TV programmes that premier online before TV look set to become a real trend this year. For in the wake of the Netflix House Of Cards exclusive the BBC has just announced that that a new sitcom from Peter Kay called Car Share will premiere on BBC iPlayer.
You will be able to see it online before it makes its way to BBC One. This makes it the first first-ever series to premiere on BBC iPlayer in its entirety before a linear transmission.
The series, which has been created by Tim Reid and Paul Coleman, Car Share is directed by and stars Peter and Sian Gibson, who play John and Kayleigh who have been thrown together in a company car share scheme, as they journey to their respective jobs at a major out-of-town supermarket.
Just like Kay’s classic C4 Phoenix Nights series Car Share is set and will be filmed in the north-west.
Peter Kay says about the series: “To be finally working with the BBC on a new comedy is a great opportunity. And the idea of two people car sharing to work each day really appealed to me, as it highlights the comedy in the minutiae of the daily trek and allows the spiralling conversations of life to unwind in all of their glory.”
BBC2 are planning to strengthen their comedy out put by reprising Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson’s classic sitcom Bottom as well as producing new efforts by Mitchell and Webb and stand up/ conductor/ bake show host Sue Perkins.
There hasn’t been a new series of Bottom since 1995 but now Richard Richard and Edward Hitler will return in a 6-part adaptation of their vintage stage show ‘Hooligan’s Island.
David Mitchell and Robert Webb will appear in Our Men, about a pair of British embassy officials in Tazbekistan and Sue Perkins’ show will be about a gay vet who is struggling to come out to her parents so her friends give her an ultimatum.
The new (and old) shows were announced by BBC2 controller Janice Hadlow at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
After his superb 3-part comedy series Black Mirror aired earlier this year, screenwriter Charlie Brooker returns with cop comedy ‘A Touch Of Cloth’, which will air on Sky 1 in August.
The show stars John Hannah and former Corrie star Suranne Jones and id described by Brooker as ‘just Airplane-style daftness”
He continued: The inspiration there was just to entertain, I co-wrote the pilot in 2003, something like that. Then we adapted it and changed it a lot. So that’s always been something that I’ve wanted to do – something just daft.”
Ellie Taylor and Stuart Goldsmith became the latest comedians to be voted off Show Me The Funny last night (22.08.11).
The duo narrowly missed out on a place in the live final of the ITV1 show – hosted by Jason Manford – with Dan Mitchell, Patrick Monahan and Tiffany Stevenson now set to battle it out in the hope of being crowned the first-ever champion of the series.
However, Ellie admits she was “astonished” to have even made it through to the semi-finals, as she was so inexperienced in the field of comedy.
She said: “I never really thought I’d make it to the final. I was astonished I got as far as I did and it far exceeded the expectations I went into the show with.
“I had so little experience compared to everyone else and I was thinking, ‘It will be hilarious if I actually get anywhere with this’.”
Meanwhile, the brunette beauty – who used to be a model – admitted she struggled to come to terms with the fact that people found it “revolutionary” to see a good-looking female comedian on stage.
Ellie added: “I think funny is funny irrelevant of what I look like. Whether I used to be a model and what I look like doesn’t affect whether my jokes are good. People seem to find it revolutionary that I was a female comedian who had actually done her hair!”
With the ‘Show Me The Funny’ final set to take place at London’s Hammersmith Apollo on Thursday (25.08.11), Stuart thinks the winning comedian is already set in stone.
He said: “Everyone is so talented and so I think it will make for a really exciting final. But in my opinion Pat will win by an absolute landslide, he’s heads and shoulders above everybody else. People just fall in love with him. Dan and Tiff are excellent but to me, the outcome is inevitable.”
The live final of Show Me The Funny will air on ITV1 at 9pm on Thursday August 25.
(left to right) Blake Harrison, James Buckley, Joe Thomas and Simon Bird arriving for the world premiere of The Inbetweeners Movie, at the Vue Cinema, Leicester Square, London.
James Buckley, who plays Jay, said he believes the new Inbetweeners film is “sweeter” than the television series. The E4 comedy, which is a crude and earthy account of four suburban sex-obsessed teenage boys, had its red carpet premiere at the Vue Cinema in Leicester Square last night.
Buckley told Metro in an exclusive interview: “I’ve only seen it recently and I was quite surprised there was a bit of depth to the characters and it was a lot sweeter than I thought it was going to turn out.”
Blake Harrison, who plays Neil, added: “It’s probably the biggest day of our lives. I know it’s the biggest day of our careers so far. It’s nerve-wracking but it’s going to be exciting.’
Rudi Lickwood has become the latest comedian to be voted off Show Me The Funny. The 47-year-old funnyman failed to impress judges Kate Copstick, Alan Davies and guest panellist Jo Brand with his routine in front of a group of doctors and nurses in last night’s show.
However, the former Eddie Murphy lookalike isn’t too bothered by his departure from the show, as he insists he is capable of doing Kate’s job on the ITV1 series. He said: “Before Show Me The Funny I actually discovered comedians. Basically, I can do Kate Copstick’s job but she can’t do mine.”
Despite being axed from the show, Rudi won’t be going back to impersonating Eddie Murphy, as he gets more laughs by just being himself. He added: “The reason why I stopped being a lookalike was because I was living in the persona of someone else.
“As soon as I stepped away from the Eddie Murphy thing and started talking about my own life, that brought out real laughs and took me in the direction of stand-up comedy. Being a lookalike got me into the industry, but now it’s given me the opportunity to talk about my own life.”
SHOW ME THE FUNNY coming soon to ITV1
Picture Shows: Jason Manford
Picture Caption: Show Me The Funny is a brand new reality series which aims to find the next big comedy talent.
The comedians - a mixture of unknowns and those who have experience on the circuit - are all hoping to following in the footsteps of Michael McIntyre, Jimmy Carr and Peter Kay and become the next stand-up superstar
Photographer: Nicky Johnston
njohnston1@me.com
He’s a great stand up and I love his sitcom, Not Going Out. So my expectations were already ridiculously high for Lee Mack’s new talk show, Lee Mack’s All Star Cast which made its debut on BBC 1, Friday night (June 17, 2011). I wasn’t disappointed.
Despite the fact that it was all fairly shambolic and chaotic – like it had been shot and edited on a shoestring budget for Channel 5 – the strength of Lee Mack’s character and his sharp Northern wit kept it entertaining and fast paced from beginning to end.
During the show guests Frank Skinner and Fern Britton were invited to guess who various audience members were supposed to look like and choose their most embarrassing stories – all very Graham Norton, though somehow much more engaging. Lee Mack was also great in his ability to take the piss out of his guests without them taking umbrage.
But without doubt the best bit of the show was the sketch which saw Mack in his bed sit trying to get Tess Daly to ditch her hubbie ‘Peter Kay’ and sleep with him while being serenaded by James Blunt taking off his monster hit, You’re Beautiful.
It was all reminiscent of Eric Morecambe at his best (indeed there was an Eric Morecambe poster on the door of the bed sit). And Tess Daly’s acting skills were a revelation. She could have found it all rather embarrassing but really went along with it.
Looking forward to the next one, though I hope they manage to sort out the editing!
David Walliams and Matt Lucas - one of the most popular comedy double acts ever
One of the most successful comedy partnerships since The Two Ronnies and Morecambe and Wise have called time on their professional partnership.
David Walliams and Matt Lucas, who made a mint after creating the hit sketch series Little Britain, are to part ways after more than two decades of performing together and make separate new shows for the BBC.
While the pair had originally planned to write a second series of hilarious spoof show Come Fly With Me, David is now reportedly developing his first comedy without Matt, in which he will portray a stressed-out classroom teacher.
Meanwhile, 37-year-old Matt will return to his former role in Les Miserables in London’s West End theatre district before fronting BBC One’s The Matt Lucas Awards, which will see him dole out a series of alternative accolades.
A friend of the pair told The Sun newspaper: “They still get on but as far as being working partners is concerned, that had ground to a halt.
“They both wanted to do completely different things. Neither wants to be defined by the partnership any more. They want to be known as more than those guys that do Little Britain.”
It’s understandable I guess, but the comedy duo – who met while performing with the National Youth Theatre in 1990 – definitely brought out the best in each other. It will be interesting to see how they will fare alone.
It’s not everyday that we get excited about a TV star but Ruth Jones is a starlet that gives us that warm fuzzy feeling.
Not only has this talented actress penned and starred in the 21st century’s most famous sitcom – Gavin and Stacey if you’ve been asleep for a few years – but she’s also shown that you don’t have to be a stick insect to be successful in the world of television.
In fact it’s her curves that have made the nation fall in love with her and her character Nessa.
Away from Gavin and Stacey, Ruth has successfully appeared on the likes of Would I lie to you, as well as a host of other comedy game shows. She’s also a regular alongside James Cordon on charity event sketches and although it would be unfair to draw comparisons, her style and sketch show contributions remind us very much of Dawn French.
To celebrate the starlet’s success we’ve put together a mini gallery.
I love Comic Relief. Every two years in March we get to watch a range of celebrities doing comical stuff to raise money for charity and this year looks set to be no different.
The four stars of the The Inbetweeners have begun paving for this by embarking on a naughty road trip to visit the rudest and crudest place names in the country and we can expect to see some funny antics from the likes of James Cordon as well as singing from faces such as Cheryl Cole.
Stars have already been showing their backing for the cause. Today Christine Bleakly and Adrian Childs showed us what we could buy to sponsor the event and a range of celebrities have taken part in a photoshoot to urge us to don our red noses.
Lara Stone turned all Marylin Monroe on us to help raise awareness re-creating the famous image from 1955 film The Seven Year Itch, while Fearne Cotton, Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden to name a few, are also backing the charity campaign, which this year features T-shirts designed by Vivienne Westwood.
We’ll keep you updated with the line up and antics for the big day on 18 March.
The nominations for Britain’s comedy awards the LAFTAS were announced today
Last year after having previously won the award for Best Stand-Up three years in a row, Jimmy Carr lost his crown to Michael McIntyre – this year both are shortlisted for the award and will go head to head in a bid to regain the title. The award for the Funniest Double Act will see comedy duo Armstrong & Miller square up to heavyweights Reeves & Mortimer.
This year there will be two new panel shows, Ask Rhod Gilbert and A League of Their Own, battling it out for the Best Panel Show category. They will be up against favourites 8 Out of Ten Cats and Mock the Week.
The award for funniest Columnist will be between the Sun’s Bizarre Editor Gordon Smart and the Mirror’s 3am Girls. There is even an award this year for funniest tweeter with Stephen Fry leading the nominations followed by the Cat Bin Lady and Average Batman.
Comedy fans vote for their favourites by logging onto loaded.co.uk until Monday January 24th when voting will close. The award ceremony will take place at BAFTA on February 1st.
Before I even begin, apologies to anyone who arrived at this article expecting to see that woman who has starred in many internet videos showing her, *ahem*, lack of gag reflex. Alas, this article is about something very different indeed. Basically, this isn’t about fellatio, but rather, the untold story behind the MPs’ expenses headlines that will be revealed in a new humorous drama for BBC Four written by Tony Saint (Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk To Finchley, Micro Men) and directed by Simon Cellan Jones (Generation Kill, The Trial Of Tony Blair, Our Friends In The North).
America’s answer to Outnumbered continues apace this evening on Sky 1, and we have some preview clips of Modern Family (Sky One, Tonight, 29th October, 8pm) for you to chew on until it transmits. Tonight sees Phil getting buddy with his father-in-law and Phil has problems with a model airplane and “threading the needle”. Click over to see the vids!
Sketch shows are notoriously difficult to get right. There’s been a million I’ve seen and instantly forgotten over the years, yet TV still perseveres. That’s because, when a comedy sketch show hits gold, they’re unstoppably funny. And so, last night I once again tuned in for That Mitchell and Webb Look (BBC Two, Thursday, 25 June, 9.30pm) hunting out a giggle or two. Now, it’s pretty safe to say that pretty much everyone likes David Mitchell and Robert Webb. Someone described Mitchell as The Straight Stephen Fry the other week, which I kinda liked and Robert Webb’s Flashdance routine was a rousing success. Peep Show was a show that took a little warming to for me, but once I did, it gave back by the bucket. However, in sketch format, I’m still left cold…
Weird. The Sun have got a headline reading “THE MIGHTY BOOSH ARE SPLITTING UP!” Such is the phenomena of Ver Boooosh, that they’re spoken about like a rock band as opposed to a comedy pairing. I mean, did you ever read the headline The Fast Show Are Splitting Up! or The League Of Gentleman Break Up! at any point in your life? The Sun continued “The clown princes behind The Mighty Boosh are poised to go solo.” Loads of comedy acts have been thought of as rock ‘n’ roll… The Pythons, The Mary Whitehouse Experience… but not to this level. So what’s the deal with the split anyway? Well…
I can’t for the life of me recall how stunned I was when I first rested my eyeballs in the direction of the television when The League of Gentlemen first aired. I’m willing to bet it was similar to watching the opening moments of last night’s Psychoville (BBC Two, Thursday, 18 June, 10pm). Within seconds of the opening, I was impressed with how classy the whole thing looked and got an almost immediate laugh, mixed with that feeling of a goose walking over my grave. Brrrhahahaeeek. Psychoville has clearly been festering in Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton’s collective wrongs for a while. Treading the line between curious, fun and something slap bang between the toytown horror of Tim Burton and the seedy sinisterdom of Stephen King. Strapping in for this ride is going to be very odd indeed.
The League of Gentlemen’s Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton have teamed up again to write… and star in… a new comedy show. Like The League of Gentlemen, their minds have been drawn to the weird, black comedy that’s so unsettling that you wondered why you laughed in the first place. The new show, ladies and gentlemen, is the appropriately titled Psychoville (BBC Two, Thursday, 18 June, 10pm). Now, the last series of League of Gentlemen was ambitious, disparate and tied together slowly at the close, revealing a weird link between each strand of story. It certainly seems that Psychoville will be going down the same route, which means that viewers are advised to strap in for the ride and stick it out for the long haul, even if they initially don’t have a clue what’s going on.
When Alan Carr and Justin Lee Collins first burst onto our screens with their Friday Night Project, I would have quite happily kicked both of them unconscious and thrown their bodies into the sea for the krill to break down into gunk. Hammy, overtly wacky and something almost desperate, they irritated me to the point where I ate dog-muck just to get the taste out of my mouth. Since then, Justin Lee Collins has sunk to his knees, started to sing on his own chatshow and effectively made a career out of stalking members of Dallas and The A-Team. However, once the sidekick, Alan Carr’s star has risen considerably and reprogrammed my thinking into something that’s pretty positive. So now, we’ve got Alan Carr: Chatty Man (Channel 4, Sunday, 14 June, 10pm) which sees the wonky faced comic getting the chance to go freeform with guests.
I’m sorry. I’m so very, very sorry. I felt that it should be me who breaks the news to you. Basically, the BBC have commissioned another series of tawdry pusfest Coming of Age. That means, somewhere in the world, Jas, Ollie, Matt, Chloe and DK will be proffering lame jokes about gobbles on the sofa and erections over inanimate objects. If you haven’t seen it and like putting yourself through absolute torture, then it’s worth catching it. Honestly, it makes White Chicks look like a Hitchcock thriller. Of course, this will be great news for some… and in that case, you’ll find your version of this news is over the jump. Enjoy.
We’ve been pretty big fans of My Name Is Earl on these pages, despite the fact that Channel 4 seemingly gave up on the show and promptly started to shunt it around the schedule and flinging it to their sub-channels. Well, the final nail in the coffin has finally been driven in the wood as a spokesperson for Twentieth Century Fox has confirmed that the show will definitely not return. Damn shame. As previously reported, the karmic comedy series was cancelled by NBC last month. There were glimmers of hope as it was proposed that Earl & Co may be picked up by another network. Sadly, this is not the case.
TV programmes that premier online before TV look set to become a real trend this year. For in the wake of the Netflix House Of Cards exclusive the BBC has just announced that that a new sitcom from Peter Kay called Car Share will premiere on BBC iPlayer.
Rudi Lickwood has become the latest comedian to be voted off Show Me The Funny. The 47-year-old funnyman failed to impress judges Kate Copstick, Alan Davies and guest panellist Jo Brand with his routine in front of a group of doctors and nurses in last night’s show. 
From:Set The Video: NASA: Triumph and Tragedy, BBC Two, Wednesday, 24 June, 9pm