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The Benny Hill Show

(65 Posts)
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Cumbrianmale56 Sun 08-Feb-26 12:28:53

Always a controversial one when I was growing up in the eighties. Hill's fans saw him as a near the bone comedian whose chase scenes with young women, risque jokes, silent sketches , calypsos, and lingerie clad dancers were good entertainment. Also Hill could point to his show topping the ratings when a new one was show.
OTOH Hill's growing band of critics saw him as a an embarassment and called out the show for its sexism, using women as sex objects, and behaving like a dirty old man. People from Ben Elton to Nina Myskow were calling for the show to be banned, and ITV finally called time on the show in 1989.
My view is, I enjoyed Hill more in the seventies and early eighties, when he did have some really good sketches and co stars, but he ran out of ideas by the mid eighties and should have quite while he was still good.

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AGAA4 Tue 10-Feb-26 10:27:17

That tune where the women are chasing him is in my head now.
Maybe I will finish my jobs in record time.

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Fallingstar Tue 10-Feb-26 11:10:13

AGAA4

That tune where the women are chasing him is in my head now.
Maybe I will finish my jobs in record time.

Ha ha I have it in my head now, and also the image of him slapping a little bald man on the head over and over again.
Not my thing at all but horses for courses.

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Ilovedogs22 Tue 10-Feb-26 11:28:05

I remember being a teenager at home when Benny Hill was on the Box. I have to say that as a young woman I found it embarrassing, especially if my father or brother were watching too.
Female semi-nudity was the norm then, alas!

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Ilovedogs22 Tue 10-Feb-26 11:30:35

AGAA4

That tune where the women are chasing him is in my head now.
Maybe I will finish my jobs in record time.

Thank you for making me chuckle on a rotten day AGAA4.

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Cumbrianmale56 Tue 10-Feb-26 14:24:10

AGAA4

That tune where the women are chasing him is in my head now.
Maybe I will finish my jobs in record time.

Yakkety Sax by Boots Randolph, probably one of the most recognisable theme tunes of the seventies and eighties. The show sometimes used Gimme Dat Ding and Me Na Na Na, joke songs that suited some of the sketches.

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Esmay Wed 11-Feb-26 08:36:18

I've also heard that Benny Hill was a perfect gentleman and I'm sure that he was .
I hated his show and disliked the comedy of that misogynistic period .
I didn't used to be a feminist.
I am now .

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Oreo Wed 11-Feb-26 09:47:33

Cumbrianmale56

AGAA4

That tune where the women are chasing him is in my head now.
Maybe I will finish my jobs in record time.

Yakkety Sax by Boots Randolph, probably one of the most recognisable theme tunes of the seventies and eighties. The show sometimes used Gimme Dat Ding and Me Na Na Na, joke songs that suited some of the sketches.

Haha yakkety sax of course, hard to hear that tune and not grin.😁

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Cumbrianmale56 Sun 15-Feb-26 17:57:37

I'm surprised 37 years after his career ended, how much of a following Benny Hill still has. You think of other comedians like Dick Emery who were popular at the same time as Hill, who seem to get a fraction of the interest.

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TheSunRisesInTheEast Sun 15-Feb-26 22:24:13

Does he still have a following? Only a handful of us said we found him funny in the 70s, you rarely hear him mentioned nowadays, and not usually in a good light. For me it was good while it lasted, but times have changed.

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Cumbrianmale56 Sun 22-Feb-26 10:08:56

TheSunRisesInTheEast

Does he still have a following? Only a handful of us said we found him funny in the 70s, you rarely hear him mentioned nowadays, and not usually in a good light. For me it was good while it lasted, but times have changed.

His shows have been repeated on That's TV and Benny does have a following abroad. I suppose it's the same with any comedian, they have their period of fame and then fade away.

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Beautyschooldropout Thu 12-Mar-26 01:35:36

The first time my mother came over to Canada for a holiday I had to nip out and pick up my oldest two from school while the youngest napped. She agreed to stay and look after him.

When we returned she was watching Benny Hinn, an American televangelist. She did not find him funny and when I pointed out it wasn't Benny Hill like she thought, I then got a point by point take down of why his views on Christianity were wrong.

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mae13 Thu 12-Mar-26 02:20:18

TheSunRisesInTheEast

TV in the 70s was brilliant, so much funnier than the so-called comedy of today. Benny Hill, Dick Emery, Carry-Ons, Freddie Starr, The Comedians etc. I loved Miss World too, as a little girl I'd watch in awe at the beautiful women and aspire to look like them when I grew up!! Everything is about political correctness now, always worrying about who will be offended, personally I find all the effing and blinding on TV more offensive than anything that was said or done on TV in the 70s. Sometimes I'll catch On The Buses, Man About The House or Bless This House on the TV, and I love it!!

You should also have included 'Rising Damp', please.

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Macaydia Thu 12-Mar-26 05:03:27

Beautyschooldropout

The first time my mother came over to Canada for a holiday I had to nip out and pick up my oldest two from school while the youngest napped. She agreed to stay and look after him.

When we returned she was watching Benny Hinn, an American televangelist. She did not find him funny and when I pointed out it wasn't Benny Hill like she thought, I then got a point by point take down of why his views on Christianity were wrong.

Isnt Bennt Hinn from Iran? I heard he was banned from entering UK

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Macaydia Thu 12-Mar-26 05:07:04

Toufik Benedictus Hinn - from Israel. A very evil person.

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