What was the reason for the show being cancelled in 1981?

i think the rumor was that one of the network execs just didnt like the show, and they were afraid of the salaries for such a large cast getting out of control...

ignorance, no less than ignorance.

I doubt that the network didn't like it. It was, however, a very expensive show to produce with a big cast. Witt-Thomas-Harris alrrady had Benson going and it was cheaper to produce. I think SOAP had reached 92 episodes by then, just barely enough for a couple of syndicated runs which could make back some of the money spent.

ABC actually liked the show and supported it for a long time at something of a loss. By 1981, however, there was only one remaining advertiser who would sponsor the show, and that was too great a financial loss. Witt-Thomas-Harris praises ABC to this day for it sommitment, and they admit that upon seeing the financial picture in 1981, they felt no bitterness toward the network over the cancellation. Nice to hear a rare pro-network account.

ABC actually liked the show and supported it for a long time at something of a loss. By 1981, however, there was only one remaining advertiser who would sponsor the show, and that was too great a financial loss. Witt-Thomas-Harris praises ABC to this day for it sommitment, and they admit that upon seeing the financial picture in 1981, they felt no bitterness toward the network over the cancellation. Nice to hear a rare pro-network account.


I think the falling ratings could be one of the reasons

1977-78-#13
1978-79-#19
1979-80-#25
1980-81-??????????

They still could have done a final show to tie up the loose ends. IDIOTS

They still could have done a final show to tie up the loose ends. IDIOTS


There probably was no FINAL show because they had and no idea they were getting cancelled

i think the rumor was that one of the network execs just didnt like the show, and they were afraid of the salaries for such a large cast getting out of control...

I always wondered how the hell they could afford to pay that many people. :lol:

Not that it was necessarily a factor, but the quality of the show had also dropped a bit in Seasons 3 and 4. S4 in particular was medicore, thanks to the departure of Susan Harris. I imagine the low quality of the shows helped contribute to the decline in ratings.

Also, if you want a guage into how committed ABC was to the show, take a look at the days it was on the air. In S1, it was put in the very hot Tuesday, which was the equivalent of Thursdays for NBC in the 80's and 90's. (Tuesdays also had hits such as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Taxi & Three's Company). IN S2 & 3, it was on Thursdays. In its last season, it ran on Wednesdays, and then Mondays. Usually, such moves are indicative of a lack of dedication to the show (Newsradio being a prime example of this).

Here's my question (and I apologize if I've asked this before--I can't seem to remember if I did!)--did the cast know the show was cancelled before they shot the last episode? I am guessing they didn't, because the announcer ends the last episode the same way he always did before, by saying to tune into the next episode of Soap for answers to questions that remained.

Unless that was just part of the plan; to make it seem as though it was a continuing saga even though we wouldn't ever see a true final episode where all the loose ends were tied up.

Susan Harris has stated many times that they did not know about the cancellation until after the shows had all been shot. She said that they would never have done that to people, and would certainly have created a more satisfactory conclusion for the characters. Similarly, although other endings were written, and perhaps even filmed, for Benson, they went with the cliffhanger because at the time of the airing, the series' future was as yet undetermined.

Sure the quality of the shows slipped in the last season.

But the real reason it was cancelled was the emergence of Reagan conservatism and the Moral Majority in the White House in the early 80's, overtaking the more liberal 70's. That's why a quality show could get cancelled - because it was controversial and because of politics, not because it was bad TV.

In the 70's, Archie Bunker could be portrayed as ignorant, bigoted buffoon and be percieved as such. It is no coincidence that beginning in 1982 Alex P. Keaton became a national idol, rather than the comic relief he was originally designed to be.

I always wondered how the hell they could afford to pay that many people. :lol:
Me, too. :rofl:

Sure the quality of the shows slipped in the last season.

In the 70's, Archie Bunker could be portrayed as ignorant, bigoted buffoon and be percieved as such. It is no coincidence that beginning in 1982 Alex P. Keaton became a national idol, rather than the comic relief he was originally designed to be.

That in itself was scary.

i've noticed a lot of shows that ran during that time period (late 70's-early 80s) seemed to move away from the liberalness. it was politics.

i think one of the reasons for the low ratings was because it was banned in a lot of areas in the U.S. and if they did show it, it was very late at night. It wasn't shown during prime time in a lot of places.

Blaming the U.S. political climate for a cancellation is almost always pure bunk. The Archie Bunker character for example thrived through several admins, both conservative and liberal. And the fact that Family Ties was a big success despite the parents being at odds with the '80s climate further proves the point.

They still could have done a final show to tie up the loose ends. IDIOTS

Well we at least found out what happened to Jessica thanks to her visiting Benson!:D

Really, a good show like this deserved to have an ending. Getting to the last episode and seeing that it didn't had an end was one of the biggest frustrations I've had. I didn't watched the episode of Benson in which Jessica appears, but I'm glad to hear it happened. :)

I thought the show was cancelled because the writing wasn't that good towards the end.

Susan Harris had departed the show prior to S4? Really? This is the first I've heard of this. However, yes, the quality of the show did diminish in S4. The characters became almost too outrageous in some instances and that's, IMHO, typical of when the writing in a comedy is suffering. In fact, there are several writers credited (as many as six in some cases) on the S4 episodes. Never a good sign.

Not that it was necessarily a factor, but the quality of the show had also dropped a bit in Seasons 3 and 4. S4 in particular was medicore, thanks to the departure of Susan Harris. I imagine the low quality of the shows helped contribute to the decline in ratings.

Also, if you want a guage into how committed ABC was to the show, take a look at the days it was on the air. In S1, it was put in the very hot Tuesday, which was the equivalent of Thursdays for NBC in the 80's and 90's. (Tuesdays also had hits such as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Taxi & Three's Company). IN S2 & 3, it was on Thursdays. In its last season, it ran on Wednesdays, and then Mondays. Usually, such moves are indicative of a lack of dedication to the show (Newsradio being a prime example of this).

It's a Living and the Witt-Thomas-Harris group cannibalizing themselves may have been at least one factor. ABC gave Soap's time slot behind Barney Miller to IAL and sent Soap to Wednesdays, where it came in third against The Facts of Life and was yanked midseason.

The 1980 Actors Strike and The 1981 Writers strike didn't help things, either.

The show did lose a few ratings points or so in its season average, though that wasn't what ultimately doomed it. As someone mentioned, it was lack of advertisers in the fourth season that led to the cancellation.

Looks like Lou Grant had more viewers in that 10pm slot in last season

SOAP began with a lot of contraversy. Two totally opposite groups hated the program, Evangelical Christians and Militant Homosexuals. The ABC affilaite in my city of Memphis, Tennessee refused to show several of the beginning shows, substituting it (in the late 1970's) with reruns of Gomer Pyle USMC. After a few weeks the affiliate allowed the show on at the regular time.

Soap was a show ahead of its time and it was a real shame that people who didnt like the show just couldnt shut the "beep" up and let the rest of us watch and enjoy the show if we wished. Susan Harris stated that she was going to have the show run for five years with a proper ending, and it was cancelled after four (due to people who have never seen the series objecting to it).

Some soap operas that were on many years didnt get a proper ending. The last episode was merely where the story was when the show was cancelled.

I’ve read that it was expensive to produce, but why was that? So many sets? The large cast?

Susan Harris has always said that it was cancelled due to the fact that Vlasick Pickles were their only remaining sponsor.
She has also avoided answering questions about what the ending was supposed to have been, leading me to believe that she didn’t have one. My main concern was what would’ve happened to Burt and Mary’s marriage��. That was heart breaking for me to see. Mary stick by Burt through his E.D., his mental illness, his workaholism, his hook up (which didn’t even happen but they thought it had), his alien abduction, his becoming sheriff, his fame, what else? Once he became a big shot he left her in the lurch and she became a drunk. But she gave up the booze. The most heartbreaking scene in the series was when she fell down the stairs (sober) in front of his fancy friends and he accused her of being drunk and had no concern for her well being. Would they have stayed together?

Why was it that the militant gays didn’t like it? I would imagine it was because they kept pairing Jody up with women.
It was so bold to have a gay character back then, but they just couldn’t fully commit to it. That was annoying to me.
Also annoying was how, at the beginning, they had two women in succession hitting on him for the challenge of turning him straight. I have never known of any women who try to do that, lol. Maybe it was a 70s thing.
Were they also peeved about him wanting a sex change? That didn’t make any sense either. Dennis was gay. Why would he want a sex changed woman if he’s into the male anatomy?

Main reason it was cancelled by Mark Wolfe, The Charlotte Observer , 6/29/81

"ABC lost a significant amount of money each year the show was aired, said Tony Thomopolous, President of ABC Entertainment. Most of the loss was because the network had to sell commercials in the show at a discount because advertisers didnt rush to the controversial program

I always found the final episode was a three-way cliffhanger with no proper resolution. You always keep asking, "What happened next??"

I always found the final episode was a three-way cliffhanger with no proper resolution. You always keep asking, "What happened next??"

The writers probably assumed there would be another season to address it the season opener

I think the falling ratings could be one of the reasons

1977-78-#13
1978-79-#19
1979-80-#25
1980-81-??????????

It's a Living in 1980-81 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980%E2%80%9381_United_States_network_television_schedule), took Soap's timeslot (http://www.tvtango.com/series/its_a_living/episodes?filters%5Bday%5D=&filters%5Bseason%5D=1&filters%5Bbroadcast%5D=No&filters%5Bmedia%5D=&commit.x=21&commit.y=24), pushing it to Wednesdays, where (http://www.tvtango.com/series/soap/episodes?filters%5Bday%5D=&filters%5Bseason%5D=4&filters%5Bbroadcast%5D=No&filters%5Bmedia%5D=&commit.x=17&commit.y=14) it was beaten by The Facts of Life. Susan Harris was distracted by the ill-fated (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125318/http://www.jumptheshark.com/i/imabiggirlnow.htm) Diana Canova show I'm a Big Girl Now (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_a_Big_Girl_Now), and Soap (https://jacksonupperco.com/2015/08/25/the-ten-best-soap-episodes-of-season-four/)'s quality went into the toilet (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125314/http://www.jumptheshark.com/s/soap.htm). Robert Guillaume walked off the set of Benson in a contract dispute (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQTWNV4esSw) and almost killed it. All four shows died in the ratings.

It's a Living in 1980-81 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980%E2%80%9381_United_States_network_television_schedule), took Soap's timeslot (http://www.tvtango.com/series/its_a_living/episodes?filters%5Bday%5D=&filters%5Bseason%5D=1&filters%5Bbroadcast%5D=No&filters%5Bmedia%5D=&commit.x=21&commit.y=24), pushing it to Wednesdays, where (http://www.tvtango.com/series/soap/episodes?filters%5Bday%5D=&filters%5Bseason%5D=4&filters%5Bbroadcast%5D=No&filters%5Bmedia%5D=&commit.x=17&commit.y=14) it was beaten by The Facts of Life. Susan Harris was distracted by the ill-fated (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125318/http://www.jumptheshark.com/i/imabiggirlnow.htm) Diana Canova show I'm a Big Girl Now (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_a_Big_Girl_Now), and Soap (https://jacksonupperco.com/2015/08/25/the-ten-best-soap-episodes-of-season-four/)'s quality went into the toilet (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125314/http://www.jumptheshark.com/s/soap.htm). Robert Guillaume walked off the set of Benson in a contract dispute (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQTWNV4esSw) and almost killed it. All four shows died in the ratings.





Well the final ranking for Soap for 1980-81 season was #33. I was expecting a lot lower since it was cancelled. But I remember posting that the real reason it was cancelled was below



Main reason it was cancelled by Mark Wolfe, The Charlotte Observer , 6/29/81

"ABC lost a significant amount of money each year the show was aired, said Tony Thomopolous, President of ABC Entertainment. Most of the loss was because the network had to sell commercials in the show at a discount because advertisers didnt rush to the controversial program

Why do some famous TV shows like "Soap" and "The Jeffersons" end without a proper finale, and what really happens behind the scenes in these cases? (https://www.quora.com/Why-do-some-famous-TV-shows-like-Soap-and-The-Jeffersons-end-without-a-proper-finale-and-what-really-happens-behind-the-scenes-in-these-cases/answer/MetroDispatch)

In 1981, the hit comedy Soap went off the air, leaving its beloved main character facing a literal firing squad (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Soap_episodes#Season_4_(1980%E2%80%9381)). It wasn't a bold creative choice—it was just the brutal reality of network TV (https://www.google.com/search?q=Why+do+some+famous+TV+shows+like+%22Soap%22+and+%22The+Jeffersons%22+end+without+a+proper+finale%2C+and+what+really+happens+behind+the+scenes+in+these+cases%3F&oq=Why+do+some+famous+TV+shows+like+%22Soap%22+and+%22The+Jeffersons%22+end+without+a+proper+finale%2C+and+what+really+happens+behind+the+scenes+in+these+cases%3F&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRiPAjIHCAIQIRiPAtIBCDkxNWowajE1qAIIsAIB8QViJ7BCRr4Rdw&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8).

Before the streaming era, the television industry operated under a completely different set of rules where closure was a luxury, not a guarantee. Television was a strictly week-to-week business driven entirely by Nielsen ratings, advertising revenue, and syndication deals.

When legendary shows like The Jeffersons or Soap ended abruptly, the mechanics of these cancellations were often cold and purely financial (https://share.google/aimode/kXa7OiGUkqld0Vn52). In the 1970s and 1980s, network executives evaluated a show's cost against its advertising pull at the end of each season. If a show's ratings dipped, or if the actors' contracts became too expensive to renew, the network simply did not order another season. Because these decisions were made in boardrooms during the off-season, long after production had wrapped, creators and actors were completely blindsided.

The Jeffersons is a prime example of this corporate disconnect. Despite running for 11 seasons and being one of CBS’s defining sitcoms, it was canceled so abruptly in 1985 that there was no final wrap party, let alone a finale episode. Lead actors Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford actually found out their historic show was canceled not from network executives, but by reading about it in the newspaper or hearing it second-hand from family members. CBS simply looked at the declining ratings and the high production costs of a long-running cast, and quietly pulled the plug.

The cancellation of Soap was arguably even more jarring because the show was highly serialized. Soap was designed as a parody of daytime soap operas, meaning it relied heavily on complex continuing storylines. When ABC canceled it after four seasons due to a combination of declining ratings and persistent pushback from religious organizations over its controversial content, the season four (https://jacksonupperco.com/2015/08/25/the-ten-best-soap-episodes-of-season-four/) finale (https://www.primetimer.com/quickhits/the-unplanned-final-episode-of-soap-aired-40-years-ago-today) became the series finale by default, leaving viewers with massive, unresolved cliffhangers.

Today, the industry treats finales differently because the financial model has changed. A television series with a satisfying conclusion performs much better on streaming platforms than one that stops mid-story. Networks now routinely announce "final season" renewals to allow writers to craft a proper ending, recognizing that providing closure is ultimately better for the long-term profitability of the franchise. In the eras of The Jeffersons and Soap, however, yesterday's episode was simply discarded the moment it stopped generating tomorrow's ad revenue.