Recently, a poll was conducted in the UK to identify Britain’s all-time favorite comedians. Surprising to some, not surprising to many, was the fact that the old-style comedians topped the poll with 67 year old Billy Connolly heading a list that included Victoria Wood and the late, Tommy Cooper. Perhaps just as surprising was the […]
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You Look Marvelous Today is Penelope Keith’s 70th birthday. Billy Crystal’s character, Fernando Lamas, couldn’t have said it better. You look marvelous. With a long public television history dating back to the days of Good Neighbors and To the Manor Born right through to her recent efforts serving as host for both The Funny Ladies of […]
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Office co-creators/writers Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant take the leap to the big screen with their upcoming film, Cemetery Junction, scheduled for an April 2010 release in the U.K. Unfortunately, no scheduled release date set as of yet in the United States. Taking place in 1970’s England, Gervais describes the film as a ‘coming of age’ […]
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Ask 1000 people worldwide what they like about British comedy and I guarantee you’ll find yourself in the company of 1000 people that say it’s all in the writing. Smart, witty, intelligent — words that are repeatedly used to describe British comedy writing. Good writing + good casting = success Ask any actor or actress […]
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The great Robert Lindsay, who stars as Ben Harper along side the equally great Zoe Wanamaker in the British situation comedy, My Family, has been ordered by his son to continue with the series when they resume shooting this Spring for, what may be, the last in the series. Series creator and writer, Fred Barron, […]
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From the Tellyspotting book of little known facts….. Next time you feel the need to amaze your friends with some British comedy trivia, here are some great starters that will have them, well, amazed. Guaranteed. Or, if you find yourself at a pub quiz and one of these questions pops up…you can thank me later. […]
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One last March Madness indulgence in the name of comedy gems for your power-watching pleasure during this difficult time for anyone whose brackets have cratered already or those that aren’t in to college basketball. Like the others, these series enjoyed only a short lifespan but that’s much better than over-staying your welcome and jumping the […]
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As is usually the case, when you either create, discover or star in a hit comedy, generally it’s not either first or only thing you’ve created, discovered or starred in. Here are a few early efforts from some of the great contributors of today’s British comedy world that never quite took off for one reason […]
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March Madness Time! Time to stock up for some British comedy series power-watching over the next several weeks. Besides the ever-present classics that are worth watching over and over such as Yes Minister, Reginald Perrin and Vicar of Dibley, there are a couple of other series you may or may not be aware of that […]
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Ok, I’ve spent enough time and effort recently ranting about the sad state of American re-makes of classic British comedy over the years that, to be fair, I should highlight the two series in modern history that have been considerably better than their British counterparts in my opinion. Admittedly, we’re talking 40+ years ago so […]
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