Reviews

I caught the pilot of "Bram and Alice" and saw potential in it, but not as a network TV show. Bram is the author of one successful book, being hounded by his publisher to produce a second. He passes his days avoiding the publisher's phone calls and spending his advance money seducing pretty young women writers who come to him seeking advice or an entrée into the writing business. Alice is a daughter Bram didn't know he had, from a years-ago indiscretion with her mother, a woman he hardly remembers. Alice wants to be a writer and journeys to meet Dad to establish herself both as his daughter and as a writer.

For anyone who remembers NBC's "Buffalo Bill" from the mid 1980s, the same principles apply here: unlikeable characters in key roles and abundant cynicism. Of course, the door is open for redemption and unexpected kindness to blossom, but the show would need to have lasted for more than a couple of episodes.

On one of the cable networks this show could possibly have survived, even thrived, because its thorny matters of plot and character could have been worked out. On network TV (in this case CBS) "Bram and Alice" withered on the vine.

I seem to recall that James Burroughs directed the premiere episode of "Bram and Alice", the only one I saw; Mr. Burroughs' guidance plus the excellent cast made it memorable. But, like the aforementioned "Buffalo Bill", "Bram and Alice" died prematurely. I can't guess where this show might have gone given a fair chance.

This show appeared in what we may now call a "golden" period for network television. in the early 1980s, for whatever reason, the commercial networks seemed willing to take chances on dicey shows, even airing programs with admittedly no chance of commercial survival.

It was in this atmosphere that "Live from Studio 8H" aired on NBC--a program featuring classical music performances from the studio where Arturo Toscanini once conducted live concerts. And, over on ABC, a "limited-run" series called "Police Squad" cracked us up for six episodes, then was gone. During this period "No Soap, Radio" also aired on ABC, enjoying only a brief run.

"No Soap, Radio" was evidently never intended to succeed. One may suppose that the "doomed" shows of the 80s were aired to lend prestige to the networks which carried them. In any case, "No Soap" was a funny show and brought some wonderful talent back to television, notably Bill Dana, who had been one of the Sixties' stars of the medium.

The humor on "No Soap" was decidedly out of the mainstream. Many folks would (and did) turn the channel when confronted with it. But the show was funny, and appealed to the same type of humor connoisseur who worshiped "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (which, by the way, was a hit).

So, "No Soap, Radio" is an unjustly neglected show. The talent involved with it alone should have made it a hit, but it was never meant to be. The commercial networks in those days were willing to put these shows on the air, but not to stand by them or promote them. A couple of years after this show, "Buffalo Bill" and "Domestic Life" met the same fate on NBC.