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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Remembering the BBC Three blobs

Even the station ID’s in the UK are brilliant. If you’ve never had the chance to see, here’s a compilation from the creative minds over at BBC Three, the network that brought you Little Britain, Gavin and Stacey and Torchwood. The blobs had been a part of BBC Three station ID’s from the beginning in […]

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BBC future becomes hot topic in upcoming UK general election

The 2010 UK general election is just around the corner (6 May.2010). Surprisingly, the future of the BBC is shaping up as being one of the top issues facing the voting populace with the Conservative Tory party coming out strongly to cut the BBC license fee which, some say, could jeopardize its future. Both the […]

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Sir Humphrey enters the 21st century

We’ve talked many times here how Yes Minister is either just as relevant or more relevant today than it was 30 years ago when it premiered in 1980. Obviously, the original producers agree as original co-writer, Sir Antony Jay, has written three special election sketches, titled Memo to the Minister, for the BBC to air […]

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News from (Doctor) Who-ville

Now that the Matt Smith – Karen Gillan era has begun in both the UK and the US, here are some bits and bobs floating around the cosmos regarding the premiere. Intrepid Tellyspotting correspondent, Cindy Lou Who, files this report from (Doctor) Who-ville. Filming Doctor Who has been interesting to say the least according to […]

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Britain's Best Sitcom – Your thoughts?

Several years ago, the BBC embarked on the daunting task of determining Britain’s Best Sitcom through a poll where people could argue their case and then identify and vote for their favorite British situation comedy of all-time. To no one’s surprise, Only Fools and Horses emerged at the overall winner with almost 350,000 votes. You can […]

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Classic rewind: Yes Minister 1980 or 2010

With the 6 May 2010 UK general election just around the corner, it seemed more than appropriate to re-visit one of the greats from the British comedy archive of all time. We’ve always talked about how The Good Life (Good Neighbors in the U.S.) could translate to today, but the #1 series that could still […]

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