Soap - Season Two

Soap. Is it a comedy, a soap opera, a comedy soap, or a soap comedy? Actually, it is probably all four. What other show could combine such ludicrous yet necessary plotlines, with enough characters weaving in and out of the action to require a little socio-gram on your lap to follow who is related to whom, and who has shagged whom and who is yet to shag whom? “Confused? You won’t be after this review of, Soap.� (Ed: Actually, you probably will be).

Happy families!

The first series of Soap aired in 1977 in the US, and shortly after here in Australia. It was a half-hour comedy that followed two families, the wealthy, snobby, society-type, dysfunctional Tates and the working class, common and equally dysfunctional Campbells. Sisters Jessica Tate and Mary Campbell are the immediate and obvious link between the families, but there is so much more to their family ties than they really know.

Like a soap opera, there are numerous and unlikely plotlines that just get weirder and more bizarre as the series goes on, but they're always played for laughs. The cast do a great job milking the comedy in front of a studio audience, and it was as much their skills as actors as anything else that made the series such a success.

The first series ended with Jessica Tate convicted of the murder of Mary Campbell’s second husband’s son, Peter, who was also Jessica’s tennis coach, lover and her daughter’s lover. Mary’s husband Burt was convinced he could become invisible with a snap of his fingers, Mary’s gay son Jodie was having girl troubles, Corinne Tate was in love with her priest, Jessica’s father was still fighting WWII in their living room, Danny Campbell was being press-ganged into marrying a local Mob boss’ daughter that no one liked, Chuck and Bob were having identity issues and, generally, everyone’s life was in a mess.

Which one's the dummy?

In Season Two, it's more of the same with alien abductions, murder, possessed babies, curses, amnesia, blackmail, adultery, infidelity, missing persons, sexuality issues, more pregnancies, kidnapping and about a hundred other things besides. No show could hope to get away with such lunacy until Melrose Placesome 20 years later. The difference, of course, is that Soap never took itself seriously.

The 22 half-hour episodes move along at a fair old pace, featuring the same cast delivering plenty of laughs, great acting, a genuinely touching moment here and there, some utterly preposterous plotlines, a fine combination of slapstick and some more intricate, clever comedy and plenty of interwoven sub-plots that ensure there is a never a dull moment.

Little change is evident since the first season, and the full frame aspect ratio image is essentially the same in every way, being neither bad nor great. Colours are still somewhat washed out for much of the time, although there are no standout problem episodes. Mild grain is common, artefacts are also minor though regular and while black levels are adequate at best, while shadow detail is mostly good. Skin tones are also a little pale throughout.

There is some aliasing and shimmer evident throughout the three discs, but there are no layer changes in awkward places. There are some short location identifiers placed between some scenes to indicate where we are being taken (the Tates’ , the Campbells’, the hospital etc.) and they are used over and over, and look a little soft when compared to the rest of the footage, which is reasonably sharp throughout.

The audio is a standard Dolby Digital 1.0 mono and while there are no standout problems, the volume may need a nudge. There are no synchronisation issues and no dropouts, pops or clicks. There is little to trouble your system no matter how grandiose or compact it may be. At least the laughter is real and not that awful canned stuff, for what that’s worth.

Let’s immediately dismiss one of the two extras, the The Pilot Episode: Bonus Encore Presentation that is simply the first episode from the first season with no changes or restoration applied. The Season One recovered show that introduced Season Two might have been a better choice.

The other extra, however, is of more interest; a featurette entitled The Creators Come Clean that sheds a little light on the origins of the show heard from the lips of the creative team behind the camera. Although it doesn't appear to be as old as the show, there is nothing to time frame it.

Hailed at the time for its willingness to be controversial, though that was mostly unintentional, and despised by some who felt the show went too far, Soap remains a classic comedy. By today’s standards, the boundaries of acceptable good taste have shifted beyond measure, some of the humour has lost its edge, gay characters are no longer ‘novel’ or brave and demonic possession of babies is almost expected. No matter, there is still plenty on offer here from good laughs, quality performances and a desire to see what absurdities lay ahead in the next episode of ...Soap.