Here is Part 2 of a look back at some of my favorite funny segments over my last 40 years in TV.
Bruised ego
Dick the Bruiser loved the camera and when I asked him to be on my show, he said he was up for anything. However, he was never up before 11 in the morning. My interview segments in those days started live at 5:30 a.m., so here’s what we did: I told Bruiser I was going to knock on his door bright and early and that his wife should answer and tell me he was still sleeping. I’d insist that she wake him, but she would warn me that doing so would put me in serious jeopardy.
In the next segment, Bruiser appears at the door, pretending I woke him. This was all set up, of course. He really did look ticked, and he had a baseball bat in his hand. He put me in a headlock, banged my noggin into the grill and treated me to a few forearm slams. Then he grabbed me by the back of my pants and launched me into his pool. It was all planned and rehearsed, but the episode created quite a splash. It can be found on YouTube.
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Hounded to death
I received a call in the fall of 1992 from a man wanting to show how his dogs could track a fox scent. I agreed with the condition that my beagle, Barney, would join the pack. Prior to the show, an artificial fox scent was spread along the ground leading to a tree. Would the hounds follow it? Probably not Barney, because I had also taken a giant beef salami and rubbed it along the ground, as well, but this path led to this meaty treat on a picnic table a hundred yards from the hounds’ ultimate destination. Minutes later the coon dogs were barking up the right tree, while Barney was enjoying a nice Kosher meal.
Sales force
Comedian Soupy Sales and I had been friends since 1980 when we hosted a few shows together in New York. Years later, he was booked to perform at an Indy comedy club, so I scheduled him to be a guest on my morning WISH-TV segment. I opened the on-site broadcast from his hotel lobby, where I told the audience that the one-and-only Soupy Sales was rumored to be in the building. The elevator door opened, and out walked Soupy.
“Hello,” I said. “Did you hear the rumor that Soupy Sales is staying here?”
“I AM Soupy Sales,” said the real Soupy, faking his annoyance. I persisted…
“No, I’m serious. Soupy Sales is staying at this very hotel.”
“For the last time, I am Soupy Sales.”
Next followed the rehearsed zinger. “Wow, you sure got older!” I said.
Then, on cue, a waiter walked by with a pie. Soupy grabbed the pie off of the tray and deposited it right in my face.
A photo of that moment is in my office, signed by the legendary comic. “To Dick Wolfsie: That was great shtick. Love, Soupy.”
