January 1, 1965…50 Years Ago Tonight! Television History Was Made!
At 6:55 PM, New Years Day night, Soupy Sales did a one minute adlib that is still talked about. It was the famous “Green Pieces Of Paper” incident. Here, thanks to Barry Mitchell, is Soupy telling the story of the gag that almost cost him his job, but earned him a place in television history. Enjoy and SHARE! -Bobby Ellerbee
Legendary TV host Soupy Sales tells a nightclub audience about the New Years’ Day 1965 ad-lib that got him kicked off the air for a week.
I vividly remember the moment…
I heard the story many times but I always thought that he did that when he was live on W XYZ channel 7 in Detroit lunch with soupy
Really Funny Guy!! Met him at NY tv station in 1961.
That’s hilarious!
I’ve never seen this before. Great!
Yup! I remember that! You gotta luv him!
Soupy had a regular bit where a surprise guest would knock on the door of his set during the show. There was a tape floating around years ago that one of the stations I worked for acquired (can’t remember which one now) that showed a gag his crew played on him. When he answered the door he found a totally naked (and quite attractive) woman there. Apparently the crew had fixed it so the program monitor made him think this was live on the air. The tape is hilarious and I am sorry I didn’t make a dub of it when I had a chance. I bet more than one of you in this group has seen it though. What about you Bobby?
Oh…and hello Darin…looks like you come from a great line of ancestors 🙂
My grandfather lived in NJ and he was one of the top salesmen in the Colgate Palmolive Company. From time to time the company would award my grandfather with gifts. I was just a kid at the time, but I recall Soupy asking my name and age and then presenting my grandfather with a new Suzuki motorcycle, compliments of the Colgate Palmolive Company. It was done on some kind of platform in a New Jersey shopping center parking lot.
Soupy was a wonderful guy. When he was on What’s My Line (Goodson – Todman) recorded at NBC for syndication he and I would hang out between shows in his dressing room. (Did 5 shows a day) Probably, one of the funniest men around after Buddy Hacket. Aside from his “stchick”…. he was a really down to earth guy and a nice man. I think he grew up in Huntington, West Virginia.
Too funny. Great post Fred
I remember when he did this as the chit soon hit the fan over it.
I love it!
I had the pleasure of meeting Soupy four different times. One time, I asked him to throw a pie in my face. He agreed!
JLTV runs repeats of “The Soupy Sales Show” multiple times a day.
http://youtu.be/r4k-1587DZM