21. The Goodies Episode That Did Not End So Good for Viewer Alex Mitchell
The Goodies was one of those British TV shows that few outside of Britain are familiar with. It combined situation comedy with surreal sketches and aired 76 episodes on BBC from 1970 to 1980. The series is probably not the cup of tea of most Americans today, but it was pretty funny for its intended British audience, as evidenced by its decade-long run. Also, the fact that at least one of its viewers found a Goodies skit to be so hilarious that he laughed himself to death: a tragicomic demise in the most literal sense.
The evening of March 24th, 1975, started off like many others for Alex Mitchell, a bricklayer from King’s Lynn, Norfolk. He sat down after dinner to watch an episode of The Goodies, his favorite TV show and one that he watched religiously every week. He knew to expect the show’s typical raw and physical humor, but he was not prepared for that evening’s “Kung Fu Capers” episode. It featured a black belt in “Ecky Thump” – a little-known martial art from Lancaster, that revolved around pelting opponents with black pudding. Something about that struck Mitchell as over the top hilarious.