No Soupy for You

Or
From Soupy to Nuts

Or
Over the hill
After the puns
Look out Reaper
Here he comes

Or
That Soup Has Sailed
(Props to Phil)

Or
Hang on Soupy....Soupy? Soupy!???
(Kudos to Phil)
Soupy Sales, a comedy legend when comedy consisted of taking a coconut custard pie in the face, has died at the age of 83. Sales had a more cerebral take on the kiddie show, with bits such as “lunch,” when he would bite into a hot dog, which was accompanied with the sound of squealing pigs, or drink milk, which was accompanied by the sound of mooing. His menagerie included White Fang, the meanest dog in Detroit, Black Tooth, an overly affectionate dog, Pookie the Lion, Hippy the Hippo and Willy the Worm. Sales was popular for his unpredictability, often leaving the set of his own live show, with camera following, to harass other show’s hosts, including Edythe Fern Melrose, a woman of unyielding dignity who was known as “The Lady of Charm,” who got blasted by a pie she had no idea was coming. He later moved to LA, where the show was so popular such celebrities as Tony Curtis, Mickey Rooney, Sammy Davis Jr., Dick Martin, Burt Lancaster and Frank Sinatra would drop in just to get hit in the face with a pie, much the same way they later lined up to have it socked to them on Laugh-In. Later he moved to New York City, where he got suspended for encouraging kids to go into mom’s purse and dad’s wallet and send him the green paper with the pictures of the guys with beards. He was quickly reinstated after massive protests in front of the studio. In the 1980s, he managed to unite legendary enemies Howard Stern and Don Imus in one thing – their hatred of him – when the three hosted back-to-back-to-back shows on the NY radio station WNBC, with Imus and Stern mocking him from both ends. He also was the victim of one of the great practical jokes of all time. A recurring gag on his show called for him to open a door to random visitors, much as Dean Martin later would. On one show, the crew brought in a naked woman, just out of the view of the audience. Sales checked the on-air monitor, which had been re-routed by the engineers, and thought that day’s episode was being brought to Detroit’s kiddies by the letters T & A.

Only one Pooligan ordered the Soupy of the Day, fittingly a Michigander, and Mike’s Trash List sits in 5th place with a ton of points. James passed up the top 10 by taking Soupy off the menu after the 2006 GHI.