With the realization that many across the globe have been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day since Saturday, what better way to cap off the festivities than a trip to Craggy Island to spend some quality time with Father Ted Crilly, Father Dougal McGuire, Mrs. Doyle and Father Jack Hackett and his daily simple pleasures routine of […]
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Let’s see. It’s February with a forecast of cold, wind and rain. It’s not Boston. Took too long to get there. Must be Brighton. Must be time again for BBC Showcase, the annual gathering in Brighton, UK where we get a chance to screen the entire BBC catalog both past and present to make potential […]
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***FYI, A GLITCH IN THE POLL, WIPED OUT ALL VOTING SO FAR. WE’LL LEAVE UP ANOTHER DAY TO GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO VOTE EARLY AND OFTEN. A GREAT RESPONSE SO FAR WITH TOTALS SHOWING “Speed 3” IN THE LEAD. THANKS TO EVERYONE THAT HAS VOTED SO FAR. IF YOU WOULDN’T MIND VOTING AGAIN, I WOULD […]
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Well, it has been several weeks since my last rant against U.S. producers trying to re-make British comedy genius. Please don’t insert “But, look at The Office…” here. As I’ve said repeatedly, it’s a short list with The Office, Steptoe and Son and Till Death Do Us Part. Not bad for over 40 years of […]
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After having watched The IT Crowd the other night on Channel 4, I now get how really well done it is. Written by Graham Linehan, who wrote the great Father Ted and the even greater, Black Books, I had only seen a couple of episodes of season one and, to be honest, couldn’t see what […]
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From Keeping Up Appearances to Father Ted to The Vicar of Dibley, the clergy have had a rough go of it over the years with respect to their portrayal in British comedy. Gerard Gilbert writes in The Guardian that vicars and/or priests are categorized as either crazed or clowns whether it’s the comedic vicar in Dad’s […]
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Lots of bits & bobs or odds & sods coming our way over the last couple of weeks concerning our favorite pastime, British television. Thought I’d go through a quick bit of scattershooting to give everyone updates on current series, answer some mailbag questions that have come in and impart some basic little known or […]
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Echoing sentiments that he expressed to us several years ago during our interview for PBS’ Funny Blokes of British Comedy, Ardal O’Hanlon (Father Dougal) told a BBC Radio interview audience recently that writers, Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, had already determined there would be no more Father Ted programs even before the sudden untimely death of […]
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As is usually the case, when you either create, discover or star in a hit comedy, generally it’s not either first or only thing you’ve created, discovered or starred in. Here are a few early efforts from some of the great contributors of today’s British comedy world that never quite took off for one reason […]
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March Madness Time! Time to stock up for some British comedy series power-watching over the next several weeks. Besides the ever-present classics that are worth watching over and over such as Yes Minister, Reginald Perrin and Vicar of Dibley, there are a couple of other series you may or may not be aware of that […]
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