The Soupy Sales Show (1953– ) User Reviews

Terrific guy, and a part of our youth...now on DVD!

[wgbw · 8/10 · 5 October 2006]

No sour grapes from Wisconsin, on this fellow.

Soupy was a part of our growing up. Take away the pie throwing for a minute... there was some great, clean comedy... jokes that have lasted for generations.

And, even through the What's My Line era, he kept us entertained as well.

Try to take a static set with a door, window and table, and try to make something out of it... maybe Ralph Kramden did it... but Soupy excelled!

I think, just like Captain Kangaroo, Romper Room, The Mickey Mouse Club, this was part of our life. To ignore it, is a shame.

Soupy Sales - what a blast!

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 28 February 2007]

I'm prompted to write this review because of a trivia note on this board stating that Soupy's references to the 'F' word was the stuff of urban legend - not so! Besides the infamous 'little green pieces of paper' bit, I also managed to catch not one, but two of the comedian's gags regarding the 'F' word.

In the first, Soupy was addressing the camera as he often did, and went into one of those gestures that kids do when shooting odds and even. Extending his thumb, he says "This is for my mother", then for the forefinger, "This is for my father", and then extending his middle finger - "And this is for my producer".

The second incident I remember involved a skit with White Fang. Using a large easel for a prop, Soupy wrote the letter 'F' on the board and asked White Fang what letter it was. In his guttural dog voice, White Fang says 'K'. Soupy crosses out the letter and writes it larger, asking White Fang again, and again, he says 'K'. Finally, Soupy draws a huge 'F' on the easel, and asks White Fang once again what he wrote down. Fang still answers 'K', prompting the exasperated Soupy to respond - 'White Fang, why is it that every time I write 'F', you see 'K'. Well I just about fell out of my chair rolling, and as always, the off screen crew could be heard going into hysterics. If anything, this is the legend that should have survived the series even beyond the send me your money bit.

Those and other antics always made me wonder how Soupy survived as long as he did hosting what was nominally a kid show. Now when I saw the episodes in which the above situations occurred, it would have been on reruns during the mid 1960's, because whenever I got home from high school early enough, Soupy Sales was like religion, it just had to go on. Apparently, the powers that be must have gotten beyond the original shock of those bits to allow them to be aired again.

Anyway, "The Soupy Sales Show" was a blast, and I can still remember to this day characters like Philo Kvetch, Onions Oregano, and Pookie the Lion, as well as those two nutty off screen canines. Soupy definitely pushed the envelope for TV programming in a way that hasn't been matched since. For all those afternoons just rolling on the floor - "Thanks Soupy!"

Thanks for the Memories

[jerryliebrand · 9/10 · 6 October 2007]

Going back to the '60's and coming home from school to watch Soupy Sales. The pie in the face, white fang (all you could see was an arm). Yes, Soupy did push the envelope for daytime TV, but he was spontaneous and a great comedian. As a 10 yr. old, he made me laugh, but my parents would have to think about what he said, lots of double meanings. Now as I think back on what was said, there brings a chuckle - how did he get away with it? But isn't that what "wit" is all about? Thanks for the memories of the mid 1960's when all you had to worry about was being home on time for dinner and was your homework done. - Oh, and yes, I did collect his trading cards. When you had a complete set, and you flipped the cards over, it had a large "Soupy Sez" comment.

I met Soupy in the late 80s

[trivfan · 10/10 · 19 December 2006]

You couldn't have asked to meet a nicer person, we went to see one of his shows at the bottom line in NYC's village, when the show was over, he came out a spoke with his fans, I was first in line, we stood side by side and spoke like two old friends, he didn't try to give me the bum's rush away from him. My cousin had Polaroid camera, but when it came time to get my picture taken with soupy, the damn camera wouldn't work, so Soupy ad-libbed, how about a quick charcoal sketch? Sure his old shows had corny jokes and routines, but he was funny and every other word didn't have to be blocked out, ala Chris rock, whose only claim to fame is the word 'F**k I asked him about the episode that resulted in him being suspended, he said he received mostly Monopoly money and 2 bucks from a woman who said he should stay in Puerto Rico. I guess everyone has different tastes in comedy, but i like mine clean and sober, like Bob Newhart, etc. To the person that was born in 62, you missed a classic show, I only hope you grow up and give Soupy a chance, who knows, you may find yourself chuckling. He was playing to the crew as much as his audience.

Great show when I was a kid.

[stever-28 · 10/10 · 19 July 2006]

I remember a skit where White Fang told Soupy that he was a magician and could make things appear and disappear. So Soupy says, "OK, make me a chocolate milkshake." White Fang waves his wand and in a puff of smoke, Soupy is turned into a milkshake.

At 8 years old, I thought this was the height of comedy. Edgy and provocative for a kid in the 60s.

I think that between Soupy Sales and Mad Magazine we were all prepared for the events of the late 60s.

Soupy Sales probably helped prepare the way for the later psychedelic era.

Great early television

[RNMorton · 28 March 2002]

If you were a kid in the 60s it didn't get any better than "The Soupy Sales Show", an improvisational-type comedy show for children that worked on several levels. Soupy appeared with puppet friends Pookie, White Fang and Black Tooth, but it weren't no Shari Lewis show. As best I can recall, show was single-set with a back door that Soupy often opened, only to be greeted by anything from a speeding locomotive to a pie in the face. Legend has it that joking request to kid viewers to open dad's wallet and send in pictures of the presidents led to untimely cancellation. As Black Tooth might say "Ruh Uh Ruh Uh". Watch it if it's ever shown again, it's classic early television.

Great kids show and should be seen again

[usbp1051 · 10/10 · 12 January 2007]

Soupy Sales was a great comedian loved by the kids adults and even Big time actors and entertainers. He showed a love for children with the Big Kiss he gave to all the kids. He appealed to the smaller children with the puppets. Overall a Great show and I am glad that there are videos for Our kids to see. I tell my youngest daughter about White Fang and since she was 10 to now 16 she still asks me to imitate the white hand known as Fang and she still gets a kick out it, as I know I did when I was little. And who could forget the Big smile from Pookie. These are the great memories I have and will still have of the show along with many other persons my age. He should see this letter and realize that he was really appreciated and loved by people like me and now my daughter.

Excellent, thats all any one can say.

[cghgrn · 10/10 · 3 February 2007]

I was very young when started watching this Man, I still laugh myself sick. I am glad some one had the---- to have Him remembered>> Soupy I will miss your Humor. I know there was other people helping, you could always pick up a little laugh, here and there. You could tell by the the big smile,Soupy had someone had done something behind the camera,or behind the door. Thank You all for your efforts to keep him in our memories. At this time everything was live, Uncle Millty, Milton Berle,etc. Red Skelton, Burns and Allen, to name a few. But, and I say that with a big but, He Soupy Sales was my favorite. White Fang & Black Tooth were my favorites.

sexy soupy

[ORTHWEIN · 9/10 · 21 May 2007]

I loved this show as a kid. It was very funny, and the pie throwing slap stick comedy was perfect for a 10 year old, but a lot of the subtle humor was way over our heads, aimed at adults. I remember he used to answer a knock on the door and open it. We never saw who was behind the door unless they entered, but could only imagine who or what was there. In college when I worked at a TV station, I saw some rather blue video tapes. One of them was a Soupy Sales show in which he would answer the door and they would play the song The Stripper. He would ooh, ah and grin before closing the door. I think he reopened the door 4 or 5 times - same song - same comments. The video I saw interspersed cuts from behind the door. Yes there was a stripper there. I heard his crew pulled all kinds of pranks like this and worse, on him while he was doing his live show.

A Comic Genius Ahead Of His Time

[Sunsphxsuns · 9/10 · 5 April 2018]

Milton Supman was born January 8, 1926, in Franklinton, North Carolina. His family was the only Jewish family in the town and Sales often commented (humorously) that the "local Ku Klux Klan members bought the sheets used for their robes from his father's store." Sales got his nickname from his family, who called him "Soup Bone," later shortened to "Soupy." From then on he would be known as Soupy Sales.

For all of the wonderful things Sales gave the world, the daily children's television show "Lunch with Soupy Sales" is how he was best known.The show featured on the spot improvised sketches, many slapstick in nature, gags, puns, banter with the TV crew, which generally concluded with Sales getting a pie in the face. The pie then became his trademark, and also a staple in the TV series. Over the years Soupy Sales estimated that he and his guests had been hit by more than 20,000 pies during his career.

In 1960, Sales moved to the ABC-TV Studios in Los Angeles, California. ABC-TV cancelled the show in March 1961, but it continued as a local program on KABC-TV until January 1962. Sale's guests included Hollywood stars, and people like Frank Sinatra literally "begged" Soupy to be hit with a pie on the show. Sinatra was not only incredibly plastered by pies, he delighted in throwing them back at the cast and TV crew. The episode of Sinatra is available on YouTube and DVD, and it's hilarious seeing Frank behaving like a kid, laughing, as his pal, Sammy Davis, gets another pie in the face! That episode was something like, "The Three Stooges Meets The Rat Pack."

Soupy's TV entourage routinely included the "giant dogs" White Fang and Black Tooth, Pookie, The Man at Door, Hippy, and both puppets and humans seemed to merrily engage each other in Soupy's Playhouse (much like Pee Wee Herman's, but far less eccentric). As a kid, this was the perfect show to watch after school, and because much of the dialogue and humor was also cleverly targeted towards adults, my parents often watched the show with me. It's a shame that the studios did not think to archive the episodes because very little of them exist today for viewing. Amazon offers a small handful of DVDs which include some of the original black and white episodes, and a few later episodes in color. The black and white (Season 1) episodes are the most outrageous and frankly the most fun to watch.

Soupy Sales was one of a kind, and his book, "Soupy Sez!: My Zany Life and Times," is worth reading, especially if you are a fan looking to get a little more insight into his life.

One of my favorites!!!!

[firpin · 10/10 · 23 October 2009]

I had lunch with Soupy for years. My mom sent my name in on my birthday and Willie the Worm gave me a happy birthday (I was a local hero at school that day). I was a member of the "birdbath club" and was a loyal fan. Pookie was my favorite! I loved it when the camera would move and accidentally give us a split second look at Clyde the man behind Pook, Whitefang and Blacktooth. It was live TV and anything could happen. I got to meet Soupy and get a picture with him at an appearance in Michigan around 1995 and he was talkative and friendly! The knocks at the door were great. Loved Peaches too. She was SO pretty. I made my parents buy all the stuff he sold--CoCo Marsh, United Daries Milk, Flavor Straws, Double Cola...

His Show was Memorable

[hfan77 · 23 January 2009]

When i was growing up in New Jersey, one of the first shows I remember was The Soupy Sales Show on Channel 5 in the afternoon. He was so talented and so funny and while I remember little about his show, I do remember he had several puppets including Pookie the Lion, who always said "Hey Bubbie!" and White Fang the dog who never spoke, just grunted. One memory that has stuck with me for many years is that my mom use to refer to him as "Soupy Salesman." His show will always be remembered for the many pies he threw or got in the face and that was so funny. I never saw the incident where he told his young viewers to send him "those little green pieces of paper" but i've read about it in a number of books. Sadly, most of his shows from the WNEW era (they also aired in syndication) were erased but the ones that still survive are treasures of a very talented man. Let's not forget that he also created the dance "The Mouse" that was also a record. The Soupy Sales Show brings back memories of the 60s.

A somewhat memorable video

[oscar-35 · 20 November 2011]

*Spoiler/plot- 1965, This film presents the best of two episodes of Soupy Sales show from the 60's and 70's. This show features Pookie the Lion, White Fang and Black Tooth throwing pies at each other. See Soupy perform his musical hit, "Your Brains Fall Out". And the usual cast of show characters and stage crew; people at Soupy's front door, Words of Wisdom, sketches, and his regular show's comedy features are included for nostalgic fun.

*Special Stars-'Soupy' Sales, Pookie the Lion, Hippy the Hippo, White Fang and Black Tooth.

*Theme- Puns and pies are a funny combination.

*Based on- Classic TV era.

*Trivia/location/goofs- Black and White and color complete shows from New York and KTLA Southern California. It's a Rhino Classic TV videos presentation of the screwball cult comedy. This series comes in two videos. Available: "The Best of The Soupy Sales Show" and "MORE of The Best of The Soupy Sales Show".

*Emotion- A somewhat memorable video featuring a rather madcap type of sketch humor with Soupy's outrageous puns and improvisational comedy with the shows puppets and his sound stage crew. I am a Soupy Sales fan, but seeing these shows today leaves something to be desired in the laugh-out-loud aspect. It was laugh-out-loud funnier for child of elementary school age. It's nice to experience this show again with your memories of that time.

Lunch with Soupy Sale!

[rkittle-19129 · 4 January 2018]

Back in those times we got to walk home for lunch. I would go through the milk shout to get in my parents house, make lunch and watch Soupy. Then go out the front door back to school. I did that until I couldn't fit the milk shout anymore. Soupy wasa the best back then, he made me laugh and it made me feel good going back to school. Then I was forced to go to junior high and had to walk 1 1/2 miles. No more Soupy Sales. Bummer :(