The Rutles: A look back at Dirk, Stig, Nasty and Barry!

With the recent attention given to the 60th anniversary of The Beatles first ever appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, Tellyspotting turns its attention to another British rock group worthy of our collective attention. Sadly, the early 60’s were not especially kind to The Rutles. Languishing in the Rutland Cavern for years, it wasn’t until 1975 when this […]

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Happy 81st, George Harrison, 25 February 1943

Sometimes known as ‘the quiet Beatle’, George Harrison would have been 81 years young today. The Liverpool-born musician, singer-songwriter, music and film producer and, oh yeah, lead guitarist of the Beatles passed away in November 2001 of lung cancer at the extraordinarily young age of 58. While most Beatles fans will immediately identify with songs written […]

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Norwegian Blue — Dead Parrot or Best Cheese of 2023…or both?

Monty Python’s “Dead Parrot Sketch”, one of the most famous of the sketches in the television comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus, was written by Graham Chapman and John Cleese and first performed by Cleese and Michael Palin in December 1969. Known for its beautiful plumage, the remarkable Norwegian Blue prefers ‘keeping on its back’ and, […]

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Happy 80th, George Harrison, 25 February 1943.

Sometimes known as ‘the quiet Beatle’, George Harrison would have been 80 years young today. The Liverpool-born musician, singer-songwriter, music and film producer and, oh yeah, lead guitarist of the Beatles passed away in November 2001 of lung cancer at the extraordinarily young age of 58. While most Beatles fans will immediately identify with songs written […]

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And Now For Something Completely Different — Silly Walks are deemed ‘vigorous exercise’ just in time for 2023!

A study by the BMJ found that a walking style made famous in a sketch by the Monty Python comedy troupe is actually vigorous exercise. Studies published in the annual holiday edition of the British Medical Journal, which traditionally highlights legitimate but offbeat research, indicate that a brief but brisk ‘silly walk’, similar to that made […]

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‘Desert Island Discs’ set to begin its 9th decade on BBC Radio!

  Having celebrated its’ 80th birthday on 29 January, 2022, BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs is perhaps the coolest show on the planet, which premiered on BBC radio in 1942. Created by Roy Plomley, the format is about as simple as you can get. A guest ‘castaway’ is invited to choose the eight records they […]

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‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’ turns 48 in America today!

October 6, 1974. The day that charted the British comedy course in the U.S. for decades to come. Thanks to a ground-breakingly brilliant decision by then KERA President/CEO Bob Wilson and Program Director Ron Devillier, the legend of Monty Python’s Flying Circus had its American beginning on KERA/Dallas as part of one seemingly uneventful Sunday […]

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