Posted December 31, 2021 -  No Comment

“The same procedure every year” — ‘Dinner for One’ continues its annual NYE tradition in Germany

It seems that watching television on New Year’s Eve in Germany is right up there with the tradition of watching the Queen’s Christmas Day message in the UK. Dinner for One is a particularly crucial part of Germany’s festive programming, where it has been broadcast on Das Erste, a public television channel, since 1972. Around half the population still tunes in on New Year’s Eve to watch it with some Germans even recreating the meal served in the skit.

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Posted November 25, 2021 -  No Comment

Once again, giving thanks this Thanksgiving for family, friends, loyal Tellyspotting readers, good health and MiniBoots, in addition to ‘The Prisoner’ and ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’’

In addition to stopping for a moment to be eternally thankful for family, friends, avid and first-time Tellyspotting readers, good health and our cat, MiniBoots, no Thanksgiving would be complete without recognizing the contributions made by two classic British series in not only setting me on a lifelong desire of wanting to consume all things British when […]

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Posted October 10, 2021 -  3 Comments

CBS’s remake of BBC’s ‘Ghosts’ continues trend of American remakes that miss the mark.

Regular readers of Tellyspotting are, no doubt, keenly aware of just how much I do not care for American remakes of British comedies or mysteries. The American broadcast streets are littered with failed remakes of the likes of The IT Crowd, Fawlty Towers, Red Dwarf, Coupling, Spaced, Absolutely Fabulous, Men Behaving Badly, Life on Mars, Skins, The In-Betweeners, […]

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Posted August 19, 2021 -  No Comment

For sale: ‘The Blackadder Pub’ — AND….it comes with a house!

Most fans of any television series are satisfied enough to just buy the entire series on DVD. Some may visit the town where a favorite series was filmed such as Port Isaac (Doc Martin), Holmfirth (Last of the Summer Wine) or, on my personal bucket list travel destination, Portmeirion (The Prisoner). For some lucky buyer, Edmund Ramsdale took his love of a certain British comedy series to not just the next level but far beyond that.

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Posted August 5, 2021 -  No Comment

Bear with…Germany begins filming on ‘Miranda’ remake, ‘Ruby’

In an attempt to shed their title of being voted ‘the least funniest country in the world‘ following a 2011 international survey conducted by Badoo.com, Germany has begun filming on a German language version of the British sitcom, Miranda. Currently with the working title of Ruby, the series will star German actress Anna Böger in the […]

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Posted May 17, 2021 -  No Comment

Channel 4 forecloses on ‘Home’ after only two series

Taking an unfortunate page out of the Mulberry playbook, Channel 4’s thinking-person’s comedy series, Home, has not been renewed for a third series. Sadly, it could lead one to believe that cerebral comedies are short-lived while those with a lowest common denominator storyline can continue on well past their sell-by date.

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Posted May 5, 2021 -  No Comment

‘Ladies of Letters’ — Witty British banter at it’s finest!

Aptly described in the British press as “Talking Heads meets Keeping Up Appearances“, the highly successful BBC Radio 4 series, Ladies of Letters, made the always dangerous leap to television back in 2010. Facing an immediate uphill challenge from the sheer fact that the radio series starred the greatness of Patricia Routledge and Prunella Scales, […]

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