Coupling
ITV’s Life of Crime is a gripping drama that spans three decades
With both DCI Banks and Scott & Bailey as brilliant examples of ITV’s gripping drama output, one can’t help but have high hopes for their newest entry in the police procedural genre, Life of Crime. With Life of Crime, the twist of the 3-part storyline is what takes it up a notch. Life of Crime [...]
From the Friday Vault: Hardware with Martin Freeman
Martin Freeman’s stock is going through the roof these days given his brilliant performance in Sherlock and, what I’m already assuming is brilliant in the upcoming Peter Jackson fantasy epic, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, as Bilbo Baggins. Many were ‘introduced’ to Martin back in 2001 as Tim in Ricky Gervais’ The Office. Post “Office, [...]
Fox orders U.S. version of Gavin & Stacey
U.S. broadcast networks have struck again and will try to mine a bit of UK gold with the announcement that the Fox network has ordered a pilot of the British comedy sitcom, Gavin & Stacey. This will be the second attempt at a U.S. version with the first being the 2009 ill-fated ABC version. Ill-fated [...]
30-Rock EP sets sights on the greatness of Whites
As 30 Rock co-executive producer Ron Weiner makes plans to put the final season of the Tina Fey hit comedy to bed, he’s not letting any grass grow under his feet and has already lined up a couple of projects with Universal Television. The second project will be the one of most interest to Tellyspotting [...]
Me and Mrs. Jones premieres 12 October on BBC One
Starring Sarah Alexander (Coupling, People Like Us, Green Wing) and Neil Morrissey (Men Behaving Badly), Nathanial Parker (Merlin) and Robert Sheehan (Misfits), the new BBC comedy, Me and Mrs. Jones, produced by Hartswood Films (Sherlock, Coupling, Jekyll, Men Behaving Badly), is one to definitely keep an eye on when it premieres on 12 October on [...]
ABC strikes again with plans for an American 'Spy'
Just when I thought it was safe to go back into the water comes the news from Deadline.com regarding ABC plans to give the British situation comedy, Spy, a ‘facelift’. Admittedly, this is not ABC’s wording, but it might as well be given the track record of the American broadcast networks when they repeatedly attempt [...]
John Leguizamo cast as American 'Del Boy'
Over the last several years, American audiences have suffered endlessly through remakes of Coupling, Life on Mars and Prime Suspect while being subjected to continued rumors of remakes of British greatness such as MI-5, IT Crowd and Doctor Who. As we reported with sadness recently, the most popular British situation comedy of all-time, Only Fools [...]
Vote for comedy on public television in 2012!
BBC Syndication Showcase 2011 postcript As we close the book on the third annual BBC Syndication Showcase, PBS stations across the country leave BBC West (New Orleans) armed with an incredible number of potential choices for programming of all genres to acquire for broadcast in their individual markets. Science, Natural History, Drama, Factual and Comedy. [...]
Leverage renewed for 5th season
I do feel obligated to write about Leverage, which has just been renewed for a 5th season on TNT. With all my rants about poorly done American re-makes of British imports, time to eat a few of those rants and talk Leverage. While there has never been any “official” declaration that the TNT series, Leverage, [...]
A Zen moment for PBS begins Sunday on Masterpiece
Rufus Sewell stars as Aurelio Zen, a Venetian detective who possesses “an unfortunate reputation for honesty“. As you can imagine, this presents a challenge in the somewhat morally complicated world of the Italian police. A doubly hard existence especially when you are in Rome and are Venetian. Based on author Michael Dibdin’s international best-selling Italian detective [...]
