I recall this show as a kid and thinking it was a corny commercial for something. Not once do I recall laughing at this show. Just further proof Brits are only funny to themselves. This is why American comics can go to England and make a killing but no British comics can survive in the U.S.
"Imagination is the key to reality"
You are probably the biggest idiot I've witnessed on IMDB.com
"Just further proof Brits are only funny to themselves." - Maybe that's why Benny Hill aired in more than 100 countries in the world?
"This is why American comics can go to England and make a killing but no British comics can survive in the U.S." - Ricky Gervais is really popular in the US, because of his show the Office and he also gets pissloads of movie roles...
Please, if you're gonna say something, do your research first, FOR YOUR OWN SAKE
I guess some people just find different things funny, or not funny as the case may be.
I remember years ago it was noted that The Benny Hill Show consistently scored much higher ratings in southern England than in the north. That's the north's loss as far as I'm concerned. I grew up (in the south) watching Benny Hill and laughing along with everybody else.
I understand that over in France his many fans regarded him as a comic genius.
In the 1970's up to the early '80's, TBHS was a consistent Top 10 stalwart. By contrast, Monty Python's Flying Circus never made the Top 20 even once in its original 1969-1974 run - not even its highest-rated period which was the third (1972-73) series, where even the lowest-rated TBHS to make the Top 10 (Dec. 27, 1972, seen by 13.3 million people) had been able to accomplish what the highest-rated Python episode (Jan. 18, 1973, seen by about 12 million people) couldn't.
And yes, in France he did become a big hit, if you saw the documentary Benny Hill: The World's Favourite Clown.
"Ricky Gervais is really popular in the US"
And so was "Benny Hill".
You must have *beep* taste in comedys and your ignorant.
shareyour ignorant
Well, I'm an American (and a well-educated professional, so don't even go there), and you don't speak for me at all. I think the show is a riot. It is what it is -- light fare, for people with a thick skin and who can laugh at themselves. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's one of mine.
shareI'm a North American and I have always found the "Benny Hill Show" to be funny...I love "classic" humor, and by classic humor I mean humor that follows in the grand tradition of popular entertainment...traditions like vaudeville, and music halls. And as far as "base humor" is concerned their are plenty of examples of this kind of comedy coming out of the USA...A lot of people (myself included) don't understand the popularity of the "Three Stooges"....
shareI'm American, and I don't like Benny Hill, but in general I do prefer British comedy. Eddie Izzard is my transvestite king.
Hmm, it seems Americans' opinions can vary. Crazy stuff, huh? ;)
To some extent I understand your point and this comes from someone who is often accused of having a British sense of humor. To me British humor, especially in sketch format shows is very scatter shot. Monty Python is probably the best example of this. It was basically written by a bunch of, mostly, British young men who were mixing traditional humor with topical humor and sometimes being just odd for the sake of oddness meanwhile trying to subvert the whole mixture into something pleasantly noxious for a generation that no longer exits. Some of the humor echoes brilliantly all these decades later, the Parrot Sketch and the Ministry of Funny Walks, while some bits are so glaringly unfunny you can see them being used by modern American politicos as the new torture device instead of water boarding, the Larch. If you are looking for modern sitcom humor from Benny Hill or Monty Python, you are going to be heartily disappointed. If you enjoy the history of comedy and are willing to muddle through the unfunny bits and the topical bits that don't make sense decades later, you will find watching Benny Hill a virtually tour through the history of British Vaudeville and sometimes laugh out loud funny. Since I don't find much laugh out loud fun in the 20th season of the Simpsons or 30 Rock, I would much rather mix up Benny Hill, Monty Python, the Jack Benny show, Seinfeld, Perfect Strangers, Are You Being Served?, Newhart and my other favorites into my own TV schedule and laugh my self silly with no commercials than watch any of the American networks try to curse their way to humor in the twenty minutes left between endless commercial breaks.
share[deleted]
You mean the country which gave us Chevy Chase, Martin & Lewis, Jim Carrey, Adam sandler, Rob Schneider? Oh my aching sides! If you've never got the point of Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Morecambe and Wise etc it's your country's loss.
shareActually, Jim Carrey is from Canada.
I'm an American and I think Benny Hill is one of the greatest comedians of all time. And speaking of British comedy, we can't forget Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Dave Allen at Large, the original Whose Line it is Anyway?, Keeping Up Appearences, and many many more hilarious British tv shows.
As a devout BH fan myself I will not defend the OP, but I would concur that much of Benny's scatological humor was redundant. He often referred to repeated skits and punch-lines that were repeated in different variations in later episodes. For example, Some if his work with Chow Mein and Chew ING GUM shared many of the same language jokes and puns. While I admire Benny's creativity with words, nuances and the like, many of the jokes had been re-enacted in some form. So, as a result, Benny could grow tedious. I think he understood that and decided to stay fresh while keeping the original players and updating his girly cast to perpetuate the bawdy themes.
shareTroll warning here, obviously silly posting with incorrect statements? I think more british comedians have had hits in the US than the other way around. American comedies are mainly on the level of guano droppings on suits, sexual harassment and farts. No wonder the brits can make it there, easily.
Even when doing essentially the same thing (Johnny English vs the new Pink Panther) the brits are a lot funnier.
Of course a long-running old-style slapstick like Benny Hill proves absolutely nothing about british humor.
Hmm, I'm a bit late but...
Ever hear of Tracey Ullman? Craig Ferguson?
Several of the US's most successful tv shows were developed from British shows (All in the Family, Three's Company, Sanford and Son).
And some of PBS's most watched shows are British comedies.
[deleted]