The BEST episodes of Soap

Every episode of Soap ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Soap!

Sisters Mary Campbell and Jessica Tate lead soap-opera lives with their crazy families.

Last Updated: 3/16/2024Network: ABC (US)Status: Ended
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Episode 1.22
star
8.79
101 votes

#1 - Episode 1.22

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/28/1978

Jodie and Carol plan a weekend away as "just friends." Mary commits Burt to the mental hospital. Danny tells Mary he must marry Elaine. Billy runs away from home. Benson, Chester, and Jessica take the stand in Jessica's trial.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Writer: Susan Harris
Watch Now:Amazon
Episode 1.20
star
8.77
133 votes

#2 - Episode 1.20

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/14/1978

Danny learns he must marry Elaine. Mary tells Burt of her plans to commit him. Jessica's case looks even more hopeless after she meets the prosecutor and judge.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Writer: Susan Harris
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Episode 1.21
star
8.60
127 votes

#3 - Episode 1.21

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/21/1978

Elaine meets the kooky Campbells. Corinne tracks down Tim at his mountain retreat. Mallu's assistant, Carol, invites Jodie to lunch. Jessica's murder trial begins.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Writer: Susan Harris
Watch Now:Amazon
Episode 1.13
star
8.48
136 votes

#4 - Episode 1.13

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/13/1977

"Piece of Chelief" Tinkler questions the Tates and Campbells, all of whom are suspects in Peter's grisly murder.

Writer: Susan Harris
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Episode 3.22 (Part 1)
star
8.43
28 votes

#5 - Episode 3.22 (Part 1)

Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/27/1980

Season #3 season finale was an expanded episode of 60 minutes. Now shown in two parts in syndication. Danny proposes marriage to Polly; Sheriff Burt and Deputy Danny are set up for blackmail by mobster Elmore Tibbs; Dutch cannot choose between two sisters; Carol's mother joins her daughter in perjuring herself in court; Leslie now decides to kill Billy; and Jessica's death watch features a surprise visit from Benson.

Directors: J.D. Lobue
Watch Now:Amazon
Episode 1.24
star
8.32
92 votes

#6 - Episode 1.24

Season 1 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/21/1978

Carol seduces Jodie. Mary forgives Burt. Corinne returns to the Tates. Ingrid vows to destroy the Tates. Sheriff Tinkler arrives to arrest Chester for stock fraud. The jury begins deliberating Jessica's fate.

Writer: Susan Harris
Watch Now:Amazon
Episode 1.14
star
8.27
113 votes

#7 - Episode 1.14

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/27/1977

Chester and Jessica discuss her affair with Peter. The Tates and Campbells wonder who among them is a murderer. Eunice and Congressman McCallum meet up in an airplane lavatory. Chief Tinkler arrests Corrine.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Writer: Susan Harris
Watch Now:Amazon
Episode 3.7
star
8.22
27 votes

#8 - Episode 3.7

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/8/1979

The Tates and Campbells gather to welcome Dutch to the family--and scare Millie away in the process. Billy and Leslie's romantic evening is interrupted by her ex. Jodie and Corinne discuss single parenthood. Alien Burt refuses to return to the spaceship. Real Burt finally contacts Mary, then disappears before her eyes. Back on the spaceship, Real Burt convinces the aliens to give him a chance to persuade Alien Burt to leave Earth for good.

Directors: J.D. Lobue
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Episode 3.18
star
8.20
56 votes

#9 - Episode 3.18

Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/28/1980

Burt announces he will run for Sheriff, and Danny wants to be Deputy. Jodie enlists Mr. Mallu's help in his fight for Wendy. Chester begs Jessica to take him back. Jessica entertains her psychologist, Dr. Posner, amidst the usual Tate insanity.

Directors: J.D. Lobue
Watch Now:Amazon
Episode 3.14
star
8.14
29 votes

#10 - Episode 3.14

Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/17/1980

Danny learns of Burt's illness and agrees to help Burt win a spot in the Guiness Book of World Records. Eunice asks Corinne to cover for her while she cheats on Dutch. Chester's attempts to resist the minister's sexy daughter prove futile. The Campbells host Polly's family at dinner. After Chester tells Jessica he has lapsed again, she kicks him out of the house.

Directors: J.D. Lobue
Watch Now:Amazon
Episode 1.15
star
8.12
132 votes

#11 - Episode 1.15

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/3/1978

Corrine goes to jail for killing Peter. Burt launches his own investigation. Danny decides to surprise the Godfather but must get past his daughter, Elaine, first. Ingrid Svenson arrives in Dunn's River, claiming to be Corrine's real mother.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Writer: Susan Harris
Watch Now:Amazon
Episode 1.18
star
8.11
127 votes

#12 - Episode 1.18

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/24/1978

Father Tim bids Corinne farewell. Burt tells Mary he can make himself invisible. Chester hires high-priced attorney E. Ronald Mallu to defend Jessica. Jessica decides to skip bail and head to Rio. Claire alerts the SEC to Chester's shady business dealings.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Writer: Susan Harris
Watch Now:Amazon
Episode 1.8
star
8.11
141 votes

#13 - Episode 1.8

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/8/1977

Unable to kill Burt as ordered, Danny goes on the run as a "spy" but not before finally accepting Jodie's homosexuality and bidding a tearful goodbye to Mary. At a dinner party for Chuck and Bob, Danny makes a surprise visit that turns into "a little Tuesday night shootout."

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Episode 4.16 (Part 2)
star
8.06
18 votes

#14 - Episode 4.16 (Part 2)

Season 4 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/20/1981

Burt receives a tip about a major drug transaction. Danny tells Burt that he's in love with Annie. The Tates worry about Jessica. Jessica makes life difficult for her captors. The communists demand El Puerco's surrender. Jessica prepares to face her execution. Chester catches Danny in bed with Annie. Burt walks into an ambush. Jessica faces a firing squad.

Watch Now:Amazon
Episode 2.7
star
8.05
38 votes

#15 - Episode 2.7

Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/2/1978

Carol's father objects to Carol and Jodie's marriage. Elaine opens up to Danny. Jessica, Mary, Corinne, and Eunice commiserate. Sally tells Burt she's in love with him.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Writer: Susan Harris
Watch Now:Amazon
Episode 1.7
star
8.03
121 votes

#16 - Episode 1.7

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/1/1977

The Major terrorizes the neighbors. Chuck and Bob arrive and promptly offend the Campbells. Claire tells Jessica of her affair with Chester, but Jessica doesn't believe her. Danny gets Burt alone and at gunpoint in the woods.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Episode 3.9
star
8.00
27 votes

#17 - Episode 3.9

Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/6/1979

Billy tells Jessica about his affair with Leslie. Burt returns home to share his ordeal with Mary. Danny meets a black widow at the cemetery. Dutch makes it clear he knows Eunice is cheating on him. Jessica spots Chester with another woman.

Watch Now:Amazon
Episode 4.6
star
8.00
23 votes

#18 - Episode 4.6

Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/17/1980

Danny finds a hooker who will help bring Tibbs to justice. The cash-poor Tates hold a barbecue. Leslie gets more creative in her efforts to kill Billy. Jessica accepts El Puerco's invitation to spend the night in his tent.

Directors: J.D. Lobue
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Episode 1.23
star
7.97
70 votes

#19 - Episode 1.23

Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/14/1978

Walter dumps Eunice. Burt tells Mary he killed her first husband. Corinne walks out on Ingrid. Father Tim tells his mother he's leaving the priesthood. Jodie and Carol plan a weekend at the Cape. The prosecution drops a bombshell at Jessica's murder trial.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Writer: Susan Harris
Watch Now:Amazon
Episode 1.5
star
7.93
122 votes

#20 - Episode 1.5

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/4/1977

Eunice and Jodie discuss their man troubles. Burt and Mary visit a sex therapist. Corrine gives Tim one last chance before moving in with Peter, then catches Jessica kissing Peter.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Episode 3.8
star
7.93
27 votes

#21 - Episode 3.8

Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/22/1979

Mary begins to question her sanity. Eunice and Corinne call Chester on his cheating. Real Burt turns to Jodie for help. Billy plans a rendezvous with Leslie at a hotel but runs into Eunice, then Corinne, then Dutch, then Chester in the lobby. Real Burt makes an impassioned plea to Alien Burt.

Directors: J.D. Lobue
Watch Now:Amazon
Episode 2.9
star
7.92
39 votes

#22 - Episode 2.9

Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/23/1978

Chester comes home; Jodie slugs Dennis; and more news, Corinne is pregnat. Other news. Dutch comes and says good-bye, c this show 2 find out what's up.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Episode 3.11
star
7.90
29 votes

#23 - Episode 3.11

Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/27/1979

Jessica agrees to see a marriage counselor with Chester. The Campbells urge Jodie to move back home. Burt is jealous of Alien Burt's sexual prowess. At Billy's 18th-birthday party, Leslie promises "to blow out every candle on [Billy's] cake."

Directors: J.D. Lobue
Watch Now:Amazon
Episode 3.10
star
7.88
26 votes

#24 - Episode 3.10

Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/13/1979

Jessica catches Chester with another woman. Burt and Mary go for their annual physicals. Danny tries to find Polly. Jessica meets Leslie. An agent from Child Protective Services pays a visit to Jodie.

Directors: J.D. Lobue
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Episode 1.9
star
7.86
139 votes

#25 - Episode 1.9

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/15/1977

Jodie checks into the hospital for his sex-change operation. Dr. Medlow helps Burt overcome his guilt and his impotence. At lunch with Mary, Jessica spots Chester kissing Claire.

Directors: Jay Sandrich
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV