Category Archives: British Television
The 2012 Emmy Nominees
Earlier today, The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the 2012 Emmy Awards nominees. HBO (81 nominations) and CBS (60 nominations) lead the networks in nominations. Mad Men and American Horror Story (tied with 17 nominations) were shows nominated for the most awards.
Here is list of shows nominated in the major categories:
Best Comedy
The Big Bang Theory
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Girls
Modern Family
30 Rock
Veep
Best Drama
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
Mad Men
Foreign Friday: Cheating at Grab a Grand
Every Friday, I post a clip from an English speaking country other than the United States.
This weeks clip comes from Noel’s House Party. I’ve mentioned the show before. It’s one those shows that isn’t good, but I can’t look away because it’s so ridiculous. In the United States, Noel’s House Party would be relegated to Nickelodeon. To an American, this show looks like it took something meant for kids and pretended it was for adults. The show aired on Saturday nights on the BBC for 8 years in the 90s.
In this video, snooker player John Parrot brilliantly cheats at Grab A Grand. You’ve probably seen the same game on Ellen DeGeneres’s talk show under a different name. Grab A Grand puts a contestant into a rectangular box with money flying around and they have to grab as much money as possible in a short period of time.
I wish I would have though of that. Parrot’s solution is so simple and obvious, yet I would have never thought of it.
Shows that Should Be Forgotten: Heil Honey I’m Home!
We know the very existence of this article invalidates its premise.
If there are any television shows that should be forgotten, it’s shows that were cancelled after one episode. Some shows are a mistake from the get-go. A sitcom about Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun is one of them. Heil Honey I’m Home!, which was broadcast in 1990 by the ill-fated BSB’s defunct Galaxy channel, should not exist. Not because it’s in poor taste or offensive, but because it’s just an awful show.
Heil Honey I’m Home! is meant to be an ironic satire of 1950s sitcoms. The show was a British creation that revolved around Hitler and Braun arguing about getting along with their Jewish neighbors, the Goldensteins. The pilot has British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain coming over for dinner and Hitler wants to impress him without having the Goldensteins around. Braun suggests that getting along with the Goldensteins will give him a good reputation as a “Nice Guy Fuhrer.” Weird.
This is not poorly disguised anti-semitism. This is not bigotry. It’s solely about a curmudgeon who hates his neighbors. Complete with hackneyed punchlines, an obligatory laugh track and arbitrary applause after a character enters, this is a poorly excuted attempt of satire. The fact that Hitler was a character, complete with American accent no less, only made a bad show seem worse.
Anglophiles Get Out Your Costco Cards
The Costco Connection has an article about some of the British television shows that are now available at Costco’s across the country. As Costco likes to say, not all of the titles are available in every warehouse. Also, this may not be a complete list.
You Have Been Watching You Have Been Watching
This week I’m going to introduce my fellow American’s to a new British panel or comedy show everyday.
The last panel show for the week is You Have Been Watching, which has three panelists and host Charlie Brooker discuss various television shows. It aired on Channel 4 for two series.
In the following video, Charlie Brooker, Germaine Greer, Frank Skinner, and Frankie Boyle discuss the worldwide phenomenon of Deal or No Deal. Warning it contains swearing.
Whose Line is it Anyway? UK
This week I’m going to introduce my fellow American’s to a new British panel or comedy show everyday.
There’s not much to say about Whose Line is it Anyway?. Most of you are probably familiar with the American version, which ran on ABC for 8 seasons and was hosted by Drew Carey. The British version ran on Channel 4 series from 1988 to 1998. It was hosted by Clive Anderson. There is quite a bit of overlap between panelists on both shows and if you’re a fan of one you’ve definitely heard of the other.
The majority of clips on YouTube do not have an all British cast, so here is a sketch that features Colin Mochrie and Ryan Stiles.
If you want to see every episode ever created of both Whose Line is it Anyway? versions, Whose Line Online has you covered.
8 out of 10 Cats Prefer 8 out of 10 Cats
This week I’m going to introduce my fellow American’s to a new British panel or comedy show everyday.
Jimmy Carr hosts 8 out of 10 Cats, which features some of his offensive shock-based humor that you either like or find appalling. The show’s name comes from the Whiskas cat food slogan “8 out of 10 Cats prefer Whiskas” and its premise revolves around opinion polls.
8 out of 10 Cats has two teams of six. Each team features a permanent panelist and two celebrity guests, who have to guess various statistics. Sean Lock, who you may recognize as the host of TV Heaven, Telly Hell, is the only permanent panelist who has been with the show from the beginning.
The following episode is the last one from series (season) 11. It is a “Best of” clip show, so ignore the random people and clothing changes. Just enjoy the show.
Who’s Getting Sent to Room 101?
This week I’m going to introduce my fellow American’s to a new British panel or comedy show everyday.
Room 101, another show that originated on radio, lets celebrities send people and things to “a fate worse than death.” Since that is the premise of the show, celebrities pick things they don’t like or things they think would make for a funny exchange and good television.
Not every object mentions goes into Room 101 because the host has to be persuaded that the object deserves to go into Room 101, which is named for the room in George Orwell’s 1984. Some things that celebrities have chosen to send to Room 101 are American Football, The Beatles, and even the show itself.
There have been three hosts of Room 101: Nick Hancock, Paul Merton, and Frank Skinner. The following clip is from the last show ever with Paul Merton and has Ian Hislop trying to send Piers Morgan into Room 101. However, it doesn’t quite work the way as planned.
TV Heaven, Telly Hell
This week I’m going to introduce my fellow American’s to a new British panel or comedy show everyday.
Channel 4’s TV Heaven, Telly Hell has a celebrity tell host Sean Lock about what shows, people, etc. belong in “TV Heaven” or “Telly Hell.” As you can probably infer, tings that the celebrity likes go to “TV Heaven” and those that they don’t go to “Telly Hell”. It’s one of those shows that would be fun to play a version of with your friends. Of course, you don’t agree with the celebrity’s choices all the time, but that is the fun in watching.
This episode features comedian Jimmy Carr, who sends Jeremy Clarkson and Flavor of Love to “TV Heaven” and Derek Acorah and Babestation to “Telly Hell.” Why Carr admitted to watching Flavor of Love, I’ll never know, but the results are very funny. Derek Acorah is a English Medium. Babestation is a TV channel whose title is self-explanatory.
Have fun watching Jimmy Carr on TV Heaven, Telly Hell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztLc7oXuhXc
The last three parts of the episode are after the jump. The show is a half hour.
Stephen Fry and Alan Davies are Quite Interesting
This week I’m going to introduce my fellow American’s to a new British panel or comedy show everyday.
Today’s show is QI or Quite Interesting. Each series (or seasons for Americans) has a different letter of the alphabet determining the topics. For example, series A had shows based around the topics: Aquatic Animals, Advertising, and Antidotes.
The incomparable Stephen Fry hosts QI. While the adorable Alan Davies is the show’s only permanent panelist, who typically loses by what appears to be a random amount because of QI‘s crazy point system that only a guy named Colin knows the formula for.
The following clip has Stephen explain that the grammar rule “I before E except after C” is not as accurate as one would expect. The panel of Graham Norton, Daniel Radcliffe, Lee Mack, and Alan Davies have hard time comprehending what Stephen is saying. Lee Mack has a tougher time than everyone else. Enjoy!
After the jump, you will find the QI‘s unbroadcast pilot. As the first episode ever made, it takes place before the set was changed and the current points system was put in place. Alan Davies, Bill Bailey, Eddie Izzard and Kit Hesketh-Harvey are the featured panelists. For American (and possibly some Brits), it will be odd seeing a red-haired Eddie Izzard.
Wait! What's A Dial? 