Talk:List of The Goon Show cast members and characters

Is this page neccessary?
Personally I preferred it with these details on the original The Goon Show page. It may have made the page a bit long but I think these are essential details about the show.

Also, in future post in the Talk page before you make a major change like this please. --Albert 19:17, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

Kenneth Connor
IF I RECALL CORRECTLY (because I can't find it) My copy of "More Goon Show Scripts" suggests that Kenneth Connor deputised for Milligan, Sellers and Secombe during 1959/1960, meaning that he would have been the only actor to have played Bloodnok, Eccles, Moriarty, Gryppe-Pype Thynne, Neddy, Uncle Henry, Minnie Bannister and Bluebottle. One episode has him down as playing for Secombe and Milligan alongside Sellers; another alongside Milligan and Secombe covering for Sellers, and a third covering both Sellers and Milligan alongside Secombe. Shurely shome mishtake??? --Lunarship 01:32, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Couldn't find it in my paper-back edition - any suggestions as to which pages/section to look in? --AGoon 02:25, 6 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I obviously don't recall correctly, but I am hunting the reference. I know it is in one of my Goon Show books, but I can't locate which one. Lunarship (talk) 02:18, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

Hern
From current page (2006-08-05) "Hearn, Hern or Herne, also Herne Sales. An American character used for narration, outrageous announcements, parody sales pitches. The Goons referred to Americans as "herns", possibly because saying "hern hern hern...." sounded American to them. See also Lafcadio Hearn."
 * I can see no great evidence of alternative spellings being used in Goon Shows except by mistake. The published scripts from Milligan use "Hern", only one transcriber uses "Hearn" (in two different shows he transcribed).  "Lafcadio Hearn" seems to have absolutely nothing to do with the Goons or Milligan. On alt.fan.goons google shows 5 refs to herne, 8 to hearn, 10 to hearne and 551 to hern. On alt.fan.goons  Paul Winalski says "It's a Goonism.  There was an American-accented employee of the BBC named William Hearne.  The Goons mocked his name and accent by adopting "hern hern hern" as the quintessential distillation of the American accent."  (Paul is an expert on Goon show scripts and has reputedly transcribed every show for his own referemce) - I will edit this entry --AGoon 02:22, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

Robin Hood episode
No, I'm not confusing it with 1954's "Ye Bandit of Sherwood Forest". You mention here the Christmas special "Robin Hood", guest-starring Valentine Dyall. On this page it is dated to 1956, but on the episode list page it is dated to 1952. Which is right? The script linked to, from various references in it, CANNOT have been written any earlier than 1955, but maybe the Goons adapted a 1952 script to be re-broadcast later? Other sites seem none the wiser - some say series 3 (1952), others series 7 (1956). At least one Goon Show book says the 1954 "Bandit" episode was re-recorded for Vintage Goons in 1957-58, but Wikipedia's episode list says not. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.146.185.217 (talk) 14:14, 5 October 2007 (UTC)
 * The bible: "THE GOON SHOW COMPANION" by ROGER WILMUT, says "Transcription Services recorded a special show for their own use - 'Robin Hood'. This has some stretches of script in common with 'Ye Bandit of Sherwood Forest', and features Valentine Dyall as the Sheriff of Nottingham, and Dennis Price (who seems a little out of place) as Prince John. There was no Maid Marian this time, and much of her part was given to Bluebottle. The show was issued on a gramophone record in 1971". So yes it was based on the script originally broadcast 28-Dec-54 'Ye Bandit of Sherwood Forest' (14th of 5th series), and is not listed as an episode on the Goon_Show_episodes_and_archiving as it was never broadcast as a Goon Show in Britain. --AGoon 03:31, 7 October 2007 (UTC)
 * I see it is listed as "Robin Hood unaired" on the episodes page. --AGoon 11:21, 7 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Ah. Actually it doesn't use much of "Ye Bandit" - less than a third, I'd say - and Bluebottle only has a couple of Marian's lines. But thanks for clearing up the confusion! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.149.112.50 (talk) 14:42, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Correct spelling of "blackguard"
"Blackguard" is pronounced "blaggard", but the correct spelling is "blackguard". See http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blackguard

"blaggard", on the other hand is not even found in Merriam-Webster.

If you're looking for a British dictionary (the Goon Show was British after all), check out the Oxford Concise Dictionary, here: http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/blackguard?view=uk

Here, as in Merriam-Webster, you will not find the word "blaggard".

Spelling blackguard like it sounds is rather like spelling "though" "tho": it's common, and most will know what you mean, but out of place in an encyclopedia.

No entry for Mini Banister?
I just had a quick look down the page and noted one of spikes characters (Mini) is absent. Is this deliberate? If not I'll try and add something. I have a recording of "At last the goon show" which I think answers some other issues on this page. Would that be a valid reference? kgoetz (talk) 03:29, 23 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Look again! She is there.  But the spelling used is "Minnie Bannister".
 * Personally, I can't see anything wrong with using a radio documentary with original performers as a reference. And if there is, it would not be the end of the world to do it anyway.  Man with two legs (talk) 15:16, 23 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Ah, I missed that. Thanks for pointing it out.
 * Thanks for the feedback, I may have to play it through and take some notes for updates. kgoetz (talk) 11:14, 4 March 2009 (UTC)

Lew/Ernie Cash
Surely Lew and Ernie Cash are two of the three Winogradsky brothers? "My life" as Neddy would say. 80.2.201.219 (talk) 12:27, 13 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Off topic, perhaps, but it's clear to me that they are references to Lew and Leslie Grade. Whether (or where) we can vind verifiable proof of this I don't know, however Lunarship (talk) 02:22, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

Deadlinks
The main source for this page (http://goonshowscripts.afraid.org) seem to have disappeared. http://www.thegoonshow.net/scripts.asp seems like it may be a suitable replacement. - 220  of  Borg 19:04, 9 November 2012 (UTC)
 * The whole www.thegoonshow.net domain went permanently dead during 2023. -- Red rose64 &#x1f339; (talk) 22:34, 16 October 2023 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 7 one external links on List of The Goon Show cast members and characters. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
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External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 24 one external links on List of The Goon Show cast members and characters. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
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Ray Ellington entry (under Other Nembers)
I'm surprised the examples of racist jokes are here. I'm reminded of the (often off colour but never racist) UK comedian Frankie Boyle being phoned up by a tabloid journalist about a joke he told on stage about someone recently deceased. The journalist stated that he intended to phone up the deceased's family to tell them the joke and see how offended they were at Mr. Boyle. Mr Boyle pointed out that as there would be no expectation of a family member being in his audience, the journalist was taking ownership of the joke (and the family finding out about it) and deliberately attempting to offend the family himself. In that scenario, any offense would be the fault of the journalist. Likewise, in the Ray Ellington section, saying that some of Milligan/Sykes/Stephens' jokes would be now considered racist is not justification for telling those same racist jokes; It's just being racist. By having them there, wikipedia is taking ownership of the jokes and the general public finding out about them. For instance, the first "Black Rod" joke has only a passing resemblance to a Parliamentary term. It is clearly and obviously a "Isn't it funny that black men have large penises" joke. A similar case is ongoing at Manchester United Football Club with the club, in line with their zero tolerance approach to racism, attempting to identify supporters who insist on singing a song about their player Romelu Lukaku, about the length of his penis, with a view to refusing them entry to their ground or banning (or worse). The song has been roundly condemned by all parties including the player. I can't see how this article isn't doing exactly the same thing. Christheneck (talk) 16:23, 10 October 2017 (UTC)

As if it didn't need hammering home, here's a UK politician repeating a holocaust joke in a "it's not my joke, so it's okay to repeat it" fashion - Harriet Harman urged to apologise for 'staggering judgement error' over joke - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41863815 Christheneck (talk) 22:54, 3 November 2017 (UTC)