s skippy the bush kangaroo: rip soupy sales (and barry letts)

skippy the bush kangaroo



Friday, October 23, 2009

rip soupy sales (and barry letts)

soupy sales, who had a zany kids tv show in the sixties that was definitely for adults as well, has died in los angeles @ age 83.

Example

we remember loving soupy, white fang and black tooth as we grew up watching tv. soupy, more than any other "kids" performer, seemed to share a private joke w/all the kids he entertained, and that joke was simply this: life is goofy, and don't let the adults tell you other wise, because they're pretty damn goofy, too.

latimes:

as the star of "the soupy sales show," he performed live on television for 13 years in detroit, los angeles and new york before the program went into syndication in the united states and abroad.

ostensibly for children, the show had broad appeal among adults who found sales' puns, gags and pratfalls deliciously corny and camp. his cast consisted of goofy puppets with names like white fang, black tooth and pookie, and a host of off-camera characters, including the infamous naked girl.

the high point of every show came when a sidekick launched a pie into sales' face. sales once estimated that he was hit by more than 25,000 pies in his lifetime.

the gag became more than hilarious; it evolved into a hip badge of honor. frank sinatra was first in a long line of celebrities who clamored for the privilege to be cream-faced, including tony curtis, mickey rooney, sammy davis jr., dick martin and burt lancaster.

"i've never done a pretentious show; it's always had a live feeling, the kind of thing that comes across when you don't know what's going to happen next," sales told author gary grossman in the 1981 book "saturday morning tv." "i've never done anything simply because i thought i could get away with it. i've just wanted to do the funniest show."
soupy sales was widely loved by people of the boomer generation. one of the endearing qualities that attracted skippy to mrs. skippy was her ability to do a pooky imitation.

pee wee herman owes probably his entire career to soupy. most other kids' show hosts remained the adult, as if they were supervising us all in tvland, imparting the wisdom of playing fair and brushing teeth while offering small tidbits of cartoons and puppet shows.

but soupy rolled up his sleeves and got down and dirty w/the rest of us kids, being as stupid and funny and joyful as we kids could be. soupy was more than a tv show host; he was one of us kids, only he was trapped in an adult body.

again, from the times:

on a website devoted to the sales show, a fan recalled that the first program after the new year's episode opened with stock footage of dancing girls kicking up their heels and crowds cheering; the musical accompaniment was "happy days are here again." "it was obvious to all of us that our beloved soupy was unrepentant," the fan wrote, "and we repressed youths were behind him. i must dispute the thesis . . . that froggy from 'andy's gang' was the cause of '60s rebelliousness. it was soupy who inspired my generation to anarchy."
rest in peace, soupy sales.

addendum: the sci-fi geeks in all of us here @ skippy international also mourn the passing of barry letts, one of the more influential bbc television producers that made early dr. who into the phenomenon that it has become.

barry oversaw the production of the bbc show from 1970-1974, during the era of the third doctor (jon pertwee). barry's reign involved such iconic additions to the whoverse canon as the creation of unit (the united nations intelligence taskforce, for those of you non-whophiles), the introduction of brigadier leftbridge-stewart, and sarah jane smith, a character which has returned to the modern day incarnation of the dr. who series, and indeed now has her own show, the sarah jane adventures.

perhaps most important of all, barry passed up jim dale to hire tom baker as the fourth doctor. tom was long considered the best dr. who of all time, until david tennant took over 5 years ago.

another important idea barry brought to the whoverse: the first multi-doctor show, the three doctors, starring jon pertwee as he worked along side his previous two incarnations patrick troughton (the second doctor) and william hartnell (as the first doctor, in his last television performance). it is rumored that the new series of doctor who, starring matt smith as the eleventh doctor, will included a similarly-themed show which includes doctors seven thru eleven.

rest in peace, barry letts, dead @ age 84.
posted by skippy at 1:13 PM |

4 Comments:

No.

That makes me utterly sad. That man made me a very happy child.
commented by Blogger DBK, 11:22 AM PDT  
It was most definitely a simpler time. I doubt Soupy could hold the interest of anyone in this "sophisticated" age, but back then, he was da bomb. That is what the kids say, isn't it?

Words of wisdom from Soupy: "If your wife wants to learn to drive...DON'T STAND IN HER WAY!!"
commented by Blogger Left I on the News, 3:20 PM PDT  
I remember him asking his viewers to send in that funny green paper with the pictures of presidents from your mom and dad's wallets and purses. I laughed like crazy knowing that younger kids would do just that.

"Be true to your teeth and they won't be false to you." (one of his closings)
commented by Blogger Demeur, 7:17 PM PDT  
*wonders in from the depths of the net*
Considering the crap they run on modern TV for kids only 1/4 of it is worth watching so he would do well today if the PC nazi would not run im off. LOL
commented by Blogger zippydsmlee, 6:44 PM PST  

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