Morcambe and Wise – comedy duo brilliance

As comedy duos in the world of British comedy go, historically, most U.S. viewers are only familiar with the more recent juggernauts of Fry and Laurie or French and Saunders. As is particularly the case in the UK, comedy duos are not unfamiliar to U.S. audiences given the success of Martin & Lewis, Laurel & […]

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Giving Roger and Val another look

When Roger and Val Have Just Got In was first announced back in 2010, hearing that this was to pair Dawn French and Alfred Molina, I immediately felt this to be a series that had enormous potential. With the concept of the show being that it was to follow the lives of a middle-aged couple […]

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BBC Showcase – comedy, comedy, comedy in 2012

One thing was quite clear after day two in Liverpool at the 2012 BBC Showcase. While it’s been an exceedingly good year for the BBC with regards to drama with the premiere of Call the Midwife, the return of Whitechapel, the continuation of Upstairs Downstairs and the brilliant end to Spooks (MI5), it’s clear that […]

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Beatles, comedy, drama and more – BBC Showcase – day one

Any pre-conceived impressions of Liverpool that I had prior to arriving yesterday at Liverpool Lime Street train station were completely blown away today by spending a bit of time talking to residents of all ages about their city. I have never met a collective group of people that are more proud of their city than […]

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Bit and Bobs from BBC Showcase – Liverpool

As you slept away the night last night, Tellyspotting landed in Liverpool content to begin working very hard on your behalf, finding the best of British telly for broadcast on public television in the States for the coming year. After a quick 9-hour flight to London followed by a 2.5 hour train journey to Liverpool, […]

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R.I.P. – Mr. O'Reilly

David Kelly. He was Grandpa Joe Bucket in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, rode a motorbike naked in Waking Ned Devine, starred alongside Peter O’Toole and Peter Ustinov in the Irish mini-series, Strumpet City, and played a vicar in The Italian Job. The Dublin-born actor possessed a “wicked sense of humor”, according to […]

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Q&A with Bill Nighy

There are few actors on the planet that once you see a film stars that individual, you automatically head towards Fandango to secure a ticket or set the DVR to record on the telly. Big screen or small, Bill Nighy is one of those individuals for me. Whether you’re talking about his recent small screen […]

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Patricia Routledge talks Hyacinth, KUA and comedy 101

As the great Patricia Routledge inches closer to her 83rd birthday on Friday, 17 February, I’m reminded of a point in time in the late 1990’s that we had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interview Ms. Routledge for a salute to British comedy program for broadcast on public television in the States. For weeks before the […]

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Pythons to reunite for Absolutely Anything

There was a time it seemed like members of Monty Python were getting together for ‘almost anything’. Masters of re-versioning their classic material on albums such as The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album, Monty […]

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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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