Last week I found out that Antenna TV airs reruns of Soap on Sunday nights, to find out if you have the station visit their websiteand have some retro fun.
I saw part of the series when it was broadcast on Comedy Central in the 1990s, though since it has been such a long time I decide to check into it. They show a four episode (two hour marathon) a week. The show aired originally from 1977 to 1981.
The basic premise of the show is two sisters who married into different families. One family is rich, the Tates, the other is not the Campbells. This obviously is a very typical set up for a soap opera. The sister angle matches the long gone soap Love of Life, which was at the end of its life (went off the air in 1980) when Soap was on television.
The characters are larger than life on this show. It was where Billy Crystal got his start playing a gay character named Jodie Campbell. Of course, this was a major controversy back in those days. There is Chuck Campbell and his dummy Bob. Chuck talks as himself and through his dummy and feels there is nothing wrong with that. The first season is about the murder of Peter Campbell, played by Robert Urich. Some of the actors on Soap had soap opera pasts like Donnelly Rhodes, Arthur Peterson, and Robert Mandan.
At the time, Soap was seen as out there for a soap opera. It was a parody beyond what normally would be seen on a daytime soap. Ironically some of the plots played out did happen in later years. If Antenna TV continues to air this, I will start writing about the main plots, but I’m just jumping back in after a long hiatus from watching the show.
While I plan to enjoy being able to watch reruns of Soap, I wish we would have the opportunity to see old episodes of our daytime shows. That would be a wonderful gift.
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