What is with the British and their insults to their greatest comedian, Benny Hill? It's bad enough that during his life, Benny's ITV series was canceled because it wasn't "politically correct," but twenty years later, they're denying him an honor for the same reason.
Great Britain's Royal Mail service has rejected a stamp honoring Benny Hill to commemorate the 50th anniversary of ITV.
The series ran on ITV for 20 years and featured classic and slapstick and burlesque sketches, blackouts, sight gags, song parody, pioneering use of "undercranking" sped-up footage and double entendre humour-- always suitable for the entire family and always hilarious. The series was packaged and ran for decades in the United States, where it became a major influence on the development of tabloid television, not to mention generations of comedians to come (its importance is covered in the book Tabloid Baby, which this month is celebrating its tenth anniversary).
Great Britain's Royal Mail service has rejected a stamp honoring Benny Hill to commemorate the 50th anniversary of ITV.
The series ran on ITV for 20 years and featured classic and slapstick and burlesque sketches, blackouts, sight gags, song parody, pioneering use of "undercranking" sped-up footage and double entendre humour-- always suitable for the entire family and always hilarious. The series was packaged and ran for decades in the United States, where it became a major influence on the development of tabloid television, not to mention generations of comedians to come (its importance is covered in the book Tabloid Baby, which this month is celebrating its tenth anniversary).
Despite its success, Thames Television dropped The Benny Hill Show in 1989, admittedly as part of the trend of political correctness that was prevalent at the time: some had accused the shows as being sexist and racist.
Twenty years later, the country that spewed out the likes of Sacha Baron Cohen and Russell Brand, continues to be imprisoned by political correctness. Even the Daily Telegraph, in reporting the stamp insult, says the Benny Hill Show "is best remembered for the closing credits in which Hill chased an assortment of scantily-clad women."
Sad.
