I am curious? What is everyone;s favorite parody of Charlie Chan whether it be in Film, TV or Print? I know of Peter Sellers protrayal of a SIDNEY WANG in MUDER BY DEATH or PETER USTINOV playing CHARLIE CHAN for laughs in CHARLIE CHAN AND THE DRAGON LADY. My vote however goes to JOEY FOREMAN as Hawaiian Detective working for the San Francisco Police, HARRY HOO in the GET SMART TV series. Does anyone else agree with me or do you have another favorite. Also did MAD MAGAZINE ever do a parody of CHARLIE CHAN in their magazine? They were famous on doing parodies on a lot of movies!
Harry Hoo was only in a couple episodes of Get Smart yet his presence was so striking and memorable that he's become a part of Chan lore. He gets my vote also.
I agree that Harry Hoo is best. Ustinov strikes me as a kind of bad Charlie Chan impersonation. Peter Sellers is a bit over the top. Somehow Joey Foreman strikes me as just right. Maybe it's because he comes off as the smart one and Max as the dummy. Amazing!
For me, the best was actually the Bob & Ray parody from the Bob & Ray Public Radio Show of the 1980s. Some of the segments of that show have been released on CD. I wonder if this sketch is among them.
Ray Goulding is the Charlie Chan character (renamed slightly to Charlie Chu or some such).
Bob Elliot is the annoying Number One son who is repeatedly insulted by his detective father. The elaborate insults are the main point of humor in the sketch.
