This is a long one folks so bear with me…. After almost three years of tellyspotting, I continue to have a thought regarding a genre that I’m particularly fond of….British situation comedy. Having grown up on the likes of such classics as Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Good Neighbors, To the Manor Born, Keeping Up Appearances, […]
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Longtime British comedy fan and faithful tellyspotting reader, Lisa Cox, has compiled a brilliant list that leaves the likes of Jeff Foxworthy in the rearview mirror not knowing what hit him. No matter what corner of the globe you find yourself in, I’m banking on the fact that you are a big British comedy fan […]
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Daily, I take a brief moment to thank whomever I can that there are extremely creative people on the planet with an incredible amount of time on their hands. First their was Jimmy Fallon and Downton Sixbey, then, there was Downton Arbys. Now…. For those that have spent an agonizing last couple of years marveling […]
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The greatness of The Simpsons have finally jumped on the Benedict Cumberbatch bandwagon. Seems as though the actor, known forever to all of us as the ultimate consulting detective, Sherlock landed a voice role in the animated sitcom following a chance meeting, reported In Style magazine. “I was at a meeting in the same place […]
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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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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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Following our 2009 interview with Penelope Keith on the stage of the Theatre Royal in Bath for the PBS special, More Funny Ladies of British Comedy, we spent a bit of down time getting the full understanding of the importance of regional theatre in the UK from one of the grand dames of British comedy. […]
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Thanks to SKY 1 HD, telly watchers on both sides of the pond will be filled with hopes, dreams and reality in 2012-2013 when it comes to good comedy in the not-too-distant future. And, there is a better than good chance that both of these series will land on public television in the States in […]
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The recent announcement that ITV2 was developing what, they hope, would be a ‘channel-defining sitcom’ was not only another example of broadcasters (e.g. Sky, Channel 4, ITV) commitment to increase comedy output but reminded me of a classic 70’s BBC sitcom during the golden age of comedy when it was essentially the BeeB or nothing […]
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UK comedy output has taken a beating in recent years taking a back seat to quality drama output while viewers on both sides of the pond could do nothing but fondly remember the golden years of British comedy. With some pretty major commitments from the likes of Sky1 HD, ITV and the Beeb, things are […]
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