Index
» Mar 2008
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* THE GOODIES FAN CLUB CLARION AND GLOBE *
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* THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF 'THE GOODIES RULE - OK!' *
Issue No. 148 12th March 2008
THE LADS AND LASSES OF THE C&G
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EDITOR
- Brett Allender <clarion@goodiesruleok.com>
ACE REPORTER:
- Lisa Manekofsky
FEATURE ARTICLE WRITERS:
- Denise Baran-Unland & Brian Labza
C&G CONTRIBUTORS:
- Wackywales, Sosia, Michael Cahill, Nik Whitehead, Claire, Michael Shaw
CONTENTS
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1. QUIZ & QUOTE - Goodies brainteasers for you and you and you
2. BOFFO IDEAS – The latest club news and happenings
3. SPOTTED!!! - The latest Goodies sightings.
4. 2001 AND A BIT - Tim, Graeme and Bill sightings post-Goodies.
5. A COLLECTION OF GOODIES THEMES #6 – Goodies Targets: Nicholas Parsons
6. FEATURE ARTICLE 1 – The Goodies 30 Years Later
7. FEATURE ARTICLE 2 – Goodies Rescreenings In Australia
8. GOODIES WORD FINDER
9. QUIZ & QUOTE ANSWERS
1. QUIZ & QUOTE
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(by "Magnus Magnesium")
QUOTE: "Here you are, darling, in you go. Close your eyes and think of Crufts!"
(a) Which Goodie says this quote?
(b) Which two animals is he trying to mate together?
(c) Which episode is this quote from?
QUIZ: This month's questions are from the special: "Goodies Rule OK"
(d) Who supposedly wrote the song "Eleanor Rigby"?
(e) Where do the Goodies find themselves when they are down and out?
(f) Who do the Goodies perform "Wild Thing" for at Wembley?
(g) What do the Goodies receive their OBEs for?
(h) Which political party do the Goodies form?
The answers are listed at the end of this newsletter.
2. BOFFO IDEAS
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You can make it happen here. Liven up the club with a boffo idea for bob-a-job week. E-mail <enquiries@goodiesruleok.com> with your comments, ideas or suggestions - meanwhile these are the boffo ideas which our club has been working on this month:
ASK A GOODIE QUESTION
As a feature article for our upcoming 150th edition of the Goodies Clarion & Globe in May, we're pleased to announce that our resident Goodies Tim and Graeme are willing to answer further questions from fan club members as they have kindly done for us on several occasions in the past. So if you've got some questions about The Goodies, ISIHAC or Tim and Graeme's solo projects that you'd like to receive a genuine Goodie answer to, please send them in to clarion@goodiesruleok.com
WEBSITE POLLS
The February poll votes are in and the majority of Goodies fans have decided that they'd love to take a holiday in ... Cricklewood (where "nothing ever happens there") or in the Star Safari Park with Little Rolf (where even less of interest is likely to happen, especially if his feet are nailed to the floor of his cage!). Almost as exciting as Rolf scoring two poll victories in a row (Yaaawn, don't bother passing the New Improved Snooze, it's not needed!). Here are the final poll results for anyone still awake out there:
Where would you like Goodies Adventure Holidays to send you for your next vacation?
- Cricklewood 27 votes
- The Lost Island of Munga 4 votes
- the Jolly Rock Lighthouse 17 votes
- the Eurovision Raving Loony Contest 10 votes
- the stomach of a sleeping T-Rex 9 votes
- the Knutters Knoll Knite Spot restaurant 11 votes
- August Bank Holiday Island 7 votes
- on a London to Brighton Spacehopper ride 2 votes
- other 2 votes
- Goodies Star Safari Park w/Little Rolf 30 votes
- Total: 119 votes
Now that I've had my "sleepy-bo-boes", here is this month's poll question. Not as many options to think about, but an interesting choice. With interior designs, it's whatever turns you on really, so go to the website and vote before you get plastered. You know it makes sense!
Which Goodies-themed interior design would you choose for your home?
- Tim's Union Jack & Royalist designs
- one with Graeme's scientific devices
- Bill's casual scruffpot style
- Rolf Harris wall paintings
3. SPOTTED!!!
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More exciting than getting your wig-spotters badge! If you've seen the Goodies recently, e-mail <clarion@goodiesruleok.com> with the details. Here's where we've Spotted!!! the Goodies this month:
SPICKS & SPECKS
(Michael Shaw – 6th Mar)
On Spicks & Specks (ABC), they have a game called "Look What They've Done"... where a band play songs in their own style and the teams have to work out what it was.
On 6/3, the band were Tangazo and the final song they did was the Theme From The Goodies.
4. 2001 AND A BIT
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If you've sighted Tim, Bill or Graeme in a post-Goodies role, e-mail <clarion@goodiesruleok.com> so that we can tell everyone where to spot a Goodie nowadays. Those of you seeking radio and tv alerts between issues of the C&G should consider signing up for the Goodies-l mailing list (more details available on the club website), as our crack (cracked?!) team of reporters attempt to post alerts as the information becomes available.
** (All items in this section contributed by Lisa Manekofsky, except where otherwise credited) **
BILL SPOTTINGS
* Thurs, 28 Feb - Sat, 1 Mar - "Birding with Bill Oddie" is repeated at various times on UKTV Gardens.
(21st Feb)
* Sat, 1 Mar - "Top 50 Greatest Celebrity Animals" hosted by Bill is repeated on Sky Two at 22:00, then again on Sky One at 15:00.
(21st Feb)
* Wednesdays - "Bill Oddie's Wild Side" on BBC 2 at 20:00. This new series will consist of 10 episodes.
(21st Feb)
* An upcoming radio show featuring Bill...
Bad Nature, Radio 4 Saturday (March 8) 10.30am
"YOU'D think Sir David Attenborough would love all creatures, but actually he can't stand rats, after a nasty experience in India with a rat and an upset stomach. Bird-lover Bill Oddie shudders at the thought of cats and Julian Pettifer would like a world free of pigeons.
These are some of the contributors as Jo Brand delves into the darker side of wildlife's great and good, asking the celebrities of the natural world which animals they really have an aversion to.
Others joining in include Kate Humble, Steve Leonard, Michaela Strachan and Alan Titchmarsh."
(Wackywales – 3rd Mar)
* Classic FM is currently running an RNID (Royal National Insitute for the Deaf) awareness campaign promoting the spoken description service on many television channels in the UK. The clip they're using is of Bill doing the voice-over for a scene watching a clutch of eggs hatch - it's played twice, once just Bill's voice and the second time Bill's voice plus the scene describer.
(Nik Whitehead – 4th Mar)
(11th Mar)
* Sun, 23 Mar - "Jamie's Fowl Dinners" with Bill is being repeated on more4 at 01:15 and an hour later on more4 Plus 1.
(11th Mar)
* Mon, 24 Mar - "The Truth about Killer Dinosaurs" presented by Bill is being repeated at various times on UKTV Documentary and UKTV Documentary Plus 1 - please consult your local listings.
(11th Mar)
* Fridays - "Bill Oddie's Wild Side" is being repeated on BBC 1 early Friday mornings - it looks like they're starting with episode 1 (while the final 2 episodes of the 10 episode run air on BBC 2 Wednesdays). The repeats are scheduled for 03:15 on 14 March and 00:55 on 21 March. Please consult your local listings to confirm the times.
(11th Mar)
GRAEME SPOTTINGS
* Thursdays starting 21 Feb - "One" returns to BBC Radio 4 at 23:00. Graeme is one of the performers in this is a sketch show written by David Quantick in which no item features more than one voice.
(21st Feb)
* TBA - ITV began airing "Agatha Christie's Marple" Series 3 a few months ago; Graeme has a cameo appearance in the episode entitled "Nemesis". The exact date for this episode hasn't been announced yet; keep an eye out for the broadcast. A preview of the episode (in which Graeme appears) can be seen at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/mystery/nemesis/
(21st Feb)
* Sunday, 9 Mar - "Miss Marple: Nemesis" on RTÉ 1 at 14:40-16:25. The film includes a cameo by Graeme.
(3rd Mar)
* Mon, 10 Mar & Tues, 11 Mar - the "QI" episode with Graeme is repeated on Dave on Monday at 21:40 and Tuesday at 01:20. Each episode is repeated an hour later on Dave Plus 1.
(3rd Mar)
* Thanks to Sosia for posting this news in the club's forums.
"The Unbelievable Truth is back for a second series!
Tickets are available from the BBC Ticket unit
Hopefully Graeme will be involved in some of the episodes, as he was for the first series.
(3rd Mar)
TIM SPOTTINGS
* Today's Times Online has an article about the Frost Report special that was recorded a few months ago (with Tim as part of the cast).
The Frost Report to return after 40 years
Adam Sherwin
The Frost Report, the satirical show that spawned comedy dynasties, will return for a special edition featuring surviving members of the original line-up.
John Cleese, Michael Palin, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Ronnie Corbett will join Sir David Frost for the The Frost Report Is Back, a BBC Four two-hour special, to be broadcast at Easter.
Launched in 1966, the successor to That Was The Week That Was, it lampooned Britain's still class-based society. Written by Antony Jay (later of Yes, Minister), the programme concentrated on a single topic each week, such as law or class.
The Frost Report united the Ronnies Corbett and Barker and gave Cleese his television debut. In the most famous sketch, the 6'5" Cleese illustrated the class divide by looking down upon the two Ronnies standing next to him.
It ran for two series, but The Frost Report graduates went on to form Monty Python's Flying Circus and The Goodies, and the programme influenced satirical comedy for decades.
Sir David said: "Putting The Frost Report Is Back together has been a joy, with so many memories - and even more important, so many laughs - along the way."
Musical satire on the show was provided by folk singer Julie Felix and Tom Lehrer. The sketches and monologues were written by such luminaries as Marty Feldman, Keith Waterhouse, Peter Tinniswood, Bill Oddie, Barry Cryer and Frank Muir.
(15th Feb)
* According to the BBC's teletext service, The Frost Report will be a 2 hour special on Easter Monday, 24 March on BBC 4. The preview of the show mentions Tim as appearing, along with John Cleese, Ronnie Corbett and Michael Palin.
(Michael Cahill – 16th Feb)
* Saturdays - "Golf Clubs with Tim Brooke-Taylor" on Discovery Real Time Extra. Two episode are being repeated from 21:00-22:00 each week.
(21st Feb)
* Did anyone watch the Late Edition this week (BBC Four)? Marcus Brigstock was bitching about the British not being good at anything nice, ....and said: "Can't we be good at anything nice.....Country that has produced the most Tim Brooke-Taylors?" He then went on to claim that the Dutch were attempting to clone the Goodies ;)
(Claire – 6th Mar)
I'M SORRY I HAVEN'T A CLUE (ISIHAC) and
I'M SORRY I'LL READ THAT AGAIN (ISIRTA)
ISIHAC LIVE TOUR 2008
(21st Feb)
* Saturdays - "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again", on ABC Radio National at 5:30. This 1960's sketch comedy series starred with all three Goodies plus John Cleese, Jo Kendall, & David Hatch (info at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/comedy/default.htm )
(21st Feb)
5. A COLLECTION OF GOODIES THEMES #6
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(by Brett Allender)
GOODIES TARGETS: NICHOLAS PARSONS
Christopher Nicholas Parsons was born in Lincolnshire in 1923 and after studying engineering at university, he made his film debut in 1947. He then worked with comedian Arthur Haynes during the 1950s and appeared regularly on the Benny Hill Show from 1969 to 1974. However his best-known media roles are as the host of game show 'Sale Of The Century' from 1971 to 1983 (closely paralleling the run of The Goodies) and also the long-running radio show 'Just A Minute' which first started back in 1967. His somewhat egotistical and patronising hosting manner served to make him a regular target of The Goodies from Series 5 onwards.
He first bobs up on the Goodies' radar in "Frankenfido" where Graeme, chastened by the success of Tim's dog Cuddly Scamp (Bill in a dog suit) in winning the Obedience & Intelligence Prize at Crufts, decides to "make something" which will win the Grand Champions Parade the next day. A stormy night and a jumble of electrical cables fulfil two of his main prerequisites, so Graeme only needs the "finest quality parts" that are on his "chopping list" to complete the task. Tim is worried that Graeme is going around "chopping up poor little innocent doggies" but Graeme is actually hellbent on chopping up all sorts of creatures, as evidenced by the sparkling set of teeth that he has managed to procure: "Look. Teeth. You wouldn't find teeth like these on a mere dog." T: "What are they? Horse, alligator, tiger ..."
G (opens box to reveal glittering diamond-studded teeth): "Look at them."
T (shocked): "No! Not Donny Osmond!" G: "Yep."
T (in horrified indignation): "You ... you've been using people! ... And Donny Osmond!!"
A shocked Tim continues reading from Graeme's "chopping list": "Nicholas Parsons' hair, Robin Day's brain, Yul Brynner's legs … You haven't got them, have you?!" G: "Very nearly. In fact, I've got Robin Day's legs (holds up a leg with a pair of glasses and a bow tie attached), Nicholas Parsons' brain (displays a jar with a little blob floating in it) and Yul Brynner's hair (a tiny tuft of fluff)."
Later in the same series, Bill is desperate for the hand of Mildred Makepeace in "Cunning Stunts", but he is only permitted to marry her if he can make her insufferably grumpy father, Sir Joshua Makepeace, laugh again. Having earlier failed dismally when Sir Joshua took offence to Bill's unintended impersonation of him, a love-smitten Bill is then sacked from The Goodies by Tim and Graeme and he returns to see Sir Joshua with his tale of woe. Bill tells him despairingly "Those so-called friends, those callous swine have given me the boot, they ... they threw me out and fobbed me off with a rotten old piece of cheese. Then ... they tried to replace me with ... (shamed pause) ... Nicholas Parsons! I mean, I do have my pride! I am a man!" On the upside for Bill, the very thought of this utter humiliation is the trigger for Sir Joshua to finally start cackling away and his chuckles turn into full-blown hysterics when Bill tells him that Tim and Graeme even interviewed "a wooden model of Roger Moore ... actually it could have been the real Roger Moore!" However on the downside, Bill is still unable to marry Mildred because she has already left home in frustration at putting up with her "miserable old twit" of a father.
As if the mere mention of Nicholas Parsons isn't scary enough for the average Goodies fan, the lads take it a step further in the first episode of Series 6, "Lips Or Almighty Cod". The Goodies need to find a way to scare off the Eskimos, who have extended their fishing limits 2000 miles to the south and have merrily made off with all of the cod in Britain, except for Graeme's giant, hand-reared "limp finned pansy" Brian. Referring to the troublesome Eskimos, Graeme ponders: "They're still out there. How are we going to scare them off?" Bill: "Er ... Nicholas Parsons masks?!" (holds up mask)
G (scornfully): "Nicholas Parsons masks don't scare any ... (catches sight of mask) AAARRRGGH!"
Tim (also startled): "Ohhhh! That might frighten us, but it won't work on the Eskimos. Our Nicholas is very big on Eskimo television. Does Whale Of The Century - they love him!"
G (appalled): "Love him?! Good God, we're dealing with savages!!"
While the sight of the Nicholas Parsons masks may not be enough to bother the Eskimos, Bill is at least optimistic that it will have the desired effect of annoying Graeme's fish so that they will go on the attack and scare away those unwanted Greenlanders. Waving the mask at the goldfish tank, Bill bellows "Slime, slime, grease, grease! Slime, slime, patronise, patronise!!" in a vain attempt to simulate Parsons' ingratiating repartee with his audience during program interludes. Unfortunately Parsons only falls into the "minor irrit" category along with Tim's Eskimo phrase book and attempted insulting of a goldfish ("You're all the same, you rotten lousy fish. You're stupid, what are ya?! You're stew-pid!") and it ultimately takes something of 24 carat gold-plated annoyance to get Graeme's camp cod to transform into a fearless killer of the deep – the never-ending crooning of Max Bygraves which has already been discussed in detail in themed article #3.
The episode "2001 And A Bit" also gives Nicholas Parsons a name-check and a stir for good measure when an ancient Tim Brooke-Taylor and his young son Bill venture to the long-neglected MCC headquarters and he spies his two old chums Bill and Graeme for the first time in many years. Tim approaches them with a raspy "Hello old friends, do you remember me?" and Graeme answers with a blunt "Aaah … no!". Graeme and Bill briefly dither over who this stranger is before Graeme announces "Look at this everybody. A face from the past. It's Nicholas Parsons!" Tim is then roundly booed by Bill and the other old cricketers and he is pelted with fruit from all directions before he finally halts the barrage by telling them "It's your old friend Timbo".
The much-loved (or is it loathed?!) Nicholas Parsons masks make a return visit in "Scoutrageous"; again for a rather cruel purpose. Bill and Graeme are going for their newly-created scouting badges and what better way to earn their Wigspotter's Badge than by scaring the hair off innocent passers-by with the gratuitous brandishing of a mask featuring Parsons' smug-looking mug. The scheme almost comes unstuck though when Graeme foolishly takes a peek at the mask himself, but he must have built up a level of immunity as he merely gives a sickened grimace rather than flipping his wig like the rest of his victims!
The final series of The Goodies at the BBC has a further three references to Nicholas Parsons scattered through it. In "Politics" when Che and Timita become coalition Prime Ministers, the televising of Parliament features Graeme in a number of wacky hosting roles, along with the narration of "Later in the show we've got 'Sale Of The Century' with Nicholas Parsons (a close-up of Parsons appears on screen) where the lucky contestants could take home with them a year's supply of Armourlite rifles and ammunition, 200 rocket launchers or ten French Mirage fighter jets."
"A Kick In The Arts" has Tim being towed around the golf course in a buggy by Graeme (with Bill wheeling his clubs along) while discussing the money he has raised for the British Olympic Team from his Pro Celebrity Sports Night. Tim: "Of course, there's my expenses to cover. Ah there's celebrities fees, twelve bottles of scent for Henry Cooper … Then there's 500 pounds for Nicholas Parsons …" Bill (indignantly): "500 pounds for Nicholas Parsons?!" T (matter-of-factly): "Not to turn up!" B (approvingly): "Oh!" G: "Well worth it." T: "Oh yeah!"
"U-Friend Or UFO" sees the Goodies in panic mode as the mysterious trombone-loving aliens have taken over the BBC broadcast feed. Graeme (shocked): "Well they've obviously tuned in to all of the TV wavelengths. Just imagine, suppose they got their whole idea about human beings are like from watching television." Bill (disgusted): "Good grief, they probably think we're a race of Nicholas Parsons!" This is immediately followed by a huge raspberry-like trombone blast from the aliens and the Goodies, looking skyward in unison, yell "Fair comment!" A worried Graeme continues: "A race of Nicholas Parsons! If they've got any moral feelings at all …" B: "They'll blast us out of the universe!"
The move of The Goodies from the BBC to LWT doesn't find Parsons totally spared from their barbs, as part of the Goodies Proficiency Test in "Change Of Life" sees them having to flee from a cardboard cutout of Parsons mounted on wheels. Tim pulls a terrified facial expression at the horrible sight that is rolling towards him, only to be penalized 5 points for overacting, and the Goodies eventually take off in a very wobbly fashion on their blue trandem with Graeme's computer taunting "Run, run, Nicholas is after you!". Mercifully the Robot steps in and spectacularly disposes of "Nicholas" with a well-aimed rocket and the Goodies cheer with delight as they make their getaway.
In the commentary track which the three Goodies recently recorded for "Change Of Life" for the release of the LWT episodes on DVD, they briefly comment on Parsons when this sequence appears, with lines such as "(He) never misses a cue" and "He looks so young" … "So did we!", but surprisingly nothing is said when "Nicholas" gets blown up by the Robot. Perhaps Tim best sums up the situation in one of his Q&A interviews for the Goodies Clarion & Globe in 1997: "Nicholas Parsons I know very well and I honestly don't think it occurs to him that we were being rude. But we certainly were."
And now, a final Goodies / Nicholas Parsons anecdote. At the Kitten Kon Goodies convention in Melbourne in 2000, the committee came up with a number of novelty Goodies merchandise items to sell at the front counter. These included badges, black puddings, pieces of string … and yes, even Nicholas Parsons masks! These sold so well (we shifted 3 of them at $1 each!) that we resorted to giving the remaining ones away on the final afternoon (not surprisingly, still nobody wanted one!) and so Tim took one back to England with his luggage (see the photo gallery).
Apparently the three Goodies were meeting with each other shortly after Tim's return from Australia and he produced the Nicholas Parsons mask at an opportune moment and waved it at the others. History hasn't recorded whether their hair flew off in horror or whether they were just rather annoyed like Graeme's stupid fish should have been, but the sight of Parsons was bound to create some very amusing dialogue just as it inevitably did in The Goodies itself.
Website article & photo gallery:
http://www.goodiesruleok.com/articles.php?id=107&page=7
Next theme (Apr or May): Goodies In Love
6. FEATURE ARTICLE 1 – THE GOODIES 30 YEARS LATER
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(by Denise Baran-Unland)
One of the first words I hear from a kid when he or she walks through the door of our youth group is, "Are we watching the Goodies tonight?"
While showing reruns of The Goodies may be an unusual activity for a church youth group, we believe that "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine" (Proverbs 15:13), especially when it is a Goodies-inspired merry heart.
Although it has been nearly 30 years since The Goodies filmed their last episode, the comedic trio continues to attract new audiences of all ages while retaining its diehard fans, despite the BBC's continued reluctance to rebroadcast the series.
"The show is as hilarious now as it was when I was 7 years old," said Robert Ross, author of "The Complete Goodies," and "The Goodies Rule OK."
Australian comedy producer John Pinder, who, in 2005, booked The Goodies for The Big Laugh Comedy Festival, said, "My oldest daughter watched the show every afternoon. She is now 35 and a very typical fan. In fact, she was the one who suggested, 'Get The Goodies back together,' to me."
Last year, the live show "The Goodies Still Rule OK!" attracted an audience range of age 8 to 80 said Jenny Kicks, stage door keeper at The Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. Rachel Thorne, press and marketing services manager at the Mercury Theatre in Colchester, said "The Goodies Still Rule OK!" was the fastest selling show in the spring 2007 season.
"While the humor is slapstick and schoolboy, it has that Oxford/Cambridge University underpinning that prevents it from being too vulgar and so keeps the whole family entertained," Thorne said. "Their brand of comedy is easily identifiable and people know what to expect."
Although steadfast fans of the series have no trouble understanding The Goodies' continued appeal, others may find it amazing that The Goodies can sustain this kind enthusiastic following when other shows from the 1970s and their respective stars are all but forgotten, despite boxed sets of their television programs.
Pinder said it's because The Goodies offer a timeless, class comedy that is not readily dismissed.
"In my view, the Goodies at their best were also masterful exponents of visual comedy on film," Pinder said. "They reference silent film comedy frequently and add to the cannon in some of their remarkable 'new wave silent movie stuff.' I find it fascinating that many young Australian and British comedians adore The Goodies. This is their mark of their place in the comedy family tree."
But the Goodies have also left their mark in comedy history, too, despite the fact that it is sometimes nearly impossible to strictly label the show as suitable for only one particular age group.
British-born English professor Caroline McCracken-Flesher, who shows clips of The Goodies in her British humor class at the University of Wyoming, said that certain elements of the show—including some cultural references and its fair amount of blue humor—suggest that The Goodies was not originally intended to be a children's show.
"In other respects, though, the surreal humor—which we might think of as a drawback—works well for children who have less rigid, generic expectations than adults," she said.
In Australia particularly The Goodies enjoyed a 10 to 12 year run at 6:00 p.m. five nights a week and was billed as a children's show, Pinder said. Today, it's the limited DVD releases of a handful of the episodes that have introduced younger viewers to The Goodies.
"My experience is that DVD's have created a very complex time warp in terms of classic material of all kinds, much more so than broadcast TV's tradition of repeating material," Pinder said. "I have always been of the view that comedy habits are like pop habits; they're picked up very young. The Goodies, which had something of a pop sensibility, did just that."
However, Ross thinks that the BBC itself also designed the show to engage a wider audience as opposed to the obvious adults-only Monty Python's Flying Circus, with which The Goodies are often compared.
"It quickly became clear that the powers that be at the BBC saw The Goodies as a 'family entertainment,'" Ross said. "Certainly, there are missives from within the BBC directed at The Goodies and their director, requesting certain toning down of language and content."
For instance, he added, the term "bloody hell," was unacceptable in a Goodies show. "Hence Tim's frantically overemphasized, 'Ruddy hell!' in the Montreux re-presentation of 'Kitten Kong,'" Ross said. "As head honcho Michael Mills wrote, 'It is like Alice in Wonderland saying, 'Shit,' or Bertie Wooster saying, 'Bugger!"
While both The Goodies and Monty Python employed punning, associative humor, The Pythons narrowed their audience a bit by focusing on the more abstruse perspective of their undergraduate education, McCracken-Flesher said. The Goodies, on the other hand exploited popular culture.
"Add in the fact that Monty Python initially ran on Sundays late at night and you have one show coded as 'adult' and the other as 'family,'" she said. In addition, a few other sources perpetuated the notion that The Goodies was a children's show, most notably English journalist and television presenter Michael Aspel.
"In The Goodies' first series, there are many adult elements, whether it be Bill's sherbet-dip induced drug visions or attractive ladies stripping down to their scanty underwear," Ross said. "It's only that copious clips were utilized on the children's show, 'Ask Aspel,' and that, as a result, the young audience for the show increased, that this label has stuck."
He paused.
"That and a certain John Cleese yelling it at the end of 'The Goodies and the Beanstalk.' But The Goodies were always subverting their chosen subjects, even kids' programs, as witness the climax of 'The Goodies Rule-OK?'"
Yet for all its successful youth appeal, The Goodies never intended to write a children's show, but one that they and their peers would enjoy, gleaning inspiration from Buster Keaton and Tom & Jerry's "vicious cartoon type of humor," said Bill Oddie in a column he wrote for The Mail On Sunday in 2000.
"Being popular with children became a rod for our own backs," Oddie said. "We were labeled as just a kids' show. But there was always a satirical element to it and we were censored by the BBC more times than Monty Python."
Another element of The Goodies all-age appeal is their creation of three, well-defined characters whose personalities played off each other, contributing the conflict and balance that is essential to all good group comedy, Pinder said.
"They cover all the bases," he added. "It is quite a complex relationship defined in part by the high, middle and low characters, with complimentary skills and varying attitudes to violence and being hurt."
Although it has now become something of a cliché now, Ross said that the fictional, personalities of Tim, Graeme and Bill represented the Great British class system.
"Bill was the lowly, working class, hairy oik. Graeme was the middle-class boffin, who remained the backbone of the nation. Tim was the upper class wet, the landed gentry toff that believed in the Queen and the God-given right to do what you damn well please because he had won the lottery of life and been born British," Ross said.
"As a result, particularly in 'The End' and "Earthanasia' and the other one-set episodes, the three elements battled out the entire class struggle. The edges really only blurred when the Goodies wanted to use the very blur as part of the humor, notably in '2001 and a Bit.' Usually, the three classes within The Goodies reflected life and stayed exactly where they were supposed to stay."
Yet those stereotypical roles were actually based on certain character traits of these comedians, Oddie said in a column he wrote for The Mail On Sunday in 2000.
"To be honest, there was a very thin line between the characters in the show and our real selves," Oddie said. "We took our natural characteristics and exaggerated them. Because I was quite fiery, I became the belligerent one; Graeme, who was a doctor, became a kind of mad scientist; and Tim, because he had a double-barreled name, had to be the posh one. But if anybody embodied the views of all of us, I suppose it was me because we were all really anti-Establishment. This meant that Tim actually came to hate his own character."
Although The Goodies continue to be popular with adult and young viewers alike, would the show's concept hold up to 21st century standards if it were being produced today?
Despite the fact that her students, 11 year old son and his friends all enjoy The Goodies, McCracken-Flesher is uncertain that The Goodies would be successful with American audiences, especially the younger ones.
"The Goodies almost required its rather raw approach, something American TV, with its high production values, is afraid to tolerate," McCracken-Flesher said. "Various American kids' links on channels like Disney and Kids Discover attempt this, but to do it well requires cultural sophistication and a lot of respect for your audience. This form of humor is not afraid to assume a lively audience, willing to do a bit of intellectual work to get the joke."
In addition, she added, while certain dated parts (The sets and facial hair that Graeme Garden, in a 2006 Clarion & Globe interview, called "quaint, period pieces"), of The Goodies are fashionable once again, other elements, such as the South Africa' episode, did not age well.
However, Tim Brooke-Taylor believes that most of the episodes stand the test of time. "There are some things by definition that have dated, but I'm pleasantly surprised by how many haven't," he said in a 2006 Clarion & Globe interview.. "One or two politically incorrect bits are there, but funnily enough, I'd think they'd be all right now."
Ross agreed. "The basic premise of The Goodies is so flimsy that, by its very simplicity, the show would easily work if it was being made today," he said. "It's basically an office situation: Three men who will do anything, anywhere, anytime. That is a timeless concept.
"The Goodies always reflected the contemporary issues in the news when the shows were being written and recorded. With the obvious trick of looking to the news for script inspiration, The Goodies could happily be resurrected—as long as Bill agreed and as long as we were continually reminded that the three employees really should have retired by now."
7. FEATURE ARTICLE 2 – GOODIES RESCREENINGS IN AUSTRALIA
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(by Brian Labza)
The most recent showings of The Goodies in Australia on free-to-air television were :
BBC programs:
ABC in 1979 to 1985 several runs (usually with Dr Who!!), then in 1987, 1988 and 1993.
Channel 7 in Feb/April 1986.
Channel 10 in Jan/March 1991.
LWT programs:
Channel 7 Melbourne weekly on Fridays 7.30 pm in late 1983 and 1984 repeated 7 pm, then Mon-Fri in 1986 after their BBC run, then later sporadically in 1989 on weekday afternoons.
Prior to 1989 screenings were usually not networked around regional Australia, so this information (especially in relation to Channel 7 screenings) probably only applies to Sydney and Melbourne.
None of these runs showed all episodes - Hype Pressure and the black & white episodes of Playgirl Club, The Commonwealth Games and Come Dancing were universally ignored, others were sporadically missed and Double Trouble (with Patrick Troughton) only ever turned up on Channel 10 in 1991. All runs were from Monday-Thursday (ABC) or Monday-Friday (Channel 7 and 10 and sometimes ABC). All runs after the final ABC screenings in 1993 have been on pay-TV stations - UK-TV (from 1996 onwards), then recently on the Comedy Channel. Most recently these have been for series one and two only.
All showings on Channels 7 and 10 were cut to accommodate ad breaks, but the LWT episodes weren't cut by as much as they were only 25 minutes long to start with.
Many episodes on ABC were censored copies, but some that were cut earlier were shown uncut from 1987 (e.g Rome Antics).
The special editions of Superstar, Goodies & The Beanstalk and Goodies Rule OK were never shown on Channels 7 or 10, and their last showings were on ABC in 1984 (Superstar and Goodies & The Beanstalk) and 1985 (Goodies Rule OK). I think there is a rights problem with Goodies Rule OK and probably also Superstar as it has some Led Zeppelin on the soundtrack, but this would need to be verified.
The Greenies (series 1) was only shown in colour on ABC in 1993 (but not on Channels 7 or 10) but it had previously been shown in the 1970's as a black and white film print at the time. The last showing of the black and white Goodies film print trilogy of The Greenies/Come Dancing/The Commonwealth Games was on ABC in 1979 and 1980. The colour version of The Greenies was found/made available well after Channel 7's run in 1986, but I have no idea why Channel 10 did not run it in 1991. There was supposed to be some kind of scratch on it.
It was particularly gratifying for the colour version of The Greenies to re-emerge in the 1990's, as the black and white film print was censored, as was the habit in the 1970's. The black and white film print of The Commonwealth Games is also censored. The sound and picture quality on the black and white film prints is fairly ordinary.
Similarly, no idea when "Playgirl Club" was last played but it has not been screened in Australia since 1974 - I only ever saw it at Kitten Kon!
Hype Pressure has only ever turned up on pay TV, post-1996. Double Trouble was only shown in 1973 on ABC, 1991 on 10, then on pay TV post-1996.
Apart from community standards, the main driver to the change in censorship was that until and including the early 1980's all imported TV material was classified by the Federal Government Office of Film and Literature Classification, then from about 1985 onwards this was deregulated and censorship decisions were made by the TV stations themselves.
Programs were not usually reclassified every time they were shown on the ABC, so that is why they habitually ran censored prints of Doctor Who and Goodies until well into the 1990's, because they were using their original tapes , unless the copy of the episode in question (e.g The Greenies) was in fact not shown before, so it was classified according to the standards of the day.
As I understand it, it is only when new copies were ordered from the Supplier (e.g. pay TV obtaining The Goodies in 1996) that uncensored prints showed up.
Apparently Channels 7 and 10 ordered new prints of series 5 onwards in 1986 and 1991, so that is why they were shown uncensored (albeit highly cut for ads), but used the ABC prints for series 1 to 4, so no new material was shown there. That probably explains why neither Channels 7 or 10 showed The Greenies, but fails to explain why the ABC *did* show Gender Education.
Why the ABC did not run Double Trouble in 1993 will go down as one of fandom's enduring mysteries, but it is instructive to note that both the series 2 episodes of Double Trouble and Gender Education were originally classified AO (Adults Only, equivalent to M today) in 1973, shown once late at night then disappeared until 1991 and 1986 respectively.
People used to joke that whenever anyone (Channels 7, 10, ABC or pay TV) ran the Goodies in Australia, no two runs over 20 years were ever identical or comprehensive and the list of anomalies/missed episodes was always highly confusing! And of course, for most of that time, no one anywhere else in the world ran them at all!
8. GOODIES WORD FINDER
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(by Brett Allender)
This puzzle contains hidden words and phrases relating to the "OK Tea Rooms" episode of The Goodies.
Try to find all the listed words in the puzzle. Words may be found horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Upon completion, the 5 unused letters can be rearranged to form the solution - clue: "it is used as part of the bunfight card game"
The solution will also be published in next month's newsletter.
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WORD LIST
Bacon
Bar
Barrel
Broke
Bunfight
Cakes
Carrot
Chums
Claim
Cornwall
Cream
Eggs
Gal
Gold
Greedy
Grr
Hanky
Jam
Ketchup
Ladle
Lay
Luck
Mine
Mule
Old Tins
Ore
Paces
Pan
Pennenink
Pick
Piggy bank
Rush
Sauce
Scones
Squirter
Tea room
Tent
Toast
West
9. QUIZ & QUOTE ANSWERS
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(a) Graeme
(b) A dog and an elephant
(c) Frankenfido
(d) Graeme Garden
(e) Skid Row
(f) An audience of policemen
(g) Services to the music industry
(h) The Bouncing Party
YOUR SCORE:
8 Mastermind Of The Year
7 Goodies fan supreme
5-6 Clever clogs
3-4 Reasonably Goodie
1-2 Thick as old boots
0 Rolf Harris!
NEXT C&G EDITION:
- #149: 12th April 2008.
*******************************************************************************
The Goodies Fan Club Clarion and Globe is copyright The Goodies Rule - OK! 2008. All rights reserved.
Permission to reproduce this work or any section of it, in any form must first be obtained from the copyright holders.
For further information regarding this publication please e-mail <clarion@goodiesruleok.com>.
For other general enquiries about the 'Goodies Rule - OK' fan club or 'The Goodies' itself, please e-mail enquiries@goodiesruleok.com
TO OBTAIN THIS NEWSLETTER IN WORD DOCUMENT FORM:
E-mail <clarion@goodiesruleok.com> requesting transfer to the Word mailing list.
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