# OMFG! Its Benny Hill!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215 "2003-01-02T16:04:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mort\_Furd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/1 "2003-01-02T16:04:51Z")
Yesterday, while watching “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” with my daughter, I had a flash of revelation. The toy maker in the land of Bulgaria (who hid the kids when they first arrived there) is Benny Hill! Shock! I am utterly flabbergasted. The chubby British comedian normally seen with half naked women performing sketches of definitely mature content is playing a part in a children’s film!! Sorry. The shock is just too much. Once I realized who he was, I kept looking for the nekkid women. Jeez. What a muddled world. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/2 "2003-01-02T16:08:13Z")
He’s also a German in **Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines** , among others. A look at the IMDB shows 21 films listed (although some are post-mortem clips), including an appearance in **The Italian Job** : [http://us.imdb.com/Name?Hill,+Benny](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Hill,+Benny) ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/3 "2003-01-02T16:36:06Z")
Ah Benny Hill, bless his soul. ---
**Author:** ![garius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e19b73/32.png) [@garius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garius)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/4 "2003-01-02T16:46:18Z")
He used to live (and died) in a flat just down the road from me. A much under-appreciated influence on world comedy. And for the record Chitty is set in **Vulgaria** Which is the kinda place you’d expect benny to live! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/5 "2003-01-02T17:31:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CalMeacham \* > He’s also a German in **Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines** ,… Not quite, he’s the chief of the fire brigade at the airfield. In _The Italian Job_ he’s the computer expert who snarls traffic in Turin. For other odd CCBB connections; the original book was written by Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, and Baron Bomburst was played by Gert Fröbe, who also played Goldfinger (and the German in TMMiTFM). And Jane Leeves, Daphne on _Frasier_, used to be on _The Benny Hill Show_. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/6 "2003-01-02T17:33:40Z")
Benny Hill’s program is one of my country’s most worthless exports. I apologise. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/7 "2003-01-02T20:30:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*Benny Hill’s program is one of my country’s most worthless exports. I apologise. \*\* What about Are You Being Served? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Babe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@Abe\_Babe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe_Babe)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/8 "2003-01-02T21:10:13Z")
And Soylent Green is made from people. ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/9 "2003-01-02T21:14:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*Benny Hill’s program is one of my country’s most worthless exports. I apologise. \*\* Hey! I loved Benny Hill! My first husband and I used to watch it on HBO (I think). Of course, it’s even funnier when one is slightly stoned. Not that I _ever_ discovered that first hand. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/10 "2003-01-02T21:21:50Z")
_Originally posted by jjimm_ > [@](#): > > Benny Hill’s program is one of my country’s most worthless exports. I apologise. As compared with what? Rod Stewart, who punches photographers? Liam Neessen? John Cleese? I prefer Benny Hill to any of these and I have about 14 videotapes of BH’s stuff… Benny Hill did a great deal of slapstick, rare in modern “comedy.” In a book about the Marx Brothers, author Richard J. Anobile commented that these days “comedy must have laughter cards, or else how would we know.” With slapstick, and with Benny Hill, I could just watch the routines and laugh. With Cleese or Neessen, I would proably have to be told it’s funny, and therefore since it is funny I must laugh. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/11 "2003-01-02T22:08:34Z")
dougie\_monty, I couldn’t agree more. Hill was Burlesque to a fine point. Miss him, his show, and of course the girls! 😃 Fun Guy. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/12 "2003-01-02T22:30:51Z")
I saw a whole show (Biography-style) about him, and he had quite a life apart from what I knew of him as a kid, which was “semi-naked women and a fat guy!” My dad would have his show on during dinner, for God’s sake! ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/13 "2003-01-03T02:01:04Z")
You didn’t ask for it, but I’m giving it to you anyway… My favorite Benny Hill routine involved a sexy blonde sitting on his lap (Long Hot Summer parody), and she’s giving him a hard time (not **that** hard time: with **words** , you nasty thang!) and when he comments on it she says “Well I give tit for tat.” While looking down her front Benny replies. “Well, in that case, **tat**!” I loved **Benny Hill** and miss his ribald comedy. Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Pebs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Johnny\_Pebs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Pebs)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/14 "2003-01-03T03:18:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Robot Arm \* > \*\*And Jane Leeves, Daphne on _Frasier_, used to be on _The Benny Hill Show_. \*\* :eek: No Way!! Was she a regular? She couldn’t have been old enough to go topless on TV could she? ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/15 "2003-01-03T04:47:35Z")
I had no idea! [IMDb](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Leeves,+Jane) says she was born in 1961 and she was a Hill’s Angel in 1983-1984. So she was 21-23. ---
**Author:** ![Mort\_Furd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/16 "2003-01-03T11:37:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by garius \* > And for the record Chitty is set in **Vulgaria** > > Which is the kinda place you’d expect benny to live! The german translation we were watching was kind of hard to understand. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/17 "2003-01-03T12:29:14Z")
There was very rarely any nakedness on Benny Hill - it was usually implied or just naughty stockings and bikinis. I saw some nudity once in a later series, possibly the last he made, but before that I had never really seen any. Apparently Benny Hill was the nicest guy in the world, lived alone, never ever took advantage of any of the girls in his show, and was more of a kindly uncle figure offscreen. Which I for one can really believe. His earlier stuff was pure genius, though - the songs, the characters, the one-liners - they weren’t always the stuff that seemed like they were stolen from old naughty postcards. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/18 "2003-01-03T12:38:34Z")
All I can say is: “Das Grossbaton up der klein jumper?” Judging by his pronunciation, and some other stuff I saw, I think Benny probably spoke very good German. The world became a sadder place after Benny died. Like **GuanoLad** said, some of his stuff was pure genius, and you won’t ever convince me that even “Monty Python” wasn’t influenced by some of his earlier material. ---
**Author:** ![garius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e19b73/32.png) [@garius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garius)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/19 "2003-01-03T16:09:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mort Furd \* > \*\*The german translation we were watching was kind of hard to understand. \*\* I must admit i only noticed because “vulgaria” is written on the life saving rings they put on the car during the grease lightning type musical scene. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215/20 "2003-01-03T16:11:14Z")
Obviously, some people just didn’t find Benny Hill funny, and that’s fine. Nobody makes everybody laugh. But the people who get offended by Benny (and feminists, in particular) are being ridiculous. Because, if you think about it, in almost all of Benny’s sketches, the joke is on HIM! He drools over nubile young women, but he never ends up scoring with them! More often, his attempts at seduction end in disaster, and he has to run like the Dickens (to the tune of “Yakkety Sax”) from the police or the girls’ muscular boyfriends! Benny was the last of his kind. As long as he was around, a little bit of vaudeville, burlesque and old-fashioned English music hall entertainment survived. Most of his “dirty” jokes were ancient, and most of his songs were merely ancient dirty jokes put into rhyme set to silly melodies. That was part of their charm. I recall that, back in the 1970s, some parents’ groups in the U.S. regarded “Three’s Company”( a show I never liked) as immoral. But really, if you think about it, NOTHING ever really happened on that show! The whole show revolved around one (and only one) joke: that the landlord suspects hanky panky is going on between Tripper and the girls, but in reality, everyone is totally chaste! There’s lots of innuendo, but nobody on “Three’s Company” ever actually has sex! In the same way, Benny Hill was constantly making comical attempts at scoring with gorgeous, scantily clad women, but he always failed! Benny Hill was to sex as Elmer Fudd was to hunting! Even Andrea Dworkin or Jerry Falwell ought to able to watch an episode of “The Benny Hill Show” and laugh. You needn’t like his brand of humor, but if it offends you, you’re taking him too seriously. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omfg-its-benny-hill/146215.md?page=2)