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Soap is an American sitcom television series that originally ran on ABC from 1977 through 1981. A parody of soap operas, the show's story was presented in a serial format and featured melodramatic plotlines revolving around a large family in the fictional town of Dunn's River, Connecticut.
The series revolves around the households of sisters Jessica Tate (Katherine Helmond) and Mary Campbell (Cathryn Damon). Actors who play members of the Tate household include Robert Mandan as Jessica's husband Chester; Jennifer Salt, Diana Canova, and Jimmy Baio as their children; Eunice, Corinne and Billy; Arthur Peterson Jr. as Jessica and Mary's father, a retired U.S. Army major; and Robert Guillaume as the family butler Benson. Other members of the Campbell household include Richard Mulligan as Mary's second husband Burt; Ted Wass and Billy Crystal as Danny and Jodie, Mary's sons from her first marriage; and Jay Johnson as Burt's son Chuck and his ventriloquist dummy Bob. Later additions to the main cast include Donnelly Rhodes as Dutch Leitner, an escaped convict who lives with the Tates, and Roscoe Lee Browne as Saunders, Benson's replacement as the Tate family butler.
Additionally, Rod Roddy provides the voice of the unseen announcer, who recaps the plot of the previous episode and teases the plot of the following one. Casey Kasem provided the narration in the pilot episode.