Category Archives: British Television
I’ve Never Seen Star Wars
This week I’m going to introduce my fellow American’s to a new British panel or comedy show everyday.
I’ve Never Seen Stars Wars, which is based on the BBC Radio 4 series of the same name, is not one of the more popular panel shows. It only ran on BBC Four and BBC Two for 8 episodes in 2008 on and had 1 special in 2011. The original host was Marcus Brigstocke, who I have honestly never heard of before, but has an awesome name. Jo Brand hosted the 2011 special. Both Brigstocke and Brand are good hosts, but I prefer Jo Brand. However, I am extremely biased toward anything with Stephen Fry, who is the guest in that episode, so don’t let my opinion sway you.
Many of the celebrities are not well-known to Americans with the exception of maybe Stephen Fry and Clive Anderson, who was the host of the British version of Whose Line is it Anyway?. Despite not knowing the guest celebrities well, the show is still very funny.
The following clips are from Marcus Brigstocke’s run as host and features Clive Anderson as a guest.
Click the link below to see the second and third part of the episode.
We Can’t Believe We Defended Piers Morgan
In “Howard Stern or Piers Morgan: Who’s Got Talent?”, Jeremy argued that Piers Morgan was entertaining on America’s Got Talent and made a decent judge. As an avid viewer of AGT, I agree that Piers Morgan did have his redeeming qualities. I actually would go as far as to say Piers is a better judge than Howard Stern, who appears to be making AGT “The Howard Show”. However, Jeremy and I both think we need to make it perfectly clear that while we like Piers, we in no way think he isn’t a scumbag.
Piers has been involved in several scandals in the United Kingdom, the most well known is the News Corp. hacking scandal. Before Americans knew him as a reality show judge, Brits already knew him as the unlikable editor of several tabloids, such as The Sun and The Daily Mirror, who was somehow redeemed by his friendship with Simon Cowell. To make up for defending Piers Morgan, here is a clip (starts at 4:30) of him getting slimed/gunged on Noel’s House Party.
Also, we would like to inform our British friends that we are well aware no one likes Noel Edmonds and have no idea why he’s still on television.
Foreign Friday: Newswipe
Every Friday, I post a clip from a country other than the United States.
This week’s clip is from Britain. Comedian Charlie Brooker, who’s a combination of 80s David Letterman and Jon Stewart, hosts BBC Four’s Newswipe. The segment How to Report the News hits the nail on the head when it comes to television news and the way it presents stories.
Wait! What's A Dial? 