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DVD Soap - The Complete First Season
Even before it premiered on September 13, 1977 (Tuesdays at 9:30 pm on ABC), Soap was mired in controversy (including 32,000 letters of protest) and primed to make television history. Conceived as a primetime satire of daytime melodramas, this groundbreaking series toppled many of the TV taboos that remained after All in the Family and M*A*S*H, openly addressing a variety of risky topics (homosexuality, infidelity, impotence, familial murder) with a deft combination of irreverent wit, wacky slapstick, supreme stupidity, and--key to its success--engaging drama from characters you could really care about, regardless of their rampant quirks and foibles.
As a friendly announcer informs us, "this is the story of two sisters" in suburban Connecticut--wealthy dimwit Jessica Tate (Katherine Helmond) and blue-collar housewife Mary Campbell (Cathryn Damon)--whose class-divided families are bound by enough scandalous secrets to make each of these 25 episodes (all written by creator-producer Susan Harris and directed by sitcom veteran Jay Sandrich) a polished gem of half-hour comedy. The integration of plot and character is flawless, and dirty laundry was rarely this absurd: Jessica's cheating on her cheating husband (Robert Mandan, the show's underrated lynchpin); stepson Jodie (Billy Crystal) is (gasp!) openly gay, and brother Danny (Ted Wass) has Mafia connections; daughter Corrine (Diana Canova) is in love with a priest; Mary's husband Burt (manic genius Richard Mulligan) is a would-be killer who thinks he's invisible; and all of them are suspects in a murder case that fuels the season's cliffhanger finale.
This is ensemble comedy at its finest, and is it any wonder Robert Guillaume--as the Tates' insolent servant Benson--got his own spin-off sitcom in 1979? His line readings (such as "You want me to get that?" when the doorbell rings) are instant classics, and while Helmond tops the cast with her inimitable brand of idiocy, there's not a weak link in the entire cast. All those protesting prudes fought a futile battle: Soap was never naughty without purpose (indeed, the show possesses subtle integrity) and a large and loyal audience propelled it to even crazier heights in subsequent seasons. (Technical note: Given the shortcomings of 25-year-old videotape, with minor glitches and color variations, these episodes look and sound remarkably good.) --Jeff Shannon
I first saw this serie years ago in England.It's even better than I remembered.
My 20 years old son is becoming a fan too.
I was afraid of problems with the DVD zoning but fairly recents DVD readers are OK
Just hilarious!
Yes, I know, it has aged but the comedy is stil
pure and amazingly still refreshing, buy it. Buy it now!
Brilliance Begins!
Billy Crystal's big break, a cast of the highest comic skills, Harris's writing (later to be joined by Silver, perhaps almost equally talented, if one dare say so) is perfect, the comedy is amazingly paced and remarkably physical--filmed before (no endless retakes. Crystal's part gives us a breakthrough gay characterized with truly human sentiments that we had to wait until Tom Hanks and Angels in America to find again.
It doesn't seem possible, but the second season of Soap is even better than the first. Only the greatest primetime sitcoms achieve triple-threat genius: Casting, writing, and direction reached their zenith as the 1978-79 season began with a resolution to season 1's cliffhanger murder. Chester (Robert Mandan) loses his memory and wander out west while his ditzy wife Jessica (Katherine Helmond) enjoys a fling with the detective (new cast member John Byner) she'd hired to find Chester. Across town, the working-class Campbells have their own melodramas to contend with: Despite being gay, stepson Jodie (Billy Crystal) is an expectant father and moves in with pregnant Carol (Rebecca Balding), and later a lesbian roommate; Mary (Cathryn Damon) suspects Burt (Richard Mulligan) of having an... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Billy Crystal DVD Release Date: Released the 20 July 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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It's funny, it has drama, and you fall in love with the characters.
More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Billy Crystal DVD Release Date: Released the 25 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Even as it struggled with lower ratings and ongoing backlash from conservative watchdogs, Soap entered its fourth and final season with big laughs and plenty of surprises. The series was beginning to lose its edge with interwoven plots even more preposterous than usual, but its primary strengths (a great ensemble cast, risk-taking writing, and a delicate combination of humor and pathos) are still abundantly evident as Jessica Tate (Katherine Helmond) emerges from a coma in episode 1. In the 20 episodes that follow, Burt (Robert Mulligan) will survive a blackmailing scandal and, as the new local sheriff, begin a political career; Jodie (Billy Crystal) fights for child custody, enters into psychotherapy, and begins to channel a 90-year-old Jewish man from a previous life; Mary... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Billy Crystal DVD Release Date: Released the 11 October 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Hail, Taxi. It's great to finally have one of the defining sitcoms of the 1970s available on DVD to take out for a spin. This character-driven humane comedy from the creators of The Mary Tyler Moore Show rolled out of the garage with a full tank of gas: a lightning-in-a-bottle ensemble, smart, witty, and compassionate writing, and extraordinary characters. The Sunshine Cab Company was a much grittier workplace than the sunny WJM newsroom. Its down, but never out employees--single mother Elaine (Marilu Henner), aspiring actor Bobby (Jeff Conaway), hapless boxer Tony (Tony Danza), reptilian dispatcher Louis (Danny DeVito), naive rube John (Randall Carver), and indeterminately foreign mechanic Latka (comic iconoclast Andy Kaufman)--struggled to keep rolling along. Judd Hirsch's... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Judd Hirsch DVD Release Date: Released the 12 October 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The brainchild of veteran writer-directors Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker, the comedy/drama Barney Miller (1975-1982) offered a very human look at the inner workings of a New York City police precinct; its wry and observant scripts, aided by a stellar cast, helped earn the series three Emmy Awards and a devoted fan base, which should be pleased by this two-disc set that compiles its entire first season. Viewers familiar with the series' later seasons will notice substantial differences in the cast and storyline; episodes divide Barney's (Hal Linden) time evenly between the 12th Precinct and his apartment, which he shares with wife Barbara Barrie and two children (all of whom would be phased out of the series). The first season squad was composed of Abe Vigoda's dyspeptic... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Hal Linden Director(s): Hal Linden - Danny Arnold - Allen Baron - Bruce Bilson (II) - Bob Finkel DVD Release Date: Released the 20 January 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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