R.I.P. – Frank Thornton (a.k.a. Captain Peacock)

Sadly, this is getting all-too frequent these days. Most recently was the passing of Richard Briers and, now, the passing of the great Frank Thornton at age 92. Known to us all as simply Captain Peacock and, more recently, Truly Truelove in Last of the Summer Wine, Frank Thornton rivaled Richard Briers for who had […]

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Jeremy Lloyd awarded OBE for British comedy brilliance

Doing a bit of new years ‘catch up’, we ran across some brilliant news regarding Jeremy Lloyd, co-creator and co-writer with David Croft of Are You Being Served and ‘Allo, ‘Allo. Seems as though Jeremy Jeremy Lloyd was awarded an OBE, which is short for Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in the […]

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At long last, it’s Downton Day in the U.S. as cast visits NPR

FINALLY! We are now at a point where we are merely a matter of hours, not days, away from the long-awaited premiere of season 3 of Downton Abbey tonight on PBS. Watching parties are in their final stages of preparation, individuals are feverishly sending out ‘do not call’ notices via Facebook and Twitter and, much […]

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Happy Christmas from Tellyspotting!

A Very Carson Christmas It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the latenight commercials for the Ronco Inside the Shell Electric Egg Scrambler, Ron Popeil’s Pocket Fisherman or the Ginsu knives that could cut a metal can in half and still be sharp enough to slice a tomato to perfection. We’ve all seen the […]

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A British comedy Labor Day salute to the workforce

It’s Labor Day here in the States, the American holiday that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers. While it also signals the end of summer and, thankfully, considered the last day of the year when it is considered fashionable to wear white, we can’t let the long weekend pass by without  paying a bit […]

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BBC's The Paradise targets ITV's Mr. Selfridge

In what has all the makings of the ultimate UK version of the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s, the BBC has fast-tracked its answer to the upcoming ITV drama, Mr. Selfridge, with a department store drama of its own based on the classic French novel, The Ladies’ Paradise, by Emile Zola. Adapted by Bill Gallagher (Blackout), the […]

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Remembering Geoffrey Hughes; R.I.P., Onslow

The man, who most knew as Onslow, the slovenly bane of Hyacinth’s existence (except for one special moment on the QE2) in Keeping Up Appearances, has died at the age of 68. Geoffrey Hughes, one of the true British comedy greats, was also known to many over the years for his supporting role as Twiggy […]

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Happy 40th to Sanford & Son; Happy 50th to Steptoe & Son

Happy 40th, Sanford and Son A quiet milestone anniversary passed on Saturday involving one of the greats in American sitcom history with roots in British situation comedy. Sanford and Son, which starred Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson, premiered on NBC on January 14, 1972. Based on the brilliant British situation comedy, Steptoe and Son, the […]

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Mulberry – the ending that never was

As Time Goes By, Keeping Up Appearances, Are You Being Served, Good Neighbors, Last of the Summer Wine. All a part of our lives for a number of years and a number of seasons. The one thing, however, that most of these British comedy classics had in common is that they all ended on their […]

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Remembering John Howard Davies, David Croft and Trevor Bannister

While wishing everyone a Happy New Year and prosperous 2012, I wanted to remember some ‘friends’ the world of comedy lost in 2011. Over the past several years, those of us involved in the production of a number of British comedy retrospective specials for PBS have had the incredible good fortune to spend quality time […]

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