Soap [TV Series] (DVD)

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I've always felt that the test of an ensemble sitcom was the quality of guest stars that they could attract, and this one pulled in a bunch over its four-year run. Look for Doris Roberts ("Everybody Loves Raymond"), Sorrell Booke ("The Dukes of Hazzard"), Howard Hessman ("W.K.R.P. in Cincinnati"), Bernard Fox ("The Andy Griffith Show"), Gordon Jump ("W.K.R.P. in Cincinnati"), Harold Gould ("Rhoda"), and Gregory Sierra ("Barney Miller").

This was a show that tried to be both outrageous and bitingly critical of not just soaps but social mores that seemed out-of-whack. Though it was set in Connecticut, it felt as if it could have been Anywhere, U.S.A., it was that far out. And how does it play today? While it's not as biting or funny a satire of soaps as "Desperate Housewives," it still holds up pretty well. It's not laugh-out-loud funny anymore, but the show is still amusing. Oddly enough, the gentler and less "logically challenged" episodes have more appeal than some of the really whacked-out episodes, because those episodes stray a little far from the satire that was part of the show's premise. It's still entertaining, though, even after 30 years, and that all but confirms that "Soap" was a little ahead of its time.

Included here are 25 episodes from season one, 22 episodes from season two, 22 from season three, and 21 from season four. As Sony did with "What's Happening!!," the complete series of "Soap" is housed in a new "spindle box" container, which is basically a plastic slide-tray with a spindle in the middle that holds the 12 discs the way that blank discs are sold. What holds them in place is a corrugated cardboard cut-out, and this tray slides into a cardboard box with a flap. Episodes are not listed, much less annotated. What you get is a rundown of each season and what episodes are contained on what disc. That's why this set is bargain-priced.

Video:
These discs are the same ones that were released in the single-season sets that Sony produced. The show is mastered in High Definition and for a late-Seventies' series it looks pretty good. There's a textured feel to the surface that I wouldn't go so far as to call grain--it's just that it doesn't have a high-gloss plasticine look to it. Colors are only slightly faded or undersaturated, and the level of detail is certainly acceptable for a TV-on-DVD. The aspect ration is 1.33:1.

Audio:
The audio is a nothing-special Dolby Digital Mono in English, closed captioned. No subtitles. And nothing, really, to report on. It's there: nothing to complain about, and nothing to praise.

Extras:
Nada. None.

Bottom Line:
"Soap" earned 17 Emmy nominations over its four-year run and won for Art Direction, Outstanding Supporting Actor (Guillaume), Outstanding Lead Actress (Cathryn Damon), and Outstanding Lead Actor (Richard Mulligan). But the performances are pretty solid all the way around, with the exception of the roles that are out-and-out caricatures. "Soap" still plays well, and this bargain-priced Complete Series should entice a whole new generation of fans.

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