Allo, Allo's Vicki Michelle – Listen very carefully

99% of the time actors and actresses in our favorite British comedies become friends that we “interact” with each week. Like I Love Lucy, we feel like we are a customer at Grace Brothers each week, we live across the street from the Bucket’s, we’re a guest at Fawlty Towers, we have a weekly reservation […]

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Arthur redux

Just another short rant about why there is no need to create American versions of British comedies that were close to perfection the first time around. This holds true virtually 100% of the time, whether it be for the big or small screen. All I need to do is utter the words of Death at […]

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Blackadder – the lost pilot episode

I had heard about this over the years, but as with the rumor of there being a 13th, never-before-aired, episode of the great Fawlty Towers, I passed this off as an idea that hatched late one night at The Nags Head (a GREAT pub, by the way) and not really something that had merit. Well, count […]

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War as seen through the eyes of British comedy

Though not a central focus of many British comedies over the years, World War II was as much a part of some of the classic comedies of the 60’s and 70’s as it was a very real part of life for many people in Great Britain. In many cases, the BBC tread very lightly as […]

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No more Father Ted, with or without Dermot Morgan

Echoing sentiments that he expressed to us several years ago during our interview for PBS’ Funny Blokes of British Comedy, Ardal O’Hanlon (Father Dougal) told a BBC Radio interview audience recently that writers, Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, had already determined there would be no more Father Ted programs even before the sudden untimely death of […]

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Former Python, John Cleese, embarks on Alimony Tour

At 71, former Monty Python star, John Cleese, is showing no signs of slowing down. Frankly, he can’t afford to. His upcoming, appropriately titled, Alimony Tour kicks off in 2011 throughout the UK. Admitting that he would rather be reading books, writing or drinking, Cleese, with three exes as of this writing, might find it difficult to […]

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The UK really is funny territory, pt 2

A quick update to an October 2009 post from Tellyspotting as you make plans to travel to the UK this summer. This just in from the other side of the pond – think about Peckham if you’re a fan of Only Fools and Horses. As reported in The Guardian, the British are way ahead of […]

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The great British comedy catchphrase

To continue our focus and conversation about the writers, our friends over at the British Comedy Guide in a recent programming alert about an upcoming special on Channel 4 in London, remind us that buried in the brilliant writing of our favorite British comedy shows are some priceless and timeless catchphrases. As they point out, […]

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Britain's Best Sitcom – Your thoughts?

Several years ago, the BBC embarked on the daunting task of determining Britain’s Best Sitcom through a poll where people could argue their case and then identify and vote for their favorite British situation comedy of all-time. To no one’s surprise, Only Fools and Horses emerged at the overall winner with almost 350,000 votes. You can […]

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