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The year is 1969.
You might assume that youve stumbled into an episode ofMonty Pythons Flying Circus.
Its British, its zany, its 1969.
You would also be wrong.
Yes, he said, Ive just seen it, too.
But, I said, I thought thats what we were going to do.
So did I, he replied.
In spite of this, the Goons became a prominent fixture in the history of British comedy.
As Sellerss film career began to take off,The Goon Showended.
The first season ofQ,known asQ5, moves fast.
It goes from sketch to sketch without pausing to take a breath and is a strange mix of ideas.
Spike was among the first to do so.
I was watching the television this evening, and I thought, Theres nothing like a good laugh.
Then, from off-screen, a hand thrusts a pie into his face and explodes.
Big laugh from the audience.
BeforeQ, this would have been it: Priest gets pied; roll the theme song.
Instead, a voice off-camera says Take two!
(When his patient is unsuccessful, he asks, Can you afford to come back next week?)
Qdid many things differently from other shows, but one of its key elements was its obsession with television.
Milligan constantly railed against the BBC, biting the hand that fed him, at every opportunity.
Of course, when you decide to fight your employer, there can be consequences.
Towards the end of his life he would say, They copied every style that we did in that.
Mind you, they had six wonderful performers; I didnt.
I only had me.
