History Series / Soap

Created by Susan Harris (who wrote most of the episodes and later created ''Series/TheGoldenGirls''), ''Soap'' was a 1977–81 Creator/{{ABC}} comedy series that both parodied and emulated the serial storytelling style of the SoapOpera. As such it was one of the first {{Sitcom}}s to feature {{Story Arc}}s of any significance, something which is still a rarity even today.

Set in fictional Dunn's River, Connecticut, the show followed the bizarre misadventures of the wealthy Tate family, and the equally bizarre misadventures of their relatives, the far less wealthy Campbells. Over the course of four seasons, they deal with adultery, a murder trial, abduction by aliens, demonic possession, cultists, and mental illness (several times). The main cast consisted of a [[EnsembleCast large ensemble]], including Creator/KatherineHelmond, Robert Mandan, Cathryn Damon, Creator/RichardMulligan, Ted Wass, Creator/RobertUrich, Creator/BillyCrystal, and Creator/RobertGuillaume (the latter as Benson, the snarky and cynical housekeeper to the Tates, who was soon spun off into [[Series/{{Benson}} his own series]] and would eventually become the [[AscendedExtra lieutenant governor]] of his state).

Set in the fictional Dunn's River, Connecticut, the series followed the misadventures of the wealthy Tate family, and the equally bizarre misadventures of their relatives, the far less wealthy Campbells. Over the course of four seasons, they deal with adultery, a murder trial, abduction by aliens, demonic possession, cultists, and mental illness (several times). The main cast consisted of a [[EnsembleCast large ensemble]], including Creator/KatherineHelmond, Robert Mandan, Cathryn Damon, Creator/RichardMulligan, Ted Wass, Creator/RobertUrich, Creator/BillyCrystal, and Creator/RobertGuillaume (the latter as Benson, the snarky and cynical housekeeper to the Tates, who was soon spun off into [[Series/{{Benson}} his own series]] and would eventually become the [[AscendedExtra lieutenant governor]] of his state).

Created by Susan Harris (who wrote most of the episodes and later created ''Series/TheGoldenGirls''), ''Soap'' was a 1977–81 Creator/{{ABC}} comedy series which both parodied and emulated the serial storytelling style of the SoapOpera. As such it was one of the first {{Sitcom}}s to feature {{Story Arc}}s of any significance, something which is still a rarity even today.

Created by Susan Harris (who wrote most of the episodes and later created ''Series/TheGoldenGirls''), ''Soap'' was a 1977–81 Creator/{{ABC}} comedy series which both parodied and emulated the serial storytelling style of the SoapOpera. As such it was one of the first {{Sitcom}}s to include {{Story Arc}}s of any significance, something which is still a rarity even today.

Created by Susan Harris (who wrote most of the episodes and later created ''Series/TheGoldenGirls''), ''Soap'' was a 1977–81 Creator/{{ABC}} comedy series which both parodied and emulated the serial storytelling style of the SoapOpera. As such it was one of the first {{Sitcom}}s to include a StoryArc of any significance, something which is still a rarity even today.

Created by Susan Harris (who wrote most of the episodes and later created ''Series/TheGoldenGirls''), ''Soap'' is a 1977–81 Creator/{{ABC}} comedy series that both parodied and emulated the serial storytelling style of the SoapOpera. It was perhaps the first SitCom to include a StoryArc of any significance, and as such is still a rarity even today.

Set in the fictional Dunn's River, Connecticut, the series followed the misadventures of the wealthy Tate family, and the equally bizarre misadventures of their relatives, the far less wealthy Campbells. Over the course of just a few years, they face adultery, a murder trial, abduction by aliens, demonic possession, cultists, and mental illness (several times). The main cast consisted of a [[EnsembleCast large ensemble]], including Creator/KatherineHelmond, Robert Mandan, Cathryn Damon, Creator/RichardMulligan, Ted Wass, Creator/RobertUrich, Creator/BillyCrystal, and Creator/RobertGuillaume (the latter as Benson, the snarky and cynical housekeeper to the Tates, who was soon spun off into [[Series/{{Benson}} his own series]] and would eventually become the [[AscendedExtra lieutenant governor]] of his state).

Set in the fictional Dunn's River, Connecticut, the series followed the misadventures of the wealthy Tate family, and the equally bizarre misadventures of their relatives, the far less wealthy Campbells. Over the course of a few years, they face adultery, a murder trial, abduction by aliens, demonic possession, cultists and mental illness (several times). The cast consisted of a [[EnsembleCast large ensemble]], including Creator/KatherineHelmond, Robert Mandan, Cathryn Damon, Creator/RichardMulligan, Ted Wass, Creator/RobertUrich, Creator/BillyCrystal, and Creator/RobertGuillaume (the latter as Benson, the snarky and cynical housekeeper to the Tates, who was soon spun off into [[Series/{{Benson}} his own series]] and would eventually become the [[AscendedExtra lieutenant governor]] of his state).

Set in the fictional Dunn's River, Connecticut, the series followed the misadventures of the wealthy Tate family, and the equally bizarre misadventures of their relatives, the far less wealthy Campbells. Over the course of a few years, they face adultery, a murder trial, abduction by aliens, demonic possession, cultists and mental illness (several times). The cast consisted of a [[EnsembleCast large ensemble]], including Creator/KatherineHelmond, Robert Mandan, Cathryn Damon, Creator/RichardMulligan, Ted Wass, Creator/RobertUrich, Creator/BillyCrystal, and Creator/RobertGuillaume (the latter as Benson, the snarky and cynical housekeeper to the Tates, who was soon spun off into [[Series/{{Benson}} his own series]] and would eventually become the [[AscendedExtra lieutenant governor]] of his state.)

Set in the fictional Dunn's River, Connecticut, the series followed the misadventures of the wealthy Tate family, and the equally bizarre misadventures of their relatives, the far less wealthy Campbells. Over the course of a few years, they face adultery, a murder trial, abduction by aliens, demonic possession, cultists and mental illness (several times). The cast consisted of a [[EnsembleCast large ensemble]], including Creator/KatherineHelmond, Robert Mandan, Cathryn Damon, Creator/RichardMulligan, Ted Wass, Creator/RobertUrich, Creator/BillyCrystal, and Creator/RobertGuillaume as Benson, the cynical housekeeper to the Tates, who was soon spun off into [[Series/{{Benson}} his own show]] (in which he would eventually become [[AscendedExtra lieutenant governor]] of his state.)

* DumbassHasAPoint: Officer Tinkler doesn't seem too bright, and some of his reasons for picking certain characters as suspects are either barely a reason to suspect[[note]]Since Eunice was in Washington, [=DC=] at the time, Tinkler reasons that she could have secretly taken a quick flight to kill Peter and fly back a few hours later;The Major is a suspect just because he owns a gun, while not bringing up the fact that he thinks he is still at war (which could be a more legitimate reason to suspect him); Chuck is a suspect because he has no alibi except for Bob that he did not do it; One of two reasons Benson is a suspect is [[TheButlerDidIt because he's the butler]];Mary is a suspect just because there's no reason to suspect her;And Burt is a suspect because he has the least reason to be a suspect.[[/note]] or are out of bigotry[[note]]The other reason Benson is listed as a suspect is just because he is black (which Benson accepts) and Jodie is a suspect for being gay[[/note]], but he does end up being right that the one who killed Peter was somebody in the room when he listed suspects.[[spoiler: But while he is right that Chester did it, his reason for putting him down as a suspect turns out to be incorrect. He listed him as a suspect because Peter had an affair with Jessica, but his reason ended up being caused by a brain tumor. To say nothing of the fact that he did not know Jessica had cheated on him with Peter until after he killed him.]]

* NoBisexuals: Jodie defines himself as gay, but he only has one on-screen boyfriend. He does, however, have relationships of varying kinds with multiple women, and his final arc is going to hypnotherapy to try to discover who he really is.