Soap - The Complete Second Season

Exorcisms and flying saucers might suggest desperation on the part of writer-creator Susan Harris, but the opposite is true: the controversy that plagued Soap's first season had subsided (thanks to valiant defense by ABC President Fred Silverman), and Harris and Jay Sandrich (who directed 20 of these 22 episodes) were able to push their spoofy plots to even greater heights of absurdity without sacrificing the show's core integrity. Jimmy Baio (as Billy Tate) gets his moment to shine, and Robert Guillaume (as Benson) deservedly won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Most impressively, Soap built its madness upon a solid tragi-comic foundation, with risky shifts of tone and characters invested with surprising depth and compassion. The episodes are consistently full of classic scenes and side-splitting dialogue. In a 20-minute bonus featurette, Harris and coproducers Paul Witt and Tony Thomas reveal how luck, timing, talent, and network support brought the series to life. Simply put, it doesn't get any better than this. --Jeff Shannon

SOAP moved at lightning speed doing what most soap operas take years to develop. I watched it back in the days it was on, and I was afraid it would not hold up well. Guess what? It does! SOAP was funny because of the characters not topical discussions. Sure there are plenty of 70s touches - the costumes, the way the show looks, but it's still funny and moving. The ensemble was unbeatable!

The DVD gives you 23 episodes spread out over 3 discs. You also get an unaried PILOT, and a featurette with the creators. It was the FIRST show to have a content warning before it aired, the first show with an openly gay character (Billy Crystal as Jody Dallas), and it's soooooo irreverant and politcally incorrect! Black jokes, gay jokes, veteran jokes, talk about orgasms, talk about infidelity, talk about impotence, mental health issues, hookers, politicians -- I could go on and on with the tabboos this show broke! It seems a little less sensational here in 2004, but it's still something special. Too bad they didn't put more on the discs - COMMENTARY FOR SEASON 3 PLEASE!, but the show itself is well worth the price! Is the picture quality poor? Not too bad but you do see some flaws, but that may be because of the way networks taped shows back then. SOAP was never high on production values, just high on its own giddy satire! Like video laughing gas!


The best SOAP season FINALLY on DVD!   July 22, 2004
A. Gammill (West Point, MS United States)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

Most Soap fans will probably agree that the show's second season ranks as its best. Not only do we get the full cast returning from season one, but there's John Byner as lovestruck Detective Donahue, and Donnely Rhodes as Chester's partner-in-crime, Dutch. Billy Tate finally gets a chance to shine. And Chuck and Bob's "mindreading" act has to be one of the most inspired bits of nonsense ever dreamed up by the writers in 4 years of...well, inspired nonsense.

But...I don't want to give away too much. You just have to see for yourself the sidesplitting, often absurb moments...and the occasional heart-tugging ones. Robert Guillame picked up an Emmy. But my favorite actor, and character, is still Richard Mulligan's Burt Campbell.

Confused? You won't be, after watching the 20-minute featurette, "Creators Come Clean." Witness Soap creators Susan Harris, Tony Thomas, and the impossibly chatty Paul Witt wax nostalgic about casting the landmark sitcom. My only complaint about this welcome insight into the show is that NONE of the actors appear to offer comments. Still, you may recall that Season One had absolutely NO supplemental features, so it's still a welcome treat.

Now...for the sake of Soap fans everywhere (and poor Burt Campbell...oops! I'm saying too much again) let's have Seasons 3 and 4 without delay!



even better than the first season!   December 28, 2004
Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

The second season of SOAP picks up the story right after the cliffhanger ending of season one. Jessica Tate (Katherine Helmond) has been convicted of murdering Peter, and now is about to be sent to prison. But as we know, she is innocent. Her husband Chester (Robert Mandan) confesses his guilt and Jessica is a free woman.

This season has many many plots going at once (much more than season one which mainly focused on establishing the relationships and the dominating storyline of Peter's murder and the subsequent trial).

Chester's incarceration and escape from prison sets up the main story for season two. He hides out in the Tate cellar with fellow escapee Dutch (Donnelly Rhodes) who later becomes the unlikely love interest of Eunice (Jennifer Salt). Corrine's (Diana Canova) marriage to `fallen priest' Timothy Flotski ( Sal Viscuso) and Danny's (Ted Wass) marriage to Mob boss' daughter Elaine (Dinah Manoff) are the 2 big weddings of the season.

A dissatisfied Mary (Cathryn Damon) goes back to college, which sets up her marriage to Burt (Richard Mulligan) to have a complete breakdown. After he finds her in a compromising position with her teacher, he gets drunk and spends the night with secretary Sally (Caroline McWilliams), who is actually being blackmailed by the one and only Ingrid (Inga Swenson)!

Confused? That's the idea! SOAP is a complete send-up of the convuluted plots and subplots of soap-operas.

Other choice moments, like Corrine's baby from hell and Elaine's kidnapping, only add to the zaniness and sheer genius that Susan Harris created in SOAP, which can be hilariously funny and yet deeply moving. By this time we have really come to care about these characters. SOAP does indeed walk the line between comedy and drama, which is why the show is still timeless and recommended viewing. And of course there's the trademark season cliffhanger (Burt being abducted by aliens!).

Unlike the bare-bones release of season one, the second set of SOAP contains interviews with Susan Harris as well as the other producers, and an `encore presentation' of the first episode.

Roll on Season Three!


The Genius of Susan Harris   October 3, 2004
Morgan L. Thornburgh (Seattle, WA United States)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

I just finished watching the second season of "Soap" and the bonus interview with the creators. The season was pure genius, and it amazes me that television like this ever made it past someone like Fred Silverman. Of course, because of network issues (and America as a whole, at that time) the series was spun off and diluted ("Benson," anyone?) but the originality and unassailable creativity that existed during the first and second seasons of "Soap" live on now, thanks to these DVD releases.

After watching the first two seasons of "Soap," I have come to the conclusion that Susan Harris was the brightest, most brilliant writer ever to work in the medium of television. Ms. Harris (along with her collaborators) created not only "Soap," but "Golden Girls," and "Empty Nest." What I found devestating was this: nowadays, sitcoms are written by committee. During the first two seasons of "Soap," Ms. Harris wrote over 70% of the shows BY HERSELF, and co-wrote the rest. This woman was working every week, coming up with brilliant, side-splitting comedy, all the while bucking the system and disproving stereotypes, and the proof lies on these delicious little silver platters.

Harris, along with her partners, created a wonderful company of mostly Broadway theatre actors, and they utilized them to their best. Dinah Manoff does a delicious bit in "Soap" as the shrewish mob daughter, and then was resurrected years later for her brilliant turn in "Empty Nest." Witt/Thomas/Harris did a tremendous thing, and created a sort of repertory company of wonderful actors who spanned all of their series. The delighful Richard Mulligan turns up in every one of their series. The sensational Doris Roberts (another terrific actress whose roots lie in the NY stage) also shows up in this DVD set. My personal favorite is Inga Swenson, star of the Broadway musical "110 in the Shade," as the sadistic, revenge-driven Scandanivian maid. True to repertory form, she turned up later on "Benson," as another character, which allowed the multi-faceted Ms. Swenson a chance to shine as two completely different characters.

Harris was able to illuminate something here that very few writers do, and it was a gift to all of the actors who played her parts. None of her characters are "stock," or one dimensional. The divine Kathryn Helmond is a dumb socialite, but one with whom everyone could sympathize, because she was a tender, caring human being. She was a living, breathing, dichotemy. (As we all are, really.) Same with every single other character who appeared on "Soap." It is a remarkable achievement, and what makes "Soap," at its core, so brilliant still today.

Ms. Harris herself turns up playing a prostitute in one of the Season 1 episodes. She looks terrific. She doesn't look a day older during the contemporary interviews on the Season 2 set, which leads me to believe that not only is she a talented writer, but she somehow trumped Ponce de Leon somewhere along her travels.

Ms. Harris, I hope that someday you get the full credit that you richly deserve. Everyone else? Buy both seasons of "Soap" on DVD. It's a wonderous, hysterical experience, and an eye into one of our best (albeit underappreciated) contemporary writers.


Soap Fans Have Spoken And Columbia-TriStar Has Listened!   May 23, 2004
Servo (Atlanta, GA USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Despite the gripes that some had with the first Soap DVD, the set still sold like hotcakes, prompting Columbia-TriStar to reward the loyal fans of the classic show with the release of the second season DVD - with extras. Though, with the exception of the special features, you shouldn't expect that much of an upgrade in terms of picture quality and packaging considering the economical price tag which is exactly the same as the first set's initial price. As with the first DVD set, I'm sure fans will continue to buy Soap for the soap. The special features included this time around are just icing on the cake. Keep 'em coming Columbia-TriStar!

Special Features:
Making-Of Featurette: "The Creators Come Clean"
Bonus Episode: The Season 1 Pilot
Previews of other Columbia-TriStar releases