While wishing everyone a Happy New Year and prosperous 2012, I wanted to remember some ‘friends’ the world of comedy lost in 2011. Over the past several years, those of us involved in the production of a number of British comedy retrospective specials for PBS have had the incredible good fortune to spend quality time […]
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British comedy legend, writer/producer David Croft, has died at age 89. Responsible for such classic sitcoms as Dad’s Army, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi, ‘Allo ‘Allo and Are You Being Served?, Croft began his career in show business with an early childhood advertisement appearance and then a small part in the 1939 film, Goodbye […]
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Since the beginning of time, well, at least since 1946 when Pinwright’s Progress premiered on the BBC, the British sitcom has always saluted the labor force. After Pinwright’s Progress, the evolution of how the situation comedy dealt with the workforce really took off. Up next in the mid-50’s was Hancock’s Half Hour where Tony Hancock seemed […]
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Following Monday’s sad news of the untimely passing of producer/director, John Howard Davies, it started me thinking more about some of the individuals that have been a part of all of our British comedy lives for decades that we aren’t even aware of. We all know the talents of John Inman, Mollie Sugden, Richard Briers, […]
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Trevor Bannister, known to British comedy fans worldwide as the twenty-something menswear salesman, Mr. Lucas, at Grace Brothers Department Store, has died at the age of 76. Bannister, who played the part of the rebellious Mr. Lucas from 1972-1980, always had the keen eye for Miss Brahms, played by the late Wendy Richard. Post Are […]
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As the world inches closer and closer to the big event on Friday, 29 April, now’s your chance to vote for your favorite British comedy proposal / nuptials. Who can forget David Horton’s down on one knee, million dollar, proposal put forth to the Vicar? I know it didn’t result in them tying the knot, […]
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As we rapidly approach the PBS national premiere of Behind the Britcom: From Script to Screen , which features a look into the minds of the creators of some of the best situation comedy on television anywhere, one thing struck all of us involved in the production of the program besides the known commodity of […]
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No one knows better than the BBC when it comes to comedy so it comes as no surprise to see their assessment of what makes a good comedy entrance. As they spell out, “…comedy shows are where entrances really come into their own: a good comedy entrance can signal character information to viewers and set […]
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New BBC controller, Danny Cohen, lobbed the first grenade with his desire for the Beeb to “…curb middle class comedy” and add more “…blue-collar comedy shows“. Series like the long-running My Family and Outnumbered seem to not reflect the country as a whole. According to Cohen, the UK needs more shows like Only Fools and […]
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Every so often, you run across a site on ‘the internets’ that you just have to share. This particular site came to our attention recently when we were taping the host segments at TC8 in BBC Television Centre with Moira Brooker (Judy, As Time Goes By) and Philip Bretherton (Alistair, As Time Goes By) for the […]
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