The Mighty Booshis a Britishsurreal comedytelevision series created byJulian BarrattandNoel Fielding.Starring the comedy troupeThe Mighty Boosh,it often featured elaborate musical numbers in different genres, such aselectro,heavy metal,funkandrap.The series is known for popularising a style called "crimping", shorta cappellasongs which are present throughout all three series. Julian Barratt wrote the music within the show, and performed it with Noel Fielding. Fielding also designed many of the show's graphics and artwork.
| The Mighty Boosh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Surreal comedy |
| Created by | Julian Barratt Noel Fielding |
| Written by | Julian Barratt Noel Fielding |
| Directed by | Paul King |
| Starring | Julian Barratt Noel Fielding Michael Fielding Rich Fulcher Dave Brown |
| Theme music composer | Julian Barratt |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No.of series | 3 |
| No.of episodes | 20(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Steve Coogan Mark Freeland Henry Normal Lindsay Hughes |
| Producers | Spencer Millman Alison MacPhail |
| Camera setup | Single camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company | Baby Cow Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Three |
| Release | 18 May 2004– 20 December 2007 |
The series takes place in a surreal universe following Howard Moon (Barratt) and Vince Noir (Fielding), two eccentric, failing musicians, as well as Naboo, a mystic alien shaman, and Bollo, a gorilla and Naboo's familiar. They frequently have adventures while they pursue fame.
The series has many animated sequences, puppets and special effects. Barratt has said that he approached Fielding with the idea of doing a series likeThe Goodies(1970–1982), as if it were a complete "world" rather than simply asketch show.[1]
In 2019,The Mighty Booshwas ranked 98th onThe Guardian's list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century.[2]Reruns aired onAdult Swimin the United States from 2009 to 2013.
Format
editThis sectionpossibly containsoriginal research.(July 2019) |
The Mighty Booshcentres on the adventures of Howard Moon (Barratt) and Vince Noir (Fielding). Series 1 opens and often closes with Howard and Vince addressing the audience in front of a theatre curtain, introducing the show and offering some final reflections. Series 2 leaves this format, instead starting in the characters' flat, with no direct address to the audience. Unlike the radio series, which is played as though real, the characters on the TV series all seem aware that they are in a TV show, and Vince especially will often break thefourth wallto address the audience and to comment on the situation.[citation needed]Little attention is paid to continuity;[citation needed]for instance, in the second series the shaman Saboo is shown being killed by the demon Nanatoo, but in series 3 he is alive and well. In the first series episode, 'Bollo', Bollo the gorilla dies at the end of the episode, before the credits. However, in subsequent episodes, Bollo is also seen alive and well.
Each series of the show featured Howard and Vince and the various recurring characters in a different context; in series 1 Howard and Vince are zookeepers in the "Zooniverse", Naboo is a fellow employee of the zoo and Bollo is one of the animals that live there. In series 2, Howard, Vince, Naboo and Bollo are flatmates in a district of London. In series 3, Howard and Vince work in Naboo's magical shop, the Nabootique, and plots often revolve around them getting in trouble whilst Naboo and Bollo are away from the shop.
Several episodes featured a "crimp"; a humorousa cappellanonsense song sung by Fielding and Barratt. The crimps were sung in ascatstyle and were lyrically characterized by non-sequiturs that were rhythmically similar tobeatbo xing,[3]often accompanied by a small performance of hand gestures and pantomimes. The term was first coined in "The Power of the Crimp", episode 3 of the third season. Controversy arose in March 2008 when a new advertisement campaign for the cerealSugar Puffswas shown to have imitated the particular style of crimping.[4][5][6]
Characters
editThough there are manyrecurring characters,the "central cast" consists of five characters:
- Howard Moon (Julian Barratt)
- Vince Noir (Noel Fielding)
- Naboo (Michael Fielding)
- Bollo (Peter Elliott(2004),Dave Brown(2005–2007))
- Bob Fossil (Rich Fulcher)
Recurring characters include:
- Dennis (Julian Barratt)
- Dixon Bainbridge (originallyRichard Ayoade,laterMatt Berry)
- The Hitcher (Noel Fielding)
- Kirk (Kirk Gaitskell-Kendrick)
- Lester Corncrake (Rich Fulcher)
- The Moon (Noel Fielding)
- Old Gregg (Noel Fielding)
- Rudi van DiSarzio (Julian Barratt)
- Saboo (Richard Ayoade)
- Tony Harrison (Noel Fielding)
Notable guest actors and actresses include:
History
editThe Mighty Boosh made the transition from radio to television in 2004, when an eight-part television series - calledThe Mighty Boosh- was commissioned by the BBC. It was directed byPaul Kingand produced byBaby Cow Productions.The pilot episode was directed bySteve Bendelack,and a large portion of the pilot episode was used in the actual series, in the episodeTundra.The pilot was shot with a live audience because there had been doubts as to whether the successful stage show could translate to the screen, but the actual series had no live audience.
Series 1 of the television version ofThe Mighty Booshexpanded on the radio series. It was first broadcast onBBC Threeon 18 May 2004 and, from 9 November, also onBBC Two,although in a different order and with the mild swearing censored or edited out.
The second series began showing on BBC Three on 26 July 2005, though with a smaller budget. A full-length preview of the following week's episode was available online at theBBC's Boosh webpage. Series 3 started airing on BBC Three from 15 November 2007.
Series 3 began airing on America'sAdult Swimon 29 March 2009. Series 1 aired on Adult Swim on 10 May 2009 with Series 2 airing on 5 July 2009.
The first series was shot on standard definitiontapeand digitally altered with thefilm lookprocess. Both subsequent series were shot on digital at 25 frames per second.
Controversy
editIn June 2020,NetflixremovedThe Mighty Booshfrom its catalogue, citing the alleged use ofblackfacein skits such as "The Spirit of Jazz" (where Fielding portrays the ghost of "Howlin' Jimmy Jefferson" ), as well as the fifth episode of the first season, "Jungle." ComedianJack Carrolltweeted that the removal was "an arbitrary gesture that means [Netflix] doesn’t have to put any real work into combatting actual instances of racial discrimination."[7]
The series was kept on theBBC iPlayerstreaming service but a content warning was added before each episode.[8]
Episodes
editSeries overview
edit| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 8 | 18 May 2004 | 6 July 2004 | |
| 2 | 6 | 26 July 2005 | 30 August 2005 | |
| 3 | 6 | 15 November 2007 | 20 December 2007 | |
Series 1 (2004)
edit| No. overall | No.in series | Title | Directed by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Killeroo" | Paul King | 18 May 2004 |
| 2 | 2 | "Mutants" | Paul King | 25 May 2004 |
| 3 | 3 | "Bollo" | Paul King | 1 June 2004 |
| 4 | 4 | "Tundra" | Paul King & Steve Bendelack | 8 June 2004 |
| 5 | 5 | "Jungle" | Paul King | 15 June 2004 |
| 6 | 6 | "Charlie" | Paul King | 22 June 2004 |
| 7 | 7 | "Electro" | Paul King | 29 June 2004 |
| 8 | 8 | "Hitcher" | Paul King | 6 July 2004 |
Series 2 (2005)
edit| No. overall | No.in series | Title | Directed by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | "Call of the Yeti" | Paul King | 26 July 2005 |
| 10 | 2 | "The Priest and the Beast" | Paul King | 2 August 2005 |
| 11 | 3 | "Nanageddon" | Paul King | 9 August 2005 |
| 12 | 4 | "Fountain of Youth" | Paul King | 16 August 2005 |
| 13 | 5 | "The Legend of Old Gregg" | Paul King | 23 August 2005 |
| 14 | 6 | "The Nightmare of Milky Joe" | Paul King | 30 August 2005 |
Series 3 (2007)
edit| No. overall | No.in series | Title | Directed by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 1 | "Eels" | Paul King | 15 November 2007 |
| 16 | 2 | "Journey to the Centre of the Punk" | Paul King | 22 November 2007 |
| 17 | 3 | "The (Power of the) Crimp" | Paul King | 29 November 2007 |
| 18 | 4 | "The Strange Tale of the Crack Fox" | Paul King | 6 December 2007 |
| 19 | 5 | "Party" | Paul King | 13 December 2007 |
| 20 | 6 | "The Chokes" | Paul King | 20 December 2007 |
Media
editDVD releases
editIn the UK the Mighty Boosh has released Series 1–3 individually and in a few boxsets. Series 1 was released onDVD(Region 2) on 29 August 2005, Series 2 on 13 February 2006 and Series 3 was released on 11 February 2008.
As a result of a growing fan base in the U.S. the BBC released seasons 1–3 individually on North American NTSC-formatted DVDs on 21 July 2009. The North American series 1–3 boxset was released on 13 October 2009.
| DVD Title | No. of discs | Year | No. of episodes | DVD release | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |||||
| Complete Series 1 | 2 | 2004 | 8 | 21 July 2009 | 29 August 2005 | 11 April 2007 | |
| Complete Series 2 | 2 | 2005 | 6 | 21 July 2009 | 13 February 2006 | 12 April 2007 | |
| Complete Series 3 | 2 | 2007 | 6 | 21 July 2009 | 11 February 2008 | 6 August 2008 | |
| Complete Series 1 & 2 | 4 | 2004–2005 | 14 | — | 13 February 2006 | — | |
| Complete Series 1–3 (Special Edition) |
7 | 2004–2007 | 20 | 13 October 2009 | 17 November 2008 | 6 August 2009 | |
| Complete Series 1–3 (HMVEdition) |
6 | 2004–2007 | 20 | — | 17 November 2008 | — | |
Gallery
edit-
Howard Moon in the stageshowThe Mighty Boosh Live.March 2006 -
A performance of the stageshowThe Mighty Boosh Live.Dave Brown as Bollo. March 2006 -
A performance of the stageshowThe Mighty Boosh Liveat the Brighton Dome. From left to right; Noel Fielding, Julian Barret, Dave Brown. February 2006
Notes
edit- ^Dredge, John (2005)."Interview with John Dredge".Archived fromthe originalon 29 September 2007.Retrieved30 April2007.
- ^"The 100 best TV shows of the 21st century".The Guardian.16 September 2019.Retrieved23 September2019.
- ^"Mighty Boosh, The - Liverpool Echo Arena (From Warrington Guardian)".30 October 2008. Archived fromthe originalon 24 January 2009.
- ^"Sugar Puffs ad accused of ripping off The Mighty Boosh".Brand Republic.19 March 2008.Retrieved7 October2009.
- ^Rifkind, Hugo (28 March 2008)."People: Madonna, the Queen, Ian Paisley, Gareth Thomas".The Times.London. Archived fromthe originalon 10 May 2008.Retrieved7 October2009.
- ^Reynolds, Simon (19 March 2008)."'Mighty Boosh' pair furious with Sugar Puffs ".Digital Spy.
- ^"Netflix pulls The Mighty Boosh and The League of Gentlemen over blackface".the Guardian.10 June 2020.Retrieved15 October2022.
- ^"BBC iPlayer adds warnings to classic comedies removed from Netflix".NME.2 July 2020.Retrieved13 August2023.
External links
edit
