Regular readers of Tellyspotting are, no doubt, keenly aware of just how much I do not care for American remakes of British comedies or mysteries. The American broadcast streets are littered with failed remakes of the likes of The IT Crowd, Fawlty Towers, Red Dwarf, Coupling, Spaced, Absolutely Fabulous, Men Behaving Badly, Life on Mars, Skins, The In-Betweeners, […]
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Sadly, these R.I.P. posts are coming way too frequent and way too fast for my liking these days. This one is another name you may not be familiar with but will definitely know his work. Tony Selby, perhaps best remembered for his starring role as Corporal Percy Marsh in Esmonde & Larbey’s national service comedy Get […]
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Ballard Berkeley, who played the bumbling Major Gowen that seemed to always be locked in an endless quest for the afternoon paper in Fawlty Towers, would have been 117 on Friday. The English actor, who appeared on stage and screen, passed away in 1988. Prior to his professional career, Berkeley served as a Special Constable with the […]
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In an attempt to shed their title of being voted ‘the least funniest country in the world‘ following a 2011 international survey conducted by Badoo.com, Germany has begun filming on a German language version of the British sitcom, Miranda. Currently with the working title of Ruby, the series will star German actress Anna Böger in the […]
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Created and written by John Sullivan and launched on 8 September 1981, Only Fools and Horses has the distinction of being the most popular British situation comedy of all-time. Seven series and 64 episodes later, OFAH called it a day after three successive Christmas specials airing from 2001-2003. Now, according to the British Comedy Guide, Lovely Jubbly: A Celebration […]
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Described as ‘an affectionate salute to the kind of comedy program that just isn’t made any more’, Raising Laughter: How the Sitcom Kept Britain Smiling in the 1970s couldn’t come at a better time given the last 18 months of on-again/off-again/on-again pandemic lockdown. Robert Sellers’ in-depth look at the creation of British TV sitcoms between 1970 and 1979 with be […]
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Following in the footsteps of other British situation comedies such as Fawlty Towers, Yes Prime Minister and The Vicar of Dibley, the classic British comedy, The Good Life, is set to become a stage play premiering at Theatre Royal Bath as part of their 2021 Autumn Season, beginning 7 October 2021. The timing seems so right considering the fact […]
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Up Pompeii, starring the late, great Frankie Howerd, ran for only two short seasons back in 1969-1970, was written by and starred a number of Carry On film alumni. While it would probably have a hard time being broadcast today with its endless series of double entendre and sexual innuendos, Are You Being Served still manages to find a home on public television stations in the States to a good degree of success. That said, a rumor recently surfaced from a comment made by writer Brian Leveson where he revealed that the idea of a reboot has resurfaced with a female lead.
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John Cleese has spent the better part of five decades looking at what makes creative people so darn good at it. As one of the original founding members of the Monty Python comedy troupe and then alongside former wife Connie Booth being the creative force behind Fawlty Towers which just so happens to be, IMHO, the greatest British comedy […]
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Now that we seem to be closer than ever to the proverbial light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, the daily announcements of potential in-person attendance possibilities is growing by the minute. It seems that North Norfolk’s finest, Alan Partridge is back! Steve Coogan is set to reprise his classic comedy character in the all-new stage show Stratagem with Alan Partridge next spring.
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