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!
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!