Thanks For The Mammaries

Remembering ‘Captain Kremmen’ Creator, British Funnyman Kenny Everett.

It’s amazing to think how it’s been some three decades now since I last saw Captain Kremmen, a clever animated segment from British TV’s Kenny Everett Video Show. And what’s more, after all these years, somehow I can still hear the husky voice of space cadet Carla, Kremmen’s busty co-pilot, high-heel-bootin’ it through adolescent memory.

At about three minutes in length, the animated shorts featuring the exploits of Captain Kremmen and Carla made up only a tiny portion of the The Kenny Everett Video Show. Despite that limited engagement, the Kremmen ‘toons are the portions of the sketch comedy show that I remember most.

For those of you who missed it, were simply too young then or happened to live in the boonies, The Kenny Everett Video Show was a raunchy British TV import that was, in some ways, even more racy than the mindlessly popular Benny Hill Show that was also being aired in America at the time. With its mature-minded content, Kenny Everett’s program wasn’t exactly appropriate viewing material for youth audiences — or Benny Hill Show either, for that matter. But all across Chicago, throngs of pubescent boys were awake after hours watching, and quite often drooling.