Kung Fu Kapers
| "Kung Fu Kapers" | |
|---|---|
| 5 episode | |
| Original air dates | 24 March 1975 (Monday — 9 p.m.) |
| Guest appearances | |
| Michael Barratt as himself Richard Pescud as "..." William F. Sully as "..." | |
Kung Fu Kapers is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies.
This episode is also known as "Ecky-Thump".
Plot
Bill is revealed as a master of the secret Lancashire martial art known as "Ecky-Thump" — which mostly revolves around hitting unsuspecting people with black puddings while wearing flat caps and braces.
Tim and Graeme go into battle against Bill — posing as various martial arts experts who are "foreign members of their families". However, Bill wins against every 'expert' by hitting them with a black pudding (except the Scots one who is knocked out by a wayward boomerang). Tim ends up getting plastered, with his limbs in a 'kung-fu' style formation, preparing to gain his revenge on Bill, who has meanwhile opened a profitable Ecky-Thump class, and subsequently stars in a series of Martial Arts flicks.
The night before Bill and his Ecky-Thump 'army' are to go on the march to attack with their black puddings, Graeme adds a 'remote control device' to the black pudding mixture — leading to unexpected wayward black puddings for a bewildered Bill and his equally bemused Ecky-Thump followers.
Spoofs and cultural references
- Kung-fu was a craze which was sweeping the UK at the time the episode was made, with films such as "Enter the Dragon", The Kung Fu TV series, many martial arts schools appearing in gyms and even a fragrance for men called Hai-Karate.
Viewer death
The episode is infamous for the documented example of a man laughing to death. 50 year old Alex Mitchell could not stop laughing for a continuous 25 minute period - almost the entire length of the show - and suffered a fatal heart attack as a result of the strain placed on his heart. His widow later sent the Goodies a letter thanking them for making Mitchell's final moments so pleasant. [1][2][3][4][5]
Footnotes
- ^ Death by Laughing
- ^ The Complete Goodies — Robert Ross, B T Batsford, London, 2000.
- ^ Man Dies Laughing at The Goodies, "Daily Mail", London (29 March 1975)
- ^ A Goodies Way to Go — Laughing, "Eastern Daily Press", Norwich (29 March 1975)
- ^ Slapstick! The Illustrated Story of Knockabout Comedy — Tony Staveacre, Angus & Robinson 1987
References
- "The Complete Goodies" — Robert Ross, B T Batsford, London, 2000
- "The Goodies Rule OK" — Robert Ross, Carlton Books Ltd, Sydney, 2006
- "From Fringe to Flying Circus — 'Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960-1980'" — Roger Wilmut, Eyre Methuen Ltd, 1980
- "The Goodies Episode Summaries" — Brett Allender
- "The Goodies — Fact File" — Matthew K. Sharp
- "TV Heaven" — Jim Sangster & Paul Condon, HarperCollinsPublishers, London, 2005
External links