What was the name of the British sitcom set in ancient Italy that was partially inspired by A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM?
The Britcom in question debuted in 1969 (we aired it here in North Carolina in the 1980s) and starred Frankie Howerd as a slave named Lurcio (pronounced Lurk-io) who broke the fourth wall and delivered double entendres with an proficiency that would make the cast of ARE YOU BEING SERVED? jealous.
The show came into being after Michael Mills and Tom Sloan visited the ruins of Pompeii. At the time, Mills was the BBC’s Head of Comedy and Sloan was Head of Light Entertainment. Mills had recently seen actor and comedian Frankie Howerd starring as Pseudolus in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” in the West End and commented that he half expected Howerd to pop up amongst the ruins. That casual comment got the ball rolling and the situation comedy came to fruition shortly thereafter.
The series debuted on the anthology program COMEDY PLAYHOUSE in September 1969, ran for two seasons and spawned a 1971 film.
So what was the title of this British comedy starring Franke Howerd? What was the name of the British sitcom set in ancient Italy that was partially inspired by A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM?
The answer is UP POMPEII.
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