Soap
Season 4
21 listed hours · 1977–1981 · ABC
From the desk
How this season is filed
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.
TV Flash files Season 4 of Soap (1977–1981) on ABC as the last listed season of 4 — 21 listed hours, 1980-11-12–1981-05-25 from “Episode 70” (S04E01) to “Episode 90” (S04E21). Titles, dates, and synopses on file — no invented recaps.
Desk essentials in this season
- S04E01 Episode 70
Episode 70 is the last-season premiere as a dare. Primetime soap parody still refusing to apologize for the boycotts; the recap cold-open still doing more work than most sitcom plots.
- S04E21 Episode 90
Episode 90 is the 1981 closer. Four seasons of scandal-as-scripture, then the serial stops: the boldest network satire ABC greenlit, still arguing in recap form.
- S04E01
Episode 70
Jessica comes out of her coma; Eunice wins Dutch from Corinne; Burt and Danny receive blackmail photos; Mary's baby seems normal; Jodie's custody battle for Wendy is decided.
- S04E02
Episode 71
Corinne bids goodbye to her mother; Polly turns down Danny's marriage proposal; Burt refuses to knuckle under to Tibbs; Mary returns home with baby Scott; Jodie discovers that his daughter Wendy has been kidnapped.
- S04E03
Episode 72
Jessica admires Burt's blackmail photos; Eunice and Dutch announce their engagement, as Jessica banishes Chester to the pool house.
- S04E04
Episode 73
As Dutch and Eunice tie the knot, Chester meets Eunice's maid of honor, Annie; the X-rated photos of Burt appear in the newspaper and Burt and Mary face the public's outrage, as well as each other's; Annie moves into the poolhouse with Chester; on her private vacation to Malaguay, Jessica frees El Puerco, a Malaguayan revolutionary, who immediately takes her hostage.
- S04E05
Episode 74
Jodie hires private detective Maggie to find his kidnapped daughter; Billy heads off to Malaguay to find his mother; Mary is depressed over the media's treatment of her husband, who plans to infiltrate one of Tibbs' massage parlors for evidence.
- S04E06
Episode 75
Burt and Danny disguise themselves at the massage parlor; Danny recognizes Gwen as one of the girls in the blackmail photos; with Jessica still lost in Malaguay, the Tates have no access to her money.
- S04E07
Episode 76
Jessica convinces El to conduct his revolution from her Connecticut home; Danny promises protection for Gwen; the Tates are still strapped for cash as Dutch gets fired from a car wash because he didn't know what 'agua' meant.
- S04E08
Episode 77
Learning that Carol is now into rodeo clowns, Jodie and Maggie follow her trail to Albuquerque; Danny persuades Gwen to tone down her clientele while under his protective custody.
- S04E09
Episode 78
Jessica's entourage arrives home safely; as Danny and Gwen acknowledge each other's feelings, Jodie and Maggie admit their attraction for each other; Burt's crisis of faith results in the death of his boyhood Bishop.
- S04E10
Episode 79
After Jessica announces that she's now officially divorced from Chester, he announces his engagement to Annie; Jodie and Maggie confirm their relationship; a bullet meant for Gwen hits Danny instead.
- S04E11
Episode 80
Burt vows to make Tibbs pay for his crimes; Jessica makes an unsuccessful attempt to seduce El; Danny's critical injury requires a kidney from a blood relative.
- S04E12
Episode 81
Jodie and Maggie are taken captive by Minja warriors in Malibu; Burt becomes a hero after finally capturing Tibbs; and Mary reveals that Danny's natural father is Chester.
- S04E13
Episode 82
Jessica and Danny are both shocked by the news that Chester is Danny's real father; Burt becomes a media hero because of his attack on Tibbs; Chester and Danny face surgery together.
- S04E14
Episode 83
Chester becomes the vital kidney donor on Danny's behalf; Dutch and Eunice try to spice up their sex life by playacting; believing her sister has betrayed her, Jessica refuses to speak to a despondent Mary, who reveals how their mother arranged scatterbrained Jessica's marriage to embezzler Chester.
- S04E15
Episode 84
Burt alienates his family as his fame continues to grow; Danny is offended when Burt disapproves of his plans to marry Gwen; Jessica forgives Chester, but can't forgive Mary; Saunders proposes a plan to rescue Jodie and Maggie; Gwen is coerced by a hoodlum into spying on Burt and Danny.
- S04E16
Episode 85
Jodie, Maggie and Wendy are rescued from the fortress by Burt, Chuck, Bob, Billy, El Puerco, Juan One, the Major, Dutch, and Saunders; Jessica and Mary come to an understanding; Mary tells Jessica that she has a drinking problem, the baby may be an alien, and she fears she is losing Burt; Jodie decides to see a therapist so he can be sure about his relationship with Maggie; Danny blames Burt when Gwen runs away; Jodie signs up for hypnotherapy with Dr. Rudolph.
- S04E17
Episode 86
El Puerco learns a few things about women after spending the night with Jessica; Eunice is driving Dutch a bit crazy with her fantasy games in bed; Chester and Annie announce that they are married, but Chester continues to act possessively toward Jessica; Mary walks out on Burt when he accuses her of being drunk; Dutch fails to turn Eunice on with his Cyrano de Bergerac costume; Jodie comes out of hypnosis believing that he's a 90-year-old Jewish man named Julius Kassendorf.
- S04E18
Episode 87
Burt is offered a job by The Governor, who wants him to become the new Lieutenant Governor; Chester goes mad with jealousy over Jessica and El Puerco; Danny and Annie turn to each other for comfort; Mary tries to convince Burt that their baby isn't normal; Julius is brought home by Jodie's psychiatrist to meet the Campbells.
- S04E19
Episode 88
El Puerco challenges Chester to a duel; Jessica expresses concern about Burt and Mary's marital problems; Danny and Annie succumb to their mutual sexual attractions; Maggie meets Julius, and expresses shock at Jodie's mental transformation; Burt makes political enemies after addressing a panel of senators.
- S04E20
Episode 89
Burt is asked by The Governor to disassociate himself from the Tates and the rest of the Campbells; Jessica is taken hostage by El Puerco's Communist enemies led by General Luis Sandia; The Tates receive the kidnappers' terms; Julius comforts Mary; Burt's enemies plot to kill him,
- S04E21
Episode 90
Burt receives a tip about a major drug transaction; Danny tells Burt that he's in love with Annie; The Tates, Dutch and El Puerco worry about Jessica; Chester receives a call from Gen. Sandia and breaks the news to everyone that if El Puerco does not return to Malaguay in 36 hours, Gen. Sandia's forces would kill Jessica; Jessica makes life difficult for her communist captors, who demand El Puerco's surrender; she nevertheless prepares to face her execution; Chester catches Danny in bed with Annie; in his anger, he points his gun at the both of them and prepares to pull the trigger; Burt, not realizing that the drug deal tip he received was phony, walks into an ambush; Jessica faces the firing squad.
More from the 1970s.