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

I have just witnessed what (for me must be about the funniest TV moment ever.

They think it's all over (UK comedy sport quiz). David Gower and Gary Lineaker (retired cricketer and footballer both well respected and not earning a [very big] crust as presenters), dressed in blow up Sumo wrestler suits fighting to decide the series winner.

This beats (but only just) the scene from Only Fools And Horses where the horrible realisation dawns on Del's face that the singer that he has secured a management contract for has a lisp and is singing (at Del's insistance) "The Gween Gween Gwass of Home".

PP

There was that series with Michael J Fox in it many years ago. I remember a scene in it where the mother runs towards Fox to hug him, but there is a clothes line in the way. I thought that was really funny, also because I didn´t know if it was planned or not.

Harry H Corbet (the esquire) getting splatted under the bed of the inn-keeper and his wife in the Jabberwocky.

Michael Palin reducing the smoothly running smithy to chaos, also in the Jabberwocky.

From "The dissappearance of Finbar".

A man from Ballymun (North Dublin estate) goes to Norway to look for his long lost friend Finbar and gets talking to some truck drivers in very broken English who say they can take him to Finbar. He travels all the way to the very frozen North and has to walk the last mile and he comes to a building and it has a sign over the door "Finns Bar".

"Right, don't tell me I didn't warn you"

Basil Fawlty counting to three after his mini fails to start, leaping out of the car, and returning seconds later with a branch which he proceeds to thrash the car with...

I've seen it loads of times and it still brings a a smile to my face...

CR

Well yes of course the "I've warned you, you b*****d" scene with the car. Of course. In fact soooo many Twatty Flowers scenes.

Especially the one where Basil is reaching into the Aussie woman's room to switch on the light and she is standing against the wall stretching and he tries to turn on her ... ahem...chest.

And the one where Sybil asks Manuel where Basil is and he says that Mr Fawlty is trying to "see the girl through the window. She just drive him crazy"

Oh and........

PP

Apart from such classics of intended comedy as Basil beating his car with a tree and the moment when Del Boy disappears when he tries to lean on the bar which has been opened my favourite has to be ...
The look on Michael Portillo's face when he lost his seat in Enfield - that kept me smiling for about a week

Two unintentionally funny moments do it for me

1. The Grand National that never was. A huge build up for the started of the race, it was his last race and he had been the starter for forty years. He then of course totally cocked it up and poor old Desmond Lynam had to try and present about an hour of Grandstand amidst scenes of rising chaos. - this was all truly entertaining - much better than the actual race and also satyisfying as it was a disaster for the bookies .

2. The Bee Gees walking off stage during an interview with Clive Anderson - probably the onlyt time I've ever seen him speechless

Dwyer claiming we started it! (LIONS 01 tour 23/06/01)

Huh?

My favourite part of Fawlty Towers is the episode where they realise the cat is okay (not poisoned, if I remember rightly) and Basil sarcastically jumps around dancing shouting "hooray! hooray! the cat's okay!"

A very recent one that will become a classic in my book was on Question Time where Dimbledy (Richard, David, Burt?) called Robin Cook "Robin C*ck". The expressions on everyone's faces was brilliant. Kenneth Clarke laughed but I think everyone else was trying not to.

One of the funniest recent tv moments has to be the Iraqi information minister..

"They are nowhere near Baghdad"

Next day Baghdad fell.

Yes! He was a comic genius

The scene - a London street, outside the home of Kevin Maxwell, son of the recently deceased Robert Maxwell, owner of Mirror Group newspapers and pension fraudster. Press attention on his two sons has been intense, since they are assumed to have been involved in his various criminal activities.

It's early morning. The sun is shining. Dozens of reporters and a camera crew or two are camped out outside the Maxwell's home. It is (I think) a Sunday morning, early.

Two lugubrious gentlemen walk up to the door, and knock politely.

The door does not open. Instead, an upstairs window opens, and screaming harridan identified as Kevin Maxwell's wife Pandora stick her head out and yells "P**S OFF, we don't get up for an hour."

Nonplussed, the two gentlemen apply themselves to the front door knocker once again.

The window flies open again, and in the dulcet tones of a harpy the delightful Mrs. Maxwell calls out "P**S OFF OR I'LL CALL THE POLICE!".

It is at this point that the assembled press crew, and especially the television team who recorded the whole event, must have practically wet themselves, as one of the gentlemen on the step - who Mrs. Maxwell had obviously taken to be reporters - responds, completely deadpan:

"We ARE the police, madam."

The serious fraud office, to be precise. Maxwell, and his wife, left the house in their custody a few minutes later, even though they apparently didn't get up for an hour.

Comedy doesn't get much better than that.

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On the point about Portillo's defeat in '97:

I think it's a very significant fact that a couple of years later, there was a public poll in the UK for "Greatest TV moment of all time".

Number 1 was the moon landing.
Number 2 was Nelson Mandela's release.
Number 4 was Princess Diana's funeral.

And beating Diana's funeral into fourth place - and by definition beating every other TV moment EVER even lower - was the announcement of Portillo's defeat.

Now admittedly those voting were viewers of Channel 4 and readers of the Observer newspaper, but even so - I've thought often since that the Conservative party should look at that result and do some serious thinking...

H.

Lmao at the Maxwell story...Is that really true??

Yes it is.

Thanks Hoovooloo - I had forgotten about that particular gem.

Unbelievable and they are the best comedy moments when they not intended.

Possibly a bit alienating, but in an American Football game years ago, the announcer got so overexcited about a dramatic ending, that he began screaming about the winning coach coming onto the field and talking to the referee to confirm what had happened. The censors (more strict than today) were NOT happy that the announcer said the referee was telling coach John Madden to get his fat a** off the field. A classic moment in American TV, such as it is.

On a juke-box-dury type show some years ago (duke box jury(?)) they played the new single by Glenn Medeiros (remember him?). Well, the panel (including Vic Reeves) proceeded to give him an absolute slating. Then...the host announced "this week's mystery guest is.......Glenn Medeiros!". GM ambled on and looked as though he didn't know whether to burst into tears or punch Reeve's lights out.

When Jarvis er bent over and flapped his bottom on stage next to Michael Jackson's disturbing Christ act on the Brit Awards about 5 years ago.