Unbeknownst to David Frost, he was key to laying the groundwork for one of the greatest British comedy duos of all time. After inviting both Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker to work on his new show, The Frost Report, it was a quick fill-in appearance by the duo to cover a technical issue during a 1970 […]
Read more
If you have a spare two hours between now and the end of 2010, why don’t you give a listen to the Boxing Day debut of the French & Saunders radio show. The first of three specials for BBC Radio 2, with the others to be broadcast on New Years Day and 3 January, featured […]
Read more
With the Christmas holiday approaching like a bullet train, I thought it was more of a public service than just merely fun to show this clip as you prepare the Christmas turkey. As many times as I have watched this classic from Mr. Bean, starring the brilliant Rowan Atkinson, it just never gets old. When […]
Read more
Miranda, starring Miranda Hart, one of the funniest and most refreshing British comedies to come along in years on the BBC, targets the Christmas holiday season in the newest installment that premiered last night on BBC Two. While I haven’t seen a full episode as of yet, the numerous clips I’ve seen from the first […]
Read more
If you’re a fan of British comedy at any level, you are keenly aware that the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas Carol that’s set for Christmas day broadcast in both the UK and the US is not the first adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic tale that has a British comedy twist. Perhaps the best, and maybe […]
Read more
The brilliance of The Office ranks right up there with the genius of Fawlty Towers in the fact there were only 12 episodes (plus, two 45-minutes specials) ever produced. Since quitting the Wernham Hogg Paper Company and leaving the world of David Brent and his life in Slough, Berkshire behind, Ricky Gervais has been a busy, […]
Read more
Hard to believe that one half of the brilliant British comedy duo almost hung it up before he got started. Ronnie Corbett says he thought long and hard about abandoning show business before he met his long-time professional partner, Ronnie Barker. As the story goes, Corbett thought about giving up a career in show business […]
Read more
A British couple comes to the U.S. to oversee their successful British comedy being remade by an “American network” — and ruined. Sounds more like a documentary than a comedy to me. Can you blame me? I can name all the British comedies that have had American re-makes on one hand, and have two fingers […]
Read more
British situation comedy. Whether it’s Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, The Office, or the classics of Keeping Up Appearances or Are You Being Served, these are programs that we’ve all watched for years but probably never gave a second thought as to why we laugh. Aside from the brilliant writing, no one really has simplified the mechanical structure […]
Read more
Seems as though it has merely been days since we were getting exhausted just hearing of Judi Dench’s daily work schedule. She’s just back from India where she spent a month filming The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which is based on a book by Deborah Moggach, These Foolish Things. It follows a group of British […]
Read more