Whoops! Apocalypse [TV Series] (1982)

Imagine Monty Python's Flying Circus crossed with Dr. Strangelove, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what went on in the uproarious "black" British sitcom Whoops! Apocalypse. Three of the world's superpowers collide head-on in their efforts to replace the recently deposed Shah of Iran: U.S. President (and former silent movie star) Johnny Cyclops (Barry Morse), half-loony British Prime Minister Kevin Pork (Peter Jones), and senile Soviet premier Dubienkin (Richard Griffiths). The fly in the ointment is flamboyant international terrorist Lacrobat (John Cleese), who is determined to get his mitts on the all-powerful Quark bomb. If it is possible to invoke laughter from the prospect of wholesale nuclear annihilation, then this series succeeded beyond all expectations. Originally telecast in six half-hour episodes from March 14 to April 18, 1982, Whoops! Apocalypse was later pared down and released as a single "feature film" on home video, and was ultimately adapted as a genuine theatrical feature film in 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi