Reel and real-life further collide as Draker orchestrates disabling storylines for the character of Kit. The backstage motivation is to give Kit, who has amusing leverage over Draker, more exposure on the series. The "Lives" drama include the character of Kit trying to wrest the character of Draker away from his on-screen wife. This nepotism extends to Kit sibling Donovan being the head writer. His primary concerns are to save his own job and to get rid of cast mate Kit Knockers, who gets her role via being the daughter of the now-vanished predecessor of Vanderstein. Vanderstein is brought in to cure the many ills that are dragging down "Lives."Ĭharacter actor Paul Witten plays "Lives" star Julian Draker, who is an influential player both in front of and behind the camera. "Glee" star Jane Lynch, whose Emmy-winning portrayal of new "Lives" executive producer Olivia Vanderstein has all the gleeful (had to be said) ruthlessness of her cheerleading coach/high school administrator Sue Sylvester from her Fox series.
#DROPPING THE SOAP TV SHOW SERIES#
The following YouTube clip of the official "Soap" trailer highlights all the comic drama from that series and from "Lives." "Lives" has all of the bad acting, dramatic close-ups, cheesy production, and cliched plots that mark unwatchable soaps. The comparison extends to the term "moving wallpaper" referring to television series that are so bad that watching therm is like staring at wallpaper. The 2008 S1 of the Britcom "Moving Wallpaper" has the similar premise of the characters having production positions or roles on the soap "Echo Beach." Episodes of "Beach" that reflects the most recent events on "Wallpaper" would air right after that episode of that series.
The opening credits provide a transition to that backstage world. Each "Soap" episode begins with a cold open in the form of a scene from the daytime drama "Collided Lives" around which the series about producing that show revolves. The more obscure (but more direct) homage to the video fare from across the pond is "Soap" treading where a Britcom has boldly gone before. The general similarity is that limiting the series to 10 episodes reflects the BBC philosophy of airing a few very good episodes, rather than 20-or-so mediocre or lousy ones.
Gay-themed streaming service Dekko releasing the complete series of the 2015 online sitcom "Dropping the Soap" on Februprovides a good chance to watch this homage to witty British television.