It’s been 45 years since Soap ended its four-season television run—with a cliffhanger (or two. Or three.) The controversial soap opera satire ran from September 13, 1977, until April 20, 1981, on ABC, but ended without a traditional finale episode.
With an ensemble cast that included Katherine Helmond, Cathryn Damon, Robert Mandan, Richard Mulligan, Robert Guillaume, and Billy Crystal, Soap focused on “the story of two sisters, Jessica Tate and Mary Campbell,” and their dysfunctional family.
A spoof of daytime dramas, Soap featured storylines about extramarital affairs, murder, amnesia, alien abductions, and more. It was one of the first primetime series to feature an openly gay character (Crystal’s character, Jodie Dallas).
Soap featured suggestive subject matter, controversial characters, and crude jokes. According to TV Line, 18 ABC affiliates refused to air the show amid opposition from several religious groups.
A 1977 New York Times article announced, “Several companies have canceled their advertising spots in ABC's controversial new situation comedy Soap, which has been under fire from religious organizations for its preoccupation with adultery, homosexuality, impotency and related subjects.”
ABC president Fred Silverman called the complaints “erroneous, exaggerated and, in a few cases, ridiculous,.” and insisted the network was not “intent on debauching the morals of the American people,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In an interview with the Television Academy Foundation, Helmond, who played lead character Jessica Tate, recalled, “I think that I handled doing that first show in a kind of fun, joyous way. And because the show had been criticized so much before it came on the air, I thought well, better have a good time while this is on because it's probably, you know, a few shows and it'll be gone. And then it lasted a whole season, and we got a pickup, and I thought. ‘Oh boy this is fun.’”
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‘Soap’ ended before its time
Scene from 'Soap.'Photo by ABC Photo Archives on Getty Images
Ahead of each subsequent season, ABC aired 90-minute retrospectives to prepare viewers for what was to come. Show creator Susan Harris had originally planned for five seasons of Soap, but the series was cut short.
On April 20, 1981, Soap came to an abrupt end with an unplanned final episode that left multiple cliffhangers dangling. The fourth season ended with a murder-suicide tease, a hypnotized character's confusion, and Jessica Tate facing execution by a firing squad.
According to the Museum of Broadcast Communications, Soap ended “under suspicion that resistance from ad agencies may have caused ABC to cancel at that point.”
Fans never got complete closure, but on Guillaume’s Benson spinoff, in a 1983 episode titled “God I Need This Job," Helmond's character appeared in a dream and revealed she was not dead but in a coma.
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