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MEMORIES:
tcoria77 remembers...their dad the major was a fool, so was burt, and chester, and chuck was crazy just for toting bob ... More »
Posted on 04/12/09
Cast:
Chester Tate...Robert Mandan
Jessica Gatling Tate...Katherine Helmond
Corinne Tate Flotsky (1977-80)...Diana Canova
Eunice Tate...Jennifer Salt
Billy Tate...Jimmy Baio
Benson (1977-79)...Robert Guillaume
The Major...Arthur Peterson
Mary Gatling Dallas Campbell...Cathryn Damon
Burt Campbell...Richard Mulligan
Jodie Dallas...Billy Crystal
Danny Dallas...Ted Wass
Chuck/Bob Campbell...Jay Johnson
Peter Campbell (1977)...Robert Urich
Claire (1977-78)...Kathryn Reynolds
The Godfather (1977-78)...Richard Libertini
Dennis Phillips (1978)...Bob Seagren
Father Timothy Flotsky (1977-79)...Sal Viscuso
Carol David (1978-80)...Rebecca Balding
Elaine Lefkowitz (1978-79)...Dinah Manoff
Dutch (1978-81)...Donnelly Rhodes
Sally (1978-79)...Caroline McWilliams
Detective Donahue (1978-80)...John Byner
Alice (1979)...Randee Heller
Mrs. David (1979-81)...Peggy Pope
Millie (1979)...Candy Azzara
Leslie Walker (1979-81)...Marla Pennington
Polly Dawson (1979-81)...Lynne Moody
Saunders (1980-81)...Roscoe Lee Browne
Dr. Alan Posner (1980-81)...Allan Miller
Attorney E. Ronald Mallu (1978-81)...Eugene Roche
Carlos "El Puerco" Valdez (1980-81)...Gregory Sierra
Maggie Chandler (1980-81)...Barbara Rhoades
Annie Selig Tate (1980-81)...Nancy Dolman
Gwen (1980-81)... Jesse Welles
Juan One (1980-81)...Joe Mantegna
Announcer...Rod Roddy
Jessica Gatling Tate...Katherine Helmond
Corinne Tate Flotsky (1977-80)...Diana Canova
Eunice Tate...Jennifer Salt
Billy Tate...Jimmy Baio
Benson (1977-79)...Robert Guillaume
The Major...Arthur Peterson
Mary Gatling Dallas Campbell...Cathryn Damon
Burt Campbell...Richard Mulligan
Jodie Dallas...Billy Crystal
Danny Dallas...Ted Wass
Chuck/Bob Campbell...Jay Johnson
Peter Campbell (1977)...Robert Urich
Claire (1977-78)...Kathryn Reynolds
The Godfather (1977-78)...Richard Libertini
Dennis Phillips (1978)...Bob Seagren
Father Timothy Flotsky (1977-79)...Sal Viscuso
Carol David (1978-80)...Rebecca Balding
Elaine Lefkowitz (1978-79)...Dinah Manoff
Dutch (1978-81)...Donnelly Rhodes
Sally (1978-79)...Caroline McWilliams
Detective Donahue (1978-80)...John Byner
Alice (1979)...Randee Heller
Mrs. David (1979-81)...Peggy Pope
Millie (1979)...Candy Azzara
Leslie Walker (1979-81)...Marla Pennington
Polly Dawson (1979-81)...Lynne Moody
Saunders (1980-81)...Roscoe Lee Browne
Dr. Alan Posner (1980-81)...Allan Miller
Attorney E. Ronald Mallu (1978-81)...Eugene Roche
Carlos "El Puerco" Valdez (1980-81)...Gregory Sierra
Maggie Chandler (1980-81)...Barbara Rhoades
Annie Selig Tate (1980-81)...Nancy Dolman
Gwen (1980-81)... Jesse Welles
Juan One (1980-81)...Joe Mantegna
Announcer...Rod Roddy
Network:
ABC
Release History:
9/13/77 - 4/20/81 ABC
Set in the fictional town of Dunn’s River, Connecticut, Soap revolved around two families, the Tates and the Campbells, the respective clans of sisters Jessica and Mary. The Tates were the wealthier of the two families, even employing their own butler, an acid-tongued servant by the name of Benson (who would eventually get his own self-titled spin off series.) But they weren’t without their own problems. Jessica’s husband Chester was a womanizer, her adopted daughter Corinne was actually the daughter of their maid, Ingrid Svenson, and Corrine’s future baby was possessed by the devil.
Over on the Campbell side, things were even stranger. Mary’s son Danny is a wanna-be gangster, who has been instructed to kill his stepfather, Mary’s husband Burt. Mary’s stepson Chuck tends to express his anger through a sharp-witted ventriloquist’s dummy named Bob. And her other son, Jody, is openly gay (the first such character in a weekly series.) At the end of the first season, another of Mary’s stepsons, tennis pro Peter Campbell turns up as a murder victim. Sister Jessica was the first suspect, but as the show ended, it was revealed that she was innocent and one of the other five major characters (Burt, Chester, Jodie, Corrine, or Benson) was guilty of murder. This was all poking fun at the “Who Shot JR” phenomenon at the time, and fans would have to wait until the next season to find out who killed Peter.
There were plenty of other interesting things going on in later episodes. Burt, who already suffered from an affliction where he thought he could make himself invisible, had the misfortune of being abducted by aliens. He was replaced by an exact duplicate, named X-23. Youngest son Billy Tate would get abducted by a religious cult and have to be rescued by the family. And Jessica would begin a love affair with a revolutionary in South America. Each episode ended in cliffhanger fashion, with an off-screen announcer asking such questions as “Will Burt remain invisible? Will Mary notice? Will anyone care?” and follow with “These questions and many more will be answered on the next episode of … Soap.”
It took a while for Soap to catch on. The hype over the show’s controversial subject matter was pretty overblown and the show seemed pretty safe by comparison (not that a few advertisers didn't pull their commercials.) But it gradually caught on as people started to realize how funny it was. Soap benefited greatly from its stellar cast that included Cathryn Damon, Robert Guillaume, Richard Mulligan, Diana Canova and a young Billy Crystal in one of his first major roles as Jodie, the openly-gay character. The show, created, written and produced by Susan Harris (The Golden Girls, Empty Nest, Nurses) ran for four years before finally ending in 1981 after 85 episodes. Luckily for nostalgic fans that want to relive the entire saga of the Tates and the Campbells, all four seasons of Soap have been released on DVD.
