What do you think happened?
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chongajuly — 15 years ago(April 27, 2010 08:46 AM)
While I thought the third season was just as good as the first two,I found the final season to be most frustrating.Benson left for his own show at the start of season 3,and Corinne split at the beginning of season 4,due to Diana Canova getting a series of her own as a totally different character.These losses,coupled with more writers each year,led to a "too many cooks" kind of situation.The early episodes were solely devised with superb skill by the extraordinary writing of Susan Harris,but the later seasons seemed to get away from the original concept.That final year saw all our favorite characters become shockingly unlikable,especially the very loving relationship between Burt and Mary,which was so vital to the show's longevity,and given the warm regard the two actors had for each other.After hearing them both proclaim their undying love for three seasons,it was a huge disappointment to see their relationship fall apart in the closing entries.Mary had earlier described a woman whose husband was always working,who has Cocoa Puffs and vodka for breakfast each morning,and now Mary herself is reduced to being an alcoholic with an alien baby,a storyline that went nowhere.Jessica's affair with El Puerco simply left me cold,and it lasted the whole year.For me,only Danny remained consistently interesting throughout the entire run; however,once they killed off his wife Elaine(the only character other than Peter Campbell treated in such a fashion),it seemed that all of his storylines lasted about ten episodes apiece.Chuck and Bob remained exactly the same from beginning to end,as did The Major,unchanging but indispensible.Jodie remained a tricky character to write for,but generally remained interesting,until the very end,when he winds up an old jew(perhaps in homage to his lost friend Barney Gerber,played by Harold Gould,who never reappeared after episode 12).Eunice remained one of the least interesting characters,while Billy,who had decent storylines for three seasons,became a general in El Puerco's army and virtually disappeared as a viable,intriguing character.Jessica certainly held up her end of things,but it was an uphill battle,while no other character went through so many changes as Chester,who emerged unscathed in the end(though it was just a lazy cop-out to have him be the killer of Peter Campbell,since he never knew Peter,who recognized his killer before he died).One final problem was that the new characters that were introduced the last year simply weren't strong enough to keep audiences from losing interest,especially the boring revolutionaries.Benson's replacement,Saunders,as played by the distinguished Roscoe Lee Browne,was by necessity a very different character than his predecessor,but a solid addition that could have been disastrous.Solid pros like Dick Miller,Richard Libertini,Nita Talbot,Doris Roberts,Jack Gilford,Lynne Moody,and Barbara Rhoades,like Harold Gould,could only have been good for the show,and it's a shame they didn't have larger roles.Still one of the most indelible comedy/drama series in television history,and it would be interesting to see how future generations react to 20th century programming.
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Darlene14 — 15 years ago(May 02, 2010 08:45 AM)
I so agree!
I've been watching the whole series instantly on Netflix, and I'm half-way through season 4. Does anyone remember if there was a day or time change for season 4? I ask for two reasons. When a network WANTS to kill a popular series, they often put it on on an unpopular night - Friday night comes to mind, or opposite a ratings giant. Or they continually change the night so fans can hardly find it. The second reason I ask is because I realize that I never saw season 4! I know I saw the first three - even though it was so long ago I wasn't sure what was going to happen - I would remember WHEN things happened, if you KWIM. I have no feeling like that for season 4, it is all a surprise with no recognition. I loved Soap and the only reason I can imagine that I didn't watch season 4 is because it may have been put opposite one of my more beloved series - like "Dallas" or something - or on a different night when I had something going on.
But season 4 has been such a disappointment. The whole "Chester is Danny's father" thing is stupid. Making Jessica unable to forgive Mary - even for just a few episodes - is stupid. Jessica is one of the most caring and empathetic TV characters of all time, and she couldn't view things from her much loved sister's viewpoint - that there Mary was, pregnant by a "secret boyfriend", finding out that this boyfriend was going to marry her sister, out of the blue like that?? There was no "betrayal" there, Chester was not involved with Jessica when Mary became pregnant. If anything Mary was the "betrayed" one. See how personally I take it all LOL? But my favorite storyline, by far, is the relationship between Jessica and Mary and this whole story line ruined that. My favorite scene of the series, by far, was Mary in Jessica's arms when they both thought Jess was dying, and how Mary had to leave to give birth. It was so touching. When I saw that scene again I remembered it so clearly and the way it made me feel.
If I had been watching it I think I would have stopped right there with Jessica declaring that she could "never forgive Mary", but I know I didn't see any of it. I will finish the "instant watch" because it doesn't demand any commitment, but if I had to wait each week for the next episode, I would drop it at this point, easily, although deeply disappointed. -
chongajuly — 15 years ago(May 02, 2010 09:22 AM)
For the first 3 seasons of SOAP,it had a terrific time slot on Tuesday nights,following HAPPY DAYS,LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY,and THREE'S COMPANY at 9:30PM.The 4th season switched the show to Wednesday nights at 9:30PM,following TAXI,and this lasted from November 12,1980-January 28,1981.Even the TV guides gave up advertising the show before January,when it went off the air for 2 months.The last gasp began on Monday nights at 10:00 PM(March 9-April 20),the show airing 6 one-hour broadcasts to get it off the air as quickly as possible(12 episodes crammed into 6 nights).To be accurate,there were 85 broadcasts on network television,with 8 one-hour episodes split in half in syndication,producing 93 episodes at 30 min each.IMDB lists an additional episode(87th)with a broadcast date of ??? but this is an error that has yet to be corrected,no more shows aired after April 20,1981.I choose not to include the 3 "recap" episodes that filled in audiences on the previous year,due to the fact that SOAP went off the air during late spring-summer reruns,making it necessary to keep viewers aware of the events that led up to the new season(but I clearly remember Beatrice Arthur as Jessica's guardian angel deciding on her fate to begin the 4th season,and IMDB does include this entry,listed as episode 70,but it appears as-Season4,Episode 0).So SOAP enjoyed 3 seasons in the same time slot on Tuesday nights,only to switch over to Wednesday and Monday nights its final year.
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Darlene14 — 15 years ago(May 03, 2010 07:15 AM)
So it was moved around that last year. And I remembered something else. (Something I really should have thought of in the first place!) I had a baby on Oct. 12, 1980. As I recall, the next 6 months consisted of getting up twice every night and then up for the day at 6 a.m.! I doubt I was watching anything on at 9 or later for those months LOL. Even if things got better for me around April, I would have been lost trying to pick up "Soap" at that point, and wouldn't have liked the story lines anyway - but I don't think I even tried, just have no memory of seeing it at all.
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gambitcolumbus — 15 years ago(September 11, 2010 07:54 PM)
The "ghost" said she was in a COMA, not dead.
Somehow, I see something absurd happening with Jessica, such as:
The sound of firing is the squad itself being shot by snipers. Jessica gets freed and instead of El Puerco being made leader, SHE gets made leader. El Puerco later, out of jealously, decides to off her with poison - which instead puts her in a coma (leading to the Benson scene). -
Joeytrom@aol.com — 14 years ago(November 29, 2011 05:31 AM)
I always figured that as Burt walked into the room, he saw the guys with the guns and ducked quickly and they shot the person about to stab him. He then runs off.
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TheFatDruidofNacyl — 9 years ago(November 15, 2016 11:43 AM)
- Jody still thinks he is a Jewish man. He is at a part bench having conversation with an actual Jewish man. During the conversation Jody snaps out of it and becomes himself.
- The aliens that abducted Burt have been monitoring him and sees he is about to be killed. They fill guilty so they beam him up and send him back home to his wife.
- Chester breaks into the room to shoot them but realizes he forgot to put bullets in the gun. Danny jumps to his feet and is about to beat Chester but feels bad and lets him live.
- Jessica is shot and put into a coma but in the process is rescued and comes out of the Coma in a hospital.