A Kick in the Arts

"A Kick in the Arts" is an episode of the award-winning British comedy television series The Goodies.

This episode is also known as "Summer Olympics".

Written by The Goodies, with songs and music by Bill Oddie.

Plot

Britain's athletes have no money and are starving. Tim tries to help and ends up becoming an athlete too. To survive, the athletes turn to crime, and Tim even steals the Queen's tiara as she drives by waving to spectators. Eventually, Tim and other athletes are locked up in prison for their crimes.

Meanwhile, Graeme pretends to be Australian sports entrepreneur "Kerry Thwacker", and imports athletes from all around the world, to make up his own Olympics team — with the intention of giving the team to Tim as a gift.

Because all of the athletes have disappeared, and not knowing what Graeme and Bill are up to, Tim changes the direction of Summer Olympics competition from sports, alone, to that of a mixture of sports with poetry and literature, so that Britain will have more of a chance to win. With the changed rules, being a good athlete is no longer enough to guarantee a win in any of the competitions in the Olympic Games, and actors become the new Olympic champions.

Cultural references

• A vast list of English arts and academic persons were 'participants' as part of the UK team, including:

J. B. Priestley, Rita Hunter, A J P Taylor, John Betjeman, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Laurence Olivier

• Summer Olympics
• Kerry Packer — an Australian media tycoon who was personally responsible for the foundation of World Series Cricket — spoofed as Kerry Thwacker

References

• "The Complete Goodies" — Robert Ross, B T Batsford, London, 2000
• "The Goodies Rule OK" — Robert Ross, Carlton Books Ltd, Sydney, 2006
• "From Fringe to Flying Circus — 'Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960-1980'" — Roger Wilmut, Eyre Methuen Ltd, 1980
• "The Goodies Episode Summaries" — Brett Allender
• "The Goodies — Fact File" — Matthew K. Sharp
• "TV Heaven" — Jim Sangster & Paul Condon, HarperCollinsPublishers, London, 2005

External links

• A Kick in the Arts at the Internet Movie Database