‘The Benny Hill Show’ Turns 70! Look Back With These Classic Skits

THE BENNY HILL SHOW, Benny Hill, 1969-1989
Everett Collection

70 years ago, on Jan. 15, 1955, The Benny Hill Show hit UK airwaves — where it stayed for 34 years! The sketch comedy series became an international hit, winning both BAFTAs and Emmys for its manic comedy skits. Known for its over-the-top slapstick, and lewd, wouldn’t-be-acceptable-today sexual humor (a style often parodied on American TV shows of the era like Charlie’s Angels and Starsky & Hutch), The Benny Hill Show was also an important force for British music, and frequently featured up-and-coming British artists like Petula Clark and Kiki Dee. And, of course, there’s the show’s famous theme song, “Yakety Sax,” which was created by Boots Randolph and voted the number-one theme song in 2015 by British documentary series The Nation’s Favourite….

Benny Hill (who took his stage name from his hero, Jack Benny) was inspired by the classic British “music hall” comedians, and wanted to take their broad, bawdy sense of humor out of the bars and onto the small screen. After beginning as a radio personality, he launched The Benny Hill Show on the BBC, where it became one of the most-watched shows in the UK. After changing channels and formats a few times, the plug was pulled in May 1989, due to increased production costs and dropping ratings.

Hill passed in 1992, but his show’s influence lives on. Remember all the laughs, lewd jokes, and “Yakety Saks” sequences with these classic skits.

“Murder on the Oregon Express”

In this 1976 skit, Hill played a number of classic TV detectives, including Raymond Burr’s Ironside, Hercule Poirot, and Sam McCloud, who find themselves sitting in the same train compartment, and are eventually needed to solve a murder on the train.

Benny Hill and Bob Todd

Top of the Pops!

“Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)” was first performed on TV in 1970 and got a ton of airplay, becoming a number-one single in the UK in 1971.

 

Classic Comedy Duos
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Classic Comedy Duos

March 2021

Chuckle at television & films funniest comic duos.

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