Sadly Over-hyped

one of my absolute favorites!

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

...when you watch this edition of...Soap! The words of the now late Rod Roddy opened and closed each episode of this groundbreaking sitcom that ran on ABC for four years. I was much too young to watch this show when it premiered in 1977(I 3was five)and,because it wasn't a habit of my family's to watch,I easily missed it when it closed shop in 1981(I was nine,still not exactly 'grown up',eh?),but I ended up catching this show as a part of my "doing good in school and being a good kid" when I got to stay up on Friday nights when I was in sixth grade(this was 1983-84). What I saw of the show(since they ran five episodes a week,naturally,I missed 80% of the story arcs)had me hooked,and eventually,over the next few years,I would steadily catch nearly all the eps of this show. Fast forward ten years. I'm in college and Comedy Central network,pre-"DAily Show" or "South PArk",runs re-runs of "Soap" practically three times a day during the week,and twice per day on the weekends. At first I don't really intend to watch,since I know I've seen practically every show(albeit not a one in a decade),and only watch the shows waiting for the "MST3K" one-hour,two-part "split" eps that followed. Sure enough,I found myself getting hooked again,even noticing and enjoying things I'd missed the first time around!This offering from producers Susan HArris,Paul JUnger Witt and Tony Thomas was probably intended as a simple send-up of soap operas(to counter CBS' "Mary Hartman,Mary HArtman" I'm guessing),was not only groundbreaking,it was keenly written and funny. The goings-on of two families,the well-to-do Tates and the blue-collar Campbells,connected by the fact that the matriarchs of each are sisters who happen to be very close:Jessica TAte(Katherine Helmond),a sexy,bright-eyed but dim lady who is painfully loyal and trusting,and MAry Campbell(CAthryn Damon),a patient,realistic and wounded woman who values her role as a wife and a mother. Their husbands couldn't be more different:Chester Tate(Robert Mandan)is a vile,cheating lech who takes advantage of his wife's nature,and Burt CAmpbell(Richard Mulligan,a fantastic comedic actor who I still miss),a likable construction foreman who believes he's cracking up. The rest of the characters are a wild and colorful bunch I feel staggered trying to describe all of,but they include MAry's gay son(a then-unknown Billy Crystal),Jessica's adopted daughter,the sisters' father,a senile Army General who's mentally locked in 1944 and Burt's son from his first marriage,a ventriloquist whose dummy is far more interesting(And mouthy,no pun intended)than he is. Mixed in are themes of infidelity(duh!),organized crime,blackmail,sexual orientation,suicide,kidnapping,political revolution,murder,rape,lost identities,interracial dating,demonic possession and UFOs! I ask you,how could this NOT be addictive?I've pondered,off-and-on,what would've happened to all the characters on this show,since it reached no conclusion when it did conclude nearly twenty-six years ago. I have my theories,but I mention that for this: any show that is thirty years old,only lasted four seasons and one that I probably haven't seen in quite a while can STILL evoke fond memories and tickle my imagination MUST be a great show! The themes that this show tackled(which,if I recall from some documentaries)stirred plenty of controversy in its day would,while considerably more commonplace now,still seem relevant,and I'm hoping to see it again on either TVLand or on DVD.

I watched this series when it first aired in the UK when I was young, single and the world was mine to explore. I laughed and cried with the characters. I am now twice the age as I was then, have moved to Australia, got married, had children, been widowed and have just watched the first 2 seasons again, 25 years later, on DVD. I again laughed and cried with the characters. Interestingly enough, my teenage daughter also laughs and cries with me, a generation gap easily linked with this awesome series. It is still a very emotional show despite everything that has happened in between. For me it has stood the test of time and will always do so.

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 was, most unfortunately, not around in 1977 when SOAP debuted and caused a great deal of controversy. Luckily, I happened to be around in 2002 when TVLand began airing episodes of SOAP as part of the "TVLand Kitschen." I had heard of SOAP and of BENSON, but had never seen either. I decided to watch an episode of the former one night on TVLand, and right away I was hooked! SOAP was a masterful creation - a delightful parody of all things daytime and foreshadowing prime-time (think about it - before there was "Who Shot J.R.?" there was "Who Killed Peter Campbell?"). It covered everything - murder, infidelity, the church, impotency, mental illness, depression, attempted suicide, the mob, alcoholism, and even aliens and exorcisms. It pushed the envelope, but tastefully so, and it was filled with endless humor (both physical and wit).TV had never before seen a show with as large and as brilliant an ensemble as the one on SOAP, and they sure haven't seen one since. For starters you had the Tate children - bratty Eunice (Jennifer Salt), man-hungry Corinne (Diana Canova), and the long-uninformed Billy (Jimmy Baio). At the head of the family was that wealthy scoundrel Chester Tate (Robert Mandan), The Major (Arthur Peterson) - Mary & Jessica's father who was still suck in WWII, and the delightful presence of the sarcastic butler, Benson (Robert Guillaume).In the Campbell household, you had Jay Johnson in his dual role as Burt's son Chuck and Chuck's sarcastic and obnoxious dummy, Bob, Ted Wass as mobster/heartthrob Danny Dallas, and Billy Crystal as everyone's favorite homosexual, Jodie Dallas. Head of the household Burt Campbell was played by rubbery and hilarious Richard Mulligan.At the heart of the show, however, were two sisters - Jessica Tate (played to ditsy delight by Katherine compassion sanity by the highly underrated Cathryn Damon). You always believed these two were sisters who genuinely cared for one another and would do anything for one another.That is - until Season 4.I hold firm in my belief that part of the main reason for the ratings decline during Season 4 was the whole "Chester is really Danny's father" storyline. Any SOAP fan knows that Mary Campbell would NEVER have done something like that to her sister - and when you break apart the heart and soul of a show, of course the ratings are going to drop. The final season wasn't a total disaster, but seeing as how several characters seemed to be just so out of character (Mary with Chester, Jodie is really straight, etc.), it certainly wasn't up to par with the first three fabulous seasons. And sure, we'll probably never REALLY know exactly what happened to the characters - but isn't it pleasant to think that somewhere, Jessica and Mary resolved their differences, Burt and Mary got back together, and life was good (insane, but still good) for everyone in the Tate and Campbell families? :) SOAP is a wonderful show - my favorite show - and certainly deserves the lavish praise that everyone is giving it! Hooray for SOAP!