‘RDXI’ & ‘RDXII’ – What we know so far…

To those who are still having difficulty handling the notion that it was right at two years between new Sherlock episodes, try being a long-time Red Dwarf fan in recent years! As so very eloquently pointed out on the official RD website, reddwarf.co.uk, it was three years, three months and ten days between the 19th June 2012, the date when post-production of […]

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Is ‘Brittas Empire’ set for reboot?

Ok, so I might be in the midst of a mild case of ‘good old days’ syndrome when it comes to British comedy but there are days that I look at the current comedy output from the UK and long for the days when a new season of As Time Goes By, Keeping Up Appearances, […]

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No imagination necessary as ‘Moone Boy’ returns March 2!

It worked for Jimmy Stewart in Harvey so why shouldn’t 12-year old Martin Moone (David Rawle) create his own imaginary wingman to help him negotiate life. In Moone Boy, Seán Murphy is the imaginary friend of Martin Moone, the youngest (and only male) child in perhaps the most chaotic clan in all of Ireland. Aided […]

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U.S. networks to adapt 'Moone Boy', 'IT Crowd'

You might remember NBC’s fatal 2003 attempt at adapting the Steven Moffat/Sue Vertue situation comedy, Coupling. I say fatal because even though there were 11 episodes produced (which is still a miniscule number of episodes for an American sitcom), it was cancelled after only 4 episodes with 7 of them having never seen the light of day to this day. 180 degrees in the other direction, however, was NBC’s re-make of Ricky Gervais’ brilliant series, The Office, which ran for 9 seasons largely due to the talents of Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer and Ed Helms.

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Pre-Mr. Bates, it's Brendan Coyle in 'Paths to Freedom'

As with many of the individuals that have called Downton Abbey home, either upstairs or downstairs, there have been earlier acting lives that have gone relatively unnoticed since the acting ‘pot-of-gold’ that is Downton Abbey. In the case of Brendan Coyle (Mr. Bates), he might have actually called upon one of his earlier career efforts […]

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Take a tour of the British Isles in accents

From a drama standpoint, have you ever wondered as you were watching the likes of MI-5, Doc Martin, Scott & Bailey, New Tricks, Case Histories, Call the Midwife, Father Brown or Eastenders how where the show is set will dictate the accents used in the show? How about from a comedy standpoint with Last of […]

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Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with the Moones

What better way to dive head first into St. Patrick’s Day than to take a quick look at some brilliant Irish sitcoms. Following in the footsteps of Graham Linehan’s Father Ted in the mid-90’s and the more recent Mrs. Brown’s Boys from Brendan O’Carroll, comes the drop-dead funny, Moone Boy from Chris O’Dowd and Nick […]

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Tellyspotting heads to Liverpool for 2014 BBC Showcase

How appropriate given that 2014 is the 50th anniversary of the first Beatles appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show that, as you read this, Tellyspotting will be somewhere over New York City headed to Liverpool for the 2014 BBC Showcase. You might remember that this is annual gathering of television programming executives from around the […]

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Nick Frost has 'snakes in his hips' in Cuban Fury

Nick Frost’s dancefloor comedy Cuban Fury hits the cinema on Valentine’s Day 2014. In 1987, Bruce Garrett (Frost) was a salsa prodigy with ‘fire in his heels and snakes in his hips’ and the UK Junior Salsa Championships in his sights. A freakish bullying incident on the incredibly mean streets of London robbed him of […]

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Post BBC Showcase in The Big Easy – Comedy

As we leave The Big Easy in the Southwest jet’s rear view mirror, this year’s BBC Syndication Showcase was no different than any in recent memory. Nothing but good telly to choose from to bring to public television in the States for 2014. Here are a few of the comedy highlights that many of you […]

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