Mulberry – the ending that never was

As Time Goes By, Keeping Up Appearances, Are You Being Served, Good Neighbors, Last of the Summer Wine. All a part of our lives for a number of years and a number of seasons. The one thing, however, that most of these British comedy classics had in common is that they all ended on their […]

Read more

Vote for comedy on public television in 2012!

BBC Syndication Showcase 2011 postcript As we close the book on the third annual BBC Syndication Showcase, PBS stations across the country leave BBC West (New Orleans) armed with an incredible number of potential choices for programming of all genres to acquire for broadcast in their individual markets. Science, Natural History, Drama, Factual and Comedy. […]

Read more

More on British sitcoms: Class warfare on the horizon?

Working class sitcoms vs. Blue collar comedy. Fawlty Towers vs. Father Ted. The Telegraph vs. The Guardian. No matter what side you’re on in this rather ridiculous issue, what viewers ultimately want is good comedy. While Telegraph readers tend to lean more towards the Conservative Party and a centre-right view, the majority of the Guardian readers […]

Read more

On the Set with Charles Brogdon

This is just plain cool. No big revelation about your favorite British comedy series or your favorite British star, just someone doing something they love and wanting to share with others. Charles Brogdon’s flickr page tells the story of On the Set: Mini Studio Sets. In Charles’ own words, he explains where his passion for […]

Read more

Patricia Routledge in Admission: One shilling

Find yourself in or around Northampton with no plans this weekend? Have we got a deal for you. The Royal & Derngate theatre features a couple of greats from the British acting and musical world tonight and Saturday.  The great Patricia Routledge, steamrolling towards her 82nd birthday in February of this year, and international concert […]

Read more

SitcomGeek's Recipe for Sitcom success

British situation comedy. Whether it’s Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, The Office, or the classics of Keeping Up Appearances or Are You Being Served, these are programs that we’ve all watched for years but probably never gave a second thought as to why we laugh. Aside from the brilliant writing, no one really has simplified the mechanical structure […]

Read more

Patricia Routledge and Clive Swift board the QE2

Keeping Up Appearances icons, Patricia Routledge and Clive Swift recently (ok, it was almost 20 years ago) sat down with BBC Radio broadcaster, Judi Spiers, for a really fun behind the scenes conversation about the iconic British comedy, Keeping Up Appearances, where they allude to their upcoming (at the time) journey aboard the QE2 as […]

Read more

The 'unofficial' history of London's television studios

Every so often, you run across a site on ‘the internets’ that you just have to share. This particular site came to our attention recently when we were taping the host segments at TC8 in BBC Television Centre with Moira Brooker (Judy, As Time Goes By) and Philip Bretherton (Alistair, As Time Goes By) for the […]

Read more

Behind the Britcom at BBC Television Centre

In London Sunday, taping the host portions of the upcoming PBS special, Behind the Britcom: From Script to Screen at BBC Television Centre. The cool thing is that we are taping in Studio TC8 which was home to the likes of Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, The Good Life, Keeping Up Appearances, Are You Being Served and […]

Read more

Yes Prime Minister with a Blackberry

In what seems to be a weekly occurrence these days, another classic British comedy has made the leap from the small screen to the live stage. Over the course of the last several months, the likes of Are You Being Served, Keeping Up Appearances and Dad’s Army have been adapted for the stage. After a short very […]

Read more