Wednesday, July 22, 2009

On lost comedy classics

On lost comedy classics

The news that national disgrace Nick Griffin is scouring Brussels for a flat for himself and fellow Nazi Party MEP Andrew Brons to share prompted an excellent Twitter follower to remark "This could be the best sitcom premise ever".

The sad fact is – it's already been done.

"Heil Honey, I'm Home!" was Sky forerunner BSB's 1990 spoof on the domestic life of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun, done it the style of a cheesy 1950s US sitcom set in an appartment block. Think I Love Lucy, only with Nazis and you get the picture.

Actually you're not quite there. Throw in three truckloads of spectacular bad taste – the main plot device happens to be the Hitlers' relationship with their Jewish neighbours – and I think you know where this is heading.

Still, rather better than Milligan's ill-fated "Melting Pot" sitcom, although quite a lot of things can readily make this claim.

Dragged from the air in a howl of outrage (although only about six people ever actually saw it going out), it has – YaY! – resurfaced on YouTube.

It is as tasteless as you'd expect, but surprisingly funny, with the late Patrick Cargill fantastic as Neville Chamberlain.

Give yourself thirty minutes to watch this lot. You'll either think it comic genius, or you will be after me with an axe asking for your half an hour back. Sorry, no refunds.



Part Two

Part Three

I LOLed. I LOLed out loud. Then I felt a bit guilty, remembered the bit in the Dadaist manifesto about laughing at the Nazis and felt a bit better.

Then: LOL.

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