Soap was not only a ground-breaking series in terms of its writing, cast and subject matter, but also it is one of those programs that has become an important part of American culture.
As a program steeped in controversy, millions grew up being told not to watch it. As a result, millions watched it anyway to see what all the fuss was about. Because of that, millions still cherish it today as their own personal discovery.
Do you remember how you first discovered Soap? If so, I’d really like to hear about it and, with your permission, I would like to include those memories in Soap! The Inside Story of the Sitcom that Broke All the Rules.
Please take a moment and drop me a line at asberman813 (at) gmail.com today, reply to this page in the comments section below, or leave your memories at the book’s Facebook page.
Thanks for sharing 
This is rather lengthy but it needs to be said.
Mine was one of resistance at first when one of my friends told me about it. But years later when I was at St. Mary’s Hospital in Bayside NY for Asthma Prevention Treatment I looked at the series through different eyes. Of course my friend Frankie from Tampa, Florida who I adopted as my brother, tells a different story and swears up and down that I became a monster due to his prodding me to expand my horizons which he still apologizes for profusely.
Unlike most parents who didn’t want their kids watching “Racy” material My Mother was a tad more open to it in her own way and years later we sat together and watched The First season DVD together. She laughed her head off.
I took an immediate liking to Jessica for his gentleness, but she’s no fool by any means. Then Chester, Benson and the others soon followed in succession. They were far from what The Moral Majority made them out to be. The mere fact that both families faced adversity in The Devil said as much. Sure they fought with each other from time to time but when they united to save Corrine’s baby or Jodie’s daughter that said volumes for their loyalty to each other.
While some fans complained about the storylines being a tad silly such as Burt’s UFO Abduction I knew that outside the serious tender moments they were satirizing the whole Soap Opera Phenomeon. It’s ironic how at the time a lot of The Real Soap Operas began doing the same shtick that Soap did. And it made the genre more interesting and fun to watch as a result.
I did receive some autograph pictures of some of the cast members including Susan Harris herself but they got lost during many moves to new homes. There IS a framed photo of an autograph photo Richard Mulligan sent me just shy a few years before he passed away. Others such as Robert Mandan were difficult to reach due to their busy schedules. My Mom even tried to call up a Theater he was in at the time just to find out if he got my letter.
As an inspiring cartoonist and fan fiction writer I showed my devotion to the show by writing and drawing hand drawn comic books featuring some of the characters too. I saw potential in them to be Saturday Morning or Prime Time fare ala The Flintstones, Jetsons and The Simpsons.
When the show got canceled suffice to say I was crushed as it left things open ended and I hated ABC for a very long time after that. But there was always Benson which could’ve easily brought in many of the cast from Soap to reveal their fates. Jessica was the only one they did.
Overall Soap is one show I’ll always remember for being so upfront and honest about things really are even if they did exaggerate on it but it was the truth none the less. I’ll always regard Burt, Mary, Jessica, Chester, Dutch and Corrine as the friends that got me through some very rough times.
Hi Steven. Wow, thank you so much for sharing your history with Soap with us. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s wondering if you still have the comic books you drew of the show…..
Many television shows, even some of the most successful of all time, took time to find, not only their audience, but also their way. Shows like ‘Seinfeld’ had starts, or even entire early seasons, that lacked the complete package … those things that would ultimately make them great.
Then there’s a show like ‘Soap’. After perhaps 10 years away from the show, I bought the 1st Season on DVD when first made available, and sat down with great anticipation of getting to my absolute favorite moments of those early episodes.
With shock, I discovered the moments I remembered most clearly, which could make me laugh to myself even years after seeing an episode, were all there in the Pilot. Chester and Corrine’s stories of animal-disaster on the highway to explain their late nights out. The Major trying to kill the neighbor. Benson, more or less, trying to kill Chester.
A show’s whose pinnacle episode is also its’ first is a rare and special thing. And a show that knew where it was going from the start.
To read a 1977 Time article recently which mentioned Susan Harris’s 5-year ‘bible’ of plotlines does make it all a little more clear. And to read ‘juicy’ spoilers of later episode plotlines that the journalist wasn’t certain would ever see the air (Corrine’s corruption of Father Tim and their ‘Exorcist’ baby) makes one wonder of exactly what all we might have missed due to the censors and the untimely 4th season cancellation.
Well, Mr Berman, I suppose that’s where you come in?
)
The ‘fan involvement’ aspects of your book don’t interest me too much … but I’d love to know the behind-the-scenes details that go more to the show’s making, struggles and undoing, rather than those who-may-have-been-sleeping-with-whom type stories.
From one writer/researcher to another: Good luck on your writing … I look forward to some day soon buying my own copy of your ‘Soap’ story.
Hi Ken. You make a lot of good points there. Soap certainly had one of the most well-thought-out pilot episodes, especially if you take the first two episodes as a single pilot (which is how it was originally intended). And no worries about the “who may have been sleeping with whom type stories” — that’s never been something I’ve had any interest in writing about. The Soap book is all about the creative process that made the series possible.
In addition, this book was always planned to be one that not only explained how the show was put together, but also placed it in the context of the events of the day – to me this is the only way to appreciate how incongruous the pressure-group backlash was compared with the social upheaval the rest of the world was experiencing at the time. (In other words, people were upset about the admission on television that human beings have sex; meanwhile, we had just seen the end of Vietnam, terrorist groups were going nuts throughout Europe, the economy was in the toilet, etc.)
Perhaps the only place we may disagree is on the inclusion of fan stories. To me, this is simply the last component necessary for understanding the significance of the series. Granted, these won’t make up a huge portion of the book, but they do “complete the picture,” I believe. There are many people out there on whom Soap had a profound impact.
Hi! I found mention of your book on You Tube and it’ll be a great present for my parents who are on a “Soap”-kick and trying to get all DVD episodes ever aired, and to get them unedited. Perhaps you could address this in your book? Apparently the VHS episodes are all unedited, but the DVD episodes were cut slightly (including cutting part of an episode in which Jodie dances), and an episode that aired in the summer isn’t on the DVDs. Why do the studios do this, cutting episodes for DVD?! Could you elaborate on your book as to whether the series ever made money and why its ratings declined? Everyone I’ve ever talked to just “loved” Soap, and I’m glad you’re doing it justice. Hopefully your book will answer “these questions, and many more….”
Many thanks.
Glenn A.
NJ
Hi Glenn. Your concerns over the editing of the DVDs is one I’ve heard a lot about. Just to be clear, can you describe the summer episode you mentioned that never received a DVD release? My first thought was that it was the “best of” episode in which Jessica goes to heaven and meets God (Bea Arthur), but I wasn’t sure.
The question about Soap’s profitability and ratings toward the end of its life really address two separate matters, which seems odd today when a show with strong ratings usually means it’s profitable. I must admit I haven’t looked at the 4th season ratings yet, but my understanding is that they had little to do with cancellation of the show. The pressure that activists placed on Soap and its advertisers was so great, ABC was forced to sell ad time at drastically discounted prices, which was a problem from Day One. While Soap fans are still understandably miffed by the show’s cancellation, it bears mentioning that the fact that ABC was willing to carry it for four years, making only a fraction of the money they otherwise would have, is pretty remarkable. Much of the credit for that is often given to ABC head Fred Silverman.
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I was nine years old when Soap premiered. We loved the Tuesday night comedies on ABC: Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, and Three’s Company. I usually had to go to sleep at 8:30, so I don’t know if I ever saw the first season of Soap. Or maybe my parents didn’t want to watch a topical show. But I definitely saw it in season two on Thursday, which is weird since I wasn’t a fan of the shows on that night! We must have had two TVs by then, because I remember watching the show alone.
What drew me in to Soap was the intrigue of all the continuing stories. I specifically remember the ‘Corrine’s baby is possessed’ story, as well as Burt’s blackmail by Sally, Danny and Elaine (heartbreaking), and Chester’s amnesia. I couldn’t wait for the next episode and was pulled in every week.
One thing that always hooks me into a sitcom is when you can hear the studio audience laughing. If a show has more real laughs than fake, it’s usually a great show. Soap’s first three seasons sure had that! But I was also a fan of Soap’s dramatic moments, the touching dialogue between characters. Especially, Jodie being left at the altar, Jessica and Mary discussing infidelity, and Danny and Elaine (again!). Soap was really the first sitcom to combine zaniness with poignancy, something a show like Scrubs later did successfully. Soap had hilarity mixed with heart, superb acting, and amazingly funny writing.
Of course, I was aware of the “adult” situations and dialogue, even though I was a kid. I didn’t really pay too much attention to them. I comprehended that sex was a part of adults’ lives and didn’t get hung up on it, because that was just one facet of the show. In comparison, Three’s Company was a lot racier, and the sex jokes stood out more. On Soap, the mature themes blended in better with the whole of the show.
I saw the show in reruns as well, which made getting the VHS tapes of Soap a big treat. There were so many scenes I didn’t remember because they had been cut for commercials in syndication!
All in all, the characters on Soap seemed real to me and I cared about them.
Some great memories there, Kyle. And a good point about Three’s Company. I think a lot of people forget that these were pretty much contemporaries, though Three’s Company did have its fair share of critics, too.
I watched it with my sister in the late 70s on ITV (UK channel) and as I was a young 7-8 year old I never got the naughty stuff…….I never knew wat infidelity was or homosexuality, or sexuality at all….but the cmedy was tummy aching funny, and 30 mins seemed like 5mins. We used to try and tune into Yorkshire TV as they were a week ahead so we could watch 2 eps sometimes. After series 4 I assumed series 5 never got shown here so when it was repeated in 1986 on channel 4 in the UK I was stunned to find out that was really how it ended. I was gutted…….I never knew it was so controversial eaher, my parents thought it was like kids TV! How funny is that. I loved that show, and still do. And I miss it……..can’t they make some more anyway…..ha ha.
Ha! That’s because your parents were used to TV that didn’t shove the wide gamut of human experience into an adults-only box, Brian. Certainly you had Mary Whitehouse and her like, but she didn’t run the networks the way our version of private censors seemed to in the 1970s.