Soupy Sales

In his one-hour Archive interview, Soupy Sales (1926-2009) talks about breaking into television in 1950 at local station WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, with The Soupy Soda Show, a teenage dance show. He discusses other local markets where he worked including Cleveland's WXEL-TV where his show Soup's On provided him the opportunity for getting the first pie in his face— which would become his trademark gag. Sales recalls his several year run with WXYZ-TV Detroit's Lunch with Soupy Sales, a children's show, which also had an adult following. Sales describes the series in detail including the look of the set and the characters who appeared (including lion puppet "Pookie" and dog puppet "White Fang," whose great white hairy arm was all that was seen). Sales describes his network break, with a replacement series at ABC in the mid-50s. He talks about his work as host/ performer on The Soupy Sales Show that ran on ABC, first originating in Detroit, then in Los Angeles. He also describes his show's second prime-time incarnation on ABC in 1962. Sales details the celebrities who appeared on his show, which famously included Frank Sinatra. Finally, Sales describes reviving his series at WNEW in New York (and talks about the incident which got him suspended— when he told children to send money to him care of the station). Charles Salzberg conducted the interview at the Friar's Club in New York, NY on July 24, 2002.