Customer Reviews

Soupy Sales: In Living Black & White (B&W)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Soupy Sales was a preeminent influence of my childhood, and as such I don't have the heart to give "In Living Black & White" less than five stars. Also, I'd always heard that the tapes from the New York years were lost, but evidently (much to my delight), not ALL of them were.

Having said that, I must point out that this collection is somewhat choppy, and includes some moments which aren't Soupy's best. There are some overly long sketches, although it is a treat to actually SEE more of Frank Nastasi than I recall from the 60's. And there are a number of good features: interaction with the "man at the door", rockin' out with Pookie, a few scenes with White Fang, and tuning in the radio for the weather report. I did long to see/hear other things that are missing altogether: "Reba" & her husband in the stove, Peaches, the "Words of Wisdom". Also; surprisingly for a man who claims to have been hit by 19,000 of them, there aren't that many "pies" in this collection.

The information regarding this DVD is sketchy and confusing, so let me attempt to clarify a few things: these clips (most of them) are from Soupy's NY days in the mid 60's. The references posted regarding "Lunch with Soupy Sales" and "Saturday mornings" I believe refer to prior years, when Soupy was based in Detroit, and wore a black top hat along with his floppy bow tie. Those shows are not in evidence on this DVD.

But in conclusion - whatever the time frame, and however good/bad the features, Soupy Sales always leaves me wanting more.

Thought I'd clear up some of the confusion regarding the B/W Soupy shows. I'm a Detroit TV historian who has contributed to three books regarding Detroit television. In my archives I have puppeteer Clyde Adler's photos and memorabilia, including the original White Fang and Black Tooth puppets used on 12 O'Clock Comics, the original name of the Soupy Sales Show.

I'm sorry to say that the only complete Detroit Soupy show that has survived is the Jell-O pilot from 1958, which aired on the ABC affiliate stations. That show was shot on 2" Quad tape and the original is now in my possession. Soupy has no shows; neither does WXYZ-TV in Detroit. All tapes were used and reused until they wore out, then they were tossed- standard practice back then. If any other Detroit shows had survived, Clyde Adler, who was also a technician at the station, would have had copies.

It's a shame that so little of Soupy's early work exists, but those are the facts, folks!

"In Living Black & White" features Soupy's Channel 5 New York shows from 1964-66. Frank Nastasi is White Fang, Pookie, and various guys at the door. I'm delighted that this set captures Frank's performances, since he was such a force on Soupy's show.
This set shows why people still have such wonderful memories of watching Soupy Sales on television. The man was brilliant!!
This is Soupy on TV the way he's meant to be seen----performing live. You really get a sense of the expressiveness and humor of the man. You can't stop watching him, whether he's interacting with White Fang or checking out the weather on "the ol' radio." Soupy Sales is one of the all-time great entertainers, and this dvd set will show new generations what us Baby Boomers discovered back when we watched him as kids. There's no budget; there aren't many sets. There's just a TV genius at work. And that's enough.
Bonus features include a song from Soupy & Donald O'Connor from a long-ago unsold pilot about a pair of vaudevillians.

If you were in New York between 1964-1966- Soupy Sales was king. His sense of humor which was deemed corny at the time has only grown in stature over the years. These episodes were before thought to be totally destroyed but some segments thankfully survived. His interaction with the man at the door is pure genius. This collection is a must. It makes you want to beg for more. Thanks Soupy

For anyone who is still wondering, I can confirm that all the shows in this collection are from Soupy's wonderful time in the mid 1960s on Channel 5 in New York City. Frank Nastasi voiced the puppets and the "man at the door." The show was an amazing accomplishment as it was live and produced on a shoestring. In one bit Soupy knocks over the table and Pookie says "There goes the budget!"
The five shows plus extras have many wonderful bits including Pookie's "singing" and the surreal Radio sketches (I didn't realize at age 11 or 12 how musically hip Soupy was). There is a great deal of wonderful material here and any fan of Soupy or comedy or live TV should get it. Notice how Nastasi may occasionally blow a line but Soupy, though he may be about to laugh, never does. He had a genius for live TV.
That said, I would like to bring up one point. It's been stated that Channel 5 erased all or most of these shows. However a poster on Youtube claims that some man has about 75 films of the WNEW classics, and indeed on Youtube you can find more Soupy material that doesn't appear here, including the wonderful "Philo Kvetch" detective farce. So I hope, and I hope you'll all agree that more of these great B & W shows will make it to DVD someday very soon!
Soupy we love you!

to those enlightened few that got to experience soupy's true genius it was a life changing experince in much the same way that the beatles, dylan, ernie kovaks, little richard, lenny bruce & sun ra was as it's influence was permanent. it was low budget live television at it's best . he did so much with so little... soupy's "home" consisted of him and assorted neighbors and pets ALL represented by hands and voices (various puppets like pookie, hippy, & rita also appeared) and from that true innovation took place. there are some very cool moments from the WNEW mid sixties shows here. i particulary loved a ten/fifteen minute section when soupy is just talking to the crew.... don't get to see that these days..

that all said, i'm wondering what is in the mind of the people compiling this series...... first of all - all descriptions of this set claimed to have some of BOTH the ABC "lunch w/ soupy sales" from the late fifties and early sixties w/ clyde adler as soupy's sidekick along with the WNEW shows (with Frank Nastasi)...... there is nothing from the lunchtime show which means no clyde adler (all advertisted)...... so this is weird..... the WNEW years were indeed great - - it made soupy a superstar for a few years. but the lunchtime ABC/ detroit shows were superior as it was totally fresh and truly dangerous tv. i know that there are at least 12 of these that exist (via the Biography show) - - the first set which featured the seventies show is kind of a waste...... honestly when soupy returned to this format a decade after the WNEW show, it was a pale imitation to his previous shows.... for those who have seen his unaired special w/ ernest borgnine and judy garland, that is what i wish soupy did when he returned to television in the seventies - not the old format......

anyway i give five stars for these brilliant shows...... just PLEASE (to the compilers) in the future releases get the "lunch with soupy sales" shows released in their original form (complete with jello commercials), continue with the mid-sixties shows one the lunch time shows are out, and please keep the late seventies shows in the vault...

god bless soupy sales.

Growing up in NYC in the 60s was cool enough but Soupy was huge. His early evening show on Channel 5 was watched by everyone from kids to adults. This DVD covers a lot of what made the show great. Although by today's standards it looks low tech and quaint, it was never meant to be a sophisticated comedy show. It's charm came from the characters on the show and the ad-libbed style of presenting them. Everyone imitated White Fang, Black Tooth and Pooky with his "Hi ya boobie", a line that became a standard "hello" at the time. In a time when we were all concerned with the cold war the war in Vietnam, and civil rights Soupy made me laugh, a lot every afternoon. Getting very close to 60 now, I often think of my "good old days". Watching this DVD brought it all back. These shows were thought to be erased as was the usual TV custom back then, but we see that a few survived. If you were a Soupy fan back then, this is the DVD for you. If you don't know who Soupy is you probably won't "get it" Soup's on. Have fun!

I remember liking this guy so much as a kid so I wanted to see if my memory was accurate. Soupy Sales was a guy who looked funny and acted funny. Also, Now I know the jokes were not just for kids. He didn't need a lot of expensive props to be good. The unique delivery of a joke, the stunned look in the camera and Frank Nastasi's hand in some kind of puppet. I realize now how important Nastasi was on that show, too.

The quality of the video is as it should be, old, beat up and black & white. It just felt good to see one of the funniest guys in television. He was as good as I remembered.

Enjoy viewing Soupy Sales again. There's not many of his old programs available. This was an excellent represenatation.

***REPLY; to "3.0 out of 5 stars The original Soupy Sales shows don't exist!, October 23, 2006
By
Edward Golick (Detroit, MI)"

MR GOLICK! I hope this message 5 years after yours finds you alive and in great health. Your unique position has defined a mission for you. A wonderful website, -still posting fresh material- © 2011 Mark Evanier - has said, in a tribute to the late Clyde Adler, "ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 3/10/95", that the following transpired after Mark got to meet Soupy and Clyde through his work as a Hollywood writer:
A lady at the ABC network film vaults found him "tons" of Lunch With Soupy Sales films from the WXYZ days in Detroit. Mark Evanier on
[...]
"All those years, when person after person called to ask about old films, the archivist had been looking under "S" instead of "L."

"They shipped a half-dozen pristine, probably-never-watched 16mm kinescopes over to us. I could probably have picked a clip from the first three minutes of any of them but, naturally, I insisted on watching all six hours. They were just as good as I remembered."
-unquote-
So, Edward Golick, meet Mark Evanier. There are at least 6 hours of those shows that "don't exist"! Did "they ship" all there was? And who's sitting on this "pristine" material instead of releasing it to the public? We'll pay! The copyright properties were sorted out for the existing DVDs, so it CAN be done. I f not now...WHEN? The good news: they exist. The bad news: ...not for us retail consumers. This has to be rectified. Please, lawyers, executives, estate, etc.