The Benny Hill Show
British comedy television series / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches typified by slapstick, mime, parody, and double entendre.
The Benny Hill Show | |
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Genre | Sketch comedy |
Written by |
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Starring | Benny Hill |
Theme music composer |
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Ending theme | "Yakety Sax" |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series |
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No. of episodes |
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Production | |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 45–60 minutes |
Production companies | |
Original release | |
Network | BBC1 |
Release | 15 January 1955 (1955-01-15) – 26 December 1968 (1968-12-26) |
Network | ITV (ATV) |
Release | 9 November 1957 (1957-11-09) – 1960 (1960) |
Network | ITV (Thames) |
Release | 1969 (1969) – 1 May 1989 (1989-05-01)[2] |
At its peak, The Benny Hill Show was among the most-watched programmes in the UK with the audience reaching more than 21 million viewers in 1971.[3] In 1972, Hill received a BAFTA Television Award for Best Writer, and he was nominated for the BAFTA for Best Entertainment Performance. In the late 1970s, the Thames Television version of the show gained a following in the United States and would run in syndication until 1991. In 1980 and 1981, it received Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Variety. In 1984, Hill received a Rose d'Or.
Thames cancelled production of the show in 1989 due to declining ratings and large production costs at £450,000 (equivalent to £1,191,000 in 2021[4]) per show. In a 2015 UK poll, the show's theme song was voted number 1 on the ITV special The Sound of ITV – The Nation's Favourite Theme Tune.[5]