Given the timing this week whereby telly viewers in the UK will soon be, sadly, preparing themselves to say goodbye on Christmas Day (and New Years Day) to the Miranda Miranda Hart but, happily, saying hello to the Call the Midwife Miranda Hart in Poplar, she and fellow Sport Relief BFF, David Walliams, took time out from their busy schedules […]
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Holidays are filled with endless memories of Christmas’ past. Interestingly, for a generation of telly viewers, some of the most nostalgic memories are triggered by classic American commercials such as the unforgettable “Peter Comes Home” mid-80’s commercial for Folgers Coffee, the late 70’s Santa coming down a ski slope on a Norelco shaver and the 1970’s […]
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I know, I’m going against my better judgement and have succumbed to the unthinkable by discussing Christmas before Thanksgiving, but this is too good to pass up. As the UK has all but put a lid on the 5th series of Downton Abbey with only the Christmas episode to go, it’s now all about American […]
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The BBC commissioning process is on that we have all have collectively gotten to know too well over the years. In most cases, viewers have to wait until after a season has ended before word comes down from on high as to whether or not there will be another series. For loyal followers of a […]
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Following a new Christmas Day special this coming December on PBS, Freddie Thornhill and Stuart Bixby are headed back to PBS in Summer 2015 for the second series of Vicious, the story of two aging partners who have lived together in their Covent Garden flat for 48 years. Vicious first premiered on PBS this past Summer bringing together two of the finest actors on Planet Earth, both very familiar to public television audiences, Sir’s Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi.
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The rumor mill is in overdrive this week in the UK as we are down to the last few episodes in the 5th series of Downton Abbey. With only 3 episodes left (2 plus the Christmas special), what could Downton Abbey creator/writer, Julian Fellowes, possibly be thinking? As if the death of Lady Sybil wasn’t almost too much to take during series 2, he provided the ultimate kick to the stomach on Christmas Day in the series 3 finale by ending Matthew Crawley’s time at Downton. For those that are not quite up to speed on the series as it has played out so far, I’m sorry to report that Lord Grantham’s pride and joy, Isis, was looking a little peaked and a bit listless this past week.
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Normally, at this time of year, the phrase “…it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” is on everyone’s mind. For the past several years, however, it’s sounding more and more like “…it’s beginning to look a lot like Downton” as people begin to ready themselves for the January premiere each year. In advance of […]
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Time has passed. Two years to be exact. “The terror alert has been raised to critical and an attack is coming“, says Mycroft. With the new teaser trailer that has been released for the forthcoming series of Sherlock, it’s abundantly clear that it’s just not right that television can be this good. Let’s just get […]
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It’s been what can easily be described as a roller coaster week for Downton Abbey. Still riding the incredible 3+ year pop-culture high in the States as viewers try to avoid all forms of social media and eagerly await the series 4 PBS premiere on January 5, 2014, some UK viewers are bordering on outrage […]
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Over the course of the normal commissioning of series in the UK, it’s common practice for a new series to be given the go-ahead for a certain number of episodes, somewhere in the neighborhood of 6-8 episodes. In the case of series that have been on for several years, the addition of a Christmas episode […]
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