Soap: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Soap is an outrageous comedy saga serializing the hilarious exploits of the characters in two unusual families. Meet the Tates and the Campbells, two families who have relationships as complex as those in a Russian novel. But the fun is in the unraveling.

The well-to-do Tate family is comprised of Chester Tate the father, and Jessica, the mother, the parents of three children. Their two daughters, Corinne and Eunice, have distinctly different personalities. Their son, Billy, compared to the rest of the family, is the only sane member of the group, according to Benson, their hired employee who knows everything about everyone. The witty Benson does his best to hold the family together. Living with the Tate family is Jessica's father, referred to as the Major -- who doesn't quite believe that World War II is over.

On the other side of town lives Mary Dallas Campbell, Jessica Tate's younger sister. Mary is wed to Burt Campbell who is not as prosperous a breadwinner as Chester. Mary's former husband, Johnny Dallas, has passed on, leaving her with two sons, Danny and Jodie. The older son, Danny, does not quite see eye-to-eye with his stepfather, and while the rest of the family knows Jodie is gay, Danny just thinks Jodie has a wonderful sense of humor.

Series details

• Title: Soap
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Comedy
• Premiere date: 1977-09-13
• Final broadcast date listed: 1981-05-25
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: ABC
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 8/10
• TVMaze ID: 2137

Cast and credited roles

• Billy Crystal — Jodie Dallas
• Cathryn Damon — Mary Campbell
• Katherine Helmond — Jessica Tate
• Richard Mulligan — Burt Campbell
• Rod Roddy — Announcer
• Ted Wass — Danny Dallas
• Diana Canova — Corinne Tate Flotsky
• Robert Guillaume — Benson DuBois
• Jennifer Salt — Eunice Tate
• Robert Mandan — Chester Tate
• Robert Urich — Peter 'The Tennis Player' Campbell
• Arthur Peterson — The Major

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1977-09-13; final listed air date 1978-03-28; episode order: 25.
• Season 2: premiered 1978-09-14; final listed air date 1979-03-15; episode order: 22.
• Season 3: premiered 1979-09-13; final listed air date 1980-03-27; episode order: 22.
• Season 4: premiered 1980-11-12; final listed air date 1981-05-25; episode order: 21.

Source and licence

Adapted from Soap on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.