Brian Damage
09-18-2010, 04:00 PM
Gloriously strange and over the top, Soap isn’t for everyone, but in its willingness to do anything for a joke, it’s easy to see the groundwork being laid for fast-paced shows to come like Arrested Development and 30 Rock.
Susan Harris (who would later create The Golden Girls) created and ran Soap, another broad soap opera satire. Though Lear did not produce it, Harris brought Lear’s appreciation for social satire to the show, the first American series to feature a gay character prominently (though the character, played by Billy Crystal, seems a dated stereotype now). Harris also took Lear’s love of broad comedy to its logical extreme. Soap nearly invented the gag-a-second pace that would become the hallmark of later Lear-inspired shows like Arrested Development and remains blisteringly funny to this day, though its satire can seem scattershot.
Susan Harris (who would later create The Golden Girls) created and ran Soap, another broad soap opera satire. Though Lear did not produce it, Harris brought Lear’s appreciation for social satire to the show, the first American series to feature a gay character prominently (though the character, played by Billy Crystal, seems a dated stereotype now). Harris also took Lear’s love of broad comedy to its logical extreme. Soap nearly invented the gag-a-second pace that would become the hallmark of later Lear-inspired shows like Arrested Development and remains blisteringly funny to this day, though its satire can seem scattershot.