Remembering Geoffrey Hughes; R.I.P., Onslow

The man, who most knew as Onslow, the slovenly bane of Hyacinth’s existence (except for one special moment on the QE2) in Keeping Up Appearances, has died at the age of 68. Geoffrey Hughes, one of the true British comedy greats, was also known to many over the years for his supporting role as Twiggy […]

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2012 shaping up to be a great year for comedy output

Forget the annual Christmas Day BBC 1 vs. ITV 1 battle royal. 2012 brings an even bigger main event to the forefront with challenger, Sky 1 declaring they are poised to be the ‘home of original British comedy’ and taking on the perennial powerhouse, the BBC, on their home turf – comedy and light entertainment. […]

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How to be a sitcom parent 101

Admit it. You’ve probably thought, many times, watching a sitcom, “….I could write that.” I’m guessing, however, that there are a fair amount of folks out there that would forego the opportunity to write a sitcom and go straight to the thought of being in a sitcom. You look at the Royles (Royle Family), Brockmans […]

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British comedy in the pipeline

No one can quite understand the process of commissioning a comedy at the BBC, ITV or Sky. For that matter, no one can understand the de-commissioning of a series either. Can I just selfishly insert here a mention of Whites that starred Alan Davies as an example of a series that should have been renewed […]

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A BBC retro-Christmas 2010

To amplify the point that the Christmas/Boxing Day television schedule war between the BBC and ITV is something akin to Wrestlemania XXVI, one has to look no further than this years schedule plans for both outlets. Even though the BBC is more Hulk Hogan to ITV’s Vince McMahon, both continue to throw the kitchen sink […]

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What British comedy teaches us daily

Whether you’ve been watching your favorite British comedy for years or you’re new to the game, it’s a genre that makes you laugh, makes you forget about both the week past or the week ahead and you appreciate the intelligence with which the writers, actors and production personnel go about their business to be the […]

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Definitely not your father's Mrs. Brown

What do you get when you put an innocent clip on YouTube that has generated over 1 million hits and then increases by over 100K at day? A BBC/RTE pilot, obviously. Dublin comedian Brendan O’Carroll created the short piece based on his Mrs. Brown character for the BBC as a “test”. While the pilot was […]

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French & Saunders end 24-year partnership as Jam cancelled

They started together in Girls on Top in 1985, continued through French & Saunders, collaborated on numerous Comic Relief sketches and, ultimately, now end with the cancellation of their latest three year collaboration of Jam and Jerusalem. In between, some incredibly successful individual efforts with Murder Most Horrid, Wild West and Vicar of Dibley from […]

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