Load of rubbish!!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A Masterpiece!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

I was only 10 years old when this show premiered on TV in London. But it was shown on Fridays (10.30pm) & I was allowed to enjoy the antics of the Campbells & the Tates. The characters & their situations were something I had never experienced on TV before, but the actors involved made the show an enjoyable one. Lead character Jessica (Katherine Helmond) was a lovable dope who could pull viewers heartstrings as well, she embarks on an extra marital affair with her tennis coach (who turns out to be her brother in-law's son) who's also having relationships with her daughter Corrine (Confused? You should be), who later turns her attentions to a Catholic priest. Jodie (Billy Crystal) was a gay guy intent on having gender re-alignment to win over his footballer boyfriend, when this failed he turned straight & fathered a baby girl which later sparked an ugly custody battle. Other characters worth mentioning were Burt (Jessica's brother in-law) a quirky guy who's impotent & had issues with his stepsons (wife Mary's boys)it later transpired that Burt killed Mary's first husband. Mary's first born Danny is a would be mobster who decides to quit the mob, in order to do this he enters a shotgun marriage to the boss's daughter (Danny's mob bosses went from being Italian to Jewish without mention). At the time the sexual references & American colloquialisms were unintelligible but watching re-runs on cable have reconfirmed my views that this daytime soap parody is a comic classic.

I recall this series as a child, although I never watched when it was airing but saw all the re-runs every afternoon became hooked on this very hilarious and fabulous comedy that was basically a spoof of TV soap operas with funny, offbeat memorable characters. I always looked forward to the Announcer(Rod Roddy) who narrated the summary of the previous episode in the beginning and asked would happen in the next episode near the end of episode.Basically the series was about two very different sisters and the oddball dysfunctional families. Jessica Tate(Katherine Helmond)was the very sweet,lovable but ditsy and scatter-brained socialite that lived in the mansion with her wealthy philandering husband Chester(Robert Mandan) and their three children, good girl Corinne(Diana Conova), the not so good girl Eunice(Jennifer Salt) and teenage Billy(Jimmy Baio). There was also the Major(Arthur Peterson), Jessica's kooky shell-shocked father who still believed the war was going on and Benson(Robert Guilliame), the sassy no-nonsense butler was the only sane person in the household or the whole show for that matter.Then there was Mary Campbell(Cathryn Damon)her older, sensible more down-to-earth sister who was the only normal person in her household that consisted of her lovable but kooky blue-collar second husband Burt Campbell(Richard Milligan) and her two sons from her previous marriage, the dim-witted Danny Dallas(Ted Wass) and homosexual Jodie(Billy Crystal). Later came one of Burt's sons Chuck(Jay Johnson), a ventriloquist who always has his wise-cracking dummy Bob with him that he seems to believe is another person.This show was ahead of it's time sometimes with it's kooky, and even controversial yet funny story lines from homosexuality, alien abduption, mafia, devil-possession, interracial relationships, student/teacher relationship, amnesia to murder etc. Standout was Helmond who played Jessica comedic dizziness yet with sweet child-like innocence that you'll loved her character even if she wasn't the brightest bulb and her relationship with her sister Mary was the best part since it was very believable. Others were Milligan as Burt was sweet yet clownish and comedic talent reminded me of Jerry Lewis or the Three Stooges plus he had the most interesting story lines from thinking he was invisible to being kidnapped by aliens and The crazy Major stole every scene he was in as with his hilarious antics in the Tate's household where he lived in his own little world. But one of my favorites was Chuck and Bob who were a riot especially since the dummy Bob had the most funny dialogue and more lines than Chuck did. I also recall this series had a lot of known actors/actresses such as Robert Urich, Lynne Moody, Dinah Manoff, Randee Handler, Caroline McWilliams and Inga Swenson. It was shame that they ended this series so soon especially leaving viewers with a cliffhanger. Fortunately some of the actors moved onto bigger things. First Robert Guillame left the show after two seasons to star in his own spin-off "Benson" which lasted much longer(which also starred both Swenson and McWilliams) and was replaced by Saunders(Roscoe Lee Browne). Katherine Helmond went on to portray Mona in the 1980s hit comedy "Who's The Boss", Richard Milligan also starred in hit 80's sitcom "Empty Nest" which also starred Dinah Manoff and was Ted Wass played Blossom's dad in the 90's sitcom "Blossom". Last on least the legendary Billy Crystal went on to appear on "Saturday Night Live" and later became a one of the most popular comedians to hit the big screen and host the Emmys.I always wished that there could have been a reunion show so at least we could find out what happened to the characters yet sadly Milligan, Damon, Peterson, and Roddy have all passed away. I hope this series comes back to TV, it did briefly air on TV Land but I will I always remember this fabulous show.

I loved soap when it first came out and i want to watch it now and show my kids so please, please, please make it in region 2! I loved soap when it first came out and i want to watch it now and show my kids so please, please, please make it in region 2! I loved soap when it first came out and i want to watch it now and show my kids so please, please, please make it in region 2! I loved soap when it first came out and i want to watch it now and show my kids so please, please, please make it in region 2! I loved soap when it first came out and i want to watch it now and show my kids so please, please, please make it in region 2! I loved soap when it first came out and i want to watch it now and show my kids so please, please, please make it in region 2! I loved soap when it first came out and i want to watch it now and show my kids so please, please, please make it in region 2! I loved soap when it first came out and i want to watch it now and show my kids so please, please, please make it in region 2! I loved soap when it first came out and i want to watch it now and show my kids so please, please, please make it in region 2! I loved soap when it first came out and i want to watch it now and show my kids so please, please, please make it in region 2! I loved soap when it first came out and i want to watch it now and show my kids so please, please, please make it in region 2! I loved soap when it first came out and i want to watch it now and show my kids so please, please, please make it in region 2! I loved soap when it first came out and i want to watch it now and show my kids so please, please, please make it in region 2!

Have always loved and quoted Soap and the galaxy of stars it spawned.And guess what. Two day ago I walked into a Salvation army shop and found a 3 DVD set containing the first 25 episodes AND another DVD set (2) - the first 22 episodes of Cheers (Dianne Chambers & Coach). 1140 minutes of sheer joy and delight!!!Soap, Cheers and MASH are the only US series I have time for - showing my age perhaps.Eat your hearts out folks, you won't see me for days!Ah the constant battles between the Dummy and Danny!!PK