this is the story of two sisters

[sab]

Anyone who calls herself an Arrested Development fan and hasn't seen Soap is lying to herself! I know. I was one of you!

Soap is the 70s sitcom that AD borrows absolutely everything from. It's a proto-mock soap opera half hour sitcom, starring Katherine Helmond, Richard Mulligan, Billy Crystal (in his first big gay role -- he's dating the quarterback!) and Robert Guilliaume as Benson. It's a Paul Junger-Witt/Tony Thomas production and was created by Susan Harris, so the aesthetics (from the lighting and mise en scene to the rhythm of punchlines and the repeated musical sting) look just like The Golden Girls or other Witt/Thomas/Harris shows. And it's the story of the wealthy family who get sent to prison, the weird son with the offensive hand puppet, murder, insider trading, inappropriate sexual relationships, and a hilarious narrator opening monologue.

I'm on season 2. Next up on the blog: And then there's Maude!


P.S. If you already knew about Soap, disregard the above. *g*

Comments

[sloganeer.livejournal.com]

Well, you must know that Mitchell Hurwitz cut his chops on The Golden Girls. Lucille is everything the Girls could have been if it hadn't been the '80s.

[iamsab.livejournal.com]

It is so true, just swap a martini for a cheesecake.

[cosmic.livejournal.com]

It's ... possibly incredibly sad I never made the connection before, even though I've loved Soap as long as I can remember. I should watch that show again now that I'm old enough to get all the jokes I missed as a kid, shouldn't I?

[arallara.livejournal.com]

Soap! Yay! It's one of my earliest childhood television memories, actually. My parents like it, but I think my mom specifically chose it for me to watch because of the gay character. There was a lot of that in my childhood, which I always thought of as my parents being really cool and wanting to expose me to any kind of feminist and queer media that was around at the time. It wasn't until later that I found out it was partially because my started thinking I was going to turn out gay from the time I was about 4 years old. *g*

A friend and I started getting the dvds from Netflix a couple years ago, and watching it as an adult kind of blew my mind. It had some pretty crazy stuff going on in it, sociopolitically speaking! It made me think about just how far the counterculture made it into the mainstream during the 1970's, and how far the backlash took us back in the 1980's.

Anyway, some very cool, funny tv! And, yes, totally the foundation for Arrested Development.

[zaneetas.livejournal.com]

Soap! Wow, do I love that show. Except for possibly Chuck and Bob who are hilarious, but so totally off kilter that they terrify me a little. I'm not gonna lie -- I'd probably rather face a weapon-toting monster in a dark alley than Bob.

[anatsuno.livejournal.com]

What, you mean not everybody knows about Soap? I saw it all late at night on French TV a few years back, so I thought it was universally well known already... I'm late on AD so far though.

[ropo.livejournal.com]

I love Soap, though I've only ever seen one episode of AD. Soap is classic! In a very odd way! And it gets odder as it goes on, trust me. *g*

[abbylee]

Okay, despite the fact that I always describe AD has a modern Soap, I totally managed to miss the puppet connection.

Sheesh :D

[tangleofthorns.livejournal.com]

I used to watch SOAP reruns on Comedy Central religiously. I was about eleven or twelve when it started showing there--too young for it but just old enough to get it and think it was completely awesome. The first time I saw Franklin on AD I made the connection immediately. So much with the love.

[scrubschick.livejournal.com]

Soap was marvelous! Sadly, it turned not-so-good, but the first few seasons were excellent. I still get tears in my eyes when I remember Danny and the mobster's daughter. My brother had a 'Free Jessica' button. And my favorite line (possibly paraphrased. It's been 30 years!) "I love it. A killer looks down on a rapist." The killer, btw, was played by Donnelly Rhodes. Small world. When you look at the cast list on IMDb, it's amazing. Loved Soap. And yes. Very like Arrested Development.