The Benny Hill Show (1969–1989) User Reviews

Lovely to see this show back on screens.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 19 December 2021]

How lovely to see this show back on the screens after such a long absence, the great man doesn't often get spoken about, the recent noise focused on how inappropriate it was by today's standards .......

It's humour from a time gone by, it certainly has a place, and watching this a few days before Christmas, I have been in stitches, and felt incredibly nostalgic.

If you're a fan of shows such as Monty Python, The Two Ronnies, you'll just love this, incredibly funny, daft, innocent humour.

Pure nostalgia, 8/10.

Britain's most loved comedian in the seventies

[glenn-aylett · 9/10 · 27 July 2013]

OK the standards dropped in the last few years he was on ITV, but from 1969 to 1984 the Benny Hill Show was generally hilarious. Audience figures of 21 million at times showed how much Benny was held in the viewers affections.

Basically his mixture of comedy songs, send ups of adverts and television shows, silent sketches, female dancers, and the chase scene at the end was innocent and good hearted fun. For all Mary Whitehouse might have moaned about the double entendres and sexy dancers, Benny never resorted to foul language and graphic references to sex like the alternative brigade that hated him. The show was fun for all age groups and as Benny only made a handful of shows a year, the standards were always high. A new show was always a highlight for me and repeats still make me laugh now.

Off Broadway "ONE MAN SHOW"

[redryan64 · 8/10 · 28 June 2014]

OF ALL OF the Britich comedy shows that permeated American Television in the 1970's, all seemed to gravitate toward the Public Broadcastin System's stations. All, that is except for BENNY HILL. Perhaps low brow Mr. Hill was not up to the sanctimonious standards of PBS; which always has liked to portray itself as being a cut above "commercuial television.

IN ONE SENSE, perhaps they were right; inasmuch as the energetic Benny did use a lot of double entende in his material. Perhaps being introduced to Burlesque early in his life influenced him in that area.

ANOTHER POINT THAT we should make, as observed by my brother, Bob, is that when they say THE BENNY HILL Show, it truly is just that. Hardly a frame of film or an instant of videotape is exposed without his being there. Be it at the center of a sketch, singing a song or just mugging for the cameras, Mr. Hill is always out there.

PERHAPS WE SHOULD reserve any of our criticisms until we get their verdict that was silently pronounced by a great comedian. So it was that Benny Hill, himself, found out that the now eighty-plus Charles Spencer Chaplin had personally videotaped and saved Benny Hill's TV Comedies; in order to view them over again.

WELL, IF IT'S good enough for "the Little Tramp", who are we to disagree?

Exceptional laugh-making

[AndreiPavlov · 10/10 · 31 January 2008]

This is the show, which means more than just a few laughs to me. And not only to me actually. In our country "Benny Hill Show" was extremely popular and when it was shown on our TV millions of Russian people (little kids and mature adults) couldn't breathe - so funny it was. I'm not sure about the opposite sex but we were always blown away by this stuff.

Much time has passed since my school years and when I watch the show now the reaction from me is the same. It is a brilliant mixture of sketches, which are going one after another. You don't have much time to laugh at one joke while the others are coming in spades already. There are misses of course. There are some points at which Mr Benny Hill is almost "over the board" with some rather cheeky humour, but then he manages to get out of the mess with his chin up.

Great talent. Great British humour. Great British actors and actresses. Great show. Something I want to watch and re-watch from time to time.

Thank you, Mr Benny Hill, your show is one solid anti-depressant from bottom to the top. And you can easily wipe out the today's performances of frigging "comedians" with one single sketch of yours. Yours will remain the classics.

10 out of 10 - exceptional quality. Thank you for attention.

This was one GREAT TV show and Benny Hill was a genius

[wmattifo · 25 May 2003]

Benny Hill was an amazing man. He could write some of the greatest comedy in the history of the English language. His work included wit, satire, low brow, and any other kind of humor that comes to mind. I remember watching this show on American TV in NJ, and it was a HUGE hit. I recall that a local Philadelphia station put this show on opposite the 11:00 pm local news, and for a few years it was the highest rated show in its time slot. Amazing. Along with Benny I'd like to point out the great work of Jackie Wright and Henry McGee. My grandfather had been briefly stationed in England during WW II, and he had seen Jackie Wright perform in London. He said that Jackie was the funniest man he had ever seen on a stage. My grandfather loved the episode when Jackie went on a cheap (and dangerous) vacation. Benny generally used Jackie in many ways, but usually as a PROP! Benny would smack Jackie's bald head over and over again. Henry McGee, on the other hand, was a brilliant straight man to Benny's funny side, and McGee excelled whenever he would interview Benny as "Fred Scuttle." This was brilliant humor and Benny deserves to be ranked with Chaplin, Keaton, Bob Hope, and Woody Allen as the 20th century's greatest funny men.

Where was i all these years?

[sammy_leng92 · 10/10 · 22 March 2008]

Oh my god! what was i living under!!? During the Chinese New Year reunion in my granny's home and found my uncle and my cousins glued to the TV... so after greeting everyone i decided to go see for myself what was it they were watching... i found the DVD cover "The Naughty Early Years BENNY HILL, The Complete First Season" oh, sounds... naughty... but the end result, it wasn't naughty at all!!! i thought it was tame and i loved that bumbling comedian i saw! Benny hill is Genius and im proud to announce him my FAVE comedian from now on!!! so i borrowed the DVD and i still watch it till today... never getting tired of his silly and hilarious parodies, his chase, Fred Scuttle, that silly smirk and all his expressions, everything!!! so i did my research and what i read broke my heart into pieces... benny hill is dead? how can it be? a heart attack? alone, in his apartment? but what hurt me the most was people even attempted to dig up his coffin just for gold! and if i was one of the girls he proposed to, i would have said yes!!! thats how much i adore him!!! the poor comic genius definitely didn't deserve all that toxic comments people made on his show coz they would be hypocrites to say his show was politically incorrect... and most definitely didn't deserve an ending like that... but he can rest easy coz he has a fan in me and ill bring more for him!!! Rest in peace, Alfie

Benny is the King!

[Helstrom · 10/10 · 9 August 2000]

Benny is the King! I love this show! I love the facial expressions! I love the innuendo! I love the songs! I love the chases! I love Louise English and Sue Upton!

"The pleasures of drink last but a moment, Cigarettes make you sick, you could die; But the love of a beautiful woman, oh! That's the best thing that money can buy!" -Benny Hill

NOTHING compares to Benny

[bicgus1 · 10/10 · 15 July 2006]

Really. Nothing compares to Benny Hill. Long time ago I became aware of the fact that there isn't anything so difficult as good comedy. Because making anyone cry... that is easy; anyone can do it: just tell someone about the saddest moments of your life, do it convincingly and you are done. But to make others laugh... that falls absolutely under other category. Of course, there have been almost equally talented comedians last century: Charles Chaplin, Peter Sellers, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Steve Martin in his first films... ... ... ... and stop counting. I cannot think of anyone else right now, and, worst of all, don't know of anyone alive at present. Two very big thumbs up for Benny (and his brilliant crew as well).

A Mixed Bag

[bigverybadtom · 7/10 · 10 August 2014]

Originally named Alfie Hill, he changed his given name to represent the vaudevillian comic Jack Benny, as Hill's television show contained heavy amounts of old-time if naughty humor from the vaudeville era.

On the plus side, he was very talented as a performer, and his humor was sometimes very clever. On the minus side, he repeated his jokes an awful lot over the years, and he depended quite heavily on vulgarian and smutty humor, with jokes about various cleavages, cross-dressing (not funny in and of itself), and other such jokes, the humor often being dirty even if it very rarely depicted actual private parts (a few episodes actually did show bare breasts and buttocks).

Benny Hill said about his show that the women retained their dignity while the men looked like idiots. Yet every woman I've known dislikes the show. Very funny at times, but as I mentioned, the show repeated its jokes too often.

"Here He Is, The Lad Himself, Benny Hill!"

[ShadeGrenade · 10/10 · 8 September 2006]

Mention 'Benny Hill' to most people and the first thing they'll think off is the great man himself, a lecherous grin on his face, fleeing from scantily-clad girls to the strains of 'Yakety Sax'. Yet his Thames show, which spanned an incredible twenty years, was about far more than mere sexism.

Nobody did spoofs better than Benny Hill; when he took off 'Sale Of The Century' starring Nicholas Parsons, for a long time afterwards it was impossible to view the real thing without laughing. He also spoofed 'Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?' with himself playing both the Burton and Taylor roles, Tennessee Williams, 'I Claudius', French language movies, and 'The Collector' starring Terence Stamp. So his show wasn't as crass and mindless as some would have us think. Yes, he went out of fashion in the '80's, but should not have been sacked. The alternative comedians who railed against Benny and helped end his career have yet to match him for sheer entertainment value. Besides, Hill did not humiliate women as much as Ben Elton did with his awful 'Maybe, Baby'.

Better than the stereotype, but lacking later on

[the-antichrist-is-near · 6/10 · 25 March 2022]

Rather then the smutty stuff his show seems to be well known for, I've been very amazed at the writing and his way with words throughout the first 10 years or so that the show was running. Sadly, later on it seems the focus was more on the slapstick-like sketches, which are still fun, but making the whole show lack a bit of an edge.

(Based on watching the shows from 1969 till ~1984)

Funniest Show ever!

[dvbar1 · 10/10 · 17 January 2009]

When I was young in the early eighties I would stay up late every weekend to watch Benny Hill and just got the DVD set not having seen it since. I have to say it's still as funny as I remember (probably even more so now that I understand more of the jokes) and one of the funniest things I've seen in years. After growing up watching Benny Hill I now understand why I just don't find many of today's comics funny, because they're not. You can all have your Adam Sandlers and the like I'll take Benny any day. I find it very sad reading about his early death and treatment in his home country, to think we were all denied probably years more of his comic genius because of a bunch of over sensitive loudmouth idiots is beyond me. I can understand if you didn't like him, not everyone has the same taste, but to vilify the man who was obviously doing something right by staying popular for so long is a true travesty. Thank goodness we have video to enjoy what he did do to keep those of us who do find him funny laughing for as long as we like.

The King Of British Comedy

[Thor2000 · 4 April 2001]

There was a time on Earth when all of the world stopped to watch The Benny Hill Show. Businesses would close, people stayed home and every tv in the world in every house tuned in to watch this man who just wanted to make us laugh. And laugh we did. The world died when his show stopped, and it cried when he left this mortal realm. Labeled a dirty old man for the content of the material in less than a quarter of his sketches, he was considered a genius by his fans and his peers for the other seventy-five percent. Even Thames Television admitted far too late that cancelling the show was the worst mistake they had ever made. Letting it go was a knife in Benny's side, a heartbreak that led to his death, but what a great legacy of humor !

a entertaining comedy

[atomius · 10/10 · 7 July 2007]

This is one of those great comedies from the 70s. It is a sketch show but has little in the way of an extended plot line, most episodes featuring entirely new characters and situations. That is one reason it is worth watching. Sure, some might think it's a tad vulgar, but Benny does indeed show brilliance with his lyrics and rhymes, and the visual humour is very funny. The characters themselves, a constant change of new ones and some recurring ones, are quite hilarious. Half of it is filmed in the studio/audience room itself whilst half is filmed outdoors at particular places such as parks/streets etc. The music and background music is quite 'catchy' and certainly gives the show an upbeat feel. The fact Benny's characters never get the girl they want to just makes it more amusing. And of course one can't forget the effects, using television as a form of almost magic trick like effects, there are some scenes which defy physics. Quite certainly the effects themselves are worthy of viewing.

We miss you Benny

[videorama-759-859391 · 10/10 · 15 May 2020]

What did you think, I was gonna give this show? No less than a 10? You're right. On April 20th, 1992, we lost a legend, who's comic genius, who's legacy will never be forgotten. Benny Hill was the height of British comedy. The skits, the left palm salute, the suave middle aged co-star, and the smacks and beatings Jackie Wright's head took, oh, and those gorgeous ladies, that had Benny's characters, ogling and slobbering over, are all implanted in memory. Creative and smart comedy is always the best comedy, and as we well know, the Brits do this the best. The Benny Hill show is unique and superior to British comedy as Pulp Fiction is to movies. It was a stand alone show, you could never get sick of watching. The skits are so smartly thought up, we ,the viewer, just can't wait for the next gag, Benny pulls out of his bag of laughs. Of course, we'll never forget, the closing racing music theme, the saddest of each episode, as we wanted more Benny. Comic undying genius, that is Benny Hill.

simple: the Best

[guillevica · 10/10 · 29 March 2019]

So nostalgic, it is wonderful, I remember this show all time, i really love it

The most entertaining collection I own.

[swiseone · 10/10 · 6 April 1999]

This show is the best. The pace and the way the humor is communicated across makes it a show one can watch over and over. And if you are into collecting movies and series I strongly suggest this one. It is the most entertaining collection I own. And I am damn proud of it.

''Alcohol is to blame for my condition, not me!''

[Rabical-91 · 9/10 · 9 August 2017]

Benny Hill has garnered a reputation in modern times as a 'sexist comedian'. Yes, much of his humour could be sexist, rude and crass but he is nowhere near as offensive as many of today's comedians, most especially Keith Lemon. Each show opened with Benny being chased by a group of scantily dressed girls, backed up by the famous 'Yakety Sax' theme tune.

Many of the sketches relied on slapstick, usually filmed in sped-up motion. Some of my favourite sketches included 'The Messenger', a medieval themed sketch in which Benny attempts to travel to Edinburgh with a message for the King, another saw Benny as a scout master taking a group of kids out on a field trip, only to end up being butted into the air by a bull. My favourite though featured a sketch, done in the form of a silent movie, in a boutique where Benny through the use of masks tries to attract the interest of the attractive assistant.

Benny also did brilliant take-offs of Roger Cook, Nana Mouskouri, Moria Anderson, The Beverly Sisters, Fanny Cradock and Dorothy Squires. Appearing as regular supporters for Benny were Bob Todd, Henry McGee, Rita Webb, Sue Bond and Michael Sharvell Martin. The Ladybirds also appeared regularly as Benny's musical support.

'The Benny Hill Show' made for good saucy fun and helped for many to lighten up many a dreary night. In 1974, a selection of Benny's best sketches were compiled for a cinematic release entitled 'The Best Of Benny Hill'.

Greatest Show Ever

[cornwall_7 · 10/10 · 21 April 2014]

Never has a comic genius of such magnitude, diversity of skills, and generosity with the cast and audience ever graced television or movies. Truly the greatest recipient of the Chaplin Award for Comedy, Sir Alfred Hawthorne Hill made us laugh, made us sing, made us ... horny.

Benny Hill's creativity with choreography, jokes, music, lyrics was endless. Even when he repeated bits, he would always add a new twist each time.

Such a shame that Benny Hill was never knighted. Such a crime that he was never elected Prime Minister. He would have done an infinitely better job of running England than any PM since Churchill.

As a feminist male, I applaud his genius for interweaving respecting women with his slapstick comedy. It was always the goofball men in the skits who were made the buffoons. But, clearly, he allowed the incredibly talented women on his show (most notably Louise English and Sue Upton) to stretch THEIR comedic acting in skits (Wonder Gran).

Benny Hill could play harp, play guitar, play whatever instrument he needed to for a skit, in full drag or costume, write the lyrics for his simple yet interesting tunes.

He could do completely silent physical clown routines flawlessly. His skits were never insulting, never condescending, to anyone in society. His emphasis was always on his silly over-the-top characters being goofy. And, of course, nothing was funnier than his relentless ribbing of the always-turned-on heterosexual male sexual desire for women.

Unfairly vilified comic genius

[de_niro_2001 · 5 June 2003]

Benny Hill was fair game for people who wanted to take the moral high ground. These people brought the trumped up charge of being degrading to women against him but there were very few complaints about him being degrading to short bald-headed elderly men. British clean-up TV campaigner Mary Whitehouse was always going on at him and I once heard his best-known critic after Mary Whitehouse, Ben Elton, practically accuse him of inciting violence against women. The truth is, Benny only wanted to make people laugh and brighten their lives up and I think he was definitely hurt by the criticism. As I said, you could say he was degrading to short bald headed elderly men like in a very funny sketch where he and the entire cast of his show were performing a musical number. Jackie Wright and Bob Todd are sitting together singing and Benny goes over with two xylophone sticks and plays a wooden xylophone tune on top of their heads! Benny had a knack for making the obvious funny, like in a short sketch where he's looking after his neighbour's cat and his neighbour tells him "don't put yourself out" or when he plays a man going out the door with a four foot high package and his wife tells him "don't forget to post it". He had tremendous international appeal and many celebrities in the states including Burt Reynolds and Walter Cronkite and Greta Garbo was rumoured to be a fan. When Benny took ill and was in hospital Michael Jackson visited him (wonder if Wacko Jacko promised him a trip to Disneyland). One thing Benny did on his show was parodies of TV commercials. He did a parody of the Sunlight Washing Up liquid commercial where he was dressed up as the woman in the commercial and says in response to the rather obvious questions from the voice-over "of course it gets my dishes clean, are you damn stupid or something?". I can remember wishing that the woman in the real commercial would say that. In the early 1970s there was a commercial for Fry's Chocolate Cream which showed a girl reclining on a couch enjoying a bar of the chocolate. Her cat walks along the shelf next to her and knocks a porcelain figurine off the shelf and she catches it. Benny parodied this commercial. He was dressed up as the girl and when the cat knocked the figurine off the shelf he failed to catch it and the figurine shattered on the floor. A guy ran on to the set and shouted "clumsy fool" at Benny. It was predictable but still very funny. One thing his critics chose to overlook was that he nearly always played the character who came off worst in his sketches. The crux of his humour was that he played a lecherous man chasing after young girls who got his come-uppance. He was a guy very good at taking a joke on himself but definitely stung by critics.

tpo ranked...4 0f 5 stars

[less-johnson · 8/10 · 21 January 2011]

lightning in a jar...what the producers had.....a great show,funny entertaining...all you could ask for...after reading the trivia...one can only wonder what they were thinking when canceling this show....risqué at that time but noting like now....the English version of Red Skelton slapstick with adult themes...I still love watching these shows when I get a chance...hope this won't spoil it for you In Summary The TV shows of England were often a little more than was allowed here in the United States...censorship was tighter here than in England. Around the same time as Benny Hill was taking off overseas,here in America Laugh-in was getting started....This show also was deemed a little to risqué but nowhere near Benny hill. I would give this show 4 out of 5 stars

Comic great Benny Hill considered funnier than Monty Python

[gregkent-67629 · 10/10 · 25 February 2021]

Is true. Makes perfect sense! Talented Hill came from a show biz family and he was a natural at comic acting ( unlike any of the attempted comics of the other show). The TV stations that considered Hill funnier than Python were WLVI and WOR!

Hill's series eps are side-splitting. Contain talented supporting players but it is Hill's impeccable timing in skits after skit that make the show worth your time. The two best supporting players indeed are ( early 70s) Diana Darvey and (80's) Sue Upton. Highly talented and extremely comely women who add much greatness to this already great series. Some musical numbers by fabulous musicians (like Judith Dunham) in the 70s eps and Hill adds fine comic touch to even these as he introduces them!

Great show

[stefanozucchelli · 8/10 · 19 March 2022]

Really funny sketchs but which appear to have an antiquated and vaguely sexist taste but of a sexism of yesteryear, less vulgar and more ingrained in the culture of that period. I can understand why it was canceled despite long years of service.

Benny Hill - The Mozart of comedic scripts!

[stevehorvath59-515-490534 · 10/10 · 24 March 2022]

I have never ever heard a comedian whose broad range of comedic scripts were so well written, remarkably with rhyme, that was due to the pure genius of Benny Hill!

I cried tears of laughter when I first saw his show on TV. Sadly, many of his scripts were censured for American audiences from the original British versions, but they still remain hilarious for us to enjoy, especially for first time audiences. Thank you Benny Hill! RIP.

Genius

[putahw-40997 · 10/10 · 28 January 2021]

British comedy at its finest. A much as I loved Monty python, Benny Hill was better just because of all the innuendo and the sometimes edgy content. The show was way ahead of its time.