The Goodies - The Complete LWT Series

the goodies have never seemed to get the recognition they deserve, always written off as a kiddies version of monty python. this has always struck me as a little unfair. their ability to satirise, parody and then use slapstick is as good as the pythons. yes, they are very very silly but there's nothing wrong with that, after all if you cannot be silly sometimes what's the point to life?a review of 'the goodies... at last' and 'the goodies... at last a second helping'so, let's get the bad out of the way first. this is very much of its time. that time being the seventies. of all the sins the sin of blackface is probably the one to really jar these days and whilst i don't think the goodies were ever malicious it is stll something that we have thankfully moved on from today. let's remember that the pythons also did this and it hasn't harmed their place in our affections.onto the good then and the standout out episodes in 'the goodies... at last' are kitten kong, the beanstalk and kung fu capers. throughout the whole dvd though the thing that really stands out is the music. oh, and that trandem bike. in fact, although dated in many ways, there's a lot to still love about the goodies and the this dvd is a great introduction to them.on 'the goodies... at last a second helping' the episode selection is equally great, for myself the standouts are 'the movies' and 'bunfight at the ok tearooms' but all the episodes have plenty of laugh out loud moments.oh, and as for the ugly, well let's hope 70's fashion doesn't make a return, ever.update 100620...as amazon have a habit of lumping reviews for similar dvds together rather than keeping them separate here is an additional comment about the dvd 'the complete lwt series'. having fallen out with the beeb the goodies made the move to itv and made one last series before being cancelled. this dvd differes from the previous two i have reviewed, whereas they were 'greatest hits' dvds this one is the complete series and to be honest the quality is very variable. of the seven shows two, 'snow white 2' and 'robot', are really quite painful to watch. two, 'football crazy' and 'holidays' are ok. one, 'change of life' is essentially a greatest hits selection of previous goodies ideas, ironically from the time they were on the beeb. there is however one truly brilliant episode and that is 'bigfoot'. this is the goodies firing on all cylinders, a great script, brilliant visual jokes and a healthy dose of slapstick. the second disc has some bonus features including some of their musical numbers incl. 'the funky gibbon'. the accompanying booklet gives plenty of additional info about the making of each episode and makes for an interesting read.

What are Amazon doing mixing here reviews of different Goodies releases? This review is of the first 8 episode Best of compilation 'The Goodies...at last'.Having recently watched a number of supposedly classic TV comedies of the 1970s and early 80s, with the possible exception of Porridge, The Goodies, surprisingly, is the only one to stand the test of time. The part-clever, part-silly, completely unrealistic weekly adventures of Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie and (Rest in Peace, died 2020 of Covid-19 virus) Tim 'Timbo' Brooke-Taylor are still funny after 40 or 50 years.A few sketches aside, I cannot say that about Monty Python or Not the Nine O'Clock News, which people with intellectual pretensions tended to prefer at the time. Nor The Good Life, The Two Ronnies, Dave Allen or Benny Hill, all of which probably had a larger following in those days but have now lost most of the magic they once seemed to have.The Goodies...At Last is the first of two 8 episode 'best of' compilations. This includes the famous giant kitten episode, the Eckythump martial arts episode (made when the television and film Kung Fu craze was at its height), the pantomime-like The Goodies and the Beanstalk and Saturday Night Grease -inspired by the fashions for John Travolta & disco dancing but featuring some excellent dancing policemen in several other musical genres at the end. Other episodes include: the very first Goodies episode, involving someone stealing the Beefeaters' beef at the Tower of London; an episode taking place almost entirely on a Lighthouse, as by that stage in the Season they could not afford more than one location; another in the last minutes before the World blows up; and 'Gender Education' (so called to avoid using the dangerous word S*x) featuring a Mrs Deirdre Carthorse, a gentle spoof of the anti-smut campaigner Mary Whitehouse.The Goodies (mainly Bill & Graeme) wrote their own scripts. One of them, Bill Oddie, wrote much of the music. Comedies tend to require vivid characters and Bill, Tim and Graeme each project a unique persona on screen. Although they used their own names this is not necessarily what they were really like: Tim said in an interview that the only thing he had in common with his 'Goodies' character was that they were both cowards.Like many people prominent in British television comedy in those days, Bill Oddie, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor first performed together as students at Cambridge University (Pembroke and Emmanuel Colleges) in the Footlights, at the same time as Peter Cook and many of the future Monty Pythons. However, the Goodies' emphasis was on fun rather than being intellectual.No previous society in history, even quite recent history like the 1970s, has ever had all the values of modern priggish political correctness. There are some jokes that might have to be handled more sensitively today about what we are now meant to call transsexuals (transvestites or female impersonators as they were called then), and about homosexuals (p**fs or fairies as they were called then). Once or twice a white character is made up to look black, which in those days was no more objectionable to most people than wearing spurs and a wide-brimmed hat to play a cowboy. However, blacking up is nowadays for some reason thought so shocking as to cause everyone of liberal or leftish opinions within a 10 mile radius to instantly suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and DIE. If you are that sensitive about such matters, you may therefore want to avoid watching The Goodies, at least until you leave university and grow up.This release includes commentaries on 3 episodes by all 3 of the Goodies, which are quite interesting. However, someone in production ought to have noticed that the music drowns out the commentary at the beginning of the episodes, and they seem to be using an inferior unrestored version of the film on the Goodies and the Beanstalk commentary. The commentaries tell us that The Goodies was quite an expensive series to make by the standards of British television [the BBC stopped making it when they couldn't afford to make both The Goodies and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in the same year]. The Goodies was one of the first series to film actors in front of blue screens (now often green screens), on which pictures would be added in post-production.Also included in this release are the only surviving few minutes from an earlier comedy series in which the future Goodies worked together called Broaden Your Mind. I hadn't heard of Broaden Your Mind before, but the little that survives is good. I wish we had more.I am now working my way through all 68 episodes of 'The Goodies The Complete BBC Collection', and the surprise is how good most of them are. However, that collection, while it does contain an extra interview, does not have any of the above Special Features, so I am glad I initially got this 'Best of' compilation to discover if I still liked them before buying the full BBC Collection.Sadly, the Goodies' final series, sold separately on Amazon, made by London Weekend Television for ITV, after the BBC dropped them, for whatever reason was not as good as their work for the BBC and I can't really recommend it. Likewise most of their record releases. On the other hand, while it is a long time since I read them, their books 'The Goodies File' and 'The Goodies Book of Criminal Records', I remember as really good, although I don't know how they read now.

The Goodies on the BBC ran from 1970 to 1980, and includes the first episode. I do not know if the 1980 episode is the last one they did with the BBC. There are 8 episodes, and those of the right age will remember many of them, esp the giant kitten and Ecky Thump. I only had vague memories of them, so enjoyed different aspects of them rather than the nostalgia aspect. I find it hilarious that Mary Whitehouse was satirised so early on in Gender Education (Beryl Reid 1972) and yet MW approved of The Goodies at one point! Clearly she had not seen this episode.(I saw Scatty Safari on another compilation, and it is omitted from this version, which for me is a plus as I found it cringingly bad. And The Goodies did black up right up to 1980 - that is not comedy I really appreciate, though I am not suggesting that it is intentionally racist. It just seems wildly inappropriate.)I think that the episodes are well varied. The Saturday Night Grease episode is funny, but was 18 months after the Grease/ SNF craze, which doesn't matter now, but gives you an idea of how The Goodies had flagged by the end of the decade.My kids like it, so it can win new fans, but is going to appeal most to those who were there first time round.

I loved the Goodies back in the day, and I still enjoy the work of Bill, Tim and Graeme when they pop up on TV and radio, but for me this hasn't aged well. There are some good moments, but few and far between.

Last series of shows are seldom their best. Having said that these episodes still swing for the fences, with Snow White 2 being the standout of the 6 episodes. A nice addition to finish the collection, now that the BBC years are available in its entirety as well.

All good - lost a star as case was damaged so more sturdy packaging required. more chortles than belly laughs but very nostalgic.