In the spring of 1977, Newsweek reviewed the new TV season and characterized Soap as a sex farce that would include, among other things, the seduction of a Catholic priest in a confessional. The writer of the piece had never seen the pilot, and his story was completely in error. However, that did not deter a massive protest by Roman Catholic and southern Baptist representatives condemning the show. Later, the National Council of Churches entered the campaign against Soap. Refusing to listen to reason, the religious lobby sought to generate a boycott of companies that sponsored Soap. In the summer, when the producers quite properly denied requests by church groups to have the pilot sent to them for viewing, the religious groups in­sisted they were denied opportunity to see an episode. That was simply not true. Soap was in production in late July in Hollywood, and each week any person walking through the lobby of the Sheraton-Universal Hotel could have secured tickets for the taping. The tapings were always open to the public, and any priest or preacher could have easily gone to the studio stage for that purpose.

     This combination of irresponsible journalism and misguided moral outrage by persons of the cloth resulted in a dearth of sponsors. The campaign, led by ecclesiastical executives, sought to define and enforce a national morality by the use of prior censorship. It almost worked. Costs for advertising spots in the time slot for Soap were heavily discounted in order to achieve full sponsorship for the premiere on September 13, 1977. Only the commitment to the series by Silverman prevented its demise. Some ABC affiliates were picketed, and a few decided not to air the show. Other stations moved it from 9:30 P.M. to a late-night time slot. A United Press International story for September 14 reported a survey of persons who had watched the first episode of Soap, carried out by University of Richmond (Virginia) professors and their students. They discovered that 74 percent of viewers found Soap inoffensive, 26 percent were offended, and half of those offended said they were planning to watch it the next week. The day after the premiere, Sandrich, who had directed most of the Mary Tyler Moore Show episodes, stated, ''If people will stay with us, they will find the show will grow." Still, producer Witt believes the show never fully recovered from the witch-hunting mentality that claimed banner headlines across the United States.

     Despite these difficulties. all three of the producers recall the "joy of doing it." It was their first hit and arguably one of the most creative efforts by network television before or after. The scripts and acting were calculated to make audiences laugh-not snicker-at themselves. Indeed, in its own peculiar way, Soap ad­dressed family values. In one of the more dramatic moments in the series, for example, Jessica Tate, with her entire family surrounding her, confronted the threat of evil, personified by an unseen demon, and commanded the menacing presence to be gone. She invoked the family as a solid unit of love and informed the demon, "You have come to the wrong house!"

     Perhaps Soap was not quite the pace-setting show one might have hoped for since nothing quite like it has been seen since. In content, it had some characteristics of another pioneer effort, Norman Lear's Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. However, the differences between the two were greater than the similarities, and each set a tone for what might be done with television, given freedom, imagination, and talent.

Soap was a ratings success on ABC and a hit in England and Japan. Despite the concerted attacks, it was the 13th most popular network program for the 1977-78 season. Eight Is Enough was rated 12th. Soap ended, however, under suspicion that resistance from ad agencies may have caused ABC to cancel at that point. The series may still be seen in syndication in various communities, and it is available on home video.