During the show Soupy would often answer knocks at the door. He would then talk to various characters not visible to the camera. One time he opened the door and, as a joke, the crew had sneaked in an exotic dancer who proceeded to disrobe to "stripper" music. Soupy was practically speechless and could not say anything on the air. Although it was obviously not shown on the air at the time, a camera backstage was taping it, and several years later it was shown (appropriate parts blacked out, of course) on TV. The entire "routine", with nothing blacked out, is available on a variety of "blooper" collection tapes.
He was briefly kicked off the air for jokingly asking young viewers to "go into your mommy's purse and send me the little green pieces of paper in it". He wound up receiving about $250 from his young fans. However, the story that Soupy allegedly sneaked a reference to the "F" word into an on-air joke is just a myth.
The opening and closing credit scenes were filmed at the York Theatre at 1187 1st Ave. NY.
The syndicated version of the show from the mid-1960s became a "hip" show for young people to watch. Many broadcasters found that by booking it, they were finally able to lure audiences away from long-established children;s programming on competing stations.