Soap: The Complete Series

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The first season ends with Jessica convicted of the murder of Peter Campbell. The announcer concludes the season by announcing that Jessica is innocent, and that one of five characters—Burt, Chester, Jodie, Benson, or Corinne—killed Peter Campbell. Chester later confesses to Peter's murder and is sent to prison. He is soon released after a successful temporary insanity defense, due to a medical condition in his brain. A 1983 episode of Benson mentions Jessica's disappearance, noting that the Tate family is seeking to have her declared legally dead. In the episode, Jessica appears as an apparition who only Benson can see or hear and reveals to him that she is not dead, but in a coma somewhere in South America. No other incidents from the final episode of Soap are mentioned, and the opening bars of the theme song for Soap play as she leaves the room. Castleman, Harry; Podrazik, Walter J. (1989). Harry and Wally's Favorite TV Shows. New York: Prentice Hall Trade. pp.471–472. ISBN 978-0-1393-3250-0. In 2010, The Huffington Post called Soap a "timeless comedy" and concluded: "Rarely does a show come along with such a unique voice and vision from the first episode". [25] Awards and nominations [ edit ]

The Soap Memo" was a rare public look into the behind-the-scenes process at a major network and copies of the document were often found posted on the bulletin boards of television production companies and on studio sets as a rallying point against censorship. In addition, the specific details in the memo further fueled the growing debate regarding the controversial content of Soap. Premiere and critical reception [ edit ] The colloquy between Peter and Jessica ... which relates to cunnilingus/ fellatio is obviously unacceptable" The relationship between Jodie and the football player should be handled in such a manner that explicit or intimate aspects of homosexuality are avoided entirely."In a 1982 analysis in The Village Voice, published as the series was entering syndication, TV critic Tom Carson lauded the ensemble, saying that "the cast matches the best TV series rep troupes ever." Carson went on to note that Soap "patently started out intended as a lampoon of middle-class values, and ended up instead as a weirdly offbeat celebration of them". [24] The Roman Catholic Church, led by its Los Angeles Archdiocese, also condemned the show and asked all American families to boycott it, saying, "ABC should be told that American Catholics and all Americans are not going to sit by and watch the networks have open season on Catholicism and morality. [ Soap] is probably one of the most effective arguments for government censorship of TV that has yet come along." [9] In August, the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, representing the three branches of Judaism, joined the Catholic protest, saying that the show, yet to be aired, "reached a new low".

Dr. Everett Parker of the United Church of Christ called Soap "a low-life, salacious program" and complained that the show would be airing when children would be able to watch it. (ABC had scheduled it on Tuesdays after Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley, two of the most popular family television shows being broadcast at the time.) [10] DuBrow, Ric (September 10, 1991). " Golden Girls Creator Adds Shows". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved November 6, 2021. Much of Soap's controversy, among liberals and conservatives alike, ironically helped sell the series to the general public. Fueled by six months of pre-show protests (as well as a solid lead-in from the hit shows Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and Three's Company), the first episode swept its time slot with a 25.6 rating and a 39% share of the national audience. Although ABC received hundreds of phone calls after the premiere, executives at the network described initial public reaction as "mild" with more calls in favor of the show than in protest. A University of Richmond poll found that 74% of viewers found Soap inoffensive, 26% found it offensive, and half of those who were offended said they planned to watch it the next week. [5] a b c Poniewozik, James (September 6, 2007). "The 100 Best TV Shows of All- TIME". Time. Archived from the original on October 28, 2007 . Retrieved March 4, 2010.The wealthy Tate family employs a sarcastic butler/cook named Benson ( Robert Guillaume). Benson clearly despises Chester, but has a soft spot for their son, Billy ( Jimmy Baio). He also gets along with the Tates' daughter Corinne ( Diana Canova) as well as their mother, Jessica; but doesn't speak to the other daughter, Eunice ( Jennifer Salt), although that later changed. Benson became a popular character and in 1979 left the Tates' employ to work for Jessica's cousin, Governor Gene Gatling, on the spin-off series Benson, wherein his last name, DuBois, was revealed. The Tates had to hire a new butler/cook named Saunders ( Roscoe Lee Browne), whose attitude is similar to that of Benson, but has a more formal personality. Jay Sandrich, Director; Susan Harris, Writer and Producer (1978). The Best of Soap: Who Killed Peter?. ASIN 630308219X. In addition to the religious protest, Soap also faced substantial pre-broadcast criticism from the International Union of Gay Athletes [14] and the National Gay Task Force, [15] both of which were concerned about the way the gay character Jodie Dallas and his professional football player lover would be portrayed.