Soap was set in the fictional town of Dunn's River, Connecticut and it focused on the lives of wealthy Jessica Tate (Helmond) and her more middle class sister, Mary Campbell (Damon). 4 Jessica finds out about Chester and his infidelity!.John Ruthledge on the radio version of Guiding Light Caroline McWilliams (Sally), who had played Janet Mason Norris on Guiding Light in the early 1970s and Donnelly Rhodes (Dutch Leitner), who had played the role of Katherine Chancellor's husband, Phillip, on the series, The Young and the Restless.ĭuring the first season, creator Susan Harris (who was no stranger to controversy, as she wrote the landmark Maude two-part episode where the title character would have an abortion) would have a bit role as Babette, a prostitute who seemed to know every man in town. The show's announcer was originally slated to be the late Casey Kasem ( American Top 40 as well as the voice of Shaggy Rogers of Scooby Doo fame) but after he objected to the content of the show, he was replaced by a then-unknown Rod Roddy, who would later gain fame as the second announcer (after Johnny Olson) of the long-running CBS game show, The Price is Right.Īt the beginning recap every week, Roddy would always ask (or used a variation of same), "Confused? You won't be, after you watch this week's episode of.Soap."įour soap opera veterans played major roles on the series, Robert Mandan (Chester Tate), who had played Sam Reynolds, a beau of Joanne Barron on the show, Search for Tomorrow Arthur Peterson, Jr. Because the audience knew the characters and their complicated backstories, they connected with them and that made them even funnier. The show took the various soap opera staples and made them funny without being disrespectful.
However, when it went into repeats, it was shown and discovered and it was revealed to be very well written and well acted. When it first premiered, it was criticized by many various groups, both secular and religious, (including two LGBT groups that were worried about the gay characters being played in stereotype) and some stations (mostly in the southern US) either played it late at night or refused to air it at all.
The series was slated to take the previous attempt at sending up soap opera conventions, Norman Lear's Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, one step further. The series aired on the ABC Television Network from 1977-1981. The series was created by Susan Harris, who would later create the hit series, The Golden Girls Benson Empty Nest and Nurses, and was produced by Paul Junger Witt (whom Susan Harris would marry) and Tony Thomas through their production company, Witt-Thomas-Harris Productions. The show starred Katherine Helmond (later of Who's the Boss?) and Cathryn Damon (later of Webster) as two sisters who were the matriarchs of an extended family, who were considered to be completely and utterly crazy.
It was a comedy that used a serial format. SOAP was a long-running situation comedy that was an unabashed send-up of daytime dramas and their numerous conventions.
The picture soon devolves into a fight between Burt and Chester, who despise one another! Back Row: Corinne Tate Flotsky Danny Dallas Eunice Tate Burt Campbell Chester Tate and Jodie Dallas. Second title card of Soap, front row, Billy Tate Mary Campbell, the Major, Jessica Tate Chuck and Bob Campbell.