History Film / SoapDish

* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: One of the {{Parodied Trope}}s from soap operas; under pressure from David and Montana, who are scheming to make Celeste look and feel older, Maggie is revealed as Nurse Nan's mother, even though she is only a few years older than her.

'''Montana:''' Sudden speech, the last stages of brain fever! She could BLOW AT ANY MOMENT!

* ValuesDissonance: Discussed InUniverse, as Jeffrey recalls a time when doctors could appear in television advertisements for cigarettes.
** After [[spoiler: Montana is revealed to be a transgender woman, she can only get acting work by detransitioning and performing as a man under her deadname]]. That would never fly nowadays.

HilarityEnsues as the cast and crew backstab each other in a plot filled with more Soap Opera tropes than most actual soap operas.

* BackFromTheDead: One of the spoofed soap opera tropes; Dr. Rod Randall, Jeffrey's character, somehow survived being ''decapitated'' years earlier, travelled in Europe, and became a famous doctor. This FridgeLogic is not lost on Rose.

* HeroicSacrifice: Celeste's character on ''The Sun Also Sets'' prepares to undergo fatal brain surgery in order to save the life of Lori's character. It's also one for Celeste herself, sacrificing her own career to save Lori's; see RealitySubtext.

** Maggie's much younger husband Bolt, as played by Blair Brennan (former Canadian basketball player Paul Johansson), is all muscles and no talent; he appears in one scene wearing nothing but a towel (to Celeste's disgust).
** Mark (former Australian soccer player Costas Mandylor), the waiter who delivers the line "Will you be having wine with dinner?" in the LiveEpisode, is asked to audition without his shirt by Betsy Faye Sharon so that she can admire his athletic physique.

* UnsettlingGenderReveal: [[spoiler:David begins gagging when it is revealed that Montana is actually a man named Milton. It's hinted strongly at the end that David was coming to terms with his ''own'' sexuality.]]

Creator/SallyField plays Celeste Talbert, the neurotic star of the show, who believes her life is meaningless after playing a soap-opera character who suffers all sorts of problems over the more than 20 years she's been on the show (a kind of ShoutOut to ''All My Children's'' Susan Lucci who has played the same type of character) while her live-in boyfriend has gone back to his wife in Pittsburgh. She is also [[NiceCharacterMeanActor loathed]] by her castmates, most notably Ariel Maloney (Creator/TeriHatcher) and Montana Moorehead (Creator/CathyMoriarty), the latter of whom is scheming to have Celeste fired so she can take her place as the female lead. Celeste does, however, have an ally in Rose Schwartz (Creator/WhoopiGoldberg), the head writer of the series.

Creator/SallyField plays Celeste Talbert, the neurotic star of the show, who believes her life is meaningless after playing a soap-opera character who suffers all sorts of problems over the more than 20 years she's been on the show (a kind of ShoutOut to ''All My Children's'' Susan Lucci who has played the same type of character) while her live-in boyfriend has gone back to his wife in Pittsburgh. She is also [[NiceCharacterMeanActor loathed]] by her castmates, most notably Ariel Maloney (Creator/TeriHatcher) and Montana Moorehead (Cathy Moriarty), the latter of whom is scheming to have Celeste fired so she can take her place as the female lead. Celeste does, however, have an ally in Rose Schwartz (Creator/WhoopiGoldberg), the head writer of the series.

* AbsoluteCleavage: Teri Hatcher as Ariel, aka Dr. Monica, is dressed like this for pretty much the whole movie. However, several of the female characters (including Montana and Celeste) are not shy with their assets.

* HeldGaze: UpToEleven in the ShowWithinAShow, almost at ''[[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow Rocky Horror]]'' levels.

* IncestIsRelative: Jeffrey and Lori are a couple before they find out they are father and daughter.
-->'''Jeffrey:''' Another date, and we would have had a Greek tragedy on our hands!

* DramaQueen: Celeste. She wrecks stuff after her boyfriend leaves her. She's ThePrimaDonna on the show. She engineers "impromptu" autograph signing sessions at nearby shopping malls by going [[KingIncognito incognito]] but having a friend loudly "recognize" her, drawing in fans[[note]]To be fair, it should be noted that the one time we see this in the film, it's Rose's idea and Celeste is reluctant, calling it a "crutch"[[/note]]. She tries leaping in front of a bus, but does a dramatic pose when doing it (fortunately the bus driver stops when he, and several passengers, recognizes her from the show).

** Later in the movie, Tawny, the costume designer, also faints briefly [[spoiler: upon learning that Montana Moorehead used to be a man.]]

* HeroicBSOD: Celeste has a massive one when Lori reveals that she has been on a date with Jeffrey. Rose drily remarks that someone who doesn't know her well might interpret her reaction as intense jealousy, but even she is unaware of the real reason for Celeste's horror - [[spoiler:Lori is the daughter Jeffrey doesn't know he has.]]

* MrFanservice: Maggie's much younger husband Bolt, as played by Blair Brennan (former Canadian basketball player Paul Johansson), who appears in one scene wearing nothing but a towel (to Celeste's disgust). Also Mark (former Australian soccer player Costas Mandylor), the waiter who delivers the line "Will you be having wine with dinner?" in the LiveEpisode.

** Celeste gets this look on her face when she discovers that the latest script includes a kiss between Jeffrey as Dr. Randall and Lori as Angelique.
** Montana gets this look on her face when Ariel and Rose appear in the live episode with a high school yearbook [[spoiler:which contains pictorial proof that she is actually ''Milton'' Moorehead of Syosset, Long Island.]]

* ShootTheMoney: InUniverse spoof. The ocean backdrop cost [=$100,000=] to make, so it's used in almost every part of the show.

** During the closing credits, [[spoiler:David is identified as the winner of the "John E. Hockridge Humanitarian Award". John E. Hockridge was the film's first assistant director (in fact, his credit appears seconds before Leeza Gibbons lines David up for his post-award interview).]]

* AbsoluteCleavage: Teri Hatcher as Ariel, aka Dr. Monica, is dressed like this for pretty much the whole movie.

* {{Fainting}}:

* {{Fanservice}}: Courtesy of Ariel and Bolt (Paul Johansson).

* BungledSuicide: Celeste steps in front of a bus to kill herself at one point. The bus stops and everyone recognizes her and asks for her autograph. Humorously, she's trying to BushCrash ''herself''!

--> -- [[Series/EntertainmentTonight Leeza Gibbons]]

* NeverLiveItDown: Invoked in-universe by Rose.
-->'''Celeste:''' Have you ever done anything really horrible to them?\\
'''Rose:''' Aside from naming my twins Venus and Saturn, which was grist for the mill for ten years? ''Ten years!'' And my mother finally forgave me a year ago - but she keeps bringing it up at public holidays.

Montana enlists the help of the producer of ''The Sun Also Sets'', David Seton Barnes (Creator/RobertDowneyJr), promising to sleep with him if he gets rid of Celeste. The captivated David creates a new story line in which Celeste kills a homeless mute in self-defense to make the audience hate her. During this new story line, a very aggressive starlet (Elisabeth Shue) uses every trick she can think of to get on the show, and through an accidental viewing of rushes, she is chosen to be the homeless mute who stabs Celeste. But when Celeste sees the starlet, she recognizes her as her niece, Lori, and she becomes a regular cast member.

* DramaQueen: Celeste. She wrecks stuff after her boyfriend leaves her. She's ThePrimaDonna on the show. She engineers "impromptu" autograph signing sessions at nearby shopping malls by going [[KingIncognito incognito]] but having a friend loudly "recognize" her, drawing in fans. She tries leaping in front of a bus, but does a dramatic pose when doing it (fortunately the bus driver stops when he, and several passengers, recognizes her from the show).

** In the ad-libbed portion, Maggie "translating" Angelique's question about possible treatment doubles as Celeste trying to save Lori from being axed. When Nurse Nan suggests a brain transplant and Maggie volunteers herself as a donor, the subtext is Celeste volunteering to leave ''The Sun Also Sets'' instead of Lori; when Dr. Randall goes through a series of objections before relenting, Jeffrey is also trying to talk Celeste out of ending her long career before finally accepting her decision as something she has wanted to do for some time.

* DramaQueen: Celeste. She wrecks stuff after her boyfriend leaves her. She's ThePrimaDonna on the show. She tries leaping in front of a bus, but does a dramatic pose when doing it (fortunately the bus driver stops when he, and several passengers, recognizes her from the show).

* GreekTragedy

* HeroicBSOD: Celeste has a massive one when Lori reveals that she has been on a date with Jeffrey. Rose drily remarks that someone who doesn't know her well might interpret her reaction as intense jealousy, but even she is unaware of the real reason for Celeste's horror - Lori is the daughter Jeffrey doesn't know he has.