File under Things That Actually Happened: On September 30, 1990, British Satellite Broadcasting aired a single episode of "Heil Honey I’m Home," a Nazi-themed sitcom featuring fictionalized versions of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun.
The couple inexplicably live in a Berlin apartment building, across the hall from the Jewish couple Arny and Rosa Goldenstein, whose goofy antics infuriate the Führer, leading to weirdly unfunny 1950s-style sitcom setups.
In this patently offensive parallel comedy universe, the Hitlers are a typical urban couple, and their biggest challenges are making dinner for British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and surviving the antics of their neighbors. (There is some attention paid to the Munich Agreement referenced in Chamberlain’s visit, but solely as a framing device to feed the boss-is-coming-to-dinner style plot.)
“I gotta think nice thoughts: Poland, the Sudetenland…” – TV Adolf Hitler. Seriously, folks—how did this make it to air?
The show ends about five minutes into this next clip. If you stay tuned afterwards, you’ll see a few 1990 BSB TV commercials, which are roughly as unfunny as the show itself. The clip ends with an intro to an interview with Salman Rushdie—leading me, yet again, to wonder who was in charge of this programming lineup.
For more deep thoughts on this travesty, check out SplitSider’s detailed review. I agree with their central thesis: This show fails because it’s not satire—it’s just a crappy parody of 1950s sitcoms…with friggin’ Hitler as the protagonist. It’s just not funny, largely because it fails to comment on its own protagonist’s unique position in history. Future TV writers and executives, take note.
Network Awesome also covered this show and pointed out an interesting bit of trivia: Interestingly, the date "Heil Honey I’m Home" aired is the same date that the Munich Agreement was signed and Prime Minister Chamberlain went to Hitler before his “peace in our time” address – September 30. Coincidence?
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