Forget Lost & 24 – Think Ashes to Ashes

With all the talk centered around the final episode of Lost, Simon’s not on American Idol anymore, 24 is done after 9 seasons, you’d think television, as we know it, will cease to exist with the beginning of the 2010-2011 season. A couple of years ago, it was the end of The Sopranos and we […]

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British comedy going downhill according to some

According to John Sullivan, creator and writer of the most popular British comedy of all-time, Only Fools and Horses, feels that today’s Britcoms rely on bad language for cheap laughs instead of quality writing. In this interview with the Telegraph, Sullivan says today’s comedies couldn’t hold a candle to the classics of yesteryear such as […]

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Have I mentioned MI-5 is better than 24 recently?

Spoiler alert – if you haven’t seen any of season 7 of MI5 (Spooks) don’t read on. For those of you that have seen or are in the middle of an unbelievably gripping season 7 on public television stations nationwide, you no doubt are aware of Lucas North’s return to the safe confines of MI5 from […]

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Robin Hood vs. Robin Hood

Ok, yes, one was directed by Ridley Scott, stars Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett and William Hurt and probably had a budget well beyond 10 times the other one. The other, the BBC series from Tiger Aspect, stars Richard Armitage (MI5, Vicar of Dibley) as Sir Guy of Gisborne and Irish-born Jonas Armstrong as Robin of […]

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100+ Years of "The High Street"

Not busy for the next, say, six months or so? Ever wonder how they select all those folks for a reality show? Not a problem. The High Street is now casting for BBC One. This upcoming reality show will take participants back over 100 years to the “High Street” of the 1870’s. The days of […]

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Rock & Chips rocks on

Following up on a recent Tellyspotting report and review of the one-off “prequel” of Only Fools and Horses called Rock & Chips, you may recall that the program was set in 1960 on Orchard Street and starred Nicholas Lyndhurst as Freddie Robdal, the man long thought to be Rodney’s Dad. James Buckley will again star as […]

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The 70's + Music + BBC = Heaven

Whether it was Top of the Pops, The Old Grey Whistle Test, Later with Jools Holland, From the Basement or something called Guitar Heroes at the BBC, the channel was home to some unbelievable musical performances in the 70’s. The Whistle Test ran from 1971 to 1987 and was, quite simply, about nothing else but the […]

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A British comedy Mother's Day salute

One constant throughout the years in British comedy is the strong connection between a son and/or daughter and their mother. Unfortunately, the connection may have not always been a good thing, but it’s still a connection nevertheless. Here’s a quick look at a few that would make my top-5 mothers of all-time. Anyone else have […]

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US v. UK – a view from the 'other side of the pond'

Debra Craine with the TimesOnline opens the debate as to “Who Owns the Small Screen Now?” by asserting that, quite possibly, the Americans are winning the battle. One quick note, she’s talking solely about British vs. American drama here, not comedy. While I can agree with some of what she says when citing the likes […]

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British comedy pipeline – Going Postal

May not be immediately top of mind, but many long-time British comedy fans have e-mailed asking about Richard Coyle (Jeff,Coupling). Having left the successful Steven Moffat series after the third season, Coyle starred in the one and only season of Strange, where he played an ex-priest who dedicated his life to hunting down demons. Coyle […]

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