Soap

I began watching this show when I was rather young - elementary-school aged, really, & because of its episodic nature (for I read comic books voraciously, & loved "to be continued" storylines) - well, probably because I liked the guy with the puppet - I was hooked. I watched it weekly & remember praying to God that it wouldn't be cancelled. The magic of the show was that it taught me so much. I knew little or nothing about homosexuality, infidelity, racism, hell, even the Mafia or Central American revolutions, until I watched this show. It was genuinely funny - Bert thinking he could turn invisible, Benson's "I ain't getting that," everyone talking to Bob when they knew damn well Chuck was throwing his voice - I laughed & laughed.

As I watch TV now, I really miss the topicality of this show - the fact that, with a simple parody of soap operas, they managed to bring important issues of the day to the forefront. No one was safe - even alien abductions were lampooned, years before there was an X-Files that could stand a bit of ribbing.

Yeah, it's dated, & when I saw a few episodes in repeats a while back, I was more moved by my old feelings - these were friends I hadn't seen in ages! - than by the story & the jokes. But the point was, it was brave - like "All In The Family," like "Good Times" - though not a Norman Lear creation - braver than anything on right now. Someone else suggested you watch from day one - that's not all that important, because you'll catch on soon enough (it's a soap opera, after all), but I do believe you'll come to care for the characters & their ridiculous predicaments soon enough. & you'll be amazed at how utterly clever it is.

Be warned, though - like "Twin Peaks" it doesn't really end, & if you're coming at it for the first time, you'll be sad when you get to season four's end & there's nothing following. I was.

SOAP is this hilarious serialized saga about two completely Zany sisters and, their madcap families were awesome. This show from day one never ever took itself seriously and that's its greatest claim to fame. Soap dealt bluntly and honestly about a great many pressing social issues like homosexuality, veterans, treatment of the mentally ill.... of course it also in the same breath dealt with rubber suit wearing space aliens and, psycho's with wood puppet fixations.

SOAP for as madcap as it was has a heart of gold. The whole family is welded together in a very unique but strong love. I am a gay man and yet I loved Jessica Tate she was a woman of utter charm and, bearing and she was as off and ditzy but sweet as Gracie Allen. Burns & Allen I would have loved having Jessica Tate as a mom. SOAP was a perfect fusion of the Addams family and the Three Stooges meet Dallas. When I was young SOAP was another of my hiding places on the TV landscape.

SOAP had great moments of fun but SOAP could easily as well be moving and thought provoking. You just can't go wrong buying these tapes you will definitely laugh and, you will learn many things and, get many awesome insights as well! These too are on my highly recommended list of must see items.

This has to be one of the best casts ever. Just revisited this series and haven't laughed this hard in ages. It's sad that so many of the cast have passed on. This series was underappreviated. Hilarious spoof of soap operas...so brilliant.

This is the greatest sitcom ever made, a tremendous parody of the trashy soap operas that were all the rage when it was in production. There was topicality -homosexuality, racism, revolution, crime, and other things- and there was plenty of comedy, physical and otherwise. In particular, I think that the thing which hooked me on this program was the psychotic young ventriloquist and his dummy, which seemed at times to be more alive than some of the people! At least it was real to him! I particularly remember the scene where there is a discussion concerning a murder and the Black dummy, Bob, looks over at Benson and remarks, "I think the Black guy did it." Benson then coolly crosses the room, yanks the dummy out of Chuck's hands and throws it out a window, which sends Chuck into furious hysterics!

This is one of the very few shows from the 1970s that I can honestly say I miss. Good job, all!

Soap was and is great. It has to be one of the best comedies ever on t.v. The lampooning and parodying of daytime t.v. was one of the best ever. It dealt with topics ranging from homosexuality to possession. The humor and one liners were classic. Some of the funniest bits and scene stealing was done by Benson, the butler. It was outrageous, funny, comical,haughty, biting satire at it's very best. There has been nothing like since, that even measure up to it. It's a classic from the seventies, that still has a bite!Daytime t.v. should look so well!