Soap: The Complete Series

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This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. ( February 2013) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) In 2007, Time, which initially panned the show, named it one of the "100 Best Shows of All- TIME". [2] The Museum of Broadcast Communications said that Soap is "arguably one of the most creative efforts by network television before or after". [5] 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.

The CIA or any other government organization is not to be involved in General Nu's smuggling operation." (This character and storyline, which dealt with a Vietnamese opium smuggler who becomes involved in the Tate family through Jessica's long-lost son, was eventually removed from the show bible.)

The Soap Memo" was leaked to the press before the show premiered and was printed in its entirety in the Los Angeles Times on June 27, 1977. Among the notes were:

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] On August 27, 2013, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to various television series from the Sony Pictures library, including Soap. [26] The company subsequently rereleased the first and second seasons on DVD on September 2, 2014, [27] and Soap: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 on June 2, 2015. [28] Most of the episodes on the Mill Creek sets are the original, uncut ABC versions, and the "On the last episode of Soap ..." synopses from the final season have been restored. [29] See also [ edit ] Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Katherine Helmond) – nominated: 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 a b c Ayers, Dennis (October 12, 2007). "Billy Crystal's place in gay pop culture history". AfterElton.com.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." 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". Jay Sandrich, Director; Susan Harris, Writer and Producer (1978). The Best of Soap: Who Killed Peter?. ASIN 630308219X. O'Gara, Hugh (September 10, 1977). "KXON says 'No 'Soap to eastern South Dakota TV audiences" . Argus-Leader . Vol.92, no.253. Sioux Falls, SD. p.1 . Retrieved July 11, 2021. Aldridge, Ron (July 4, 1978). "WSOC May Make 'Soap' Permanent". The Charlotte Observer. p.16A . Retrieved July 11, 2011.