The Goodies

The Goodies was a surreal British television comedy series of the 1970s combining sketches and situation comedy and starring Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie.

Cultural influence

It may be argued that The Goodies antics brought the surrealist adventure traditions of The Goon Show to the television screen without diverting into areas of coarseness or topical satire to the same extent as other (more famous) British television series like Till Death Us Do Part, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Not Only But Also, Not the Nine O'Clock News or, much later, The Young Ones. There were satirical episodes of The Goodies. These included South Africa (apartheid), Rock Goodies (punk), and an episode satirizing Mary Whitehouse's influence on television. The Goodies appealed on an intellectual level, and also had a level of appeal to children as a consequence of its visual humour and slapstick.

Related Topics:
The Goon Show - Till Death Us Do Part - Monty Python's Flying Circus - Not Only But Also - Not the Nine O'Clock News - The Young Ones

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Stella, an American trio, has a show on Comedy Central that is very similar to the Goodies in terms of basic plot line.

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On 24 March 1975 Alex Mitchell, a 50-year-old bricklayer from King's Lynn literally died laughing while watching an episode of The Goodies. According to his wife, who was a witness, Mitchell was unable to stop laughing whilst watching a sketch in the episode "Kung Fu Kapers" in which Tim Brooke-Taylor, dressed as a kilted Scotsman, used a set of bagpipes to defend himself from a psychopathic black pudding in a demonstration of the Scottish martial art of "Hoots-Toot-ochaye." After twenty-five minutes of continuous laughter Mitchell finally slumped on the sofa and expired from heart failure. His widow later sent the Goodies a letter thanking them for making Mitchell's final moments so pleasant.

Related Topics:
24 March - 1975 - King's Lynn - Died laughing - Bagpipes

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