Soap/Trivia

• Media Research Failure:
  • 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.
  • Gordon Jump (Chief of Police Tinkler) originally refused to take the part because he'd heard the rumors that the show was lewd and immoral, only to realize he was wrong when the producers actually showed him some episodes.
• Executive Meddling: A rather strange example that was ultimately averted involved ABC requesting the Campbells' last name be changed to avoid confusion with the similarly-named soup company.
• Hey, It's That Guy!: Quite a bit of the cast, especially Billy Crystal (and for those of us that are old enough, Robert Urich).
  • Robert Englund as a member of the Sunnies cult only slightly less sadistic than Freddy Kruger.
  • 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 WKRP in Cincinnati'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. Mr Feeny.
  • Jodie's hospital room mate from season one was one of the inmates from Patch Adams.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: The announcer was Rod Roddy, who later did several game shows including The Price Is Right and Press Your Luck.
• Marathon Running: Beginning at Midnight, 1/1/93, Comedy Central 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.
• What Could Have Been:
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • According to fellow game show announcer Randy West, the producers' first choice for the announcing gig was Casey Kasem, who previously voiced Shaggy on Scooby Doo and would later host American Top 40. Kasem, however, felt that the material was too controversial.
  • In an interview Jay Johnson once discussed the Crowning Moment of Funny 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.
• Jodie was the one of the first openly gay regular characters in American Television.