"Dibley Town Council" exists in Turville

This is too coincidental. Remember just a short time back (yesterday, for that matter), we wondered if in TV, art imitates life or life imitates art. Well, we now have positive proof that both are true in the village of Turville, Buckinghamshire, UK, the setting for the Vicar of Dibley, judging by this story as […]

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In TV, does life imitate art or vice versa?

I’ve ranted enough in recent months about how American comedy simply cannot re-create British comedy. Looks like the British have figured it out by imitating a comedic style and not trying to duplicate a specific program. In somewhat of a role reversal, the UK comedy world is now copying a style of comedy that American […]

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Briers: "Reality shows ruining television as we know it"

Leave it to the great Richard Briers to be able to brilliantly put in to words what I have thought for a long time. With a resume that includes the British comedy classic, The Good Life, along with other notable series in both the British comedy and drama worlds such as Ever Decreasing Circles and […]

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Final Summer Book Club assignment

Temps are hitting mid-90’s so Summer’s at an end soon. Time for your last Summer/Fall Book Club assignment from a favorite in the British comedy world. First up was The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie, followed by The Hippopotamus by Stephen Fry. This week another great read by someone you may or may not know […]

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Ronnie Corbett shows off culinary skills in new series

Ever wonder what your favorite Britcom stars of yesteryear are doing these days? Well, you’re in luck if you’ve always wondered what the shorter Ronnie of The Two Ronnies is doing since the ‘good old days’ of classic British comedy. You may or may not remember Ronnie Corbett as the master of those priceless monologues delivered straight […]

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Adams' Dirk Gently comes to BBC Four

The late, great Douglas Adams, whose best known work, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, was brilliantly transformed into a short run British comedy television series, will have another classic adapted for the small screen. According to our friends at the British Comedy Guide, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, written by Adams in 1987, has […]

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The Stig. Some say….he's James Bond's stunt driver

There are those that could lay claim that The Stig, the name given to the ultimate racing car driver on BBC’s mega hit, Top Gear, the most illegally download program on the Internet, is actually the model for the television commercial world’s Most Interesting Man in the World. The fact that I’ve never seen them in […]

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Chaplin….Keaton….Atkinson

For years, I have marveled at the comedic talents of Rowan Atkinson, especially showcased in the classic British comedies Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line, not to mention films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral. For all the greatness that comes from his “talking” roles, for my money, I have always loved the […]

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Stephen Fry's wit next up on the Tellyspotting Summer Book Club list

This just in from the weather center. Next Wednesday, we could see only double-digit temperatures. Okay, the high is supposed to be 98 degrees, but that’s still double digits. With the cold front not expected to hit until sometime early Wednesday morning, there’s still time for some more summer reading. Hopefully, you had a chance […]

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Pinewood Studio classics restored

The mere fact that Kind Hearts and Coronets is amongst the list of films from the great Pinewood Studios archive vault that are being digitally re-mastered from the original 35mm prints makes this a great project. Also noticed the film cans in the piece below that are in this batch to be digitally re-mastered was […]

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