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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2017 10:39:17 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2017 10:45:51 GMT
Awkward....
On another note it's a very interesting production and well worth a watch- for exactly the reasons they have now realised that darker side of life and career.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2017 13:37:12 GMT
Benny's earlier TV work was very funny and in many ways trailblazing - he was one of the first to use TV technology with split screens etc. He was a huge draw on BBC and ITV for years but the format got stale and the Hills Angels were brought in and he fell foul of the PC brigade. The long running head of Thames Entertainment who had signed him back in 1969 had retired in 1988 and was replaced by John Howard Davies who dropped Benny the next year. Officially it was said the shows were too expensive to make an excuse also used by the BBC when they had dropped Stanley Baxter a couple of years before.
Some of Benny's stuff is cringy now but a lot of his songs and sketches do stand up well and I for one can still laugh at him slapping the little bald man on the head and the clever wordplay in things like the Chinese character sketches.
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5,159 posts
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Post by TallPaul on Aug 2, 2017 13:47:16 GMT
Neither could George W.
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617 posts
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Post by loureviews on Aug 2, 2017 15:51:40 GMT
I feel really sorry for Benny - he was a good entertainer in his day in the British postcard tradition.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2017 16:58:01 GMT
Benny was one of those guys who could walk on and make you laugh by just standing there, he had that naughty twinkle in his eye. Tommy Cooper and Eric Morecambe likewise could just walk on and people would start laughing before they said anything.
Most people remember the Thames shows with Benny but he had been a big BBC star prior to that and was already just doing specials which he did for his 20 years at Thames.
There was a great story I read once about the original little bald guy Jackie Wright - he once went on a promotional trip to NY for the show as he had developed a cult following due to it being shown over there and became an unlikely sex symbol. He apparently had a great time meeting all his fans.
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816 posts
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Post by stefy69 on Aug 3, 2017 6:54:22 GMT
I feel really sorry for Benny - he was a good entertainer in his day in the British postcard tradition. Agree totally ! His humour never made me feel exploited at all and as you say was part of the tradition of " saucy " British humour stretching back to Max Miller ( and probably beyond him ).
Benny also had a lovely cameo role in the original Italian Job film with Michael Caine. 
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Post by Jan on Aug 3, 2017 8:38:48 GMT
His shows were popular in USA for years, decades even, after they had been effectively banned in U.K.- when I lived there people frequently mentioned them to me as the one item of UK culture they were able to bring to mind. I saw one quite recently on Spanish TV too, quite odd to see it dubbed into Spanish - his legacy lives on in the EU in prime-time TV light entertainment shows you see in Spain, Italy, Hungary, Austria etc.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2017 11:01:47 GMT
Given the love and affection here for Benny Hill, perhaps the next Forum Meet-Up could be a Benny Hill Frisky Fun Run?
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Post by Jan on Aug 3, 2017 12:03:04 GMT
Given the love and affection here for Benny Hill, perhaps the next Forum Meet-Up could be a Benny Hill Frisky Fun Run? My Henry McGee to your Jackie Wright ? |
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5,159 posts
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Post by TallPaul on Aug 3, 2017 12:09:21 GMT
Without Benny Hill, could Terry Johnson have written Dead Funny? It did nothing for me, but I don't think I'll ever forget the shriek a lady in the stalls of the Vaudeville gave at the sight of Rufus Jones' penis!
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Post by Mr Snow on Aug 3, 2017 13:06:00 GMT
The long running head of Thames Entertainment who had signed him back in 1969 had retired in 1988 Phillip Jones? I knew him. |
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5,159 posts
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Post by TallPaul on Aug 3, 2017 13:13:58 GMT
The long running head of Thames Entertainment who had signed him back in 1969 had retired in 1988 Phillip Jones? I knew him. What about Yorick? |
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Post by Mr Snow on Aug 3, 2017 21:11:38 GMT
Phillip Jones? I knew him. What about Yorick? ....Horatio? |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2017 22:26:30 GMT
Yes it was Phillip Jones, he brought a lot of good entertainment shows to TV over the years, sadly he died in 2004.
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