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No Soap, Radio
- 209 statements
- 40 feature instances
- 14 referencing feature instances
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No Soap, Radio was a rapid-fire Sitcom Sketch Comedy Short-Runner that aired on ABC in April 1982. It was a brazen attempt to bring Absurdism and Surreal Humor to American audiences, and is often compared to Monty Python's Flying Circus and Fawlty Towers.Superficially, the show revolves around the Pelican Hotel, a once-glamorous lodge in Atlantic City, New Jersey that's now in its fading years. It is owned and managed by the youthfully optimistic Roger (Steve Guttenberg), who tries to please his visitors with the help of his assistant Karen (Hillary Bailey). Other characters include Morris (Jerry Maren) the bellboy; Al Tuttle (Stuart Pankin), a local tough who is trying to get Roger to sell the hotel; and longtime residents Mrs. Belmont (Fran Ryan), Mr. Plitzky (Bill Dana), and Marion (Edie McClurg).In reality, this was all a Framing Device to feature a nonstop barrage of sketches, gags, and skits. Transitions included hotel doors opening to improbable locales, cameras zooming into background props, or the show itself being interrupted for a "Special Report". The stories actually involving the Pelican Hotel could also veer into the nonsensical, especially when the elements from the skits crossed over.Between the random non-sequiter humor and a horrible timeslot,note It aired on Thursday nights opposite the highly popular Magnum, P.I. it's not a surprise that the show was canceled after five episodes.Not to be confused with the Work Com NewsRadio. | |
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2024-04-05T21:47:03Z | |
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2024-04-05T21:47:03Z | |
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Dropped link to TheMafia: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_14789f16 | type |
Giant Foot of Stomping | |
No Soap, Radio / int_14789f16 | comment |
"Basketball Head" begins with a giant foot falling out of the sky. | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_1ba8eb64 | type |
Visual Pun | |
No Soap, Radio / int_1ba8eb64 | comment |
Visual Pun: A fire extinguisher cabinet has a fully-suited fireman inside. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_1ba8eb64 | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_1d2400e9 | type |
Green-Eyed Monster | |
No Soap, Radio / int_1d2400e9 | comment |
Green-Eyed Monster: In one episode, Roger becomes jealous when Karen starts showering extra attention on a handsome and wealthy guest. | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_1d3bc993 | type |
Mistaken for Special Guest | |
No Soap, Radio / int_1d3bc993 | comment |
Mistaken for Special Guest: In one episode, a homeless man is mistaken for a famous hotel critic in disguise. The staff ends up giving him extra-special treatment as a result. | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_1e1afc1b | type |
Framing Device | |
No Soap, Radio / int_1e1afc1b | comment |
Framing Device: The events at the Pelican Hotel are used to introduce and separate the various sketches... except when it's funnier to have them cross over. | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_204cf900 | type |
Model Scam | |
No Soap, Radio / int_204cf900 | comment |
Model Scam: The episode "Miss Pelican" has Roger fall victim to a fake beauty contest at the hotel. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_204cf900 | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_21e5b9c7 | type |
Failed a Spot Check | |
No Soap, Radio / int_21e5b9c7 | comment |
Failed a Spot Check: In "Curse of the Chair", a man-eating chair is delivered by a uniformed deliveryman from the Cursed Chair Company. No one pays him any mind. | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_3056adad | type |
Witness Protection | |
No Soap, Radio / int_3056adad | comment |
Witness Protection: One episode has the Pelican being used as a hideout for Carmine Turner, a notorious gangster who is planning to testify against his colleagues. | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_3d2c6d30 | type |
Skewed Priorities | |
No Soap, Radio / int_3d2c6d30 | comment |
Skewed Priorities: When the man-eating chair attacks and the housewife cries for help, a neighbor angrily demands to know what type of chair is on the rampage. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_3d2c6d30 | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_40fb48af | type |
Stealthy Teleportation | |
No Soap, Radio / int_40fb48af | comment |
Stealthy Teleportation: Invoked in one sketch, where a man enters a steam room and inexplicably ends up in the middle of the Baltic Sea with a British police officer. | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_48346d2e | type |
Public Service Announcement | |
No Soap, Radio / int_48346d2e | comment |
Public Service Announcement: A regular target of parody, such as the announcements for the "Inverted Speech Foundation" and the "Distrosis Foundation". | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_48d87e94 | type |
Planet of Steves | |
No Soap, Radio / int_48d87e94 | comment |
Planet of Steves: One skit has a 1950s horror movie spoof called The Day Everyone's Name Became Al, which was a scheme from invading aliens attempting to cause chaos on Earth. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_48d87e94 | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_5009999d | type |
Painting the Medium | |
No Soap, Radio / int_5009999d | comment |
Painting the Medium: After Elmer Fudd confesses on national television that "cartoons aren't weal", he starts crying out of fear that "they" are going to retaliate. Sure enough, a hand reaches from the top of the frame, then grabs and crumples the page that Elmer is drawn on... | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_5c1dce4c | type |
Viewers Like You | |
No Soap, Radio / int_5c1dce4c | comment |
Viewers Like You: Spoofed in the opening of the first episode, which credits the show to Trans National Petroleum, The Updyke Foundation, and Rico's Boom-Boom Room. | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_5f014f7a | type |
Sub Story | |
No Soap, Radio / int_5f014f7a | comment |
Sub Story: This sketch has a little old lady reading the newspaper in the park... while she's being targeted by a Japanese submarine. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_5f014f7a | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_5f014f7a | |
No Soap, Radio / int_62cae28a | type |
Losing Your Head | |
No Soap, Radio / int_62cae28a | comment |
Losing Your Head: Seen in the "Job Interview" sketch, where the president of a hat company is a disembodied head waddling around a desk. | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_62cae28a | |
No Soap, Radio / int_6d740dff | type |
Enforced Trope | |
No Soap, Radio / int_6d740dff | comment |
Enforced when the series was shown in Britain, which removed the commercial breaks and made everything even faster as a result. | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_708cabf8 | type |
Sleeping Dummy | |
No Soap, Radio / int_708cabf8 | comment |
Sleeping Dummy: In "Basketball Head", Junior builds one of these so he can sneak out of the house. When it is found by his parents, they are horrified and immediately call the paramedics to save it. | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_708cabf8 | |
No Soap, Radio / int_70d8269d | type |
Excuse Plot | |
No Soap, Radio / int_70d8269d | comment |
Excuse Plot: The happenings at the Pelican Hotel are clearly a Framing Device to go from one gag to another. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_70d8269d | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_70d8269d | |
No Soap, Radio / int_7c8981df | type |
Portal Door | |
No Soap, Radio / int_7c8981df | comment |
Portal Door: The Pelican Hotel is full of these, which open to whatever locale is relevant for the next sketch. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_7c8981df | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_7c8981df | |
No Soap, Radio / int_7d218606 | type |
Rapid-Fire Comedy | |
No Soap, Radio / int_7d218606 | comment |
Rapid-Fire Comedy: The jokes may be weird, but they sure do come fast. Enforced when the series was shown in Britain, which removed the commercial breaks and made everything even faster as a result. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_7d218606 | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_808cbaeb | type |
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking | |
No Soap, Radio / int_808cbaeb | comment |
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: The House of Lies sells perjuries, alibis, innuendos, tall tales, short tales, fibs, fabrications, contradictions, vicious rumors, and ladies' luggage. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_808cbaeb | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio | hasFeature |
No Soap, Radio / int_808cbaeb | |
No Soap, Radio / int_87d7e9fa | type |
Surreal Humor | |
No Soap, Radio / int_87d7e9fa | comment |
Surreal Humor: If the comedy isn't coming from a skit, then it's coming from being inexplicable and bizarre. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_87d7e9fa | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_8cf6aa | type |
Literal Metaphor | |
No Soap, Radio / int_8cf6aa | comment |
Literal Metaphor: "House of Lies" features a store that sells falsehoods. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_8cf6aa | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_8cf6aa | |
No Soap, Radio / int_8fcb5843 | type |
The Hunter Becomes the Hunted | |
No Soap, Radio / int_8fcb5843 | comment |
The Hunter Becomes the Hunted: Invoked in the "Deer Hunter" sketch, where the deer... well, you can guess. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_8fcb5843 | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_8fcb5843 | |
No Soap, Radio / int_9600368d | type |
Behind the Black | |
No Soap, Radio / int_9600368d | comment |
Behind the Black: Used in one skit; a homeless man wanders into a closed building and finds a grand piano in a darkened room. He proceeds to play Mozart flawlessly, then turns to his right and sees a theater packed with enthusiastically applauding patrons. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_9600368d | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio | hasFeature |
No Soap, Radio / int_9600368d | |
No Soap, Radio / int_96d1b224 | type |
Little People Are Surreal | |
No Soap, Radio / int_96d1b224 | comment |
Little People Are Surreal: Morris the bellboy (played by Jerry Maren) is a little person, which simply emphasizes the absurdism of the show. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_96d1b224 | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_a60e3252 | type |
Rule of Funny | |
No Soap, Radio / int_a60e3252 | comment |
Rule of Funny: The ONLY reason anything happens in this show. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_a60e3252 | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_b4154208 | type |
Sitcom | |
No Soap, Radio / int_b4154208 | comment |
Sitcom: There's ostensibly a conventional sitcom about a New Jersey hotel buried beneath the pile of random routines. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_b4154208 | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_b4154208 | |
No Soap, Radio / int_bb0a2242 | type |
No-Tell Motel | |
No Soap, Radio / int_bb0a2242 | comment |
No-Tell Motel: Discussed when Roger is trying to convince a telephone caller that the Pelican is a suitable venue for a Shriners' Convention: | |
No Soap, Radio / int_bb0a2242 | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_c33ba0a8 | type |
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome | |
No Soap, Radio / int_c33ba0a8 | comment |
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Roger's assistant Sharon (Brianne Leary) appears only in the first episode. She is replaced with Karen (Hillary Bailey) in later episodes without any explanation. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_c33ba0a8 | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_c58e6eb4 | type |
No Inner Fourth Wall | |
No Soap, Radio / int_c58e6eb4 | comment |
No Inner Fourth Wall: The characters and events from the various sketches will interact with the people at the Pelican Hotel whenever it's funny. A box of cereal that appeared in a television commercial saves the Pelican Hotel from being sold. A man-eating chair from an in-universe movie ends up in a police standoff in the hotel. | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
No Soap, Radio / int_c75df49a | comment |
Shout-Out: Several bits are clear nods to Monty Python's Flying Circus. "Basketball Head" begins with a giant foot falling out of the sky. Remember "The Argument Clinic"? Here's "House of Lies". | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_c75df49a | |
No Soap, Radio / int_ccbaffb6 | type |
We Interrupt This Program | |
No Soap, Radio / int_ccbaffb6 | comment |
We Interrupt This Program: Some skits are introduced with a news bulletin interrupting the hotel's story. One was an announcement that Mr. Potato Head was kidnapped, with the President asking families to show their support by putting a french fry in their windows. | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_d66b73ca | type |
Sketch Comedy | |
No Soap, Radio / int_d66b73ca | comment |
Sketch Comedy: When the show is not focusing on the hotel, then it's this. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_d66b73ca | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_d66b73ca | |
No Soap, Radio / int_e0c470a1 | type |
The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You | |
No Soap, Radio / int_e0c470a1 | comment |
The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: In-universe example — one episode opens with a commercial for "Raisin Flakes" cereal, where a hand reaches out of the box, grabs the eater, and drags him into the box. Cut to Roger watching the commercial while reaching into a box of "Raisin Flakes", whereupon he pulls out the slipper of the just-captured victim... | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_e9e35e8f | type |
Exact Words | |
No Soap, Radio / int_e9e35e8f | comment |
Exact Words: Demonstrated in the public service announcement for the Distrosis Foundation. | |
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No Soap, Radio / int_f4fcc961 | type |
TV Telephone Etiquette | |
No Soap, Radio / int_f4fcc961 | comment |
TV Telephone Etiquette: The regulars at the Pelican have no qualms about injecting themselves into Roger's phone calls. | |
No Soap, Radio / int_f4fcc961 | featureApplicability |
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No Soap, Radio / int_fcd9b657 | type |
Gallows Humor | |
No Soap, Radio / int_fcd9b657 | comment |
Gallows Humor: Seen in the "Distrosis Foundation" sketch, where the doctor informs Alan that he'll die within two weeks as part of a cheerful charity pitch. | |
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
No Soap, Radio | hasFeature |
Behind the Black / int_498b9ae8 | |
No Soap, Radio | hasFeature |
Framing Device / int_498b9ae8 | |
No Soap, Radio | hasFeature |
Giant Foot of Stomping / int_498b9ae8 | |
No Soap, Radio | hasFeature |
Little People Are Surreal / int_498b9ae8 | |
No Soap, Radio | hasFeature |
Losing Your Head / int_498b9ae8 | |
No Soap, Radio | hasFeature |
No Inner Fourth Wall / int_498b9ae8 | |
No Soap, Radio | hasFeature |
Planet of Steves / int_498b9ae8 | |
No Soap, Radio | hasFeature |
Sleeping Dummy / int_498b9ae8 | |
No Soap, Radio | hasFeature |
Stealthy Teleportation / int_498b9ae8 | |
No Soap, Radio | hasFeature |
Sub Story / int_498b9ae8 | |
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Surreal Humor / int_498b9ae8 | |
TV Telephone Etiquette | processingUnknown |
No Soap, Radio | |
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The Hunter Becomes the Hunted / int_498b9ae8 | |
No Soap, Radio | hasFeature |
Viewers Like You / int_498b9ae8 |
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Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.