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‘Misfits’: A (Slightly More Than) Mid-Season Lead Up

All great things must come to an end and in two episodes, so will Britains’ Channel 4’s Misfits. For the past four (and slightly more than) a half seasons, Misfits has centered around a group of young English community service workers in a town where a freak storm gave many of the citizens ‘special’ powers. In typical superpower fashion, accidents sparked powers sparked ideas sparked battles of good vs evil – the subtlety of which is what sets this show apart from powerhouse superheroes like The Avengers, or even their adolescent attempt at a series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. There is no city-wide destruction or mass casualties, just barebones hero work- maybe a little destruction- and a few casualties. That may sound boring because we’d all rather watch some costumed mastermind shoot laser beams through the clock face of Big Ben, while some super-strengthed glob knocks over the London Eye, Misfits operates in a small town seemingly devoid of any contact to outside England. It’s because of this reclusiveness that Misfits writers focus more on creatively dark, yet humorous storytelling turning Misfits into some sort of situational dramedy melting pot with ever soapy ‘will-they-won’t-they’ relationships, nearly unbelievable sci-fi and horror storylines, and a homegrown sense of action and mystery.

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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.

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.

The last three parts of the episode are after the jump. The show is a half hour.

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