Soupy Sales not only has one of the funniest scandals in TV history, but here's one that I'm surprised didn't get him and his ilk banned from all of television.
When The Soupy Sales Show was live, his staff set him up for a prank, according to an interview he did with NBC's Bob Costas. As he went into a commercial, he would hear a woman scream, open the door and see a pair of ladies' shoes being dragged out of the frame. But when he actually opened the door, all he saw was a woman wearing ONLY her shoes (I think, I never bothered to look at her feet).
This clip contains censored nudity. So if you're watching it at work, make sure you share it with everyone around you, especially the ladies.
When Soupy met the stripper
Comic Soupy Sales passes away at 83
When I was a kid, I remember watching Soupy Sales. He had a children's show, The Soupy Sales Show, on channel five in the New York area and he was a wacky, funny guy. He had bizarre creatures around him, puppets named Pookie and White Fang and Black Tooth. Soupy did outrageous things and often ended up with a pie in the face. In a lot of ways, there might have been no PeeWee Herman if there hadn't been a Soupy Sales. In my memory, I always liked Soup and liked his show. On Thursday, Soupy Sales died at the age of 83. In addition to The Soupy Sales Show, Soupy was a comedian. He played clubs and did shtick, and all through the 1960s and 1970s he was a regular on game shows, including What's My Line, To Tell the Truth, Match Game and Hollywood Squares.
Continue reading Comic Soupy Sales passes away at 83
Goldline.com commercial spokesman Jay Johnson dead at 66
Every single day while I'm watching Fox News or CNN I see the commercial for Goldline.com, a company that lets you invest in gold (there are a few of those ads on TV right now). The spokesman in the ad is Jay Johnson, former director of The U.S. Mint and a former Congressman.
Johnson died last weekend of a heart attack. He was 66. Here's the ad below. Stations are still running it (much like the Billy Mays ads we continue to see).
Johnson died last weekend of a heart attack. He was 66. Here's the ad below. Stations are still running it (much like the Billy Mays ads we continue to see).
The Addams Family, Green Acres and Vic Mizzy
I never heard of Vic Mizzy, but he was a professional songwriter who specialized in TV themes. Vic Mizzy passed away on Saturday at the age of 93. I may not have recognized his name, but I know Vic Mizzy's music... and I've had his tunes in my head for decades. Mizzy was the man who wrote two classic TV themes, Green Acres and The Addams Family. And they really were classic. To this day, I remember every word and can sing them at the drop of a hat (if you were wearing one and decided to drop it).Mizzy had written songs that the likes of Dean Martin and Doris Day recorded, even the great Billie Holiday. But those TV themes are his legacy. That's not a bad thing. Mizzy made music that people remember because they were catchy themes attached to quirky series. And his songs were perfect because in 90 seconds or so, he captured the gist of the sitcom. Think about it:
Continue reading The Addams Family, Green Acres and Vic Mizzy
Eat a mushroom for the fallen Mario
The late Capt. Lou Albano wore many hats in his career (some wrestlers wear hats). But in my nostalgia filled mind, none of those hats were greater than the red service cap with the giant "M" on it.
The famed wrestler played both the live action and animated version of video game hero Mario on the top rated syndicated kids' show The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, along with actor Danny Wells as Luigi who Jeffersons fans will recognize as Charlie the bartender. Mario Bros. is a show I vividly remember from my childhood because my parents never bought me a Nintendo and that just drove me to want and watch anything and everything with the Mario Bros. on it.
Here's my all-time favorite episode because it combined the two things I worshiped as an organized religion: Nintendo and Ghostbusters.
The famed wrestler played both the live action and animated version of video game hero Mario on the top rated syndicated kids' show The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, along with actor Danny Wells as Luigi who Jeffersons fans will recognize as Charlie the bartender. Mario Bros. is a show I vividly remember from my childhood because my parents never bought me a Nintendo and that just drove me to want and watch anything and everything with the Mario Bros. on it.
Here's my all-time favorite episode because it combined the two things I worshiped as an organized religion: Nintendo and Ghostbusters.
Wrestling icon Captain Lou Albano passes away
For the most part, TV Squad doesn't cover professional wrestling, despite pro-wrestling and television being synonymous since the 1950's. It could be because wrestling is a world unto itself and there are certainly enough blogs out there that cover the subject. In this instance, an exception has been made since wrestling and TV icon Captain Lou Albano has passed away. He was 76.He was known mostly for his work with the WWF (now the WWE) in the '8's and his participation in the first WrestleMania as well as several thereafter. Hell, he was instrumental in creating that event by participating in Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" music video which led to "The War to Settle the Score" on MTV which led to ... well, you know.
Continue reading Wrestling icon Captain Lou Albano passes away
Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson: 1950-1988
Some tragic news has been discovered in the winding and weaving tunnels of the YouTube archives: Jeremy Clarkson died in 1988. A British TV program (or is that programme?) about TV called TV Offal (pronounced "awful") broke the sad news that the Top Gear car curmudgeon and TV presenter passed away while filming one of his infamous car reviews. The show reported that Clarkson died in a car accident due to driver inattention. Just think, if the accident had happened now, his blimp-like ego could have acted as an impromptu airbag and saved his life.
The show's faux-obituary paid a not-so-loving tribute to the car show star by remembering his extremely mixed metaphors, teenage testosterone fueled attitude and inability to let the 1970's go. TV Squad would like to offer our deepest condolences to his family members who existed more than 20 years ago.
Death of the Swamp Thing
A television obituary has slipped through the cracks. Dick Durock has passed away. Who is Dick Durock, you ask? Why, he played the title character in the Swamp Thing movie written and directed by Wes Craven and its subsequent poor follow-up, as well as the television series based on the movies. Also, he played an evil Hulk in The Incredible Hulk television series and was a stuntman on various television shows including Star Trek.I remember watching that Incredible Hulk episode as a kid, and my first thought was "that second Hulk isn't anywhere near as muscular as the first." Still, in his prime Dick Durock could have undoubtedly kicked my ass.
Just to prove how tough Dick Durock was ... I don't know many people who have long battles with pancreatic cancer. Usually, that takes you out in a hurry. If you could stand up to Lou Ferrigno, pancreatic cancer was in for one hell of a fight.
[Watch clips and free episodes of Swamp Thing at SlashControl]
Why no love for Billy Mays, Emmys?
I'm not saying that I necessarily think Billy Mays should have won a posthumous Emmy, or even that his show Pitchmen should have been included in their "The Year in Reality" segment. But leaving him out of the "In Memoriam" segment? You have people from every facet of the television industry, and you leave out the most famous infomercial personality ever. Infomercials are television programming.Yes, they're annoying at times and yes, they're not as exciting as Lost or The Amazing Race, but it's still television. Billy Mays was famous because of television. And he was famous. Virtually everyone in this country recognizes "Hi, Billy Mays here!" and that almost patented way of
But hell, even if you don't buy any of those arguments, he was one of the stars of Pitchmen, a successful reality show. You honor reality shows, right? I'm just saying, It seems to me that one of the most famous faces of the modern era on television, and one of the most powerful men in the commercial industry, could have maybe earned a quick mention upon his passing.
Laugh-In's Henry Gibson dead at 73
For some reason I thought that Henry Gibson was a lot older than 73, but the character actor with the huge resume passed away from cancer at that age yesterday in Malibu.One of the more famous TV credits on that resume was Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, the influential 60s comedy show that no one under 30 has ever seen. He also appeared in shows like Bewitched, The Beverly Hillbillies, Deep Space Nine, Coach, MacGyver, Evening Shade, Sisters, Newhart, Magnum, P.I., and Simon and Simon.
More recently, TV fans know him from his many appearances as a judge on Boston Legal and his voice work on King of the Hill (he played Bob Jenkins). He was also in several movies, including Magnolia (he played Thurston Howell???), The Nutty Professor, Nashville, The Blues Brothers, Wedding Crashers, and a ton of others.
Continue reading Laugh-In's Henry Gibson dead at 73
Patrick Swayze succumbs to pancreatic cancer at 57
Some more sad news from Tinseltown. Movie star and recent television star Patrick Swayze has lost his 20 month battle with pancreatic cancer at his ranch in Los Angeles. He was 57 years old. Barbara Walters will air the actor's final television interview in a one hour special titled Last Dance tonight at 10 PM eastern/9 PM central on ABC.
He's probably best known for his work on the big screen in movies like Ghost, Dirty Dancing and (of course) the timeless Road House, a movie that became a cult sensation for all the wrong reasons and helped birth the sense of humor of MST3K and Rifftrax's Michael J. Nelson. But like all Hollywood actors, he made his presence known on the small screen, and his reach goes much further than his recent venture into cable drama glory with A&E's The Beast.
Continue reading Patrick Swayze succumbs to pancreatic cancer at 57
Larry Gelbart dead at 81
Yesterday brought sad news for anyone who's a comedy writer, aspired to be a comedy writer, or just appreciated a well-turned and funny phrase. Larry Gelbart passed away; he had been diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. He died at his Los Angeles home yesterday morning at the age of 81.Gelbart is probably best known for his writing on M*A*S*H during its early years. The almost lyrical comedic dialogue he gave Hawkeye, Trapper, and the rest of the gang is what drew me to the show, and he influenced almost everyone who worked on the show afterwards, including FOS (Friend of Squad) Ken Levine, who was just "too devestated" to write a tribute on his blog (expect one on Monday, though).
Continue reading Larry Gelbart dead at 81
Army Archerd dead at 87
A little bit of Hollywood died yesterday.Army Archerd wrote for Variety since 1953, when he replaced columnist Sheilah Graham. That's not a typo. That's 1953, as in 56 years ago. That means he talked to everyone, saw everything, and wrote about just about everything that happened in Hollywood for more than five decades.
Continue reading Army Archerd dead at 87
Don Hewitt dead at 86
Newsman and producer Don Hewitt has died at the age of 86.Hewitt is probably best known for creating 60 Minutes and ushering in the genre of the TV news magazine show. He also produced The CBS Television News in the late 40s and later The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. He also directed various TV shows and specials, including See It Now (Grant Heslov played Hewitt in the 2005 movie Good Night, and Good Luck), Presidential Timber, and One Plane, One Bomb, and even produced the first Presidential debate on TV, Nixon vs. Kennedy.
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Political commentator Robert Novak dead at 78
The TV talking head and former right side of CNN's political cluster#*$& Crossfire has passed away. Robert Novak died Tuesday morning at the age of 78 from his bout with brain cancer.
The right-wing pundit was a journalist first as evidenced by his long stint in the ink stained world of newspaper reporting from his days as an Illinois sports stringer to his columns for the Chicago Sun-Times. But he's probably best remembered by audiences' eyeballs for his work as a TV pundit and his uncanny ability to make news as he reported it.
Continue reading Political commentator Robert Novak dead at 78
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