Soap is an American sitcom that originally ran on ABC from 1977 into 1981. The show was created as a night-time parody of daytime soap operas, presented as a weekly half-hour prime time comedy. Similar to a soap opera, the show’s story was presented in a serial format and included melodramatic plot elements such as alien abduction, demonic possession, murder, and kidnapping.

In 2007 it was listed as one of Time magazine’s “100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME,” and in 2010, the Tates and the Campbells ranked at number 17 in TV Guide’s list of “TV’s Top Families”.

The show was created, written, and executive produced by Susan Harris, and also executive produced by Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas. Each returning season was preceded by a 90-minute retrospective of the previous season. Two of these retrospectives were made available on VHS in 1994.

The show aired 85 episodes over the course of four seasons. The final four episodes of the series aired as one-hour episodes during the original run on ABC. These hour-long episodes were later split in two, yielding 93 half-hour episodes for syndication.

All episodes are currently available on region 1 DVD in four separate box sets. In the past, the series has rerun on local syndicated channels as well as on cable on Comedy Central and TV Land. It ran on over-the-air television on Antenna TV, until December 30th, 2012.

Husband and wife doctors Paul and Kim Jordan need a drastic change. Distraught by the inexplicable death of their baby, Paul (C. Thomas Howell) convinces Kim to abandon their American lives and join a medical mission in Thailand. It seems to be just the distraction they need, until the day Paul is kidnapped by human traffickers who need a surgeon to operate on their wounded leader. Kim is left alone in a strange country, trying desperately to find her husband with no proof of what happened. While captive on the gangs’ secluded island, Paul is caged with Malcolm Andrews (John Rhys-Davies), an Englishman being held for ransom. With nothing to do but talk, the two men quickly clash over philosophy, as Malcolm relies on a bold faith in God and Paul believes no god would allow these evils to happen in the world. Paul takes another hit when he finds his patient’s condition much worse than he can handle on his own in such primitive conditions… Written by Anonymous (IMDB.com).

War veterans visit a lakeside cabin for a week of shooting, drinking, etc. but find the cabin being looked after by a young caretaker named David. When David’s status as a war deserter is revealed, all hell breaks loose.

In “The Christmas Train,” disillusioned, globetrotting journalist Tom Langdon (Dermot Mulroney) must get from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles in time for Christmas. Forced to take the intercontinental trip by train, and determined to chronicle his adventure, Tom finds himself westbound with a variety of characters. On the train is renowned movie producer Max (Danny Glover), Max’s script doctor and protégé Eleanor (Kimberly Williams Paisley), and Agnes (Joan Cusack) who occupies the cabin opposite Tom’s and seems to know his business better than he does. While all passengers on the Christmas train appear to be headed for the same destination, Tom has no idea that the rugged locomotives taking him across America will instead detour straight into his heart – into rude awakenings, his wildest hopes and dreams, and toward the opportunity for love Tom thought was lost forever.