In London Sunday, taping the host portions of the upcoming PBS special, Behind the Britcom: From Script to Screen at BBC Television Centre. The cool thing is that we are taping in Studio TC8 which was home to the likes of Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, The Good Life, Keeping Up Appearances, Are You Being Served and […]
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No matter what walk of life you find yourself in, everyone has heard the old adage of “…it’s not what you know, but who you know”. Whether you heard it during your Benjamin Braddock (The Graduate) years trying to find a job right out of college or later in life during that life-changing career move […]
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A few additions to your Fall reading list have just hit the shelves the last couple of weeks from two long-time favorite British comedy stars. Dawn French Following the release of her memorable autobiography titled Dear Fatty, Dawn French talked of a very difficult, painful life that led her to a life of comedy. Now, […]
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As we leave New Orleans (insert sniff here) and this year’s BBC Syndication Showcase, we learned of some sad news from the world of British comedy that Graham Crowden, known to many as Tom Ballard in Waiting for God, had passed away yesterday at the age of 87. Remembering Graham Crowden We were extremely fortunate […]
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Working extremely hard on your behalf, it’s Thursday and we find ourselves in New Orleans attending the third annual BBC Syndication Showcase meeting. New Orleans? BBC? Fair questions. Well, this is THE meeting where public television programmers from around country sit in a room for several days screening BBC programming for possible acquisition and broadcast. As […]
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Every week we sit at home watching our favorite British comedy probably not thinking of the thousands of hours of preparation and effort that goes in to making the “situation” part of the comedy real. In the case of the current British comedy series, Whites, the British comedy series set in the kitchen of an […]
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Trolling around the internets today we stumbled on an interview with Eric Idle for the Scotland on Sunday website referencing Idle’s hit musical, Spamalot, was coming to the Playhouse in Edinburgh beginning tonight, 18 October. Having seen the original some years back in Chicago with the likes of Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce and Hank […]
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It’s an old story, but one worth re-telling. You’re an actor/actress targeted for life for a role done a lifetime ago. A legion of fans worldwide don’t want to let go. It’s something that every actor worries about. In the world of British comedy alone, just ask Patricia Routledge (Hyacinth Bucket), John Cleese (Basil Fawlty) […]
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“Chuffed to blooming heck…” is how Dawn French described her feelings regarding the news of her and long-time British comedy partner, Jennifer Saunders, reuniting to host three, 2-hour, programs for BBC Radio 2 this holiday season. The French and Saunders programs can be heard on Boxing Day (26 December), New Year’s Day (1 January) and 3 January with […]
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The British comedy team of Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding, a.k.a. The Mighty Boosh, were recently presented with a difficult task. Explain the core component of British comedy as we know it. Not too daunting a task to try and put into words. Using their own hugely successful series, The Mighty Boosh, as an example, Barratt […]
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