Soap
Episode 2
TV Flash files “Episode 2” as hour 2 of 90 in the TV Flash guide — Soap (1977–1981) on ABC, season 1, episode 2, aired 1977-09-20, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E02: listed hour 2 of 90 in the Soap guide, hour 2 of 25 in season 1. It aired 1977-09-20 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Episode 1” (S01E01). Next is “Episode 3” (S01E03).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
After her tennis lesson, Jessica lunches with Mary, who mistakes her sister's glow for a facelift. At the office, Claire catches Chester wooing his newest mistress via telephone. Claire threatens to tell Jessica; when that fails to scare Chester, she also threatens to call the SEC. Jodie comes out of Mary's closet wearing one of her outfits and blonde wig. Mary tells Burt that Jodie wears her outfit better. . . and that is not Jodie's big surprise! Burt ran into his long lost son at a sporting goods store; he is coming to dinner that evening to meet the family. Danny has a surprise: the Godfather says he has to kill Burt in order to get out of the Mob. Benson is the only one who has fun when the Campbells gather at the Tate home for dinner. As the epithets and fists fly (and Jessica glows) Benson opens the front door and admits Burt's son, Peter. Jessica and Corinne are both shocked; and Jodie is titillated. Tennis, anyone?
Viewer FAQ
Where does Episode 2 sit in the Soap guide?
S01E02 is listed hour 2 of 90 — hour 2 of 25 in season 1, season 1 episode 2.
When did Soap S01E02 air?
Episode 2 aired 1977-09-20 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Do I need daytime-soap literacy first?
No. Harris's recaps and serial plotting teach the parody in motion. Knowing soaps adds flavor; the jokes still land as outrageous prime-time serial.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Susan Harris's primetime soap parody smuggles murder, aliens, possession, and Billy Crystal's Jodie past boycotts and Standards. Katherine Helmond's Jessica, Robert Guillaume's butler, serial recaps as scripture. The boldest network satire ABC greenlit — scandal as marketing, structure as the secret.
So about the pre-air group chat that tried to sink the show before episode one: boycotts, advertiser theater, and then Billy Crystal's Jodie, Katherine Helmond's Jessica, and a mansion full of murder, affairs, and demonic possession made ABC's Soap (1977–1981) the primetime spoof that bit hardest. (I said spoiler-free, mostly. It is a satirical serial. The recaps are scripture. You are already in it.) Susan Harris roasted daytime soaps while smuggling boundary-pushing characters into network laughs — four…
Filed against
- Katherine Helmond as Jessica Tate
Katherine Helmond’s Jessica Tate made Soap’s primetime parody feel like scripture recap — murder, aliens, possession, boycotts — then poured champagne-dry Mona into Who’s the Boss? ABC satire with a second-act gender-flip sitcom. TV Flash…
- Cathryn Damon as Mary Campbell
Cathryn Damon played Mary Campbell on Soap — Susan Harris's primetime soap parody smuggling murder, aliens, possession, and Billy Crystal's Jodie past boycotts and Standards. Katherine Helmond's Jessica, Robert Guillaume's butler, serial…
- Robert Guillaume as Benson DuBois
Robert Guillaume’s Benson DuBois walked out of Soap’s primetime parody and into a governor’s mansion without becoming a punching bag — 1970s catalog deadpan competence, then Sports Night’s 1990s walk-and-talk. TV Flash files him as the…
- Billy Crystal as Jodie Dallas
Billy Crystal’s Jodie Dallas walked Soap past boycotts and Standards — Susan Harris’s primetime soap parody smuggling murder, aliens, possession, Katherine Helmond’s Jessica, Robert Guillaume’s butler, serial recaps as scripture. The…
- Richard Mulligan as Burt Campbell
Richard Mulligan’s Burt Campbell survived Soap’s murder-and-aliens recap scripture — Katherine Helmond’s Jessica, boycotts, Billy Crystal’s Jodie — then moved next door to the Golden Girls as Empty Nest’s widowed pediatrician. ABC’s…