h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Gumbies - A12532952
Author: 42donpanic - I didn't expect a sort of Spanish Inquisition! - U1779623

I think that......I forgot wot I wos sayin'.

What, a Monty Python entry and no one has commented yet?

Just a couple of spelling mistakes


>>A small mustache<< = moustache


>>They were quite surprised by the positive reaction to the Gumbys, these daft people with handkercheifs tied on their heads. When they walked into the studio one time what happeneds but the whole front row of the audience had handkerchiefs tied around their heads!<<


..the Gumby's

.. daft people with handerchiefs

..one time what happened



I will leave it to the experts to comment on the content.


lil xx

Okay, all fixed.

If they have shirts buttoned up to the collar, how do you know what sort of vests they have one?

yep, that confuzzeled me as well

I think this is 'vest' in the American sense. To my eyes they all wear knitted tank-tops.

Well then, the entry had better say that.

Yes, I wondered about the vest, too.

One other thing; there's a missing word in the sentence, "The voice of a Gumby was heard a trailer for ...". I guess there's a missing 'is' between 'heard' and 'a'.

Overall though, not bad, though my Python knowledge isn't what it used to be now that I'm not a student .

I'd say a missing 'in' rather than a missing 'is'.

"The first sketch in which Gumbies appear was the Gumby Brain Specialist..."

'Gumby Brain Specialist' is from the third series of Flying Circus, whereas Gumbies appeared in the very first series: firstly Graham Chapman in 'Gumby Crooning' (Episode 9), then a whole series of Gumbies discuss the Battle of Trafalgar in Episode 11. Gumbies also crop up in Series 2, mainly in Episode 4, in which they act as continuity announcers throughout the episode, introducing each sketch.

If Michael Palin's recollection is to be trusted (e.g. in Kim 'Howard' Johnson's 'The First 20 years of Python'), the Gumby character was invented by John Cleese for a short 'vox pop' segment, in which he put on the Gumby costume to stand in a stream and announce "I would tax all people who stand in water", although this filmed sequence wasn't actually used until Series 2 Episode 2.

I'm going now...

Yes, it is indeed an 'in', Gnomon. One day I might remember to preview my posts .

I lied...

You call Python a "1970s television series". In fact, the first series (including the Gumbies first appearance) was shown in 1969.

I think 1970s series is a perfectly adequate description of it.

Hmmm... go on then!

Oops, sorry bout the brain sketch, I was think that was the first, oops.

The vest is worn over the shirt, I don't see what you mean... I'll go fix it to make it more clear.

What Brits call a 'vest' is different to what Americans call a 'vest' (like the braces/suspenders thing). Over here, a vest is a thin, cotton garment worn under a shirt in cold weather. The woollen garment worn by the Gumbies is known in the UK as a 'tank-top'

Aha! That explains it. I didn't know that. I shall fix that now, though adding a footnote to other Americans to explain because across the pond tank tops are are a women's shirt.

Were the gumbies used in the And Now For Something Completly Different sketch on camoflarge ?