Monty Python Invades America — 1974

Fast forward five years. It’s 1974. The average home price – just under $11,000.  A gallon of gas – 55 cents. Average new car price just under $4,000. Oh, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 616! Richard Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to resign after the Watergate scandal. Lucy the skeleton was […]

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Celebrate 35 years of British comedy in the U.S.!

Stay up all night with KERA, Saturday, October 10 from 7p-5a (yes, that’s 5:00am) as we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the beginning of British comedy in the United States and then challenge your brain at Trinity Hall, Mockingbird Station on Sunday, October 11 at 7:00p for a special edition of their ever popular Pub […]

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MI5 vs 24 – Smackdown!

I have to open this debate to everyone since three people, TODAY alone, described MI5 (Spooks in the UK) as the British 24. I couldn’t form words fast enough to verbalize a laundry list of reasons as to why there is no comparison between the two. MI5 is, without question IMHO, one of the best shows […]

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Pythons reunite for BAFTA award

As we continue to pay tribute to the true beginning of television comedy as we know it (or think we know it), the Pythons will reunite in New York on October 15 to receive a BAFTA award. Let’s hope that Graham Chapman gets a little bit better treatment this time than he did during the […]

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Basil Fawlty earns an "A" in the Science of Great Comedy

Fawlty Towers has to be the greatest 12 episodes of comedy ever. The UK version of The Office is a close second (much better, I think, than the American version, but that’s a debate for another day). This is a re-write of an article I did several years ago, but bears repeating as we begin […]

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Gervais, Top Gear host recall favorite Python bits…

Celebrate Monty Python Day (October 5, 1969) with the BBC as Ricky Gervais, Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson, Stephen Merchant (co-writer, The Office) and Justin Lee Collins share their favorite bits.  Check it out here…BBC.  Ok, it’s self-declared as Monty Python Day, but I can do that, I think.  Dare you to Silly Walk down Main Street […]

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It was 20 years ago today…actually, 2×20 years ago tomorrow

October 5, 1969.  Not as momentous an occasion as, say, July 20, 1969 or August 15-17, 1969 but it is a date that will live in not only television comedy history, but comedy history.  40 years ago Monday, Monty Python’s Flying Circus hit the airwaves on the BBC.   Maybe you remember, maybe you don’t. […]

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Time for Tellyspotting!

Welcome to Tellyspotting – Your Brit TV Pub! From Peter Cook to Ricky Gervais and from Upstairs/Downstairs to MI5 (Spooks), the Brits produce some of the best shows on television. As Vice President of Television Programming at KERA (Dallas/Ft. Worth), I have a job that affords me the opportunity to screen and evaluate much of the […]

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A Nod to Monty Python's Flying Circus – Must-See Video!

This post was archived from the original website for Fawlty Towers Revisited, which premiered on public television in 2005. With PBS broadcasting the three-part “Monty Python’s Personal Best” series, we thought you might enjoy seeing some exclusive video footage of the Pythons on their first promtional tour of the U.S. more than 30 years ago. […]

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Do you agree?

This post was archived from the original website for Fawlty Towers Revisited, which premiered on public television in 2005. Two recent British polls added to the long list of accolades Fawlty Towers has garnered during the past 30 years. In September, Radio Times released the results of a survey that named Fawlty Towers as the […]

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