Daytime TV programs which I have known

Somehow I have managed to procure the original music and sound cues for The Price is Right, and man, are they awesome. Memories, memories indeed.

It goes to show you that Bob Barker, important as he was, was not the only person who made Price work so wonderfully. Besides Bob, of course there was announcer Johnny Olsen, aka Johnny O (and later, Rod Roddy then Rich Fields) and the lovely models: Anitra Ford, Janice Pennington, Holly Hallstrom (she was the bomb, wasn't she?!) and Dian Parkinson. But there was the magnificent folks behind the scenes: original producer Frank Wayne and his successor "the Dob" Roger Dobkowitz; original director Marc Breslow, whose talents have long been overlooked by me but are now just coming to be appreciated; and then last but not least the fine music package put together by Score Productions and their composer Edd Kalehoff, the greatness of which simply boggles the mind. 

As I have always said, TPiR was made by its music.

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A recent discovery has been made in my historical television research. Of late I have studying the history of soap operas (of all things - how I hate soaps so) and have inevitably stumbled across some long extinct programs.

Most of them were probably insipid junk catering to housewives and intended to sell cleaning detergent to said demographic, but I did find a few surprises. And here I found something which I might have actually liked (from what clips I have seen on YouToob) - a daytime drama called The Edge of Night, which according to what I have read, sounds like a melodramatic take on Law and Order. Originally it was intended to be the daytime version of Perry Mason, from what I understand.

Edge premiered on the same day as As the World Turns (2 April 1956 - both were Procter & Gamble properties), found its greatest success from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s (airing live until 1975!), but sadly was cancelled in December 1984 after 28 years of broadcast.

At some point in the mid 70s, it preceded TPiR on the CBS schedule (during the period when Price aired at 2 PM central). Edge was always an afternoon soap, and in fact its name alluded to this as its original airtime was 3:30 PM central/4:30 PM eastern. At one time the audience was estimated to be over 50% male, due to its focus on crime and the workings of the judicial system.

Shit, if this program had survived a little bit longer, it would have fit in perfectly with typical daytime programming of the current era, and perhaps have given it something to emulate and look up to. With all the Law and Order, CSI, and Matlock reruns airing on cable channels (that means you, TNT) during the day nowadays, and society's general love of soap opera rubbish, it would have been right at home, and not out of place at all.