The Goon Show (1968) (TV)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Joseph McGrath

Writers:

Spike Milligan (writer)
Eric Sykes (writer)

Release Date:

8 August 1968 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot Keywords:

Radio | Based On Radio Series

Cast

Harry Secombe	...	Himself / Neddie Seagoon
Peter Sellers	...	Himself / Henry Crun / Bluebottle / Hercules Grytpype-Thynne
Spike Milligan	...	Himself / Minnie Bannister / Eccles / Moriarty
John Cleese	...	Himself / Announcer
Christine Pryor	...	Bikini Girl
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michael Bentine	...	Himself

Runtime:

30 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Thames Television

Trivia:

This was in effect a televised radio production of an original Goon Show script, broadcast by Thames Television. The Three Goons reunited with the addition of John Cleese as announcer. This followed two years after the Goons re-enacted "The Whistling Spy Enigma" for inclusion in a broadcast of _"Secombe and Friends" (1966)_.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Private Screenings: Norman Jewison" (2007)

Just as well they only made one

In 1968 the nascent Thames TV invited 1950s BBC Radio favourites The Goons onto their new London television channel, with the idea of recreating their uniquely surreal humour in a weekly show . A pilot was filmed, without the musical breaks from the original radio format, and with John Cleese taking the linkman role. And that was about that, since the series never progressed beyond the pilot stage. Presumably it was thought a failure at the time - and rightly so, since it looks pretty terrible now.

So The Goons make a cursory effort to re-enact one of their last radio shows, but it does not translate to TV and they very likely know it all along. The team's comic timing is awry, perhaps so they can get off backstage for a shot of the old brandy, and the low production values don't help (we often miss jokes because cast members are out of shot). And for some unexplained reason a beehived dolly bird lounges on a chair in a justifiably bored fashion, but says and does nothing - most odd. Milligan has the right idea - he just gives up and wanders off halfway through. Most definitely for the most zealous completists only.