Exclusive: Jennie Snyder Urman Shares the Dish on Soapdish Revival

Soap fans fondly remember the 1991 movie that spoofed the soap opera genre.

Soap fans fondly recall the 1991 film that spoofed the soap world.Photo bySoap Hub

In early 2022, there was news that TV producer Jennie Snyder Urman (Jane the Virgin) was attached to a revival of Soapdish, the 1991 film starring Sally Field (The Flying Nun) and Whoopi Goldberg (The View) for Paramount+. Now, Soap Hub is reporting an update on a series about the movie that poked fun at the daytime serial genre.

Cliffhanger

Soap Hub caught up with Hollywood showrunner Urman at the TV Critics Association summer press tour during a set visit to the upcoming CBS primetime series Matlock on the Paramount Studios lot. Urman is executive producing the show, starring Kathy Bates (ex-Belle, All My Children) as Madeline “Matty” Matlock. The new series is inspired by the Andy Griffith series on NBC of the same name, which ran from 1986-95.

Alas, it doesn’t appear that a new Soapdish is moving forward — at least not with Urman. “No update on Soapdish,” she shared with Soap Hub. “I wish we got to make it, but I don’t see it happening right now.”

Urman says she’s a great admirer of the daytime drama genre. In fact, she got her start writing for television thanks to Joanna Johnson (ex-Caroline/ex-Karen, Bold and the Beautiful) when she was producing and writing Hope & Faith, the sitcom that starred Kelly Ripa (ex-Hayley, AMC) and Faith Ford (ex-Julia, Another World).

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“I love soaps,” Urman says. “I grew up watching them. I watched GH, Days of our Lives, Another World. Joanna was my first boss and mentor.”

For now, and hopefully, years to come, Jennie Snyder Urman will be tied up with Matlock. In addition to Bates, the show stars Jason Ritter (Joan of Arcadia) as Julian, whose father owns the law firm on the show. Might we see some daytime stars appear on Matlock? “You never know,” she says. “I love them.”

Matlock debuts Sunday, September 22 at 8 p.m. ET. before moving to its regular time slot, starting Thursday, October 17 at 9 p.m. ET.