndicated shows at that time which was more lucrative for them. So many Edge fans found the show time-delayed a day for a 10:00 a.m. airing. Then some affiliates determined delaying the show was too much trouble and dropped it from their schedule. Alas, the show reached its conclusion over two decades ago. But those of us who loved it during that magnificent 28-year run will always consider it the best ever!

Thanks for that. The creator of Perry Mason, Erle Stanley Gardner, did not want his creation to come to TV in the form of a soap opera, so the character names were changed.
I heard that the city in the time-lapse shot in the "Edge" opening was Cincinnati, home of P&G.

I remember the days when the networks had full daytime schedules, each having at least half a dozen soaps and a few game shows. But affiliates wanted more local avails when more original syndicated shows became available. Also, the ratings for soaps have declined in recent years as their traditional audiences get older. So when NBC canceled "Another World" and then "Passions," it did not replace them with anything, giving the time to their affiliates, till only "Days" is left. By contrast, ABC has three soaps still going (and started the Soapnet cable channel), while CBS has four, as well as the only daytime game - "The Price is Right." I thought for certain that when Bob Barker retired, that show would end, but no, Drew Carey replaced him and it goes on.

I grew up loving Edge of Night, Search, AW and Ryan's Hope.
By the way, RH took place in NYC, not Boston.









Yes, sir, I'm going to do nothing like she's never been done before!

Thanks for the correction.

No problem.






Yes, sir, I'm going to do nothing like she's never been done before!

My mom still misses Port Charles. I grew up to my mom watching it. I still hum the theme from time to time.

Without a doubt The Edge of Night was the best soap ever! Creator Irving Vendig (who also wrote Search for Tomorrow in its early years) was no stranger to creating suspenseful narrative. The original Mike Karr had portrayed the radio Perry Mason (also written by Vendig) for years. Because "Edge" aired on CBS at 4:30 it also had a heavy male audience. Suspense, murderous plots served with a light sauce of romance kept the show #1 in daytime for years. A nation mourned when Mike's wife Sara (Teal Ames) died. The CBS switchboard was so overwhelmed by phone calls that the next day, Mike (John Larkin) appeared at the end of the show with his "deceased" spouse where they both said she was alive and well and pursuing a movie career. This is not suburban legend, I was in college then and watched the show daily (along with many others) in the studio union.
John Larkin left the show but a new character Lt. Ed Gibson (played by Mary Martin's son Larry Hagman) and several other characters became the focus of the drama ... all friends and acquaintances of the Karr family. And Vendig's penchant for plotting became more fertile. Who can forget the great sequence where Ray MaDonall (now playing Dr. Joe on All My Children) as Phil Capice was duplicitly befriended by Casey Reno who had been hired by Scofield Kilbourne to frame Phil as a drug dealer because Kilbourne hated Phil's father-in-law Winston Grimsley who had him sent to prison for embezzlement years before? When Reno was exposed because Ed Gibson's blind sister recognized the voice of Reno's assistant Sam Haven who had blinded her in a murderous attack because she discovered her after-school job was actually running fixes for addicts instead of delivering books, Kilbourne hired an out-of-town hit man to kill Reno and then had plastic surgery performed on the killer so he looked like Phil Capice, arranged an accident for Phil so he could be kidnapped and the faux-Phil substituted ... the horror for Phil's wife Louise when she discovered she was living with an imposter ... Kilbourne murdering faux-Phil, framing Louise for the slaying and torturing her when she went on trial with phone calls telling her to keep her mouth shut and allowing the real Phil to briefly talk so she'd know he was alive but wouldn't be if she told the truth! Dudes, I'm not kidding, it's all true! Mike Karr returned now portrayed by Laurence Hugo (who'd been a rotten playboy on Search for Tomorrow earlier) to save the day.
Ironically at that point in Edge storyline NBC had cancelled what might actually have been the best soap ever for family-oriented drama and suspense From These Roots in which Ann Flood had been the series star. P&G, sponsors of From These Roots, knew they had a winning actress and put her on Edge of Night as Nancy Pollack, independent female reporter who was destined to become widower Mike Karr's romantic interest and future wife.
Up to the mid-60's on Edge you always knew who the killers and evil-doers were. Vendig left the show as head writer and several were tried before Edge acquired the most brilliant writer ever, Edgar-award winner Henry Slesar who not only brought in fascinating characters and families but was an absolute genius at creating murder mysteries which would take 6 months to a year tgo unravel.
Producer Erwin Nicholson and writer Henry Slesar brought us complex mysteries and off-the-wall characters who'll never be forgotten. The politically active Whitney family, the Hilliar family ... and who had been on the show since the Vendig days, the Marceaus - all utilized in terrific plots which kept the audience glued to the screen during airtime. The last super plotter, Raven Alexander who worked her way through most of the males on the show before marrying Sky Whitney.
P&G made an egregious error in dumping Slesar and taking on a new head writer in an attempt to capture a younger audience. Edge had declined in ratings as CBS kept moving it earlier, first 3:30 and finally 2:30, then wanted the time slot because As the World Turns was going to expand from half and hour to a full hour. ABC offered to pick up the show and air it at 4:00 which would have been ideal. Except many local ABC affiliates preferred to air syndicated shows at that time which was more lucrative for them. So many Edge fans found the show time-delayed a day for a 10:00 a.m. airing. Then some affiliates determined delaying the show was too much trouble and dropped it from their schedule. Alas, the show reached its conclusion over two decades ago. But those of us who loved it during that magnificent 28-year run will always consider it the best ever!

Henry Sleasar was the best soap writer ever. The show became totally stupid once they fired him. Dumb mistake on PGP/ABC's part.