Father Ted co-creator to write sitcom for BBC Radio 4

Arthur Mathews, one-half of the brilliant Father Ted writing team, alongside Graham Linehan, has written a new comedy for BBC Radio 4 about life in BBC Broadcasting House in the 1930s. The Golden Age will star Robert Bathurst who played Sir Anthony Strallan in that little-known series, Downton Abbey, and BAFTA winner Vicky McClure, from […]

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Outnumbered to return for a fifth series

British situation comedy series come in all shapes and sizes. There are those that litter the airwave alleys which should have been commissioned for another season but weren’t for some unexplained reason (insert Whites, Dirk Gently and Grass here), there are those that have hung around too long (insert Two Pints of Lager and a […]

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Saturday Night Live imagines Downton Abbey on Spike TV

***Update for those trying to access the video clip below. Sadly, the folks at NBC Universal have decided that a little extra added promotion for Saturday Night Live is not of interest. When you click on the video below you will now be greeted with a very nice message that says: “This video contains content […]

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Downton Abbey makes PBS an overnight success after 40+ years

PBS has now, officially, arrived. According to former Variety reporter Michael Schneider who is now with TV Guide, PBS is achieving their first TV Guide cover for a primetime program since the premiere of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos series in 1980. Finally, PBS has firmly planted the flag on the television landscape and taken back its […]

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CBS' "Elementary" idea – Been there, done that

Before we leave our well-deserved bowing before the brilliance that is the BBC’s Sherlock, you may remember back in the fall reading here about an absolutely ridiculous notion that the CBS Television Network had thoughts of creating a 21st century version of Sherlock Holmes. I think, at the time, my only comment was “…how original”. […]

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Was that the TARDIS in Sherlock 2?

Given that UK telly watchers have had the great good fortune to see the entire second series of, what I will always and forever refer to as, the brilliance of Sherlock, it’s up to the American television audience to verify the following when the series premieres Sunday, May 6 on PBS as part of the […]

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Vote for your favorite Downton Abbey character

As U.S. television viewers continue their weekly love affair with Downton Abbey, series producers are gearing up for production of the third series, which is set to begin in the UK in February. Prior to the premiere of series 2, viewers on both sides of the pond have not only had the opportunity to determine […]

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Happy 40th to Sanford & Son; Happy 50th to Steptoe & Son

Happy 40th, Sanford and Son A quiet milestone anniversary passed on Saturday involving one of the greats in American sitcom history with roots in British situation comedy. Sanford and Son, which starred Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson, premiered on NBC on January 14, 1972. Based on the brilliant British situation comedy, Steptoe and Son, the […]

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Sherlock fiddles as Baskerville gets ready to burn in the UK

Sherlock on the Fiddle To only confirm what we all already knew, there’s a lot that goes in to creating a character you, ultimately, see on the screen, big or small. As if Benedict Cumberbatch didn’t have enough of a ginormous hurdle to overcome in portraying Sherlock Holmes while being up against all the skeptics. […]

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Dark Shadows targets May 2012 for premiere

Dark Shadows. Just the name conjures up early memories of rushing to get home from school just in time to draw the drapes making it as dark as possible in the room in order to get the full experience of watching the daily exploits of the Collins family. It’s been 40+ years since the series […]

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