La linea

La Linea, never listed in the television schedules (at least not here in Britain), occasionally popped up as a filler during the school holidays, and good Lord, it was completely weird. Against a bright, primary coloured background, a human hand drew the outline of a big-nosed, bad-tempered, constantly squawking little man, whose strange 'adventures' always started out well, but then bad things began to happen to him well before the end. I remember him having half his face shot off and being tormented by a monkey in a palm tree, with that unsettling bass-voiced "Ah yom be dom, a yom be dom" scat-singing going on in the background all the while. It was a warped precursor to the 'Mr Bill' shorts made famous by Saturday Night Live, if you like. La Linea has recently been released on DVD, but a little of this stuff goes a long way. Don't overindulge.