Hopefully, there is a point in everyone's career where you have such an awesome day that you can take a step back for a moment and think it really can't get any better than this. A recent conversation with Anne Reid, the absolutely delightful star of Sanditon, Last Tango in Halifax and Hold the Sunset, provided me with one of those days I'll never forget.
Read moreUPDATE: As you have most likely read over the last couple of days, the iconic 12th episode of Fawlty Towers entitled "The Germans" was pulled from the BBC owned UKTV Play streaming service due to several racial slurs and other offensive terms used by Major Gowen, the hotel's elderly resident played brilliantly by Ballard Berkeley. At the time of the removal, long-time fans of the series were unclear as to whether or not we would ever be able to 'mention the war' ever again. Well, what a difference a day makes as word now comes from the UK streaming service that the episode will be re-instated in the not-too-distant future with "extra guidance" to be added to the front of the program.
Read moreOn the heels of the removal of The Mighty Boosh, Little Britain, Come Fly with Me and The League of Gentlemen from Netflix, BBC iPlayer and Britbox, comes the announcement by catch-up and streaming platform, UKTV Play, that they will immediately remove "The Germans" episode of what has long been considered the greatest television comedy series in existence, Fawlty Towers. While the remaining eleven episodes will still be available, at this point, no one knows if we've heard the last of the classic catchphrase line from the episode, "Don't mention the war".
Read moreFrom Jimmy Anderson in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin to Ben Parkinson in Butterflies to Lionel Hardcastle in As Time Goes By, Geoffrey Palmer has been a constant fixture in our collective British comedy lives for the better part of four decades with these three series alone. Palmer, who has had numerous guest roles in series such as Doctor […]
Read moreIn case anyone is wondering what they might get Tellyspotting for Christmas (ok, I'm kidding), take note that Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide by John Cleese will be released the first week of September. Cleese was in Dallas back in December before all this 'sheltering at home' got a grip on most of Planet Earth to accept the Ernie Kovacs Award from the Dallas Video Festival. Tellyspotting had the great good fortune to be able to sit down with the comedy legend to talk about creativity, comedy and life in general.
Read moreFortunately, or unfortunately, it's official. The new Jim Parsons/Mayim Bialik produced series, Call Me Kat, has been given the go-ahead. The Big Bang Theory stars, who played couple Sheldon Cooper and Amy Fowler, will take on the role of Executive Producer (Parsons) and star (Mialik) of their new Fox show, which is based on Miranda Hart's brilliant BBC sitcom, Miranda. Call Me Kat follows a 39-year-old woman who struggles to prove to her mother you cannot have everything you want and still be happy, and uses the money her parents had set aside for her wedding to open a cat cafe in Louisville, Kentucky.
Read moreLike me, if you've been 'working from home' for the last couple of months spending a good portion of your workday on what seems like endless Microsoft Teams or Zoom conference calls, you're probably getting a bit weary trying to find a different room in the house to give your workmates something interesting to look at from a background standpoint. To the rescue comes the BBC Archive as they open the vault to give everyone access to their favorite British comedy or science fiction set to use as a backdrop for your next video conference call.
Read moreFor many, this ‘sheltering at home’ concept combined with no sports has created America’s newest past time….the art of binge watching. While this has been around for awhile, it now affords the savvy telly watcher the opportunity to catch up on so many series that have been in the queue for some time that you […]
Read more400+ years after his death, Will Shakespeare has, once again, taken London's West End by storm. This time around, however, it's the brilliant duo of Ben Elton and David Mitchell that have brought the bard's struggles to the stage. Mitchell reprised his role from the brilliant sitcom as William Shakespeare in The Upstart Crow last night with a live version in London's West End.
Read moreFollowing 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 2020 Summer Season. This seems so right considering the fact that The Good Life is probably more relevant today from a storyline standpoint of individual sustainability than when it premiered on BBC1 in April 1975.
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