FashionState.Com salutes...
"The Goon Show"
"Those
Crazy People, the Goons!"
(l. to r.) Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe
Vivien Leigh used to
listen to the show between her
appearances on-stage as Lavinia in "Titus Andronicus".
Among its best-known fans - John Lennon and the Prince of
Wales. And the program influenced whole new generations
of English-speaking comics, even those that became
cultural icons and Academy-Award winning actors.
"The Goon
Show" - consisting of a quartet of comic cut-ups
that went on to become the trio that gave BBC radio
comedy a mythical cult status - was the brainchild of
World War II veteran (and victim) Terence Alan Milligan,
known to his buddies as "Spike" and a genuinely
all-around madman. Along with lunatic brainiac
Michael Bentine, jolly Welsh comic Harry Secombe,
and youthful, brilliant impersonator Peter Sellers,
Spike and his "Goon Show" captured the imaginations
and hearts of post-war England and the 1950s youngsters
who became members of "Beyond the Fringe" and
"Monty Python's Flying Circus". (And not only were
comedians the acolytes of Goon humor - John Lennon
of the Beatles was a huge fan of "The Goon Show" and
much of his written humor reflects the Muse-like
impact of Milligan's verbal surrealism.)
Michael Bentine departed
the madness a couple of years
after "The Goon Show" began to work on his own
successful, independent comedy projects, and
with the loss of Professor Osric Pureheart,
the main character became Harry Secombe's ebullient,
frenetic hero-by-accident Neddy Seagoon, whose weekly
exploits and adventures became all the more outrageous
as he was joined by such characters as Eccles (a lovable idiot),
Bluebottle (a lovable, spotty, teenaged idiot), Henry Crun
and Minnie Bannister (a couple of lovable, aged idiots),
Major Denis Bloodnok (a lovable, cowardly military idiot),
Professor Jim Moriarty (a blithering villainous lackey,
but still a lovable idiot), and Hercules Grytpipe-Thynne (the
least
lovable and least idiotic of the bunch, being the villain and
all).
Institutions and pop
culture icons were given a wrestling
every week, thanks to the writing talents of Spike Milligan (with
enormous assistance from Larry Stephens, Eric Sykes, and
Jimmy Grafton when the madness would get personal with
Spike), and nonsense reigned supreme in England
on the nights "The Goon Show" had power over
the airwaves. And because of the age of DVD and the
Internet, more people than ever before are examining -
and appreciating - the radically progressive style of writing
and delivery that while creating an array of images with sounds
encouraged British comics in the age of television
and film to visualize the madness.
The
original foursome:
(l. to r.) Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan, Michael
Bentine
Faces of the Goon
SPIKE MILLIGAN
PETER SELLERS
HARRY SECOMBE
MICHAEL BENTINE
THE GOONS' GOONS:
WALLACE GREENSLADE
MAX GELDRAY
RAY ELLINGTON
ANDREW TIMOTHY
WALLY STOTT
Site Links
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Acid
Logic (contains
graphic language)
Ravingly funny tribute to the Goons.
AFP Timelines
A crossover piece entitled "The
Buffygoons". Yep. Vampire slayers!
Alt.fan.goons
Here's the top Goon Usenet site!
BA Education
A review of the play "Ying
Tong", which focused on the Goon Show and Spike's nervous
breakdowns.
BBC 7
You can hear archived Goon Shows here
from time to time!
BBC News Online
The BBC is on an active treasure hunt
for missing Goon Shows!
BBC News Online: Secombe's son in Goon revival
Three second-generation Goon Show
artistes performed at the 50th anniversary tribute to the Goons!
BBC h2g2
This reader-created encyclopedia
features an entry on the Goon Show.
Bloodnok.Net
"Naughty wav-type and ogg-type and
mp3-type format formatting for your listening pleasure",
advertises the site named for the Goon Show's most obnoxious (and
odorific) noisemaker. Loads of sound files, and links so you can
buy entire episodes on CD!
The Book of the Goons
Pretty exhaustive FAQ of material about
the show!
DVANDOM Force: "Crisis on Earth Goon"
A parody by Dave Van Domelen.
Eclectica
This you won't believe...what if
"Star Wars" had been written for the Goon Show?
Engineering News
This South African-based site features
"On the Air", another fan-written send-up of the Goon
Show.
Epguides.com
Comprehensive listing of Goon Show air
dates and episode titles, plus writing credits!
Everything Celebrities
Tidy-sized info bio on the Goon Show.
Free Dictionary
Very detailed entry for novices who want to start their Goon
studies with the cold, hard facts first! (Then onto the lunacy!)
George Chisholm @ Tripod
George Chisholm talks about his working
relationship with the Goons as the occasional token Scotsman on
their show.
Good Show! Report: Ying Tong
This site reviews the Goon bioplay
"Ying Tong".
Google Groups: alt.fan.goons YAQ
Exhaustive FAQ type thingy from the
folks who post on message boards all their livelong days.
Goon Again - 50th Anniversary Goon Show
From producer and director Dirk Maggs' own website providing
background on the big celebration for 50 years of Goonery!
Goon Page
Whimsical short bio about the Goons,
with some great sound clips.
Goon Prehlidka
A Czech-language info site on the
Goons!
The Goon Show @ Gulliver.cc!
Wonderful fansite with a few links, a
couple of sound clips, and a pretty comprehensive short bio of
the show.
The
Goon Show Depository
Features episode databases, some
full-length scripts, a nice array of links, and a full-on message
forum!
Goon
Show Information and Downloads
Excellent little fansite with
downloads, scripts, bios, episode list, a few pix, and some
great, funnily-written detailed info on the Goons.
Goon
Show Information Page
A wee tribute site that has retained a
steady presence - going on eight years.
Goon
Show Liberation Army
Hilarious tribute site with original
nonsense, plus tributes, fun photos and lots of Goonish sounds.
Goon Show Listings
Detailed technical info on episodes of
the Goon Show - probably more than you'll ever need to know. But
it's there. Just in case.
Goon
Show Preservation Society
The biggest and the best international
fan club of the Goon Show! Originating in the U.K. (naturally),
some areas look to be under construction at this time. However,
there is still episode info, review of Goon Show characters, and
a shop where you can buy back issue collections of GSPS
newsletters (among other things!).
Goon Show Scripts: Case of the Missing Goon Show
Heard of fan fiction? This is a fan
script. You can't keep Goonamaniacs down!
Goon Show Scripts: The Rocky Horror Goon Show
(Folks!)
You have to read this to believe it.
No, really.
The
Goon Show Site
Fantastic site with oodles of
Goon-related goodies!
The Goon Witch Project!
Oh, nooooo ... yet another fan-film
script!
The Goonlog
Multi-faceted little weblog with Goon
info, timeline, and links.
Great Lollops of Splunge, It's...The Goon Show
Nice little fansite with wavs, an
episode guide, and more information.
He's Fallen in the Water!!
Hallo Spaceboy's Goon Show tribute page
at Tripod. Cool pix and sounds!
Hexmaster:
The Goon Show Scripts
52 - count 'em - 52 scripts in Word and
PDF format for you to peruse!
The
Highly Esteemed Goon Show Comic
Yep - a cyber-comic strip about the
Goons!
The Iceberg (cached
from Google)
This music site reviews the influence of the Goons.
League of Extraordinary Gentlegoons
Fan-film script!
The Menzies Era
Info and separate mini-bios on those Crazy People, the Goons!
Michael Parkinson (requires RealPlayer)
The British chat show host gets a double dose of Goonery from
guests Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe!
MizzMozz
Nice selection of links to Goon Show
sites here!
Robert Dickson's Goon Show Page
A tribute presence and some links by an
Aussie Goon fan!
Robert
Farnon Society
A group dedicated to light pop music,
this site contains a reflective article by a British beauty Bloom
Clare, whose marriage to a London cocktail pianist in 1947
brought her face-to-face with the legendary Goons!
Radio4All
Very old alt.fan.goons Usenet
entry...with a ton of info on the Goon Show episodes!
Shut
Up Eccles
Another Goonish repository of links,
lyrics, and program info.
Silver Bullet Comic Books
What if the Goons morphed with The
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? Find out for yourself in this
installment of the "Park & Bark Show"!
Sussex
Goons
The Sussex branch of the Goon Show
Preservation Society? Hardcore, four-on-the-floor Goon fans!
The
Telegoons
A branch of the Goon Show Preservation
Society site, this site is dedicated to the live-action puppet
show Telegoons and other forms of Goon-inspired art.
Theatreworld
A review of the Goon-inspired play "Ying Tong".
Tim Prescott's Goon Show Flash Site
U.S.
Goon Show Archives
The American site of the Preservation
Society - a small but fun site!
Wikipedia
Detailed entry of The Goon Show...many
points of trivia regarding cast and crew. Use this to expand your
research!
Yuletide Treasure - The Great Punch Bowl
Surprise
Another Goon fanscript!
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