Soap
Episode 26
TV Flash files “Episode 26” as a desk essential hour — Soap (1977–1981) on ABC, season 2, episode 1, aired 1978-09-14, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E01: listed hour 26 of 90 in the Soap guide, first listed hour of season 2. It aired 1978-09-14 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Episode 25” (S01E25). Next is “Episode 27” (S02E02).
Essential hour: “Episode 26”. Episode 26 is the second-season door. Katherine Helmond's Jessica still the dizzy spine; Guillaume's butler already stealing rooms — scandal as marketing, structure as the real dare.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Chester tries to commit suicide, Jodie moves in with Carol, Mary suspects Burt of having an affair, Mother Flotsky puts a curse on Tim and Corinne, Jessica is sentenced to 50 years for killing Peter, and Chester confesses that he's the real murderer and meets Dutch, his new cellmate. Chester saves Jessica by confessing to Peter's murder, which lands him in a cell with convicted killer Dutch Leitner; Carol cannot bring herself to tell Jodie he's going to be a father.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Episode 26 sit in the Soap guide?
S02E01 is listed hour 26 of 90 — first listed hour of season 2, season 2 episode 1.
When did Soap S02E01 air?
Episode 26 aired 1978-09-14 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
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- 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…