Question: What is it exactly that Rik reads from the paper? The thing that Neil repeats that brings the little devil to them? I'm assuming it's a poorly pronounced version of something that was in the papers at that time, but I can't think of anything that fits it.
Chosen answer: It wasn't referring to anything real, just that the government's bureaucratic naming, The Guardian's mangled spelling or Rick's bad pronounciation resulted in the unlikely word "Footumch" being spoken.
Question: What is it exactly that Rik reads from the paper? The thing that Neil repeats that brings the little devil to them? I'm assuming it's a poorly pronounced version of something that was in the papers at that time, but I can't think of anything that fits it.
Chosen answer: This is the dialog: RICK: "Hey, get this! 'Under the new ruling, all a student needs for an increased grant is a numklpkgulftoomsch from the local authority!" NEIL: "What was that?" RICK: "A numklpkgulftoomsch. Don't you ever read The Guardian, Neil?" NEIL: "What's a ftoomsch?" Ftoomsch was the little devil's name and the joke was that he'd said no one would ever say his name in regular conversation so he'd have no chance of stealing a soul.
Answer: Madness also appeared in the episode "Sick", where they performed their song "Our House", which was their biggest (and only major) hit in the US.
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