20 reviews
One of the best comedy series from the UK
The Goodies were Tim, Bill and Graeme (character names the same as their real names). The shows ran from 1970 to 1980 and the plot usually involved one of the three going mad in some way and the other two attempting to stop him. In the early series there was a guest star who won the honour of being the baddie for the week, until the Goodies realised that the baddie was usually the best part to play!
The episodes were written by the trio and all stunts were performed by them as well. Their style was part slapstick and part dialogue driven comedy. Of the 75 or so episodes there are only a handful that do not stand the test of time (or taste, although the team have apologised for some of the incidental racism in the jokes which, however was standard for the time).
Some of the best episodes include The Giant Kitten (where a kitten is fed growth mixture, ends up two stories tall and eating London, and the Goodies have to don mouse suits to get close enough to inject the antidote), Pirate Radio (where the team start a pirate radio station, then pirate post office and Graeme attempts to take over the world), Goodies at the OK Tearooms (a western set in Cornwall where they mine for cream and scones, ending in a gunfight with sauce bottles) and The End (entire episode set in a room encased in a concrete block over a span of 100 years, with brilliant script and forced on them as they had used their series budget up).
The team had their start at Cambridge and Oxford with the boys from Month Python. They wrote a number of TV shows with the python lads and were good friends. The Goodies also starred in a radio series called I'm sorry, I'll Read That Again with John Cleese and some episodes written by Eric Idle which lasted for six years(1965-1971,1973). Monty Python's Flying Circus started about six months before the Goodies.
The Goodies was a classic TV series which is still funny and should be re-released on DVD ASAP.
The episodes were written by the trio and all stunts were performed by them as well. Their style was part slapstick and part dialogue driven comedy. Of the 75 or so episodes there are only a handful that do not stand the test of time (or taste, although the team have apologised for some of the incidental racism in the jokes which, however was standard for the time).
Some of the best episodes include The Giant Kitten (where a kitten is fed growth mixture, ends up two stories tall and eating London, and the Goodies have to don mouse suits to get close enough to inject the antidote), Pirate Radio (where the team start a pirate radio station, then pirate post office and Graeme attempts to take over the world), Goodies at the OK Tearooms (a western set in Cornwall where they mine for cream and scones, ending in a gunfight with sauce bottles) and The End (entire episode set in a room encased in a concrete block over a span of 100 years, with brilliant script and forced on them as they had used their series budget up).
The team had their start at Cambridge and Oxford with the boys from Month Python. They wrote a number of TV shows with the python lads and were good friends. The Goodies also starred in a radio series called I'm sorry, I'll Read That Again with John Cleese and some episodes written by Eric Idle which lasted for six years(1965-1971,1973). Monty Python's Flying Circus started about six months before the Goodies.
The Goodies was a classic TV series which is still funny and should be re-released on DVD ASAP.
Funny British comedy, doing anything, anywhere, anytime
The Goodies was a very original comedy series in the 70's, which appealed to all of us who liked Monty Python. While Monty Python are built from sketches with no punchlines, instead flowing into each other, a Goodies episode is built from some kind of theme, but with a storyline that rarely goes the expected way. The unexpected turns is a common feature in both shows.
The series is clearly related to both Monty Python and Mighty Boosh. Actually, Mighty Boosh appears to be the closest one, also being built on surrealistic stories rather than sketches. The Boosh members have indeed mentioned The Goodies as a source of inspiration. Monty Python, on the other hand, appeared at the same time, and both teams have a common background, working together in previous projects (like "At last the 1948 show"). I think it is no coincidence that both Goodies and Monty Python left the conventional sketch-with-punchline shows for a more original form.
The series is a mostly lighthearted comedy, wild as a roller-coaster ride. Sometimes it is silly on Benny Hill's level, but even when at that level it is inventive and imaginative. Anything can happen, as they do "anything, anywhere, anytime". The stories are about absolutely everything, including sex (Gender Education), racism (South Africa), monsters (Kitten Kong, Scotland).
Note that it is not always lighthearted comedy. In particular, the episodes The End and Earthanasia are dark stories about life, death and survival. They are good too, but in a completely different way.
Is it dated? Not worse than Monty Python. The only thing that really feels dated is the laugh tracks and some references to then current celebrities. I have to live with that (and there is at least one laughter-free episode on the DVDs). Of course, everything looks like the 70's, not only Graeme's sideburns, but that's not a problem. The special effects vary from primitive (Loch Ness monster, Graeme in the lighthouse) to very impressive, incredible for a TV series (The Movies). Some themes, like South Africa, comment on events in the 70's, but often still works after a quick explanation for the young ones. Apartheid may be gone, but racism is not. So all in all, it has aged very well. Another example of racism, which is really anti-racism, is all the references to "The Black&White Minstrel Show", which they mocked the most in "Alternative Roots". Their statement is clear: They very much know that black-face humor is racist and they are clearly against it. (Incidentally, "The Black&White Minstrel Show" was canceled not long after "Alternative Roots".)
The mix of dialog-driven humor, often funny visuals, and silent slapstick is part of the concept. There is often a slapstick part in the middle (Radio Goodies, South Africa) which gives the shows variation. Children's show? Well, the kids love the slapstick parts, which are sometimes less amusing to adults. But there is more to it than slapstick! The dialog-driven parts and satire are often more adult-friendly. It says "Fun for all the family" in the title, and that is quite correct.
I would like to recommend the following favorite episodes: The movies, Hype Pressure, Snooze, Radio Goodies, Goodies in the nick, Gender education, Kitten Kong.
The series is clearly related to both Monty Python and Mighty Boosh. Actually, Mighty Boosh appears to be the closest one, also being built on surrealistic stories rather than sketches. The Boosh members have indeed mentioned The Goodies as a source of inspiration. Monty Python, on the other hand, appeared at the same time, and both teams have a common background, working together in previous projects (like "At last the 1948 show"). I think it is no coincidence that both Goodies and Monty Python left the conventional sketch-with-punchline shows for a more original form.
The series is a mostly lighthearted comedy, wild as a roller-coaster ride. Sometimes it is silly on Benny Hill's level, but even when at that level it is inventive and imaginative. Anything can happen, as they do "anything, anywhere, anytime". The stories are about absolutely everything, including sex (Gender Education), racism (South Africa), monsters (Kitten Kong, Scotland).
Note that it is not always lighthearted comedy. In particular, the episodes The End and Earthanasia are dark stories about life, death and survival. They are good too, but in a completely different way.
Is it dated? Not worse than Monty Python. The only thing that really feels dated is the laugh tracks and some references to then current celebrities. I have to live with that (and there is at least one laughter-free episode on the DVDs). Of course, everything looks like the 70's, not only Graeme's sideburns, but that's not a problem. The special effects vary from primitive (Loch Ness monster, Graeme in the lighthouse) to very impressive, incredible for a TV series (The Movies). Some themes, like South Africa, comment on events in the 70's, but often still works after a quick explanation for the young ones. Apartheid may be gone, but racism is not. So all in all, it has aged very well. Another example of racism, which is really anti-racism, is all the references to "The Black&White Minstrel Show", which they mocked the most in "Alternative Roots". Their statement is clear: They very much know that black-face humor is racist and they are clearly against it. (Incidentally, "The Black&White Minstrel Show" was canceled not long after "Alternative Roots".)
The mix of dialog-driven humor, often funny visuals, and silent slapstick is part of the concept. There is often a slapstick part in the middle (Radio Goodies, South Africa) which gives the shows variation. Children's show? Well, the kids love the slapstick parts, which are sometimes less amusing to adults. But there is more to it than slapstick! The dialog-driven parts and satire are often more adult-friendly. It says "Fun for all the family" in the title, and that is quite correct.
I would like to recommend the following favorite episodes: The movies, Hype Pressure, Snooze, Radio Goodies, Goodies in the nick, Gender education, Kitten Kong.
Series One: It's whatever turns you on...
- The_Movie_Cat
- Apr 11, 2007
- Permalink
Classic English comedy from the 1970s!
'The Goodies' were one of the things that made growing up in the Seventies so much fun! This show may be dated fashion- and special effects-wise, but the humour is still as original and hilarious as ever.
Oddie, Garden and Brooke-Taylor shared a similar background and history to most of the Monty Python team. They also began as comedians while studying at University and various combination of Goodies and Pythons performed and wrote together for many television and radio comedies throughout the Sixties. Not long after Monty Python debuted on TV in 1969 The Goodies followed with their own series, which ended up lasting much longer. The Pythons aimed at adults, The Goodies at children, but for all their surface differences they shared a similar surreal Goons inspired wit, with an emphasis on wonderfully inventive sight gags.
Unlike Python, the show wasn't a sketch comedy. The basic premise was that out heroes would do anything, anywhere, anytime, which meant that they got into increasingly bizarre situations, which were often just an excuse for silly goings on and funny stuff. And the show WAS funny! Even today the best episodes stand up, and 'Kitten Kong', the unforgettable episode about a giant kitten terrorizing a city, must surely rank as one of THE highlights of television comedy, any decade!
Oddie, Garden and Brooke-Taylor shared a similar background and history to most of the Monty Python team. They also began as comedians while studying at University and various combination of Goodies and Pythons performed and wrote together for many television and radio comedies throughout the Sixties. Not long after Monty Python debuted on TV in 1969 The Goodies followed with their own series, which ended up lasting much longer. The Pythons aimed at adults, The Goodies at children, but for all their surface differences they shared a similar surreal Goons inspired wit, with an emphasis on wonderfully inventive sight gags.
Unlike Python, the show wasn't a sketch comedy. The basic premise was that out heroes would do anything, anywhere, anytime, which meant that they got into increasingly bizarre situations, which were often just an excuse for silly goings on and funny stuff. And the show WAS funny! Even today the best episodes stand up, and 'Kitten Kong', the unforgettable episode about a giant kitten terrorizing a city, must surely rank as one of THE highlights of television comedy, any decade!
The Men Who Put Cricklewood On The Map!
- ShadeGrenade
- Jul 31, 2006
- Permalink
Funny!
The Goodies is a surreal British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s.
The series, which combines sketches and situation comedy, was shown during prime time, and is popular with all ages. The show was co-created and co-written by Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor, and Bill Oddie, who also all starred in it. Bill Oddie wrote the music for the series while "The Goodies Theme" was co-written by Bill Oddie and Michael Gibbs.
The directors/producers of The Goodies series were John Howard Davies, Jim Franklin and Bob Spiers.
The television series was made by the BBC 2[1] from 1970 to 1980 and was then made by the ITV company LWT from 1981 to 1982.
An early title which was considered for the series was "Narrow Your Mind".
The series, which combines sketches and situation comedy, was shown during prime time, and is popular with all ages. The show was co-created and co-written by Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor, and Bill Oddie, who also all starred in it. Bill Oddie wrote the music for the series while "The Goodies Theme" was co-written by Bill Oddie and Michael Gibbs.
The directors/producers of The Goodies series were John Howard Davies, Jim Franklin and Bob Spiers.
The television series was made by the BBC 2[1] from 1970 to 1980 and was then made by the ITV company LWT from 1981 to 1982.
An early title which was considered for the series was "Narrow Your Mind".
- henrymadman
- Jul 6, 2007
- Permalink
Goody Goody Yum Yum!
Gobsmackingly funny when I was a kid, is it still good?
Its still Goody Goody Yum Yum!
The three Goodies in question Tim, Bill & Greame before this show where script & joke writers for the likes of David Frost, The Two Ronnies and yes Monty Pythons flying circus.
Finally they figured out that the real money is in writing for yourself so in 1970 they became the Goodies, three guys who will do anything anywhere anytime usualy with a guest star or celebrity playing the villian.
Part way through the series (again) they figure out that they where missing out, this time not the money but the fun. The guests where getting the best part of the show (villians) so each episode one of the boys would eventualy get corrupted, go loony and have to be stopped by the other two.
Most of the shows comedy is visual so language is no barrier to the shows apeal and it was relevent everywhere.
While I like Montey Python & other UK comedy shows this is probably the best there was.
This is the only show which it is recorded that a viewer laughed until he dropped dead!
I am not joking here someone laughed so much they had a coronry, its that funny.
Its still Goody Goody Yum Yum!
The three Goodies in question Tim, Bill & Greame before this show where script & joke writers for the likes of David Frost, The Two Ronnies and yes Monty Pythons flying circus.
Finally they figured out that the real money is in writing for yourself so in 1970 they became the Goodies, three guys who will do anything anywhere anytime usualy with a guest star or celebrity playing the villian.
Part way through the series (again) they figure out that they where missing out, this time not the money but the fun. The guests where getting the best part of the show (villians) so each episode one of the boys would eventualy get corrupted, go loony and have to be stopped by the other two.
Most of the shows comedy is visual so language is no barrier to the shows apeal and it was relevent everywhere.
While I like Montey Python & other UK comedy shows this is probably the best there was.
This is the only show which it is recorded that a viewer laughed until he dropped dead!
I am not joking here someone laughed so much they had a coronry, its that funny.
Not Python but Why Must It Be?
- aramis-112-804880
- May 26, 2022
- Permalink
A British Comedy TV Classic!
This was a really funny series when we first rented the DVD, It's has quite the controversial episodes and funny antics of the subjects used in it, the main men were brilliantly performed...
This is a lost classic show, beside "Black Adder" and such.
It has it's bad editing but it's what's it like back in the old days...
The days when Britain had it's good comedy gold which still continues today but maybe not as much...
This is a 1970-80's delight! A classic that must be seen! and is still known today!
Rent or Buy one Today! Goody, Goody, Yum, Yum!!!
This is a lost classic show, beside "Black Adder" and such.
It has it's bad editing but it's what's it like back in the old days...
The days when Britain had it's good comedy gold which still continues today but maybe not as much...
This is a 1970-80's delight! A classic that must be seen! and is still known today!
Rent or Buy one Today! Goody, Goody, Yum, Yum!!!
- dreamcast37
- Jul 2, 2006
- Permalink
Hasn't aged well
The antics of The Goodies: Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie. With a motto of "We do anything, anywhere, anytime", they're a trio for hire. This leads them into some strange and zany situations. However, our fearless band always has a solution.
I don't see what the allure of The Goodies is. They're compared to Monty Python, which is strange as Monty Python was incredibly funny, the funniest comedy group ever to have existed, in my opinion. The Goodies, on the other hand, is more silly than funny.
It really doesn't work for me and I consider myself to have a great sense of humour. Maybe it just worked at the time, relying on psychedelia. Maybe you had to be high to enjoy it. Whatever it's reason for popularity and longevity in the 70s, the show doesn't work now.
I don't see what the allure of The Goodies is. They're compared to Monty Python, which is strange as Monty Python was incredibly funny, the funniest comedy group ever to have existed, in my opinion. The Goodies, on the other hand, is more silly than funny.
It really doesn't work for me and I consider myself to have a great sense of humour. Maybe it just worked at the time, relying on psychedelia. Maybe you had to be high to enjoy it. Whatever it's reason for popularity and longevity in the 70s, the show doesn't work now.
The Funkiest Gibbons In Town!
It's funny how the controller of BBC2 can allow repeats of "The Good Life" and "Fresh Prince Of Bel Air" (to name but two admittedly excellent comedies) to be shown over and over but her reasoning for not repeating "The Goodies" is that she doesn't want to air too many repeats. But the good, nay utterly brilliant, news is that Messrs Brooke-Taylor, Garden and Oddie themselves have bought the rights to their classic show and plan on releasing it on DVD and video. At this time it's unknown whether they'll publish the whole lot with loads of fabulous DVD extras (a commentary from the trio would be wonderful) but the fact that us Goodies fans can finally get to see our wacky heroes any time we like is reason for the most joyous of celebrations.
The jokes that sailed too close to the wind and the occasional mis-fired episode have already been discussed here but it still remains that these were some of the funniest guys of the Seventies (and beyond) and deserve a good deal more recognition than they currently enjoy. "Kitten Kong" and "Bunfight at the OK Tearooms" are no doubt their best known sketches but their take on "Bright Eyes" was hilarious and their flat-capped Yorkshiremen knocking nine bells out of each other with blackpuddings were side-splitting (unless you're from Yorkshire and therefore fed up to the back teeth with that kind of "eckie-thoomp" stereotype).
It's about time we finally got to see The Goodies on DVD but while we wait I can highly recommend that you listen to the BBC Radio 4 "quiz" show "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue" which features both Graeme and Tim.
The jokes that sailed too close to the wind and the occasional mis-fired episode have already been discussed here but it still remains that these were some of the funniest guys of the Seventies (and beyond) and deserve a good deal more recognition than they currently enjoy. "Kitten Kong" and "Bunfight at the OK Tearooms" are no doubt their best known sketches but their take on "Bright Eyes" was hilarious and their flat-capped Yorkshiremen knocking nine bells out of each other with blackpuddings were side-splitting (unless you're from Yorkshire and therefore fed up to the back teeth with that kind of "eckie-thoomp" stereotype).
It's about time we finally got to see The Goodies on DVD but while we wait I can highly recommend that you listen to the BBC Radio 4 "quiz" show "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue" which features both Graeme and Tim.
- roisinmoriarty-1
- Feb 24, 2003
- Permalink
An all-time classic show
This is one of my favourite TV shows, it's so funny! OK, occasionally they may have had a dud episode, like the one with them dressed as toothpaste tubes and bouncing around the world for charity, but most episodes are absolutely hilarious, like 'The End' or 'Earthanasia'. Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie and Tim Brooke-Taylor are funny and if you can get a chance to watch the show, don't miss it.
- bananamanfan
- Mar 6, 2001
- Permalink
"I spy with my little eye..."
I would not miss these guys along with Python when I was in high school, and I'm sure it warped me. I recall a jockey's uprising, no longer able to withstand the indignities of "Apart-Height". There was a couple of lucky scone miners who got squirted in the face when they hit a vein of strawberry jam. And of course, the longest game of 'I Spy' on record with only one piece of furniture in the room. Out of context, yeah, sounds daft, kinda like quotes from "The Aqua Teen Hunger Force".
More surreal than Monty Python
The Goodies and Monty Python both came out of the radio programme "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again". Python was surreal and got well known for it. "The Goodies" was more consistently surreal and obviously missed the boat because of it. Personally I think "The Goodies" was more consistently funny than Python and, for the most part, as surreal (the chase at the end of "Saturday Night Grease" should be enough to confirm that!) or more so. I just wish that they were as popular so that more programmes were available on DVD! The "card" game in "The Bun Fight At The OK Tea Rooms" is enough to make people agree with that!
- jancyclops
- Oct 25, 2003
- Permalink
One of the forgotten classics of British Comedy
The Goodies are a very funny British comedy group that grew out of a radio show called "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again" (sometimes called "The Wonder Show".) The radio series also had John Cleese and a few others.
The writing for this group is always very sharp and filled with unexpected and dreadful puns.
If you can find a copy of this, rent, buy or borrow it! (That goes for any of their other movies.)
The writing for this group is always very sharp and filled with unexpected and dreadful puns.
If you can find a copy of this, rent, buy or borrow it! (That goes for any of their other movies.)
The Goodies Rule - OK
- timothyno_1
- Mar 31, 2006
- Permalink
One of the funniest shows
One of the funniest UK comedy shows. The episode "Bunfight at the OK Tearooms" features the best western saloon bar poker game scene ever filmed (using toast for cards and biscuits as chips then pies and cakes and finally a three-tier wedding cake as the stakes got higher). The poker game is played entirely to piano music with no dialogue. The celebrity safari park one was great too. Especially when they released Tony Blackburn back into the wild and someone shot him. The show was derived from the radio show I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again which was also part of Monty Python's ancestry featuring John Cleese in the cast and Eric Idle and Graham Chapman among the writers.
Die Laughing
It was reported that a man watching an episode of "The Goodies" laughed so hard he had a heart attack and died. I watched some of them and they were a riot. Some of their episodes had to be the funniest stuff I've ever seen on T.V. I wonder where the clips are sitting now, collecting dust.
Wild 70's era British comedy show needs a reshowing
This series came on my local public television station in the wake of Monty Python's success. It didn't last long and has not resurfaced since. It didn't make a great impression on me although I did enjoy several episodes which, interestingly, have been mentioned in other comments. I fondly remember the cast going nuts after their house is encased in concrete with one character shrieking, "I'M A TEAPOT!!" while mimicking a pouring teapot.
That said I usually found their sometimes hysteric "Let's Be WACKY!" delivery a step down from the Monty Python method. And the theme song drove me nuts, it still haunts me with that irritatingly upbeat, "The Goodies...Goodies Yum Yum!" or something like that. It was over 25 years ago I last heard it outside my head.
By reading fellows commentators here, I now understand why my younger siblings enjoyed the show. They were very disappointed when WNET-TV here abruptly stopped showing it. They kept turning the TV on each week for months in hope it would reappear. This show was made for them.
Hopefully the series will be re-released in Britain and then brought over to the US.
That said I usually found their sometimes hysteric "Let's Be WACKY!" delivery a step down from the Monty Python method. And the theme song drove me nuts, it still haunts me with that irritatingly upbeat, "The Goodies...Goodies Yum Yum!" or something like that. It was over 25 years ago I last heard it outside my head.
By reading fellows commentators here, I now understand why my younger siblings enjoyed the show. They were very disappointed when WNET-TV here abruptly stopped showing it. They kept turning the TV on each week for months in hope it would reappear. This show was made for them.
Hopefully the series will be re-released in Britain and then brought over to the US.
One of the best...
I absolutely love this show. If you haven't seen it, or heard of it, you are missing out on something hilarious. I wish it were repeated more often, as I haven't seen it in a while. Seeing Tim Brooke-Taylor dressed as a woman, singing "Don't cry for me Marge and Tina" (To the music for "Don't Cry for Me Argentina), is worth watching any of it.
Watch it, and you won't be disappointed.
Watch it, and you won't be disappointed.