[Lingster]

Oh my God!  They killed Benny!  You bastards!

It's bye bye Benny, hello Hollyoaks for the BBC – the headline in the Telegraph, announcing plans by BBC America to stop showing Benny Hill reruns in the U.S.

But let us remember what the great man gave us:

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[cpbell0033944]

Poor old Benny took his rejection from British TV in the late '80s very hard.  He could never understand why he was ostracised to the degree that he was – he knew that he was having fun at the expense of his "dirty old man" character – the winners in his sketches were the women.  If you've never seen some of his other sketches, though, you'll always think of him as a one-trick pony.  One was a spoof of a popular '60s chat-show host called Simon Dee, whose programme was cornily called "Dee-Time" (tea-time, you see…)  Hill's version was Tommy Tupper with "Tupper-Time" (supper-time) and was just pure comic platinum. 

[Lingster]

He's been broadcast in the U.S. pretty consistently for over 30 years, so most Americans are pretty familiar with him.

[Delmo Walters Jr.]

It's a shame that he fell out of favor in the UK. He's probably the funniest comedian the UK will ever produce. I've got the whole run of his Thames TV output on dvd thanks to A&E. Now let's see if the BBc, or whoever has the rights, will release his pre-Thames work.

[cpbell0033944]

He's probably the funniest comedian the UK will ever produce.

Not sure that I'd agree with you there, Delmo – what about Eric Morecambe, Peter Cook, Spike Milligan (although he was Irish), Ronnie Barker as a comic actor, Blly Connolly, or a few others?

[AlexG]

Not sure that I'd agree with you there, Delmo – what about Eric Morecambe, Peter Cook, Spike Milligan (although he was Irish), Ronnie Barker as a comic actor, Blly Connolly, or a few others?

Or Dave Allen . . .

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/838629/

– not to mention the entire Monty Python crew.  😉

“I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

[cpbell0033944]

Or Dave Allen . . .

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/838629/

– not to mention the entire Monty Python crew.  😉

How could I have forgotten the great Irish raconteur himself, Dave Allen?  Genius storyteller.

[Lingster]

I remember about 18 years ago some British TV network took to rebroadcasting David Letterman's show in Britain.  It was a tremendous flop.  One American TV news network went around asking Londoners if they'd seen Letterman and what they thought of him.  One woman said, "I don't think American humor is terribly sophisticated and we British demand a bit more from ours."  And the interviewer, God bless her, said, "Such as Benny Hill?"

[cpbell0033944]

I remember about 18 years ago some British TV network took to rebroadcasting David Letterman's show in Britain.  It was a tremendous flop.  One American TV news network went around asking Londoners if they'd seen Letterman and what they thought of him.  One woman said, "I don't think American humor is terribly sophisticated and we British demand a bit more from ours."  And the interviewer, God bless her, said, "Such as Benny Hill?"

Not a very good example! ;D
I do agree though – Letterman's style, from what I've seen of him, seems a bit coarse.  Then again, British interviewers are heading the same way – Jonathan Ross springs to mind – as someone who toes the line betwen funny and crass, occasionally stepping over that boundary of good taste.  Parky is much more my cup of tea. 

[Lingster]

Well, the U.S. is pretty big and not yet entirely homogenized.  Letterman's a hoosier (Indiana native) and his humor is flat, quirky and a bit understated.  He's never been a huge favorite of mine, but he's OK.

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