Soap - The Complete Second Season
by J.D. Lobue, Jay Sandrich, John Bowab
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Cathryn Damon, Diana Canova, Katherine Helmond, Richard Mulligan, Robert MandanDirector: J.D. Lobue, Jay Sandrich, John Bowab
Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
Producer: Andrew J. Selig
Producer: Paul Junger Witt
Writer: Jordan Crittenden
Writer: Stu Silver
Writer: Susan Harris
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Unknown; English (Original Language), Unknown
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 566 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-07-20
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Soap - The Complete Second Season
Movie Review: Great stuff!
Summary: 5 Stars
In the annals of television history, "Soap" ranks as one of the most outrageous sitcoms ever aired on an American network. Ribald, over the top, whimsical, and with the potential to offend large segments of society, "Soap" handily lived up to each of these elements and more. But most importantly the show about two wacko families living lives of utter weirdness was incredibly hilarious. I was a mere seven years old when the program appeared in the late 1970s, but I did remember bits and pieces of the show since my parents let me watch it with them. I know; I can't believe they let a youngster view a program like this one, either, but they rightly figured that my tender age prevented me from understanding the adult themes behind the comedy. Of course, you didn't need to understand much to laugh at the physical machinations of Richard Mulligan. When I finally saw a few episodes on cable a few years back, I finally understood the ruckus. I usually avoid watching television nowadays, but I put "Soap" right up there with "The Rockford Files" as my two favorite network shows. It's great to see the former arrive on DVD.
In true soap opera fashion, the second season of "Soap" picks up right where the prior season ended. The shocking denouement of Jessica Tate's (Katherine Helmond) murder trial ends with a startling revelation, one that sees someone very close to her confess to the crime. He goes off to jail only to meet a hardened con named Dutch (Donnelly Rhodes). The two eventually escape from prison, which leads to a romantic relationship between Dutch and Jessica's spoiled daughter Eunice (Jennifer Salt). Chester receives a head injury and suffers a bout of amnesia. Jessica faces a dilemma when she falls in love with Detective Donahue (John Byner) and must decide whether to stay with him or remain faithful to her husband. The second season also provides more information concerning the problematic marriage of Corinne and Tim Flotsky (Diana Canova and Sal Viscuso). The two have the typical problems a couple might encounter when the wife is a reformed tart and the husband a former priest. Billy (Jimmy Baio) has several memorable adventures. The Major engages in his usual antics, and Benson remains a hilarious island of sanity.
Then we have the Campbells and their wacky problems. Mary (Cathryn Damon) decides to enroll in college, much to the chagrin of Burt (Richard Mulligan) when he discovers his wife and a college professor might be engaging in more than cracking the books. His disgust over this possible affair leads him to the arms of Sally (Caroline McWilliams) and, by extension, the evil Ingrid (Inga Swenson). Jodie (Billy Crystal) has his own problems, including a baby on the way with a woman as well as continuing problems explaining his sexual orientation to outsiders. Danny (Ted Wass) and Elaine (Dinah Manoff) must deal learn to deal with each other, which they do, right before a tragedy involving their respective backgrounds in organized crime throws their relationship into jeopardy. Expect to see more hilarious hijinks from Chuck and Bob Campbell (Jay Johnson). The high point of the season involves a series of episodes that sees Burt dealing with extraterrestrials. The aliens abduct him, he meets a 4000-year-old man, and he struggles to return to earth. Whew! That's a lot of ground to cover, and even then I'm leaving out a bunch of minor story arcs.
Susan Harris and company deliver the goods once again in the second season of this fantastic television series. Only in the 1970s could you put this much wackiness on the air and get away with it. Alien abductions and demonic babies mixed with murder trials and romantic entanglements sure don't sound like the formula for a winning television series, but the creators of "Soap" make it all come together in fine fashion. As in the first season, the cast has amazing chemistry, and they possess the chops to pull off the most insane scenarios imaginable. Once again Richard Mulligan works his frenetic magic as the high-strung Burt Campbell. He's my favorite character by far in this show, and it's always a pleasure to see him in action. If I had to critique the second season in any way, I would say that we're already starting to see a softening in the format that would eventually lead to the show's demise a couple of years later. I suspect Harris didn't write as many of the scripts from this point on, although I can't prove it. I did notice that we got a lot fewer of those great Jessica Tate speeches, the ones where she rambles on and on following an internal logic only she understands. I missed those speeches, and I always suspected Harris wrote them.
I'm just trying to find something to complain about at this point. The second season of "Soap" will keep you entertained for hours and hours. It's great to revisit this show once again, and it's great that they're releasing them on DVD. The episodes on these discs look and sound better than the ones we saw on the first season, although the quality still leaves a lot to be desired. Even better, the people releasing the DVDs included the pilot episode as a bonus (I thought this was on the first season but maybe I'm mistaken) and a featurette containing an interview with Susan Harris and producers Tony Thomas and Paul Junger Witt. Aside from the fact that Harris hardly says a word during this interview, we still learn a lot about the show and its history. They explain how they kept track of the various story arcs and how they confronted the criticism aimed at the show before it even aired. Good stuff. Season two gets five stars from me. I can't wait to move on to the next!
Summary of Soap - The Complete Second Season
This outrageous spoof of daytime soap operas returns with comedian John Byner joining cast members Billy Crystal Richard Mulligan Robert Guillaume Katherine Helmond Cathryn Damon Robert Mandan Diana Canova and Jimmy Baio for 23 more episodes of inspired zaniness. Nominated in its second season for three Emmy® awards SOAP won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (Guillaume).System Requirements:Starring: John Byner Billy Crystal Richard Mulligan Robert Guillaume Katherine Helmond Cathryn Helmond Cathryn Damon Robert Mandan Diana Canova Jimmy Baio Running Time: 566 Min. Copyright Sony Pictures Home Entertainment 2005Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 043396036710 Manufacturer No: 03671Similar DVD Movies
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