Post
by Ben » May 20th, 2022, 4:32 am
I’m so pleased you guys know of Rod Hull! And I’m glad he enjoyed a modicum of Stateside success. He was massive here, both as a guest like this on various shows here, where Emu became infamous for "attacking" other guests on talk shows, and his own couple of series, especially the Pink Windmill (altogether, "there's somebody at the door! There's somebody at the door! …") with Grotbags the witch.
Staple viewing for any British kid in the early 80s, though certainly not an "early precursor" to the Muppets: Rod, along with a bunch of puppet acts in the 1970s (Basil Brush, Rainbow, Spit the Dog, Bernie Clifton, etc), came along about the same time.
Such a simple act, but so well done. Yes, it’s basically a one-note gag, but he's deceptively brilliant at how either how planned out he is, or quick to take advantage of the situation for maximum comedy effect. I didn’t realise I’ve missed seeing him (although he would have been very old by now, he sadly died a good few years back in an unfortunate circumstance), and that brought a big grin to my face!