Son of Fred

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Son of Fred
Genre	Comedy
Running time	30 minutes per episode
Starring	Peter Sellers Spike Milligan Valentine Dyall Kenneth Connor Graham Stark Patti Lewis Max Geldray John Vyvyan Mario Fabrizi
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original channel	BBC-1
Original run	September 17, 1956–November 5, 1956
No. of episodes	8

Son of Fred was the successor series to The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d and A Show Called Fred. It was made by Associated-Rediffusion and broadcast only in the London area, Midlands and Northern England.

It was the third and final in a series of sketch comedy shows attempting to translate the humour of the Goon Show to television. Spike Milligan concentrated on writing and only made small walk on appearances, leaving the lead acting to Peter Sellers. The series was produced and directed by Richard Lester.

[edit] Impact on comedy and culture

The minimalist format, with little or no scenery and few props, sketches without any real purpose or punch line, and mixing live action and short animations directly influenced the format of Monty Python's Flying Circus^[1]. The unconventional format was revived in Spike Milligan's Q series.

A half hour special Best of Fred was broadcast on September 18, 1963 combining surviving sketches from A Show Called Fred and Son of Fred.

The 1997 convention of the Goon Show Preservation Society was billed as Son of a Weekend Called Fred.

[edit] Footnotes

^ Terry Jones, quoted in From Fringe to Flying Circus — 'Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960–1980' — Roger Wilmut, Eyre Methuen Ltd, 1980.