10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Classic Sitcom ‘Soap’

6. SERIES CREATOR SUSAN HARRIS GAVE US ROSE, BLANCHE, DOROTHY, AND SOPHIA.

Soap creator Susan Harris is behind some of the greatest sitcoms of all time, having written and produced for shows like Maude, All in the Family and The Partridge Family. But her most enduring creation is perhaps those feisty Floridians The Golden Girls, a show that Harris created in 1985 that ran for seven seasons and produced the spin-offs Empty Nest, Nurses and The Golden Palace. During the first season of Soap, Harris also appeared briefly in two episodes as a hooker named Babette.

7. IT WAS THE FIRST SHOW TO CARRY A “VIEWER DISCRETION” ADVISORY.

Thanks to the controversies over its supposedly raunchy content, Soap carried a warning disclaimer for its entire first season. When the show premiered at 9:30P on September 13th, 1977, it carried the first “viewer discretion” warning ever for a U.S. television series. In both a screen display and spoken announcement, the audience was warned by announcer Rod Roddy (of The Price Is Right fame) that the show explored adult themes and that the now-familiar “viewer discretion” is advised.

8. THREE OF THE ACTORS WERE ACTUAL FORMER SOAP OPERA STARS.

Soap wasn’t strictly a soap opera parody, but three cast members had starred on actual sudsers. Arthur H. Peterson, Jr., who was The Major on Soap, was a veteran of the old radio version of The Guiding Light way back in 1937. He later starred in the TV version of General Hospital. Robert Mandan, who played Chester Tate, had been on Search for Tomorrow from 1965 to 1970. And Donnelly Rhodes, who played Dutch Leitner on Soap, starred as Phillip Chancellor II on The Young and the Restless in 1974 and 1975.

9. “FATHER FLOTSKY” TOOK HIS NAME FROM A CLASSIC LENNY BRUCE BIT.

One of the characters that especially enraged Catholic groups was Father Timothy Flotsky (Sal Viscuso), who leaves the priesthood to marry Corrine Tate (Diana Canova), only to leave her after fathering a child with her who turns out to be possessed by a demon. Angry religious conservatives would probably be even more annoyed to learn that the name “Father Flotsky” was taken from a classic and highly irreverent bit by legendary comedian Lenny Bruce.

10. “THE MAJOR” ACTUALLY FOUGHT UNDER GENERAL PATTON.

The character who was played most strictly for laughs on Soap was probably The Major, who was the father of the two sisters whose families the show revolves around. Unfortunately, he suffered from dementia and thought he was still fighting World War II. As it turns out, actor Arthur H. Peterson, Jr. actually served in the war. He left a thriving career in radio in 1944 to volunteer and ended up fighting in Europe in the Third Army — under General George S.Patton, no less.

Credits: ifc.com

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