John Cleese (Basil Fawlty) and Michael Gwynn (Lord Melbury). Photo: BBC Stay with me here….as I was watching Village of the Damned recently on Turner Classic Movies, I noticed a very familiar face from ‘the village’. Not immediately able to put a name with a face, I did a quick search and saw what was […]
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The legend of Monty Python’s Flying Circus had its American beginning on KERA/Dallas as part of one seemingly uneventful Sunday evening 50 years ago.
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Graham Chapman, one of the original founding members of the comedy troupe, Monty Python, passed away 35 years ago, Friday on October 4, 1989 at age 48. Thankfully, the comedy world was all the greater as Chapman ultimately turned down a career as a doctor to be a comedian.
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Prunella Scales, best known for her brilliant portrayal of Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, turned 92 years young Friday (22 June). Her 7-decade career began in 1951 where she worked as the assistant stage manager at the Bristol Old Vic. Her career big break came with the early 1960s sitcom Marriage Lines starring opposite Richard Briers (Good […]
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A recent study by the BMJ found that a walking style made famous in a sketch by the Monty Python comedy troupe is actually vigorous exercise. Studies published in the annual holiday edition of the British Medical Journal, which traditionally highlights legitimate but offbeat research, indicate that a brief but brisk ‘silly walk’, similar to that made popular by […]
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Monty Python’s “Dead Parrot Sketch”, one of the most famous of the sketches in the television comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus, was written by Graham Chapman and John Cleese and first performed by Cleese and Michael Palin in December 1969. Known for its beautiful plumage, the remarkable Norwegian Blue prefers ‘keeping on its back’ and, […]
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Following a brief stay in London on Day 1 of KERA’s All Creatures Tour of England where I do admit I was tempted, albeit briefly, to join the Gorilla Circus’ Flying Trapeze School in Hyde Park, we boarded the Transcendent Travel coach on Tuesday and headed to the Historic Dockyard in Chatham, the main filming location […]
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The Royle Family, the brilliant late 90s British situation comedy, is set to return for a one-off special to celebrate the much-loved show’s 25th anniversary next month. In celebration of it being 25 years since the show launched on BBC, UK Gold will show an updated version of the 2010 documentary The Royle Family: Down The […]
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THE classic British sitcom Fawlty Towers is being revived and developed by Castle Rock Television with original series co-writer and star John Cleese and his daughter Camilla Cleese set to write and star. Filmmaker Rob Reiner, Michele Reiner, Matthew George, and Derrick Rossi will executive produce the series. According to early reports, the new FT will explore how the over-the-top, cynical […]
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Just when you thought it might be safe to go back into the water, along comes something that gives you pause to where you might say to yourself….maybe not just yet. In this case, we’re talking the bane of good telly existence, the unscripted reality program. The surprising thing, IMHO, is that with a working […]
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