SoapBy Jeff Shannon
Even before it premiered on September 13, 2024 (Tuesdays at 9:30 pm on
ABC), Soap was mired in controversy (including 32,000 letters of protest)
and primed to make television history.
Conceived as a primetime satire of daytime melodramas, this
groundbreaking series toppled many of the TV taboos that remained after All
in the Family and M*A*S*H, openly addressing a
variety of risky topics (homosexuality, infidelity, impotence, familial
murder) with a deft combination of irreverent wit, wacky slapstick,
supreme stupidity, and--key to its success--engaging drama from characters
you could really care about, regardless of their rampant quirks and
foibles.
As a friendly announcer informs us, "this is the story of two
sisters" in suburban Connecticut--wealthy dimwit Jessica Tate
(Katherine Helmond) and blue-collar housewife Mary Campbell (Cathryn
Damon)--whose class-divided families are bound by enough scandalous
secrets to make each of these 25 episodes (all written by creator-producer
Susan Harris and directed by sitcom veteran Jay Sandrich) a polished gem
of half-hour comedy.
The integration of plot and character is flawless, and dirty laundry
was rarely this absurd: Jessica's cheating on her cheating husband (Robert
Mandan, the show's underrated lynchpin); stepson Jodie (Billy Crystal) is
(gasp!) openly gay, and brother Danny (Ted Wass) has Mafia connections;
daughter Corrine (Diana Canova) is in love with a priest; Mary's husband
Burt (manic genius Richard Mulligan) is a would-be killer who thinks he's
invisible; and all of them are suspects in a murder case that fuels the
season's cliffhanger finale.
This is ensemble comedy at its finest, and is it any wonder Robert
Guillaume--as the Tates' insolent servant Benson--got his own spin-off
sitcom in 1979? His line readings (such as "You want me to get
that?" when the doorbell rings) are instant classics, and while
Helmond tops the cast with her inimitable brand of idiocy, there's not a
weak link in the entire cast. All those protesting prudes fought a futile
battle: Soap was never naughty without purpose (indeed, the show possesses
subtle integrity) and a large and loyal audience propelled it to even
crazier heights in subsequent seasons.
It doesn't seem possible, but the second season of Soap is even
better than the first. Only the greatest primetime sitcoms achieve
triple-threat genius: Casting, writing, and direction reached their zenith
as the 1978-79 season began with a resolution
to season 1's cliffhanger murder. Chester (Robert Mandan) loses his memory
and wander out west while his ditzy wife Jessica (Katherine Helmond)
enjoys a fling with the detective (new cast member John Byner) she'd hired
to find Chester. Across town, the working-class Campbells have their own
melodramas to contend with: Despite being gay, stepson Jodie (Billy
Crystal) is an expectant father and moves in with pregnant Carol (Rebecca
Balding), and later a lesbian roommate; Mary (Cathryn Damon) suspects Burt
(Richard Mulligan) of having an affair; Corrine (Diana Canova) and
ex-priest Tim (Sal Viscuso) have a baby that's demonically possessed; and
Burt is abducted by aliens!
Exorcisms and flying saucers might suggest desperation on the part of
writer-creator Susan Harris, but the opposite is true: the controversy
that plagued Soap's first season had subsided (thanks to valiant
defense by ABC President Fred Silverman), and Harris and Jay Sandrich (who
directed 20 of these 22 episodes) were able to push their spoofy plots to
even greater heights of absurdity without sacrificing the show's core
integrity. Jimmy Baio (as Billy Tate) gets his moment to shine, and Robert
Guillaume (as Benson) deservedly won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in
a Comedy Series.
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Soap on
DVD! |
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Soap is now available on DVD! Get it at Amazon.com!
Season One, Season Two, Season Three, Season Four |
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