Rev returns tonight on BBC 2

At long last, it’s time for everyone in the UK to return to the inner-city world of St Saviour’s in East London beginning tonight, Thursday, 10 November at 2100 on BBC2. Reverend Adam Smallbone (Tom Hollander) is back in Rev, along with Alex, his long-suffering solicitor wife, Colin, Mick and the entire motley congregation en tow for […]

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Psychoville Halloween Special – one and done :(

Two bits of greatness that you could always count on to grace the small screen during Halloween have been The Simpsons Halloween Special and, last year’s classic newcomer, the brilliance of Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton’s Psychoville Halloween Special. While the Simpsons has remained a staple of Halloween viewing for the past 20+ years, there […]

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How Fawlty Towers almost never opened its doors

This gem comes from Shaun Usher over at Letters of Note, a Manchester site dedicated to the seeking out fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos. To the British comedy world, there is none more ‘fascinating’ that this accompanying 1974 memo graphic supplied by Sam Ward. While we knew of this story through several interviews […]

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Rowan Atkinson – America is a 'tough bean' to crack

Credit where credit is due here. That brilliant headline comes from Susan King at the Los Angeles Times. With Rowan Atkinson’s new film, Johnny English Reborn set to open in U.S. theaters nationwide today, the British comedian has found, historically, that the American market is, indeed, a tough ‘bean’ to crack when it comes to big screen […]

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Alan Partridge – He's alive!

Thankfully, for all our sakes, not to mention Alan Partridge, Steve Coogan has decided to not pull the plug on his alter-ego any time in the near future. What started out as a brief stint as a spoof sports reporter on the BBC Radio 4 program, On the Hour, has led to a comedic empire […]

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Vote for comedy on public television in 2012!

BBC Syndication Showcase 2011 postcript As we close the book on the third annual BBC Syndication Showcase, PBS stations across the country leave BBC West (New Orleans) armed with an incredible number of potential choices for programming of all genres to acquire for broadcast in their individual markets. Science, Natural History, Drama, Factual and Comedy. […]

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Red Dwarf S10 production bits and bobs

Red Dwarf series 10 ramps up for November, wobbly sets and all We’ve known for some time, thanks to a series of cast interviews, that there were plans for the return of Red Dwarf in the not-too-distant future for a welcomed tenth series. First it was Craig Charles (Lister) who ‘leaked’ the commissioning of the […]

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Spy – tonight on Sky1

Tim is at a crossroads. For starters, he’s in the middle of a lengthy custody battle with an ex-wife that you will quickly understand why she’s the ex over their precocious 9-year old who has absolutely no interest in being with Dad. And then there’s his day job. Played by Darren Boyd (Green Wing, Whites, […]

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BBC Showcase – program highlights

As day one of the 2011 BBC Syndication Showcase in New Orleans has come and gone, I can honestly say to everyone that, as viewers of your local PBS station, you are in for a treat given what we saw today. This is the third annual showcase whereby BBC Worldwide Americas gathers PBS station programmers […]

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New Orleans becomes BBC West this week

It’s that time of year again, where Tellyspotting, along with 100+ colleagues from PBS stations around the country, descend upon New Orleans to work very, very hard on your behalf. Ordinarily, as television programmer’s, we like to say that our main function in life is to watch bad television so you don’t have to. However, […]

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