History Trivia / Soap

** Originally, Chuck was to be a ''much'' darker character and would have been revealed to be [[spoiler:the actual murderer of Peter Campbell]]. This storyline was scrapped when Chuck (and Bob) proved to be popular with viewers, resulting in [[spoiler:Chester being revealed as the murderer]].

** In an interview Jay Johnson once discussed the CrowningMomentOfFunny scene in which Jodie stashes Bob in the refrigerator, saying he and Billy Crystal had collaborated heavily on the concept and gags in the scene. Afterward Billy Crystal wanted a writing credit, but was denied. After that, Crystal was far less motivated to collaborate.

** Before the show had even aired, ''Newsweek'' reported that ''Soap'' was a sex farce which contained a scene of a priest being seduced inside a confessional. While the "sex farce" descriptor wasn't ''entirely'' off base, that specific scene never happened. A boycott of the show by religious groups ensued, advertisers and affiliates got nervous, and some of the show's producers believe the show never fully recovered.

** According to fellow game show announcer Randy West, the producers' first choice for the announcing gig was Creator/CaseyKasem. Kasem, however, felt that the material was too controversial.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Quite a bit of the cast, especially Billy Crystal (and for those of us that are old enough, Robert Urich).
** Creator/RobertEnglund as a member of the Sunnies cult only slightly less sadistic than Freddy Krueger.
** Jack Gilford as Saul. Yes...THAT Saul.
** Hey It's Those Guys: Howard Hesseman and Gordon Jump sharing a scene a year before they'd become ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati'''s Dr Johnny Fever and Arthur 'Big Guy' Carlson.
** Himmel, the German detective Ingrid hires to find out who murdered Peter was played by William Daniels, aka. [[Series/BoyMeetsWorld Mr Feeny]].
** Jodie's hospital room mate from season one was one of the inmates from ''Film/PatchAdams''.
** Stu Silver wrote 47 episodes. Silver is best known as creator and executive producer of ''Series/{{Webster}}''.
** Dick Clair and Jenna [=McMahon=] wrote 12 episodes. Both are best known for creating ''Series/MamasFamily'' and ''Series/TheFactsOfLife''.
** Danny Jacobson wrote seven episodes. Jacobson is best known as co-creator and executive producer of ''Series/MadAboutYou''.
* HeyItsThatVoice: The announcer was Rod Roddy, who later did several game shows including ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' and ''Series/PressYourLuck''.

* MarathonRunning: Beginning at Midnight, 1/1/93 ComedyCentral kicked off a run of the show with the marathon ''All the Soap in the World'' which aired every episode in order non-stop over a three day period. When it then entered the regular line-up, episodes aired at 7:30 Mon-Sat, with a mini-marathon of all 6 episodes repeating Sunday afternoons under the title ''Soap Block''.

* Jodie was the one of the first openly gay regular characters in American Television.

** Hey It's Those Guys: Howard Hesseman and Gordon Jump sharing a scene a year before they'd become ''WKRPInCincinnati'''s Dr Johnny Fever and Arthur 'Big Guy' Carlson.
** Himmel, the German detective Ingrid hires to find out who murdered Peter was played by William Daniels, aka. [[BoyMeetsWorld Mr Feeny]].
** Jodie's hospital room mate from season one was one of the inmates from ''PatchAdams''.

* HeyItsThatVoice: The announcer was Rod Roddy, who later did several game shows including ''ThePriceIsRight'' and ''PressYourLuck''.

** Creator Susan Harris had created a five-season story arc for the show prior to it even airing. The show was canceled after four seasons, leaving the fates of several main characters undetermined and many plot threads never to be resolved.

** In addition to her work on ''Soap'' and ''Benson'', Harris also created ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' and ''Series/EmptyNest''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: According to fellow game show announcer Randy West, the producers' first choice for the announcing gig was Creator/CaseyKasem. Kasem, however, felt that the material was too controversial.

** Originally the writers had wanted Chuck (and/or Bob) to be Peter's murderer but he turned out to be too popular to write out.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: According to fellow game show announcer Randy West, the producers' first choice for the announcing gig was CaseyKasem, who previously voiced Shaggy on ''ScoobyDoo'' and would later host ''AmericanTop40''. Kasem, however, felt that the material was too controversial.

** Creator/RobertEnglund as a member of the Sunnies cult only slightly less sadistic than Freddy Kruger.

** Robert Englund as a member of the Sunnies cult only slightly less sadistic than Freddy Kruger.

** In an interview Jay Johnson once discussed the CrowningMomentOfFunny scene in which Jodie stashes Bob in the refrigerator, saying he and Billy Crystal had collaborated heavily on the concept and gags in the scene. Afterward Billy Crystal wanted a writing credit, but was denied. After that, Crystal was far less motivated to collaborate.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Quite a bit of the cast, especially Billy Crystal (and for those of us OlderThanDirt, Robert Urich).

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: According to fellow game show announcer Randy West, the producers' first choice for the announcing gig was CaseyKasem, who previously voiced Shaggy on ''ScoobyDoo'' and would later host ''AmericanTop40''. Kasem, however, felt that the material was too controversial.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: According to fellow game show announcer Randy West, the producers' first choice for the announcing gig was Casey Kasem, who previously voiced Shaggy on ''ScoobyDoo'' and would later host American Top 40. Kasem, however, felt that the material was too controversial.

* HeyItsThatVoice: The announcer was Rod Roddy, who later did several game shows including ThePriceIsRight.