Iconic comedy series The Comic Strip has moved home. The loose-weave collective of writers and performers will make a new film for UK Gold.to be shown in November.
In the near 30 years since the Comic Strip made their first film, many of the stars, writers and directors have gone on to become household names, some have made genuinely great TV and one or two have gone on to be that bloke, y’know, he was in that thing with the wotsit – him.
The Comic Strip was formed around a core cast of alternative comics including Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, Robbie Coltrane, Peter Richardson, Alexie Sayle, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Nigel Planer and Keith Allen (with the occasional involvement of everyone from Leslie Philips to Kate Bush). Over the years, and increasingly sporadically, this loose affiliation of talents has made around 40 TV shows, specials and films. Some of the shows were great and still stand up today, some were only passable and are showing their age and some were utterly awful, but, if nothing else, everything the Comic Strip ever made was experimental and intriguing.
Here’s an introduction to the best of the team’s earlier work:
Bad News Tour
‘I could play Stairway To Heaven when I was 12, Jimmy Page didn’t actually write until till he was 22. I think that says quite a lot.’ The words of Vim Fuego, singer and lead guitarist with dodgy heavy metal group Bad News during this fake documentary which follows the band to a gig in Grantham. Vim (Ade Edmondson) and band mates Spider (Peter Richardson), Den (Nigel Planer) and Colin (Rik Mayall) are awkwardly accurate deluded rock n roll archetypes and the Comic Strippers involved wrote and played the songs themselves. Sounds a bit too much like Spinal Tap? It was made the year before, so you can’t say they copied.
Mr Jolly Lives Next Door
Basically Mayall and Edmondson doing their Bottom/ Dangerous Brothers shtick but with Peter Cook chucked in as a Tom Jones loving psycho killer. It stands out for being genuinely, down-at-heel funny and it’s lent a noticeable air of class by the presence of occasional Comic Strip collaborator (and proper A list movie director) Stephen Frears and a spectacularly game performance by Nicholas Parsons.
The Strike
Hollywood takes on Arthur Scargill’s finest year and, when Alexie Sayle’s naive screenwriter Paul sells his gritty, accurate script about the Miners’ strike to Robbie Coltrane’s forget-the-facts movie mogul, turns it into a syrupy love story. The Strike moves cleverly between the making of the film and the film itself as Peter Richardson’s Al Pacino makes increasingly insane script demands as he builds his remarkable Arthur Scargill performance and Jennifer Saunders plays Meryl Streep playing Mrs Scargill.
The idea of Al Pacino playing Arthur Scargill might have seemed a ridiculous one in 1988, but the notion of Meryl Streep playing Thatcher would have been equally unlikely until The Iron Lady came out. Maybe someone should phone Al and get him to start growing a comb-over.
The Yob
The best thing Keith Allen’s ever done – which is more of a recommendation than it sounds. Using the body swap concept of The Fly, The Yob sees Allen’s pretentious, coke-sniffing, money-obsessed pop promo producer Patrick slowly become a racist, homophobic, boorish football hooligan. Surprisingly he’s more endearing after the change. It’s a bit too 80’s, the UB40 cameo is bit too rubbish and it takes a while to get going but once it does Allen is unsurprisingly annoying.
Detectives on the verge of a nervous breakdown
Many years before Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, the Comic Strip parodied all of the most memorable 70’s, 80’s and 90’s cop shows in a single half hour show. This superior sequel to the earlier The Bullshitters finds the Professionals, the Sweeney and Spender all thrown together to find out who killed a Keith Floyd-style Gourmet Detective. Keith Allen plays both the Floyd-alike and ‘Bonehead’ opposite Peter Richardson’s ‘Foyle’, who also plays Jason King clone Jason Bentley; Phil Cornwell plays philosophical, lamenting Geordie ‘Spanker’; but it’s the ever-magnificent Jim Broadbent who totally steals the show as ‘Shouting George’, a no-nonsense ’10-Guv-a-day’ yelling, Regan-type who out-Gene Hunts Gene Hunt with ease.
The Cosby Show, without doubt, was one of my favourite shows growing up. I was so hooked that when the show kicked off, I would leap to my feet and mimic Bill Cosby’s dancing. It did no harm that I fancied Phylicia Rashad (who played Clair) and Lisa Bonet (who played Denise). I also thought Malcolm Jamal-Warner (Theo) was the coolest human on the planet. There was a lot to love about the show. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the show, the cast reunited on the Today Show, to help launch a new DVD collection. The show ran from September 1984 until April 1992 and never seemed to get tired. If you click over the jump, you can watch videos of the reunion and, yes, Bill does that dance.
Those pesky stand-ups are all over the tellybox at the moment and for me that’s no bad thing at all. Tonight they get another little platform on which to tout their wondrous comedy wares – Argumental. It’s one of Dave’s original shows, and regular team captains Rufus Hound and Marcus Brigstocke are kept in check by dancer – I mean, renowned journalist – John Sergeant. Click over the cut for a few sneak previews…
It was Latin Night on Dancing With the Stars, which means Rumba, Samba and teeny costumes.
Marie Osmond was out first with the Samba (and actually her costume wasn’t so teeny, but she has got great legs). It was rather a sedate Samba, which was a bit weird because she’s been much higher energy in much lower energy dances. I liked it, mostly because I like her, but it wasn’t a great performance. It was what happened after the performance that became the defining event of the night…
Thankfully, Samantha Harris is back and Drew Lachey is gone. She was on maternity leave the past few weeks and I’m guessing she’s breastfeeding since by the end of the show one of her boobs was considerably bigger than the other. But enough about boobs, what about the dancing?
Mark Cuban was out first doing the Viennese Waltz and it was a really sweet routine. I loved the choreography, but I thought Mark still looked a bit stiff and laboured. (Although he *is* visibly thinner each week.) Judge Bruno Tonioni said he looked a bit like “Bigfoot in a suit”, but his fellow judges Len Goodman and Carrie Ann Inaba were quite impressed.
Comedy panel shows are popular, as are puppets, and so new channel Dave (formerly UKTV G2) have gone and combined the two in their first commission for the recently re-branded station. ‘And Then You Die’ is the cheerily named show to be hosted by puppet Barrie Stardust, which like other fault-finding fests such as the Grumpy series, will look at the disappointments of modern life.
Over to Dave to explain: “Host Barrie Stardust is joined by a panel of star comedians. But Barrie is a host like no other… not least because he happens to be a puppet! Each round of the show is based on life’s terminal failures, disappointments and annoyances. But this is no gloom-fest… And Then You Die can always see the funny side of being miserable.”
Now, I don’t claim to know anything about boxing, as far as I’m concerned it’s all rather nasty and barbaric. But before I inadvertently kick off some sporting controversy, take a look at the two pictures above. One is of famed boxer Joe Calzaghe and the other is one half of the nation’s favourite celebrity-gay-decorating couples, Justin and Colin. But you can’t tell the difference, can you?
It was when watching the end of A Question of Sport at the weekend (not my first choice on how to spend a Saturday evening I grant you), that I was first struck by the uncanny similarities between the two. Obviously they weren’t both on the sports quiz cheese-fest, only Joe, but for a split second I mistook him for his interior designer doppelganger. The same hair, same dark, small eyes and same gormless charm. Like Ant and Dec, no-one ever seems to know which one is which when it comes to Justin and Colin, though a little online research reveals that Joe’s twin is the Colin named half of the camp duo. Colin and Joe – sounds much better don’t you think?
I have to admit I wasn’t fully focussed at the beginning of this week’s Dancing With the Stars since my husband had just fetched a Chinese takeaway and it would’ve been rude to ignore it in favour of the telly. Of course, the telly *was* on – we’re not posh.
Sabrina Bryan was out first. Since last week I’ve learned that she’s a member of The Cheetah Girls (which is funny since Calista Flockhart’s character mentioned them on Brothers & Sisters and I thought they were fictional). They’re the US Spice Girls apparently (though a commenter on my last post claimed that Sabrina is, basically, a professional dancer and so shouldn’t be allowed to compete in DWTS). So it’s perhaps not surprising that her Jive was completely brilliant and the judges thought so too.
The sixth day of the title is a biblical reference to the day God created man, and is borrowed to name a set of laws preventing human cloning. Don’t let the whiff of science fiction put you off though. This is very definitely an action movie, and an extremely well-plotted and acted one at that. While the idea of cloning is central to the story, not to mention the various plot twists, it’s not critical to the enjoyment of what is essentially a detective story with a good dollop of chase thrown in.
By the time of 6th Day, Arnold Schwarzenegger had a lot of making up to do to apologise for turkeys like his Mr Freeze in Batman and Robin, not to mention the awful Jingle All The Way. This was the film to do it, probably his best outing since Total Recall.
The last series of Dancing With the Stars – the US version of Strictly Come Dancing (back tonight – woo hoo!) – was one of my favourite shows of this year, so I sat down giddily in front of the second episode of the latest series (I was gutted to find I’d be missing last week’s first episode … but then I *was* on holiday in Spain).
My husband is less than delighted that he has to make himself scarce on both Friday and Saturday nights for the next three months, but I do it for the football, so… (Actually he would have watched for the gorgeous Josie Maran, but she was knocked out last week.)
I’m not very good at recognising the ‘famous’ faces of contestants on celebrity shows, and the new series of Dancing with the Stars is no different. I’m not incapable of a bit of online research to put a bio to a face, but out of the 12 sashaying stars I could name about four. One that everyone here in the UK knows is Spice Girl/ Eddie Murphy baby mother Mel B. The pop strumpet known as Scary will be shaking her animal-printed booty on the show which starts its UK run tonight on UKTV Gold, but she will not be the only Brit participating, with Jane Seymour also having a go.
The judging panel includes Strictly Come Dancing’s Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman to help make Mel and Jane feel at home, but I wonder what American audiences will make of the Spice Girl’s broad Leeds accent. Will she need sub-titles or will Len be able to translate? For those of you who might not be able to devote your entire Friday night to the dancing competition (it does go on a bit) here is a taster of Mel B in all her cha-chaing glory. It make me feel quite exhausted and light-headed just watching it.
Contemporary television seems to delight in pushing our buttons. With reality shows eating up so much airtime, we are invited to judge the everyday antics of real folk and get drawn into debates on who we like, who we don’t and who we would happily punch in the gob. It’s easy with these newborn celebrities who would often sell their granny for a cover of Heat magazine, but for most of them they’re just enjoying their fifteen minutes of fame – unlike the scripted roles. With free reign to create the most extreme characters, television writers can out-do all reality stars by producing the most annoying, frustrating and downright exasperating creatures. These people might be entirely fictitious but that doesn’t stop them from making your teeth grind and your neck twitch just be simply watching them.
And so here is my list of TV neighbours from hell. I would thank God (if I thought there was one) that I don’t have any of these fictional characters living next door to me. For life in such close proximity to these people would be one of torture and anguish. I would have to move house, as simple as that.
Is this real? Has the calendar fast-forwarded to April Fools Day and this is just one of those ‘hilarious’ media stunts like spaghetti growing on trees? I almost hope so, otherwise someone at UKTV needs to go visit their shrink and pronto. UKTV G2 will be re-christened Dave in a move scheduled to coincide with the channel’s launch on Freeview on October 15th. Not David, Davey or any other variation – but Dave.
And why the need to re-name a television channel after one half of the country’s favourite Cockney musical duo? Because “everyone knows a bloke called Dave.” Er, I don’t – does that mean I can’t watch it? (I really can’t know that many people, as I should also know a bloke like Mickey according to that god-awful Head and Shoulders advert when I don’t either. Maybe I need to spend more time on Facebook.) How is this any kind of explanation? I get that it wants to attract a male audience, but apart from the Daves among us, surely this name ostracises rather than appeals to most men. Billed as “the home of witty banter”, Dave will air shows such as Top Gear, QI and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. If this is a success, can we look forward to a Chas channel to keep Dave company?
I’m not a betting lady myself (too few pennies to go risking them), but for those of you who like a flutter, the Emmys could be worth a few bob. So if you would like the chance to exercise your superior television knowledge and perhaps make some money, here are some of the odds being offered on the American awards ceremony by Bet365.
Warning: If you lose out and have to hand over your house to debtors, sell your children into slavery and get a job cleaning the poles at a strip club – please don’t blame me. This is only meant as a bit of fun and in no way endorses people to hand their lives over to an all-consuming gambling problem. On the other hand, if you make some serious money taking a punt – just remember who tipped you off, eh?
Hands up if you’ve seen Coast (UKTV History, Wednesday, Midnight)? Chances are, everyone in Britain has seen Coast at least once when flicking through the channels. It’s been on the Beeb (BBC2 if I remember rightly) and now, it’s on all the time on UKTV History. Coast, unsurprisingly, travels around the coastline(s) of Great Britain, looking at sunken U-Boats, nature, smugglers coves and lots of moody looking rocks… if a rock can look moody. Out moodying them all however is host Neil Oliver.
Neil Oliver is the most Celtic man you’ll ever lays eyes on. No, that doesn’t mean he’s ginger, wears a kilts and does reels to fiddle-de-dee music. Oliver is more Celtic than that. On the occasion, Neil Oliver sports a black overcoat and stands facing the oncoming wind to yells in thick Scottish brouges. Seeing as we’re in the mood for learning (are we?), the word brogue comes from the Irish word “bróg”, meaning shoe. Apparently, the term was coined by an Englishman who met an Irishman whose accent was so thick that he spoke “as though he had a shoe in his mouth”. What’s this got to do with Coast? Everything you muppet.
Flicking through the pages of Radio Times this week you might be forgiven for thinking that sooner or later you’ll come across a programme called something like “I can’t believe it’s not a cookery programme.” No fewer than three new such shows are starting up over the next 7 days and ubiquitous cockney urchin Jamie Oliver is, of course, one of them. But worry not, Oliver’s not about to browbeat you with a turkey twizzler. No, he’s turned his back on all of that and is going home. Literally home, to his back garden, to grow some greens and show us all how to cook them. As you might guess, when Oliver’s about there’s more to it than simply chopping them up and boiling them in a bit of water.
Jump over the click for news of the other two shows and also a Friday bonus.
When looking through the TV listings, I feel like I’m stuck in Groundhog Day. The current scheduling is so uninspired and repetitive (when is Big Brother going to end and give us back Channel 4?) I know that Mof has mused on the lack of choice currently afforded us by TV (see here), but I wondered if, rather than it be considered a general problem, it could be analysed further. Is it just the same kind of programming clogging up our airwaves, or is it in fact, the same programmes?
There seem to be some shows that have been on TV forever and others that never seem to go away for long. I’m not talking about those that are acknowledged mainstays like soaps, but those that never let-up, are always on when you don’t want them to be and are TV equivalents to stalkers. Out of the 24 shows listed as the longest-running in their various genres (music, sitcom, current affairs, etc.) on Wikipedia, half of them are from the UK. Is this because we have a long tradition of quality programming or a lack of imagination and no balls to shake things up?
According to DS (read the story here) and confirmed by the fine people in the UKTV press office, national hero and friend of gorillas everywhere, Sir David Attenborough, is to make a one-off programme for UKTV Documentary highlighting how brilliant the world is and how rubbish humans are.
Attenborough Explores… Our Fragile World sees the great man travel up and down the country looking at how climate change has affected natural habitats, and how different animals are finding it tough to cope with the changes.
So Dexter did well in the ratings. As did Dirt. As didn’t The New Adventures of Old Christine. Broadcast Now reports that ‘Dirt’ made the strongest debut with 615,000 viewers (3.4%) for Five US, earning the channel it’s highest ever audience. It was the most watched multi-channel programme, an especially impressive feat considering the station’s slot average for the year so far is 146,000 (0.77%).
‘Dexter’ also brought in the numbers for FX with almost 300,000 viewers, similarly the channel’s biggest UK audience to date. It had been widely advertised, with star Michael C. Hall smiling at me from a huge poster at a tube platform just yesterday.
‘The New Adventures of Old Christine’ was the loser with only 150,000 (0.8%), a number that dropped to 127,000 for the second episode. Interesting considering that the slot average for UKTV Gold is 167,000 (0.88%), though perhaps a US sitcom on a channel dedicated to repeats of The Bill and Jim’ll Fix It wasn’t a natural fit. Again, I point an accusatory figure at TV schedulers for making two new US imports clash and divide audiences, but this was only one night. Will ‘Dirt’ and ‘Dexter’ continue to ride this wave of popularity?
There’s nowt as shaky as a comedy pilot – FACT. With a new show, it’s one thing creating interest in viewers, characters they believe in and situations they want to see play out – but expecting them to laugh? It’s a big ask. New US sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine debuted last night on UKTV Gold with a double-bill, I’ll assume to acclimatise us as swiftly as possible. And it was okay. I say okay, rather than great or terrible. I know it’s like being described as ‘nice’, it doesn’t really mean anything, but don’t shut the door in my face, give a girl the chance to explain.
A comedy pilot is the televisual equivalent of speed-dating or visiting a loan shark – it reeks of desperation. Audiences are fickle. We can be won over by critics on so many entertainment genres, but not comedy. Either you find it funny or you don’t – no-one can convince you to laugh if your funny bone is far from tickled. And TV execs know this. They are ruthless, merciless monsters that will happily cancel a show on a playful whim than allow it the chance to develop and earn a following. But it’s not just those US bastards, comedy greats like Blackadder and Only Fools and Horses nearly bit the dust before it had even had the chance to settle. After the initial promotional campaign to launch a show, people generally know if they want to watch that programme or not, and so with that TNAOOC said hello to British TV.
Iconic comedy series The Comic Strip has moved home. The loose-weave collective of writers and performers will make a new film for UK Gold.to be shown in November.
The sixth day of the title is a biblical reference to the day God created man, and is borrowed to name a set of laws preventing human cloning. Don’t let the whiff of science fiction put you off though. This is very definitely an action movie, and an extremely well-plotted and acted one at that. While the idea of cloning is central to the story, not to mention the various plot twists, it’s not critical to the enjoyment of what is essentially a detective story with a good dollop of chase thrown in.
Hands up if you’ve seen Coast (UKTV History, Wednesday, Midnight)? Chances are, everyone in Britain has seen Coast at least once when flicking through the channels. It’s been on the Beeb (BBC2 if I remember rightly) and now, it’s on all the time on UKTV History. Coast, unsurprisingly, travels around the coastline(s) of Great Britain, looking at sunken U-Boats, nature, smugglers coves and lots of moody looking rocks… if a rock can look moody. Out moodying them all however is host Neil Oliver.
Flicking through the pages of Radio Times this week you might be forgiven for thinking that sooner or later you’ll come across a programme called something like “I can’t believe it’s not a cookery programme.” No fewer than three new such shows are starting up over the next 7 days and ubiquitous cockney urchin Jamie Oliver is, of course, one of them. But worry not, Oliver’s not about to browbeat you with a turkey twizzler. No, he’s turned his back on all of that and is going home. Literally home, to his back garden, to grow some greens and show us all how to cook them. As you might guess, when Oliver’s about there’s more to it than simply chopping them up and boiling them in a bit of water.
From:Set The Video: NASA: Triumph and Tragedy, BBC Two, Wednesday, 24 June, 9pm