The Benny Hill Show

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The Benny Hill Show
Image:BennyHill.jpg
Benny Hill
Genre sketch comedy
Starring Benny Hill
Country of origin Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom
No. of episodes 58
Production
Running time 60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel ITV
Original run November 19, 1969 – May 1, 1989
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Benny Hill Show is a television programme starring Benny Hill. It was produced by Thames Television from 1969 to 1989 and was broadcast in over 140 countries. Previous incarnations of the show had aired on BBC Television from 1955 to 1968, and on Associated TeleVision from 1957 to 1960 plus a one-off special in 1967.

Contents

[edit] Show format

The Benny Hill Show featured Benny Hill in innumerable mostly short sketches (often portraying a leering, lecherous, never quite successful, yet charming protagonist), along with Thames Television show regulars Henry McGee, Bob Todd, Jackie Wright, Nicholas Parsons (in the early years), Jenny Lee-Wright, Rita Webb and others. Hill often demonstrated his versatility as an actor by appearing in vastly different costumes as well as in female character. Slapstick and double entendre were his hallmark. Some critics accused the show of sexism, but Hill often pointed out that the female characters were all intelligent and kept their dignity, while the men chasing them were all buffoons.

He used sped-up film — also known as 'Undercranking' — and sight gags to create what he called 'live animation' and he masterfully employed techniques like mime and parody. The show typically closed with a sped-up chase scene involving himself and a crew of scantily-clad women, a takeoff on the stereotypical Keystone Kops chase scenes.

He was also a skilled composer and singer of patter songs. Here is an example of his doggerel:

Roses are reddish
Violets are bluish
If it weren't for Christmas
We'd all be Jewish.

The theme song, "Yakety Sax", which has gained a particular cult following on its own, was written by Boots Randolph. The show's musical director was noted pianist and easy listening conductor Ronnie Aldrich, and vocal backing was provided by session singers The Ladybirds (who also frequently appeared on camera from 1969 to 1974).

Apart from the theme tune, another signature of the show was the enthusiastic announcer intro: "Yes! It's The Benny Hill Show!" (The announcer was often cast member McGee.) From 1975 onwards, Hill was also introduced at the start of each show as "The Lad Himself."

Hill was a pioneer in realising the ability of the television camera to create illusions and also how it could be used for comedic value. For example, in a murder mystery farce entitled "Murder on the Oregon Express" from 1976 (a parody of Agatha Christie's classic Murder on the Orient Express), Hill used both clever editing and camera angles — as well as his own knack for impersonations — to depict a Quinn Martin–like TV "mystery" featuring Hill in the roles of 1970s American TV detectives Ironside, McCloud, Kojak, and Cannon (as well as Agatha Christie's Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot). This also serves as a possible indication of Hill being canny enough to realise that American audiences would identify better with his shows if he had some humour that was derived in some part from their popular culture. During his television career, Hill performed impersonations or parodies of American celebrities and fictional characters, ranging from The Six Million Dollar Man to Starsky and Hutch to Kenny Rogers, to The A-Team, to Cagney & Lacey. His own country's celebrities did not escape his comedic eye either: Hill also delivered impersonations of such British stars as Michael Caine (in his Alfie role), newscasters Reginald Bosanquet, Alan Whicker and Cliff Michelmore, pop-music show hosts Jimmy Savile and Tony Blackburn, musicians Roger Whittaker and Engelbert Humperdinck, his former 1960s record producer Tony Hatch, and Irish comedian Dave Allen. On a few occasions, he even impersonated his former straight man, Nicholas Parsons.

The show was first broadcast in the United States in January 1979 and screened there with a series of re-edited half-hour programmes culled from the ITV specials. The US versions of his show have far less risqué material than those which were aired in the UK. The show was awarded the 'Special Prize of the City of Montreux' at the Rose d'Or festival in 1984. Selected sketches from the first three years (1969–1972) of the Thames run were also edited into a feature film, The Best of Benny Hill (1974).

Hill later recorded some shows for US television, and in 1977 produced a special in Australia whose contents found their way into scattered episodes of the US half-hour syndicated edits. The cast of that Australian show included Barry Otto and Ron Shand.

[edit] Hill's repertory group

It should also be taken as a testament to Hill's character as a person (as well as his talent as a performer and writer) that many of his cast and crew stayed on with him for years, in some cases from the moment they first appeared on his show. Henry McGee and Bob Todd are the primary examples of the male cast members who remained with Hill for the long term, while long-running female colleagues included Jenny Lee-Wright (who would later go on to become a top Foley artist in England), Bella Emberg, and Hill's Angels Louise English and Sue Upton. In a related note, Upton — in book excerpts posted on her official site — stated that contrary to the leering schoolboy air he often presented on TV, Hill was a model of kindness and courtesy to all his performers, particularly the female performers. She related how Hill would never force a female performer to do or wear something she wasn't comfortable with (and how outside of work, he was like a family member to her husband and two children). On her own site, Louise English related how, after her time on the show ended when it was cancelled, Hill would come to see her in every performance she did on stage. In one of the books written about Hill, Jenny Lee-Wright related the time she was on holiday in New York and happened to mention to a customs agent at the airport that she worked with Hill, and was then driven to a local television studio to answer questions about him on an interview show.

Ironically, though many of his cast and crew became just as recognisable as Hill himself, few if any of them capitalised on their fame to move on to larger-scale projects. Some possible minor exceptions could be made for Jackie Wright (who was rumoured to have an offer for an American comedy presented to him shortly before his death) and long-time Hill's Angel Louise English (who once received a fan letter from Burt Reynolds, praising her skills and beauty). However, the primary example of an exception to the rule would be Jane Leeves, who, years after having been a Hill's Angel, became famous for her portrayal of Daphne on the American comedy Frasier. Going further back, to BBC days, another future U.S. TV star, Susan Clark (of Webster fame), appeared on one of Hill's 1965 specials, and popular Australian personality Sue McIntosh (then known as Sue Donovan) appeared on another 1965 show.

[edit] Guest stars and musical guests

Over the years, Benny Hill had relatively well-known actors and actresses who appeared as guests on the show, some of whom were already famous on other TV and radio programmes, including Don Estelle (It Ain't Half Hot Mum), Paul Eddington (The Good Life; Yes Minister / Yes, Prime Minister), Paula Wilcox (The Lovers, Man About the House), Patrick Newell (The Avengers), Hugh Paddick (Round the Horne), Kathy Staff (Crossroads, Coronation Street), actress/singer Trisha Noble, entertainer Dilys Watling, stage and TV actress Stella Moray, gardener Percy Thrower, Carry On regular Liz Fraser, former Move lead singer Carl Wayne, and others. In the 1980s, as the climate of political correctness continued to grow, two of these former guests — Eddington and Wilcox — refused to allow the respective editions in which they appeared to ever be shown on British television again.

His show, in its first decade on Thames TV, also had an interesting (and often eclectic) array of musical guests. One of the more famous examples was Kiki Dee, who appeared on one of his black-and-white shows in 1971, a few years before her first big hit "I've Got the Music In Me." Other famous musical guests included Anne Shelton, who appeared on both his BBC and Thames shows; former Seekers lead singer Judith Durham; and The Mike Sammes Singers. Back in the BBC days, Alma Cogan, Cleo Laine and Petula Clark made appearances on the show, as did Dusty Springfield when she was part of the folk trio The Springfields. Hill was also big on Spanish music acts, and gave the first major exposure to groups such as Luis Alberto del Parana and Los Paraguayos on his show.

With few exceptions, most of the musical numbers did not make it to the US syndicated series.

[edit] Criticism and cancellation

In 1989 Thames Television dropped Hill, claiming a major decline in ratings, although the large cost of each episode has been stated as the official reason and Thames wanted to start production on Mr. Bean but couldn't if they were making The Benny Hill Show.

At the time some argued that the show was the victim of political correctness, others that the style of comedy was simply very dated. 1980s British comedy stars such as Ben Elton were also dismissive of Hill's penchant for using pretty girls in his shows, supposedly in a sexist way. Though Hill's characters were made to look ridiculous and lecherous, and the butt of the joke, a lot of viewers didn't think of his shows as being sexist at all. Thames' final broadcast of a brand new Benny Hill show attracted more than 12 million viewers across the ITV Network. One reason often cited was that his character's constant leering at attractive women was less charming as he grew older. Another factor cited was a massive drop in quality and standards of the show itself over the course of the 1980s.

One criticism that could however be fairly levelled at Hill was his tendency to re-use jokes, gags and scenes from show to show. One example of this recycling would be an often-seen parody of washing-up liquid advertisements (usually called "Fairly Liquid", in reference to the Fairy Liquid brand of detergent). Hill, along with an actress, would play mother and child (with Hill as the child, kneeling next to the actress in order to appear smaller). Hill, playing the child, would remark as to the softness of the mother's hands, thanks to the brand of detergent; Hill's character would then become increasingly mischievous, to the point of angering the "mother", who eventually slapped him. He would then proclaim words to the effect of "her hand's not soft...it's bleedin' hard!" This particular parody first appeared during Hill's tenure at the BBC and appeared subsequently at various times during his time at ITV.

Another often seen joke on Hill's shows would feature Hill playing a rude waiter at a restaurant, serving a customer wine. The customer (usually Jackie Wright) would sip the wine and then grimace and indicate that it was unsuitable. Hill's waiter would agree, walk away...and then shuck the label off the bottle and replace it with a different one, returning to the customer and refilling his glass, after showing him the "new" bottle. To complete the joke, the customer would then sip the "new" wine and proclaim his delight. It is debatable as to whether the reuse of the same jokes during his television career was the result of creative bankruptcy, or some belief that the jokes were old favourites, being presented over and over again in the manner of a band performing an audience's favorite songs.

A more politically insensitive criticism that could be leveled at Hill was the unfortunate use of racial stereotypes in the early years of his show. For example, Hill often portrayed a Chinese man, named "Chow Mein"[1], who squinted through thick glasses and used phrases such as "sirry iriot"[2][3] and "good evening everybloody" (as a foil to this character, Bob Todd would often play a stereotypical Indian, clad in Nehru jacket). Hill also would do roles in heavy make-up designed to make him look black (usually African or Jamaican in origin, with an exaggerated accent to match); in contrast, the shows featured black performers only rarely and infrequently (and when they were featured, many times it was in stereotypical "jungle" costumes; however, it should also be noted that in sketches featuring these characters, the black characters were usually featured as being intelligent and articulate, while the white characters were presented as dull-witted).

Another example of Hill using stereotypes for humour could be found in his ability to impersonate accents. Hill used this skill to portray characters of various national origins, usually broadly painted in stereotypical fashion. German characters rolled their R's to a ridiculous extent; American characters were either apparently from the Bronx or from the Southern U.S., with the attached time-worn stereotypical behaviours; and Irish characters spoke with such a strong brogue as to be unintelligible on first listen. A notable example of this featured Henry McGee as a talk show host interviewing two Irish brothers (Hill and actual Irishman Jackie Wright):

Hill: (speaks what sounds like) They found his bacon, hot in the pork.
McGee (confused): His bacon...?
Hill: His bacon hot. His hot he wears for bacon!
McGee (comprehending): Oh, his biking hat!

Whatever the reason for being cancelled, the board of Thames Television was unaware of the decision and attempted to entice Hill back. Hill's friend and producer/director, Dennis Kirkland, was furious and persuaded Hill to go to Central Independent Television to make a new series of programmes.

[edit] Legacy of reruns/DVDs

The Benny Hill Show is currently airing in one-hour portions (not corresponding to the original hour-long format), twice nightly on BBC America (Dish Network channel 135/DirecTV channel 264/Comcast channel 162).

The syndicated version consists of 111 half-hour episodes, re-edited from the original hour-long specials made by Thames Television and screened on Britain's ITV network three or four times a year. Half-hour edits also appeared on ITV, although the contents may be different from the syndicated US versions.

There is far less DVD material currently available in the UK, although in 2005 the Thames specials began to appear uncut on Region 2 DVD sets, each representing one year and entitled The Benny Hill Annual, as of October 2006 going up to 1979.

In 2004, the same year Benny Hill started airing on BBC America (originally in two half-hour shows), the Thames specials began to appear uncut on Region 1 DVD sets for the USA, by A&E Home Video, entitled Benny Hill: Complete And Unadulterated. And unlike the UK sets, each set package represents multiple years of the shows in order of the original airings, with Benny Hill Trivia Challenges, a booklet, and extras:

[edit] The Naughty Early Years

  • Set One showcases all 11 episodes from 1969–71 (with the three black-and-white episodes never-before seen in the US). Included extra: Documentary - "Benny Hill - The World's Favorite Clown"
  • Set Two showcases all 10 episodes from 1972–74. Included extra: A&E Biography Documentary - "Benny Hill: Laughter and Controversy"
  • Set Three showcases all 10 episodes from 1975–77. Included extra: The 25-minute "Eddie In August" film

[edit] The Hill's Angels Years

  • Set Four was released with all 10 episodes from 1978–81.
  • Set Five was released September 2006 showcasing all 9 episodes from 1982–85.
  • Set Six was released in January 30th, 2007. This set showcases the last 8 episodes from 1986–89.

Note: All "The Hill's Angels Years" Sets have an "I Was A Hill Angel" Documentary; however, each one is different.

In total, all 58 episodes of the Thames years of TBHS are showcased in the collection.

As for his BBC works, roughly half of the total shows he did for them still exist. The best of the surviving editions were released on Region 1 DVD by Warner Home Video in 2005 under the title Benny Hill: The Lost Years, and contain sketches originating from shows that first aired between 1958 and 1968.

It is unknown if any collections of his various specials will be released.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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