No Soap, Radio

Although this comedy only lasted a season it was probably one of American television's best attempts in creating a Monty Python type sketch comedy program.

The show was led by a young Steve Guttenberg (YES, the Steve Guttenberg who later starred in all those dreary police academy films) and a small band of Hollywood character actors. The basis of each show revolved VERY loosely on the events at a hotel in which Guttenberg worked.

NSR was not afraid to completely wander from the show's premise as with Monty Python's Flying Circus. This show would go into movie parodies or other skits completely unrelated to the main story. Like some of the best Python episodes, NSR would eventually find its way back to close its story before the episode was over.

One of the unrelated events would be a stunt by Bob "Super Dave Osborne" Einstien. The NSR skits were probably some of his best stuff (when Super Dave is limited to a few minutes, is can be quite funny), especially his most dangerous stunt of cursing at the late New York Yankees hotheaded manager, Billy Martin.

The show had some great continuing gags. One involved a reoccurring sight gag in a "Break in Case of Fire" box (more like a booth). Each week one would see everything from a live fireman to a boy scout (rubbing two sticks together) encaged in the glass booth.

NSR was a part of ABC's "Two Hours of Comedy Power' for the 1982 year. In the Tuesday night line up started with the show "Bossom Buddies" with the talented Peter Scolari and some guy named Tom Hanks (whatever happened to this guy?), No Soap Radio, and the series "Police Squad" with Leslie Nelson (which spawned three movies of the same name). The evening would end with "Mork and Mindy" in which the great Jonathan Winters joined the series in the 1981-1982 year as Mork's (Robin Williams) son, Mearth.

Considering what became of the shows and its stars, I would love to see ABC or even Comedy Central show these two hours as they originally appeared 20 years ago. All have pretty much appeared in syndication except NSR. It is about time that the most daring show of the series gets credit for attempting to be creative.

The plot of "No Soap Radio" involves a man inheriting a broken-down hotel in Atlantic City which has been in his family for three generations, and trying to make it into a successful business venture. Along the way, has to deal with the "wacky" guests and staff and many "zany" situations.

I use the words "wacky" and "zany" here advisedly, as most things about the plot are incredibly bland, in that, from a plot standpoint, this looks like a pretty standard sit-com of the type which were so prevalent in the 70s and 80s.

What sets "No Soap Radio" apart, is that while it had a pretty generic plot, all of the action of the show was interspersed with very frenetic and surreal sketch comedy which was very reminiscent of Monty Python, Benny Hill, or Spike Milligan. For instance, some of the guests at the hotel might be walking down a hallway, when they are suddenly almost crushed when a giant foot comes crashing down in front of them. Zoom out to reveal that the foot belongs to a father who has just accidentally stepped on his sons model of a hotel. This would launch a totally unrelated sketch, which would then weave its way back into the main plot.

I vividly remember watching this show when I was a kid. I thought the sketch pieces were absolutely hysterical, I loved the way the sketches were interlinked to the main plot (which I was generally less impressed with). I found it frustrating that the show was only on intermittently during the summer and vanished after just a few episodes.

It was only recently that I managed to find a copy of the few existing episodes on eBay. As you can well imagine, I eagerly watched them, and while I revisited many of the skits that I remembered as a child, I was a bit disappointed with the show as a whole. There seemed to be too great a disparity between the main plot and the sketches. The main plot dragged on for far too long, usually on a paper-thin premise, while the sketch bits (most of which were truly unique with very funny concepts behind them) felt very rushed, as if the director was in a hurry to wrap them up quickly and get a laugh, this usually spoiled most of the punch-lines. In general the timing seemed off.

Of course, this is going to happen in the early stages of any program, when the people who created it haven't fully come to terms with their material. However, this show was such an unusual concept, so different from other programs which ABC was running at the time (to give you an idea, some of the other shows on ABC at the time were "Love Boat," "Fantasy Island," and "Happy Days"), you got the impression that the network executives had commissioned some shows, and when they saw the product, canned the whole project, and used the existing episodes as fill in when their summer season had a few holes in it.

Its a pity this show wasn't allowed to grow to its full potential, but I guess we're lucky that it ever aired at all.

I just got my hands on 3 episodes and watched them. Brilliant! Take a bit of Monty Python, mix in a slightly more coherent and unified story line and add more surreal bits and transitions. OK, the acting is mediocre and some of the stuff is silly, but some is wonderful! If I could get more episodes (there were between 4 and 6 depending on where you check) or better quality, I would! I actually tried sending mail to various stars of the show and got no where. eventually, i spoke to a comedian who was a guest star who said he would check with Bob Saget who was also a guest star, but that never got me anywhere. I must say that Steve Guttenberg, Stuart Pankin and Edie McLurg have not returned my emails. This has been a 20+ year quest for me. To have gotten 3 episodes is an unbelievable thing for me.

• that is, if it is the right show. The show I laughed at back then had inserted skits that were completely unrelated to the main story about Guttenberg running a hotel, such as a spoof on the trailer for a 50s sci-fi, called "The Day Everybody's Name was Al". The captions read for instance "The Most Terrifying Film", and, true to 50s film clichées, one of the words would be blown up on the screen - but in this skit, they would send totally irrelevant adverbs flying into our faces, such as "MOST" in the caption mentioned above. I was sick with laughter. I also recall another skit about a guy applying for a job in a hat firm where the manager was just a head. The interview contained remarks such as "I think the hat is the most important piece of clothing, don't you?" His secretary, too, was only a head (she typed with her nose), and at the end of the skit, the manager sneezed and was catapulted back into the waste paper basket. I'm sorry, but I was in stitches. I also recall something about a man-eating armchair.

I'd love to find that series somewhere again... hm. I think I shall try e-bay...

When this show aired on ABC in 1982, I couldn't figure it out. This was crazy stuff. I liked the gags more than I did the storyline. If this aired today, it would have been a smash hit. But in 1982, the public wasn't ready for this. This, mind you, was the era of "Dallas" and "Magnum P.I.". I didn't know who starred in this show until I read later that it was Steve Guttenberg, who you all know starred in those god awful "Police Academy" movies. I didn't care for his character on this show. I remember the view from a roller-coaster during the opening credits. I would have expected Comedy Central, TV Land, or Comedy Central's predecessor HA! to rerun the episodes, but none of them did. Though it didn't receive the cult status of another short-lived groundbreaking show, "Police Squad", this show stills stands in my memory as one of the craziest shows I have ever watched.