After spending the last week in the UK, I had the great good fortune to be reminded on a nightly basis of the extent to which British comedy is far superior to American comedy. That point was driven home by having the opportunity to watch endless latenight broadcasts of panel shows on Dave (the home of witty-banter […]
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As co-writer and co-director of BBC’s The Office, Stephen Merchant is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais. The British writer, director, radio presenter, stand-up comedian and actor added a London West-End appearance a couple of years ago to his CV with his first play, The Mentalists by Richard Bean, alongside Steffan Rhodri at the Wyndham Theatre. Known for his brilliant command of […]
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In today’s overloaded commercial environment, no one gives it a second thought when they encounter celebrity spokespeople appearing in adverts for their favorite whatever. What doesn’t immediately come to mind are commercials that feature the character that an actor portrays. The only recent example that seems to follow this concept features the perfect pitchman, Modern Family‘s Phil Dunphy, […]
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As co-writer and co-director of BBC’s The Office, Stephen Merchant is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais. The British writer, director, radio presenter, stand-up comedian and actor added a London West-End appearance last July to his CV with his first play, The Mentalists by Richard Bean, alongside Steffan Rhodri at the Wyndham Theatre. Known for his brilliant command of the English language, […]
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As the disturbing news made its way from the U.S. broadcast network ‘upfronts’ last week that CBS’ remake of a modern day Sherlock, Elementary, was picked up as a series and scheduled for the Thursday at 10p ET slot this Fall, there is hope. Digital Spy has reported that ABC’s “Americanized version” of Only Fools […]
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Downton Abbey 2 vs. Spooks 10 vs. Mildred Pierce With Downton Abbey 2 and Spooks 10 set to battle it out Sunday night in the UK, the States have a battle of their own as the Sunday night telecast of the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards will pit the original Downton Abbey 1 series against HBO’s […]
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Ok, we’ve over-discussed the differences between British and American situation comedy. Just my opinion, but the British just flat out do it better. No doubt, from an American perspective, it’s infinitely better with the likes of Modern Family, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Community, etc. But, in doing some quick math regarding the comparison of […]
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According to John Sullivan, creator and writer of the most popular British comedy of all-time, Only Fools and Horses, feels that today’s Britcoms rely on bad language for cheap laughs instead of quality writing. In this interview with the Telegraph, Sullivan says today’s comedies couldn’t hold a candle to the classics of yesteryear such as […]
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