Don't Watch - It'll Ruin Your Christmas
Please find below a disgusting visual blast from the past that demonstrates how far standards have risen in New Zealand comedy - Pooman and Wees R18.
As 2024 comes to an end, a year that has been grim for many, let us reflect on an aspect of life that has improved. That one little shining light is the fact that no one will ever allow the crap I am about to share with you to be made again.
Almost two decades ago, my friends and I produced a cartoon called Pooman and Wees. Created by the comic genius Phil Brough, it first appeared as a comic strip in the now-defunct gig guide called The Fix and the music mag Rip It Up. The live-action version below starred Mr Brough and a guy named Grubby in the titular roles.
Pooman and Wees, the live-action series, was a filthy, low-brow humiliator that lacked the charm of the original strip. It rightly received a record number of Broadcasting Standards Authority complaints when it first appeared on TV2 in season 2 of Back of the Y Masterpiece Television and then again a few years later on C4 in season 3 of the same show. It also received an impressive number of international complaints to Ofcom (the regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries) when it played on MTV2 over there and even more when it played in Europe. It even received a complaint directly to the police. A nice lady had fallen asleep on her couch, woke up to see the show on her TV, and was so horrified she called 111.
Disgusting as it is, Pooman is an interesting example of the Overton Window closing. It’s a wistful insight into how we were in a simpler time in this country. Normally, we find the OW widening; here, it has slammed shut. Can you imagine the National Broadcaster supporting this risky crap in 2024?
Noun: Overton window; plural noun: Overton windows.
The spectrum of ideas on public policy and social issues considered acceptable by the general public at a given time.
"I suppose the Overton window is shifting, but slowly"
Shockingly, it was hugely popular at the time. There were even a couple of action figures.
Anyway, please do not watch the episode of Pooman and Wees below. Not at Christmas. This is a wonderful time of the year, not a time for three and a half minutes of disgusting, juvenile, faecal perversion. Watch The Christmas Prince or The Knight Before Christmas or The Christmas Prince 2: The Royal Wedding.
If you do watch Pooman and Wees, please feel free to cancel your paid subscription afterwards. I will understand completely. I would even be open to refunds. Maybe a free copy of my book (reach out).
Anyway. Don’t do it. This is your final warning. Merry Christmas.
Anyway, you seem busy, I’ll let you go.
Bless Bless Bless
Happy New Year, and Feliz Navidad!
MH
Note: Be grateful you didn’t just watch the Skat Woman episode that was far worse - (if you do want to see that one or any of the other eight classic Pooman and Wees episodes, including Basil Toilet Brush, please message me; I could also send you the Nutcracker scene from The Devil Dared Me To).