ZOAP

SOAP
1977-1981 ABC

ZOAP
Sick #120, April 1978
a: Jack Sparling

Prime-time sitcom that was itself a parody of daytime soaps. It's another show that was considered really dirty at the time but now you have no idea what the fuss is about.

As the intro always said, it was the story of two sisters, Jessica Tate (Katherine Helmond) and Mary Campbell (Cathryn Damon). The show concentrated on the antics of their families. Danny (Ted Wass) was a gangster that was trying to be a hitman but could never bring it on himself to kill his stepfather Burt (Richard Mulligan). Their other son Jodie was openly gay (Billy Crystal) but secretly dating a football player.

In the Tate family, we had promiscuous daughter Corinne (Diana Canova), daughter of the equally horny Jessica.

Chet (Robert Mandan), patriarch of the Tates was a wealthy businessman with his own pieces on the side.

Benson (Robert Guillaume) eventually spun off into his own show but was the Tates' butler before that and the racial differences were the object of humor.

And then the article just ends abruptly like that. It's part of an issue-length article about the Bunkers taking a look at TV.

Now here's another of Jack Davis' TV Guide covers. Also featured are Arthur Peterson Jr., Jennifer Salt, Jimmy Baio, and Robert Urich.