[Humphrey Hacker]

As we saw with land based TV, being high brow and sophisticated doesn't get butts on seats.  If it had survived it would have had to go downmarket to ITV's level and possibly even lower.

Heil Honey only get s reputation as being a piece of tat because that reputation is almost certainly based on talking heads to the sort of repackaged "top <something or other" stuff that Channel 5 keeps pushing out.  Those heads probably saw "key" portions of this show nicked off YouTube and made comments.

Could probably be argued Heil Honey was too clever for its own good as I don't think the pilot was that bad to be honest (and let's be fair, Hitler's been ridiculed and parodied so many times over the years in film and TV that Heil Honey looks relatively tame by comparison).  Like most things that were heavily controversial at the time, you look at it and think what's the problem here?

Maybe the context played a part. BSB wanted to make headlines and Heil Honey was chosen as the show to do so. It's plausible to assume that Jews and their supporters were livid and that would have been entirely understandable. 

Like you I've seen the pilot and I didn't find it funny at all. I don't think that anyone would dare try to recreate it now or in the future.

[Blubatt]

Maybe the context played a part. BSB wanted to make headlines and Heil Honey was chosen as the show to do so. It's plausible to assume that Jews and their supporters were livid and that would have been entirely understandable. 

Like you I've seen the pilot and I didn't find it funny at all. I don't think that anyone would dare try to recreate it now or in the future.

That pilot is like some sort of fever dream one has when they are laid out on bed with the flu.

[James2001]

I think it also doesn't help that many people weren't going to get that it was a parody combination of domestic 50s American sitcoms like I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners and 60s sitcoms with bizarre premises. People just saw a sitcom about Hitler without understanding the shows it was parodying.

[Stooky Bill]

I think it also doesn't help that many people weren't going to get that it was a parody combination of domestic 50s American sitcoms like I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners and 60s sitcoms with bizarre premises. People just saw a sitcom about Hitler without understanding the shows it was parodying.

At the time that parody would have been understood by most viewers. Not that anyone actually watched it at the time. It is a factor that is often missed out when the show is talked about though

[Neil Jones]

I think it also doesn't help that many people weren't going to get that it was a parody combination of domestic 50s American sitcoms like I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners and 60s sitcoms with bizarre premises. People just saw a sitcom about Hitler without understanding the shows it was parodying.

Problem with subtlety is that most people just don't get it so they miss the overarching point of what the show is trying to achieve so it becomes a case of "Ooh look it's Hitler, we're not having that" but as above, the viewership wasn't massive anyway so its probably more hindsight and talking head fueled than anything else.

Not that subtlety is a new thing, I mean Charles Dickens wrote it in spade loads during his time about social conditions and what not, though I suspect most of the film and TV adaptations of his books over the years probably missed most of that...

[Humphrey Hacker]

The last few posts have raised some good points:

American humour (or in Heil Honey's case a pastiche) is idiosyncratic and In my opinion doesn't travel well.

Subtlety and UK comedy don't go well together. I can only think of a handful of times when the two have worked well. Porridge and Dad's Army to name two.

Comedy and social issues are like water and electricity.

Galaxy didn't last long and Heil Honey was at the tail end of its lifespan. Maybe it was an attempt by BSB to get a bit of publicity before it ended.

I think the only Dickens work I've looked at is "Hard Times" which was not a barrel of laughs.

[Joe]

Subtlety and UK comedy don't go well together. I can only think of a handful of times when the two have worked well. Porridge and Dad's Army to name two.

Comedy and social issues are like water and electricity.

Are you kidding with these points? 

British humour is often very dry. And I can think of numerous comedies making social points over the years. 

Your post reads very oddly to me - I almost wonder if you’re being very clever and ironic and I’ve missed it.

[Humphrey Hacker]

Are you kidding with these points? 

British humour is often very dry. And I can think of numerous comedies making social points over the years. 

Your post reads very oddly to me - I almost wonder if you’re being very clever and ironic and I’ve missed it.

As Tony Green used to say:

"BULLSEYE!"

Yes I was being ironic and well done for noting it. British comedy has reeked of social issues for decades. Most episodes of Dad's Army had class at their core as well as lampooning the Nazis.

Having said that though and being serious for a second I think anything to do with making light of the Jews and the Nazis is beyond the pale.

[robertclark125]

Could someone remind me of the controversy, or discussions by rights holders, with regards to bsb using footage of sports events covered by other broadcasters in news bulletins.

[James2001]

Did that ever happen? BSB's news bulletins were just a newsreader and static captions from what I've seen, no moving footage whatsoever.