Goodbye, Free Agents The news this week out of Hollywood of the cancellation of the U.S. remake of the Channel 4 comedy, Free Agents, sadly, was not unexpected. I guess, however, in the grand scheme of American commercial television remakes of British comedies, it should be considered a mild success. After all, it did make […]
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With the new series of the hit comedy drama, Doc Martin, set to return tomorrow (Monday, 12 September) on ITV1 in the UK, it’s time to set up yet another support group in the U.S. Unfortunately, as we have recently reported, series 5 will not premiere in the States until April 2012 on public television […]
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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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The are many that believe comedy, British comedy in particular, began with Tony Hancock and the brilliant, Hancock’s Half Hour. The original BBC Radio series and subsequent BBC television series of the same name from the mid-50’s is thought to be, by many, the beginning of the British sitcom introducing “situation” into the comedy mix […]
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If you’ve every thought, as I’m sure we all have at one time or another, 1) this would make a great sitcom or, 2) I’m living in the middle of a sitcom, the BBC has all the answers in the BBC Writersroom. There are those that will argue that the “Sit”, or situation, needs to […]
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Brace yourselves. Edina and Patsy are back. Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley and the entire cast of Absolutely Fabulous, including Julia Sawalha, Jane Horrocks and June Whitfield, return for a holiday special and two more during 2012 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its premiere in 1992. Picking up right where they left off in […]
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There are only a handful of individuals that any one of us crosses paths with, either directly or indirectly, who have an impact on so many lives. John Howard Davies was one such individual. You may not know the face, unless you happen to have a DVD of the 1948 classic David Lean film, Oliver […]
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Harry Beck was a London Underground employee who, basically, decided that the physical locations of the mostly underground stations were irrelevant to travelers of the day whose main desire is to know how to get to one station from another. It was the topology of the railway mattered. His uncommissioned idea was make clearer design […]
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It can be both a blessing and a curse to be linked to a previous hit program or series. Calling a comedy “…the next Seinfeld” or a drama “…the next Sopranos” can be great for a few fleeting moments, but then you have to deliver. Tonight’s U.S. premiere of The Hour (after a July premiere […]
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Unfortunately, the whole of the UK seems to be reeling this week with the news that the second series of Sherlock will now not broadcast until early 2012. Well, as a card-carrying member of the U.S. Sherlock support group, welcome. As most of you now know, Sherlock 2 will not air in the U.S. until […]
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