minor muppetz
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One thing I've read a number of times recently is that on the show Soap, it was originally planned for Chuck and Bob (okay, probably just Chuck) to be the one who killed Peter Campbell, only for the killer to be changed because the fans liked them too much. I believe this, though I've never seen any official sources for it. I've seen the info mentioned in YouTube comments, IMDB, and TV Tropes, which are not always reliable and have all sorts of unsourced info (some of these mention hearing the info in an interview with the creator, but not WHICH interview).
Assuming that's true, I must wonder if it was very difficult to figure out a way to make another character the murderer. In fact it ended up being a different character, who turned out to have done it due to a brain tumor which allowed for him to be considered "not guilty". They couldn't have had Chuck and Bob be the murderers and then make it all due to a brain tumor? And ironically at the end of the season when the announcer says that it's one of five different characters, Chuck is not among those five.
While I haven't seen anything official that confirms it, I believe it. It would make sense of a number of things. I noticed that when Chuck arrived it was never stated if it was just a visit or if he was moving in (I wonder if the murder caused him to continue living there, since the family was ordered not to leave town). He very well could have visited so he'd be close to Peter and able to murder him (and I've noticed that Chuck and Peter never had any scenes together. In fact, outside of the dinner party held to introduce him to the others (besides Burt) I don't think he appeared with any of the Campbells). Perhaps whatever it was that caused Chuck to behave as if Bob was real caused him to initially be the murderer, or Chuck faked it to hide murderer motivation. Additionally, I've heard that Chuck and Bob were originally only supposed to be in a few episodes (Jay Johnson said in the I'm No Dummy documentary that he was originally only supposed to be in seven episodes, and the fact that he was only intended to be in a few episodes was confirmed in a bonus feature in the second season DVD).
It's been awhile since I watched the show or checked any episode guides, but the "who killed Peter?" storyline seemed to go on kinda long. I wonder if the storyline was extended due to them needing to make a different character the murderer.
I also have a few more observations regarding this story line:
Assuming that's true, I must wonder if it was very difficult to figure out a way to make another character the murderer. In fact it ended up being a different character, who turned out to have done it due to a brain tumor which allowed for him to be considered "not guilty". They couldn't have had Chuck and Bob be the murderers and then make it all due to a brain tumor? And ironically at the end of the season when the announcer says that it's one of five different characters, Chuck is not among those five.
While I haven't seen anything official that confirms it, I believe it. It would make sense of a number of things. I noticed that when Chuck arrived it was never stated if it was just a visit or if he was moving in (I wonder if the murder caused him to continue living there, since the family was ordered not to leave town). He very well could have visited so he'd be close to Peter and able to murder him (and I've noticed that Chuck and Peter never had any scenes together. In fact, outside of the dinner party held to introduce him to the others (besides Burt) I don't think he appeared with any of the Campbells). Perhaps whatever it was that caused Chuck to behave as if Bob was real caused him to initially be the murderer, or Chuck faked it to hide murderer motivation. Additionally, I've heard that Chuck and Bob were originally only supposed to be in a few episodes (Jay Johnson said in the I'm No Dummy documentary that he was originally only supposed to be in seven episodes, and the fact that he was only intended to be in a few episodes was confirmed in a bonus feature in the second season DVD).
It's been awhile since I watched the show or checked any episode guides, but the "who killed Peter?" storyline seemed to go on kinda long. I wonder if the storyline was extended due to them needing to make a different character the murderer.
I also have a few more observations regarding this story line:
- The officer knows that it was either a Tate or a Campbell. But couldn't he have been wrong? Surely there are others who might have killed him, particularly the others he had affairs with. And some of the suspects were really only suspects so they could be suspects.
- At the end of the season when the announcer says the murderer is one of five characters, one of those characters shown is Burt. But he clearly wasn't the murderer. He was the one who discovered that his son was murdered, and he was alone, so he didn't need to make a fake reaction. I guess they could have made him the murderer under the same conditions the real murderer was (memory loss and a brain tumor), but I'm sure the audience wouldn't suspect memory loss.
- When the officer lists his suspects, he says that Chester was a suspect because Peter had an affair with his wife, which Chester was unaware of at the time. Couldn't he have asked Jessica to vouch for the fact that he didn't know? I feel they should have changed it so that he killed Peter for sleeping with his daughter, that would make more sense (and I believe he knew about that).