Category Archives: British Television
The Top Bits of Fry and Laurie
Before Hugh Laurie was House and Stephen Fry hosted QI, the two friends starred in a variety of sketch shows. The most famous is probably A Bit of Fry and Laurie with the others being Alfresco and Saturday Live, which is similar, but not to be confused with Saturday Night Live.
1. Size Doesn’t Count
The first sketch originally aired in 1987 and was part of Saturday Live. While including it on this list is cheating, the important lesson is that size doesn’t matter and apparently more than one part Stephen’s body is bent.
Doctor, Who Should Be the Next Doctor?
Despite being confirmed for the eighth series/season of Doctor Who, Matt Smith steps down as The Doctor. A lot of fans, like myself, are sad to see Smith go, but we are excited to see who is going to fill his gigantic shoes. (Not that I know Matt Smith’s shoe size, I’m saying it’s a big role) Since the announcement on June 1st, fans have been picking out their favorite actors to replace Smith. Big names such as Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Rupert Grint (The Doctor would finally be ginger!), and Martin Freeman have been suggested to replace Matt Smith. Past stars of Doctor Who have also been mentioned: David Morrissey (Jackson Lake from “The Next Doctor”), Russell Tovey (Allons-y Alonso, anyone?), Olivia Colman (“Mother” from The Eleventh Hour), and even Billie Piper.
Weekly TV Update: June 3, 20013
This week we bring you stories from around the Internet that you might have missed.
Matt Smith leaves Doctor Who.
Jean Stapleton, who played Archie Bunker’s wife, Edith, on All in the Family, died on Friday.
Dan Harmon announces his return to Community.
The Sopranos tops the Writers Guild of America’s list of Best Written TV Series Ever.
John Oliver talks to The Hollywood Reporter about taking over The Daily Show for the summer. His first day is June 10.
In honor of Jean Stapleton, the All in the Family theme song is after the jump.
Margaret Thatcher on Yes, Minister
Yes, Minister is an excellent show. Real prime ministers are not sitcom writers or actors. What happens when you put the two together? Margaret Thatcher’s poor attempt at trying to appear approachable on what is said to have been her favorite show. Fortunately, the following sketch was never part of a real Yes, Minister episode.
After the jump is a sketch done for Comic Relief that has Minister Jim Hacker asking the British public to donate money.
Cool TV Video of the Day: British Kid’s Show with Not-So-Innocent Innuendo
Rainbow was a children’s show that aired on ITV from 1972 to 1992. It lasted 15 series/seasons for a total of over 1,000 episodes.
Of course, being part of a long running children’s show, the cast and crew felt the need to let loose once in a while. They probably didn’t expect was that their naughty Christmas tape sketch would go on to YouTube infamy.
Cool TV Video of the Day: Max Headroom Incident
Warning: Today’s video is more like Creepy TV Video of the Day. Despite 25 years passing, The Max Headroom incident is still very unsettling.
In 1987, someone dressed as the 80s television character Max Headroom hijacked the signal of two Chicago television stations, WGN and WTTW. The first incident took place during the sports segment of WGN’s The Nine O’Clock News. WGN’s engineers were able to cut the hijacker’s broadcast short by switching the stations signal to a backup transmitter. A few hours later, the hijackers successfully took over WTTW’s signal for 90 seconds. The PBS affiliate’s engineers tried to stop the intrusion into the Doctor Who episode “Horror of Fang Rock,” but the hijacker’s broadcast was over by the time they started looking into it.
The video below is from the second hijacking.
Episodes: Beverly Tries Dating Again and Merc’s Job is in Jeopardy
Elliot Salad
In the first season of Episodes, the Lincolns’ marriage fell apart. Throughout this season, their communication has been awkward, yet they certainly bond over work and their mutual disappointment in Matt. As Sunday’s episode opens, Matt wakes up with Labia at his side and immediately puts his hands over his eyes in despair.. His remorse shows that he can show human qualities, but also has a personality that Sean and Beverly feel compelled to chastise repeatedly. Sean, Beverly, and Matt are able to enjoy each other’s company, even though at the main reason is to point out Matt’s shortcomings.
It’s very clear that Matt cannot take control of his own life. Sean goes into Matt’s dressing room and sees that Labia is in the room. He walks out quickly and calls for security, only to have Matt tell him that he brought her into work. Once again, Matt cannot understand the consequences of his actions. Sean jokingly reflects fondly on the memories of Matt ruing the Lincoln’s marriage. Sean and Beverly seem to have a civil and enjoyable relationship within the work setting. It’s been enjoyable to watch the Lincolns’ relationship evolve, but it hasn’t been smooth.
Episodes: Matt Gains Weight And Beverly Tries To Move On
Episodes doesn’t have to have a complicated story in order to be funny. Sometimes the most innocuous issue exaggerated to the point where the story works extremely well. This was the case on Sunday night. The episode opens with Sean and Beverly in a meeting with Merc and Carole. Merc and Carole are their usual passive-aggressive selves and try to act as pleasantly as they can toward the Lincolns. Of course, Sean and Beverly know something is wrong. Carole asks them how they think the show is going even though they clearly don’t care about Sean and Beverly’s perspective. Beverly is smart enough to know that Merc and Carole are only asking so they can say what they think about the show.
Merc and Carole finally reveal that they are concerned that Matt has gained weight. Beverly seems hesitant to respond at first and then says that he might have put on a couple of pounds. This might simply be to appease the network, but it is unclear. Sean more obviously disagrees. He says that he doesn’t see any change in Matt’s weight. Beverly says playfully that Sean doesn’t notice those types of things. This behavior between Sean and Beverly is very curious. After Sean halted their sexual encounter at the end of last week’s show, it’s surprising they are able to so fluidly act like a couple and playfully chide each other. Commenting on personal flaws is not common for a professional relationship, especially in a joking matter. It is hard to believe that they are so good at putting personal feelings aside. For some reason, they prefer to deny that they want to give their marriage another try. Of course, Sean is terrible at suppressing his pain and Beverly does not even try to hide it. The Lincolns’ dynamic proves that sometimes things are not better left unsaid.
Cool TV Video of the Day: Stephen Fry Talks about Hugh Laurie’s Accent
Everyone knows Hugh Laurie as House, but many people forget that he is British because his American accent is so accurate. In today’s video, Stephen Fry talks about his visit to the House set and how strange it is for his old friend to keep House’s accent while talking to British people.
Wait! What's A Dial? 