Just in time for Fry & Laurie’s 30th, it’s Soupy Twists

With the simple aim to tell ‘the full official story’, comedy historian Jem Roberts brings us the genius that is Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie’ in Soupy Twists. The ‘all-new narrative guide’ will be timed to mark the 30th anniversary of the debut of the duo’s ‘effortlessly superior sketch show’. The pilot episode of A Bit Of Fry & Laurie premiered in 1987, and then […]

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Gareth Gwenlan, British television producer/director, dies at 79.

Gareth Gwenlan, a name you may not be familiar with but whose work you have seen and enjoyed for decades on countless British situation comedies, has died at age 79. Gwenlan, who joined the BBC Comedy department in 1967 as a producer, helped create some of the world’s most beloved British sitcoms, notably The Fall And Rise […]

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Red Nose Day USA returns with Craig Ferguson at the helm

Red Nose Day USA has secured the brilliance of Craig Ferguson to host the 2nd annual fundraising special to be broadcast May 26 on NBC. This is excellent news given that I’m still bitter over that fact that the former host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson was not tagged as David Letterman’s replacement when he retired […]

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‘Upstart Crow’ with David Mitchell continues #Shakespeare400 celebration

Peep Show star and one-half of the comedy duo of Mitchell and Webb, David Mitchell, stars as William Shakespeare in a new 6-part BBC2 sitcom written and produced by Ben Elton (The Young Ones, Blackadder, The Thin Blue Line). Focusing on the playwright’s life before he became famous, the storyline for Upstart Crow, revolves around Shakespeare’s personal and professional life and the rather […]

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‘Maigret’ + Rowan Atkinson = stunning!

Given his trademark pipe, fondness of fine alcohol and reliance on godlike intuition in solving cases, the character of Jules Maigret is frequently referred to as the Sherlock Holmes of France. Having first appeared in print in 1931, Maigret is the creation of Belgian author Georges Simenon who wrote 75 Maigret novels and is considered […]

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1979 – The year ‘Fawlty Towers’ crossed paths with ‘Not the Nine O’Clock News’

Not the Nine O’Clock News, the late 70s/early 80s television sketch comedy series designed as a comedic alternative to the Nine O’Clock News on BBC1, featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture. Produced by John Lloyd (best known for his work on such comedy television programs as Spitting Image, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Blackadder and QI, Not the […]

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Stephen Fry passes the ‘QI’ mantle at the alphabet’s halfway point

As they hit the halfway point of the alphabet, QI, (which stands for Quite Interesting), is losing its long-time host, the brilliant Stephen Fry (insert sad-face here). While Fry’s final series begins tonight at 10p on BBC2, when series 14 begins filming in the Spring/Summer of 2016, Sandi Toksvig will be charged with the herculean […]

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