Line #13 Creator/SoupySales


1	[[quoteright:316:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pie_montage_7563.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:316:[[PieInTheFace The Splat]] [[Literature/TheCatInTheHat in the Hat]]]]
3	->''"Hey, kids! I want you to tiptoe into your parents bedrooms, look in their pockets for all the green pieces of paper with the pictures of the guys in beards, and send them to Soupy Sales at Channel 5 in New York."''
4	-->A joke that backfired leading to a two week suspension of his show.
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6	Milton Supman (January 8, 1926 – October 22, 2009), better known by his stage name Soupy Sales, was an American entertainer who worked in films, radio, and television. He is best known for his raucous children's TV shows which ran on-and-off between 1953 and 1978, which featured frequent ad-libbing, puppets, and what became Sales' trademark: getting a PieInTheFace for a particularly groan-worthy punchline.
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8	In the 1980s, Sales was the voice of VideoGame/DonkeyKong on ''WesternAnimation/SaturdaySupercade''.
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10	His sons Tony (bass) and Hunt (drums) Sales are musicians who've worked with Music/ToddRundgren, Music/IggyPop and Music/DavidBowie (as members of Tin Machine).
11	----
12	!!Tropes Invoked by Soupy Sales:
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14	* AsHimself: ''And God Spoke...'' (1993). The plot point was that he had been hired to play Moses in a low-budget film because Charlton Heston wasn't available.
15	* DanceSensation[=/=]AccidentalDanceCraze: "The Mouse" (in which Soupy would waggle his fingers in his ears and show his upper teeth like...[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a mouse]]). Intended as a one-off gag, both the dance and its accompanying song became smash hits.
16	* DeathByCameo: Nearly happened to him. The Chiodo brothers, during production of ''Film/KillerKlownsFromOuterSpace'' wanted Soupy to play the security guard who gets killed (appropriately enough) by acidic pies. However, the studio declined to bring him in, believing the audience would not recognize him.
17	* EdibleAmmunition: Soupy originally used real pies, but budgetary issues later forced a switch to pie crusts filled with shaving cream. As an added bonus, shaving cream was easier to clean up afterwards, plus it didn't spoil under the hot studio lights. Soupy also liked the fact that baked crusts [[http://mentalfloss.com/article/23084/rip-soupy-sales-1926-2009 "exploded on impact."]]
18	* ExcitedKidsShowHost: "Low-key" and "sedate" were ''not'' how you would describe Sales at his kid-show peak.
19	* FourPhilosophyEnsemble: The 1985 WNBC-AM radio "dream team" of Sales (the Optimist), Don Imus (the Apathetic), Creator/WolfmanJack (the Realist), and Creator/HowardStern (the Cynic).
20	* GameShowHost: Of ''Jr. Almost Anything Goes'' (1976-77), Saturday afternoons on ABC. He was also a regular panelist on the syndicated ''Series/WhatsMyLine'' (1968-75), and was a frequent celebrity guest on shows and pilots produced by Creator/BobStewart, most notably ''Series/{{Pyramid}}''.
21	* HandPuppet: Sales' TV co-stars. They ranged from "traditional" hand puppets like Pookie the lion and Hippy the hippo, to furry arms coming into the frame accompanied by off-camera animal noises (dogs White Fang and Black Tooth).
22	* {{Hipster}}: Pookie the lion.
23	** RealLife: Soupy was a lifelong jazz afficianado, and in the Sixties used his nighttime, more adult program to showcase jazz acts of the day.
24	* ManChild: Averted. Although technically a "kiddie show" host, Soupy prided himself on never talking down his audience -- which is why both kids and grownups became fans.
25	* NoFourthWall: Since there was no "traditional" audience (a la Howdy Doody's "peanut gallery"), Soupy always spoke directly to the camera (i.e. the viewers). This did not stop the tech crew from acting as a surrogate audience, mostly yelling ad-libs to get Soupy to crack up on camera.
26	* PieInTheFace: Tens of thousands over the course of his life, per [[UnreliableNarrator Soupy's estimates...]]
27	* PrivateDetective: The "Philo Kvetch" character, complete with PrivateEyeMonologue and [[BadassLongcoat trench coat]].
28	* PungeonMaster: To the extent where one wonders why his lifetime pieing total wasn't in the ''six'' figures...
29	* {{Sidekick}}: Clyde Adler (for the LA-based shows) and Frank Nastase (NY) served as Sales' puppeteers, off-screen/voice characters, and pie throwers.
30	* SignatureSoundEffect: The exaggerated ''BANG!'' that accompanied every pie hit (reportedly, the sound of a balloon popping - although in some cases it was clearly a gunshot, complete with ricochet).
31	* SpecialGuest[=/=]StuntCasting: For most of Soupy's TV run, celebrities would clamor to appear on his show for the sole purpose of getting pied. Music/FrankSinatra, Creator/SammyDavisJr, Creator/DickClark, and Music/AliceCooper were just some of the more noteworthy targets. Basically, if you were a celebrity in the 60's and 70's and were invited to appear on Soupy's show...bring a change of clothing, and leave your dignity in the dressing room.
32	* TheStoic: Soupy's usual reaction to getting pied, alternating between "well, ''that'' happened" and "yeah, I kinda deserved that..."
33	* TheUnintelligible: White Fang. His entire dialog consisted of variations on "blah-oh, blah-oh," with enough inflection to sound like he was actually ''saying'' something.
34	* TheUnseen: Anytime Soupy answered a knock at the door, he'd wind up in a conversation with a disembodied voice (with an occasional hand appearing). Also applies to White Fang and Black Tooth.
35	* {{Workaholic}}: TruthInTelevision. At one point in the Sixties, Sales had both his kid's show and an adult-themed nightime program running simultaneously. No wonder his first marriage crashed and burned.
36	* WouldntHitAGirl: Sales rarely included female celebrities as pie targets. One notable exception was Joan Rivers, who challenged his no-women rule on her short-lived talk show. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWmJbmOtILY You can guess the results.]]

Context Creator / SoupySales