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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It’s hard to imagine a headline that actually starts out with “Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie make TV comeback“, especially, if you step back a moment and think how these two long-time comedy partners have continued to excel separately in the medium of television since their brilliant days together in Jeeves and Wooster, A Bit of Fry and […]
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From Keeping Up Appearances to Father Ted to The Vicar of Dibley, the clergy have had a rough go of it over the years with respect to their portrayal in British comedy. Gerard Gilbert writes in The Guardian that vicars and/or priests are categorized as either crazed or clowns whether it’s the comedic vicar in Dad’s […]
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Yes, another “have to have” group of collectables from Doctor Who are hitting the auction block today, 23 June, at Bonham’s in Knightbridge. If you lost out on the church used in the 2005 episode, “Father’s Day” with Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper or Captain Jack’s Range Rover used in Torchwood, which went for 18,000 pounds […]
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Not quite where it all began, but pretty darn close. Hancock’s Half Hour is another historic series that continues to be mentioned by all the giants of British comedy today as being a huge influence. Originally a BBC Radio series, the Hancock’s Half Hour television series, which gave rise to many of todays British comedy […]
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Next time you sit down to watch As Time Goes By, here’s a little insight as to what goes in to creating an episode of your favorite British comedy. The week begins with the initial read-through of the script by the cast. This is where the actors begin to interact and go over the brilliant […]
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Blistering? Maybe. Accurate? Definitely. For a brief moment in time, the brilliant Stephen Fry abandoned Twitter during the Annual TV Lecture at the BAFTA’s and set his sights on the British television industry. Targeting the BBC, but with a message that could be applicable to all of broadcast television, Fry fired off the belief that “Infantilism […]
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I remember when word surfaced back in 2005 that Doctor Who was going to be revamped by the great Russell T. Davies. Unfortunately, naming an actor to play the Doctor and then who would be cast as his companion pretty much stops not only the UK, but fans around the world, about as much as […]
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Blame it on World Cup fever…or just age. Unfortunately, Friday, June 11 came and went without a sincere shout out to Hugh Laurie on his birthday. Today’s television viewer is now wondering why we’re wishing Dr. Gregory House a happy birthday. If you’re willing to admit you’re in that group, please take an upcoming weekend […]
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Several years ago, we were extremely fortunate to have interviewed Patricia Routledge as part of The Funny Ladies of British Comedy program for PBS. Having never met, needless to say, we were probably so over prepared for the interview given that our obvious frame of reference was her portrayal of the character of Hyacinth Bucket […]
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