September 13, 1977: “Soap” Premieres

September 13, 1977: Soap premieres on ABC. As narrator Rod Roddy says at the start of every episode, "This is the story of two sisters: Jessica Tate and Mary Campbell," who were played by, respectively, Katherine Helmond and Cathryn Damon.

This parody of daytime soap operas featured a lot of stars in the making. On the Tate side: Robert Mandan, Jimmy Baio (Scott's brother) and Diana Canova. On the Campbell side: Richard Mulligan, Ted Wass, Billy Crystal and Robert Urich. Crystal's Jodie Dallas was the 1st openly gay character to be a regular on an American TV show (who nonetheless later married a woman and had a child). It also had Sal Viscuso, better known as the never-seen public address announcer on M*A*S*H.

Creator Susan Harris would spin Benson off from this show, with Robert Guillaume's character quitting as the Tates' butler (replaced by Roscoe Lee Browne) to run the Governor's Mansion after Jessica and Mary's cousin, Gene Gatling, was elected. Soap actors (as different characters) who appeared on that show included Inga Swenson and Caroline McWilliams.

Soap ran 4 years, 1977 to 1981; while Benson ran 8 years, 1978 to 1986. Although Soap was set in the fictional town of Dunn's River, Connecticut, the State of which Gatling was Governor was never specified. The house that stood in for the Governor's Mansion was in Pasadena, California: One mile in one direction is the house that was Wayne Manor on the 1966-68 Batman series, and one mile in the other direction was the Aaron Spelling mansion that served as the Carrington mansion on Dynasty.

Harris would also create The Golden Girls and its spinoff, Empty Nest, which would star Mulligan and also have recurring Soap actress Dinah Manoff.

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September 13, 1977 was a Tuesday. Singer Fiona Apple was born. And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-2 at Yankee Stadium. Rookie Ron Guidry went the distance for the win. Mickey Rivers, the Yankees' leading hitter for batting average (he would finish at .326), but not a power hitter, hit a home run. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-4.

The Red Sox had led the Yankees in the American League Eastern Division most of the way. But this opened a series with a win for the Yankees. The next night, Jackson broke up a dual shutout with a bottom of the 9th home run, and that pretty much knocked the Sox out, despite their salvaging the series finale.

* The New York Mets lost to the Montreal Expos, 8-5 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. The Expos scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th, to come from behind to win.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Jim Rooker pitched 7 2/3rds innings of 5-hit shutout ball, outpitching Jim Kaat. Rich "Goose" Gossage, his only season with the Pirates, finished the 5-hit shutout. Willie Stargell did not play. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 13-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. César Cedeño went 4-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Bob Watson went 2-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs. For the Reds, George Foster hit his 47th home run, on his way to 52. Pete Rose went 2-for-5. Johnny Bench did not play.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Oscar Gamble (not a surprise) and Jim Essian (a big surprise) hit home runs for "The South Side Hit Men," while Roy Smalley hit one for the Twins. Rod Carew went 3-for-4, raising his batting average to .379. He finished at .388.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, 3-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The California Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 12-7 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 18-4 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Dodgers scored 10 runs in the 2nd inning. Despite their onslaught, Dusty Baker was the only Dodger with a home run. He was 2-for-3 with 5 RBIs. Glenn Burke went 4-for-5 with 4 home runs. Steve Garvey went 3-for-3 with 3 RBIs. Dave Winfield went 1-for-4.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 8-7 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Bill Madlock singled Darrell Evans home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-5 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Don Money hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning. Robin Yount also hit a home run.

* The Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays were rained out at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The O's swept, 6-5 and 4-2. They did this despite Eddie Murray, soon to be named American League Rookie of the Year, going 0-for-8 with a walk over the 2 games. Mike Flanagan and Rudy May were the winning pitchers.

* The Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers were rained out at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Tigers swept, 5-3 and 2-1. In the nightcap, Ron LeFlore drove Tim Corcoran in with the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.

* And the Kansas City Royals and the Oakland Athletics, the former Kansas City team, were rained out at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. As the next day already had a rain-forced doubleheader scheduled, this game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day, September 15. The Royals swept, 7-6 and 5-4. Both games went to extra innings. In the 1st game, Pete LaCock singled Willie Wilson home with the winning run. In the 2nd game, Al Cowens led off the bottom of the 10th with a home run.