Motherland spin-off Amandaland has been commissioned for a series at BBC Two, here are the details.
Motherland was a terrific sitcom created by Sharon Horgan, Holly Walsh, Helen Serafinowicz and Graham Linehan, who stepped away from the show after the first series. It chronicled the never ending stress of motherhood through the eyes of the perpetually put-upon Julia, (Anna Maxwell Martin), who tries to do the best she can as she battles with the ‘Alpha Mums’, led by the acerbic Amanda (Lucy Punch). She’s supported by her blunt best friend Liz (Diane Morgan) and stay at home Dad Kevin (Paul Brady).
Earlier this year, Horgan confirmed that the show had been quietly cancelled by the BBC, but she also revealed that a spin-off was in the early stages of development.
According to the British Comedy Guide, the spin-off will be called Amandaland, and a six episode series has been commissioned.
Motherland was a terrific sitcom created by Sharon Horgan, Holly Walsh, Helen Serafinowicz and Graham Linehan, who stepped away from the show after the first series. It chronicled the never ending stress of motherhood through the eyes of the perpetually put-upon Julia, (Anna Maxwell Martin), who tries to do the best she can as she battles with the ‘Alpha Mums’, led by the acerbic Amanda (Lucy Punch). She’s supported by her blunt best friend Liz (Diane Morgan) and stay at home Dad Kevin (Paul Brady).
Earlier this year, Horgan confirmed that the show had been quietly cancelled by the BBC, but she also revealed that a spin-off was in the early stages of development.
According to the British Comedy Guide, the spin-off will be called Amandaland, and a six episode series has been commissioned.
- 5/20/2024
- by Jake Godfrey
- Film Stories
The BBC’s Motherland universe is living on with a spin-off following a post-divorce Amanda.
One of Sharon Horgan’s hit show’s most popular characters, Amandaland will follow the protagonist (Lucy Punch) after her divorce, who has had to downsize and up sticks to South Harlesden, or as the Estate Agent calls it, SoHa.
Featuring her mother Felicity, played by British acting icon Joanna Lumley, Amanda has to try and get her head around raising teenagers, dealing with modern motherhood horrors like teenage drinking, fake Instagram accounts and eco anxiety. After a brief spell of freedom, Anne (Philippa Dunne) is sucked back into being Amanda’s minion to help her navigate the social scene with the other parents at the children’s new school.
Motherland, which starred the likes of Anna Maxwell Martin, Diane Morgan and Paul Ready, ended earlier this year after three seasons. A U.S. remake...
One of Sharon Horgan’s hit show’s most popular characters, Amandaland will follow the protagonist (Lucy Punch) after her divorce, who has had to downsize and up sticks to South Harlesden, or as the Estate Agent calls it, SoHa.
Featuring her mother Felicity, played by British acting icon Joanna Lumley, Amanda has to try and get her head around raising teenagers, dealing with modern motherhood horrors like teenage drinking, fake Instagram accounts and eco anxiety. After a brief spell of freedom, Anne (Philippa Dunne) is sucked back into being Amanda’s minion to help her navigate the social scene with the other parents at the children’s new school.
Motherland, which starred the likes of Anna Maxwell Martin, Diane Morgan and Paul Ready, ended earlier this year after three seasons. A U.S. remake...
- 5/18/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
BBC sitcom Motherland has ended, according to star Diane Morgan, but a spin-off starring Lucy Punch is in the works. Here are the details:
The BBC sitcom Motherland has been quietly cancelled by the BBC, series regular Diane Morgan has confirmed. In an interview with The Times (as picked up by Chortle), Morgan talked about the third series of her sitcom Mandy, which returns to BBC Two tonight. But when Morgan was asked whether Motherland had ended, she confirmed it had, saying, “I hate to say it, because I still get women running up to me with prams in the street asking me when it’s coming back”.
The last episode was the 2022 Christmas special.
However, Morgan also said that a spin-off about Lucy Punch’s character, Amanda, was being considered, saying, “It’ll live on through her. The ladies with the prams will be pleased, hopefully”.
Motherland was created by Sharon Horgan,...
The BBC sitcom Motherland has been quietly cancelled by the BBC, series regular Diane Morgan has confirmed. In an interview with The Times (as picked up by Chortle), Morgan talked about the third series of her sitcom Mandy, which returns to BBC Two tonight. But when Morgan was asked whether Motherland had ended, she confirmed it had, saying, “I hate to say it, because I still get women running up to me with prams in the street asking me when it’s coming back”.
The last episode was the 2022 Christmas special.
However, Morgan also said that a spin-off about Lucy Punch’s character, Amanda, was being considered, saying, “It’ll live on through her. The ladies with the prams will be pleased, hopefully”.
Motherland was created by Sharon Horgan,...
- 3/28/2024
- by Jake Godfrey
- Film Stories
Two of the UK’s top comedy stars, Richard Ayoade and Jonathan Ross, have received backlash on social media after reviewing The It Crowd writer Graham Linehan’s memoir.
Irish scribe Linehan has gone from the writer of much-loved Channel 4 comedies The It Crowd, Father Ted and Black Books to an outspoken anti-transgender activist in recent years, leading many in the UK and Ireland to boycott him.
His book, Tough Crowd, has gone on pre-sale on Amazon this week. Its reviews section displays favorable quotes from talk show host and writer Ross and actor-director Ayoade, who starred in The It Crowd between 2006 and 2013. Other advocates include author John Boyne, anti-trans journalist Helen Joyce, comic Simon Evans and British TV director Lissa Evans.
Ross was quoted saying the book is “one of the most compelling and unflinchingly honest memoirs I’ve read in many years. It’s also the funniest,...
Irish scribe Linehan has gone from the writer of much-loved Channel 4 comedies The It Crowd, Father Ted and Black Books to an outspoken anti-transgender activist in recent years, leading many in the UK and Ireland to boycott him.
His book, Tough Crowd, has gone on pre-sale on Amazon this week. Its reviews section displays favorable quotes from talk show host and writer Ross and actor-director Ayoade, who starred in The It Crowd between 2006 and 2013. Other advocates include author John Boyne, anti-trans journalist Helen Joyce, comic Simon Evans and British TV director Lissa Evans.
Ross was quoted saying the book is “one of the most compelling and unflinchingly honest memoirs I’ve read in many years. It’s also the funniest,...
- 9/14/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
The Apprentice has angered viewers with its latest round of dreaded interviews.
Every series, the penultimate episode shows the final five candidates receive a grilling from Lord Sugar’s trusty aides, including Claude Littner and Linda Plant.
By the end of the episode, the candidates had been whittled down to just two.
This particular episode has regularly been considered a fan favourite among viewers – but viewers have complained that this year’s edition was far too harsh.
Joining Littner and Plant were Mike Souter and Baroness Karren Brady, who sits alongside Sugar in the boardroom.
Brady found herself at the centre of one of the episode’s most brutal moments. As Megan Hornby left her interview, which went dreadfully, she referred to Brady by her first name, to which Brady responded: “It’s Baroness Brady to you. My friends call me Karren.”
She also reduced two of the candidates to tears,...
Every series, the penultimate episode shows the final five candidates receive a grilling from Lord Sugar’s trusty aides, including Claude Littner and Linda Plant.
By the end of the episode, the candidates had been whittled down to just two.
This particular episode has regularly been considered a fan favourite among viewers – but viewers have complained that this year’s edition was far too harsh.
Joining Littner and Plant were Mike Souter and Baroness Karren Brady, who sits alongside Sugar in the boardroom.
Brady found herself at the centre of one of the episode’s most brutal moments. As Megan Hornby left her interview, which went dreadfully, she referred to Brady by her first name, to which Brady responded: “It’s Baroness Brady to you. My friends call me Karren.”
She also reduced two of the candidates to tears,...
- 3/17/2023
- by Jacob Stolworthy
- The Independent - TV
A Jeopardy! producer has divulged a show secret while apologising for a “horrible error” in a recent episode.
On 9 March, viewers tuning in to watch the game show were frustrated after a shot of the contestants’ final scores was shown during host Mayim Bialik’s opening speech.
The moment spoiled the entirety of the episode, and now executive producer Michael Davies has revealed why the error occurred.
Speaking on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, Davies said: “Right off the bat, apologies to our entire audience.”
He continued: “We totally blew it at the top of the show. We made a horrible error where we revealed the final scores at the end in the opening cutaway shot during Mayim’s monologue.”
Davies, offering a rare insight into the production of the series, then said the opening part of the show is often re-shot after the game has been completed, with cutaway shots...
On 9 March, viewers tuning in to watch the game show were frustrated after a shot of the contestants’ final scores was shown during host Mayim Bialik’s opening speech.
The moment spoiled the entirety of the episode, and now executive producer Michael Davies has revealed why the error occurred.
Speaking on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, Davies said: “Right off the bat, apologies to our entire audience.”
He continued: “We totally blew it at the top of the show. We made a horrible error where we revealed the final scores at the end in the opening cutaway shot during Mayim’s monologue.”
Davies, offering a rare insight into the production of the series, then said the opening part of the show is often re-shot after the game has been completed, with cutaway shots...
- 3/17/2023
- by Jacob Stolworthy
- The Independent - TV
Graham Linehan has spoken out about the resulting fallout after sharing his views opposing the trans rights movement, claiming he was asked to disassociate himself from the Father Ted stage musical.
Linehan is known to many for being the co-creator and co-writer of the classic sitcom, along with Arthur Mathews, as well as of shows including Black Books and The It Crowd.
He was suspended from Twitter in 2020 after making a series of controversial remarks about transgender people, but has since been reinstated on the platform.
Though he was reinstated in 2022, Linehan has claimed that his career and social status have not recovered since he began making critical remarks about the trans community.
In an interview with The Times, Linehan claimed that despite previously being involved in reforming Father Ted for the theatre, he’d been asked to end his involvement with the show due to the controversy surrounding him.
Linehan is known to many for being the co-creator and co-writer of the classic sitcom, along with Arthur Mathews, as well as of shows including Black Books and The It Crowd.
He was suspended from Twitter in 2020 after making a series of controversial remarks about transgender people, but has since been reinstated on the platform.
Though he was reinstated in 2022, Linehan has claimed that his career and social status have not recovered since he began making critical remarks about the trans community.
In an interview with The Times, Linehan claimed that despite previously being involved in reforming Father Ted for the theatre, he’d been asked to end his involvement with the show due to the controversy surrounding him.
- 3/17/2023
- by Nicole Vassell
- The Independent - TV
Jennifer Saunders has offered up her thoughts on the forthcoming Fawlty Towers reboot.
In February, John Cleese announced that he and his daughter Camilla would be bringing back the Seventies sitcom, which is widely considered to be one of the greatest comedies of all time.
The news prompted shock from comedy fans, many of whom questioned why the already adored show needed to be revived.
In a new interview, Saunders was asked what her reaction had been to the news that Fawlty Towers is returning.
“Slight dread, I have to say,” she told Metro.co.uk. “I just thought, why? Why don’t you write a new thing?
“I don’t understand why you have to do that. You can’t beat the old one.”
The Absolutely Fabulous star and Cleese appeared together in the French-language film L’entente cordiale in 2006, as well as both voicing characters for Shrek 2.
In February, John Cleese announced that he and his daughter Camilla would be bringing back the Seventies sitcom, which is widely considered to be one of the greatest comedies of all time.
The news prompted shock from comedy fans, many of whom questioned why the already adored show needed to be revived.
In a new interview, Saunders was asked what her reaction had been to the news that Fawlty Towers is returning.
“Slight dread, I have to say,” she told Metro.co.uk. “I just thought, why? Why don’t you write a new thing?
“I don’t understand why you have to do that. You can’t beat the old one.”
The Absolutely Fabulous star and Cleese appeared together in the French-language film L’entente cordiale in 2006, as well as both voicing characters for Shrek 2.
- 3/17/2023
- by Isobel Lewis
- The Independent - TV
ABC has confirmed Deadline’s exclusive report about a pilot order for Drop-Off (working title), a comedy based on the British series Motherland, with Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) to star and executive produce.
As we reported, Karan Soni (Deadpool franchise) also is set as a lead in the project, from writer Julieanne Smolinski, Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford’s Merman Television, Paul Feig’s Feigco Entertainment, Lionsgate and ABC Signature. Michael Showalter (The Big Sick) will direct.
Related Story Anthony Anderson To Star In ‘Public Defenders’ ABC Pilot; Liz Astrof To Showrun & Randall Einhorn To Direct Related Story David E. Talbert Sets Up 'Overtime' Comedy At ABC, 'Twas' The Night' Musical Anthology At Disney+ Related Story 'The Bachelor' Recap: Zach Wants To Find Love In Budapest, But Has To Make Tough Eliminations Ahead Of Hometowns
Written by Smolinski, Drop-Off (wt) centers on Julia (Kemper), a working mom...
As we reported, Karan Soni (Deadpool franchise) also is set as a lead in the project, from writer Julieanne Smolinski, Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford’s Merman Television, Paul Feig’s Feigco Entertainment, Lionsgate and ABC Signature. Michael Showalter (The Big Sick) will direct.
Related Story Anthony Anderson To Star In ‘Public Defenders’ ABC Pilot; Liz Astrof To Showrun & Randall Einhorn To Direct Related Story David E. Talbert Sets Up 'Overtime' Comedy At ABC, 'Twas' The Night' Musical Anthology At Disney+ Related Story 'The Bachelor' Recap: Zach Wants To Find Love In Budapest, But Has To Make Tough Eliminations Ahead Of Hometowns
Written by Smolinski, Drop-Off (wt) centers on Julia (Kemper), a working mom...
- 3/10/2023
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
ABC is in negotiations with Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) to headline Motherland, a comedy pilot based on the British series. Karan Soni (Deadpool franchise) has been tapped for a lead in the project, from writer Julieanne Smolinski, Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford’s Merman Television, Paul Feig’s Feigco Entertainment, Lionsgate and ABC Signature. Michael Showalter (The Big Sick) has come on board to direct.
Written by Smolinski, Motherland centers on Julia (the role Kemper has been in talks for over the past several weeks), a working mom for whom nothing is working so she goes looking for her village. With the help of new friends Calvin (Soni) and Liz, Julia discovers she just might succeed at balancing work and parenting from time to time. This is a comedy for anybody who’s dropped their kids at school, breathed a sigh of relief…then realized it’s Sunday.
Showalter...
Written by Smolinski, Motherland centers on Julia (the role Kemper has been in talks for over the past several weeks), a working mom for whom nothing is working so she goes looking for her village. With the help of new friends Calvin (Soni) and Liz, Julia discovers she just might succeed at balancing work and parenting from time to time. This is a comedy for anybody who’s dropped their kids at school, breathed a sigh of relief…then realized it’s Sunday.
Showalter...
- 3/6/2023
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
After several years in the works, British comedy sensation “Motherland” is getting a U.S. adaptation on ABC.
Variety understands ABC is close to signing a pilot order for an American remake of the hit BBC comedy. The show was previously set up at Hulu by Lionsgate, which has world distribution rights, but migrated to ABC — which is arguably a much broader platform — last year.
“Motherland” has aired on the BBC for three seasons since 2016. Set in a west London neighbourhood, the show follows a wacky group of mothers (and a father) who couldn’t be more different, but are united by the daily school run and a shared abhorrence for those who take parenting a little too seriously.
Produced by “Catastrophe” creator Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford’s Merman Television, the show is written by Horgan, Helen Serafinowicz, Graham Linehan and Holly Walsh. It first premiered on BBC Two...
Variety understands ABC is close to signing a pilot order for an American remake of the hit BBC comedy. The show was previously set up at Hulu by Lionsgate, which has world distribution rights, but migrated to ABC — which is arguably a much broader platform — last year.
“Motherland” has aired on the BBC for three seasons since 2016. Set in a west London neighbourhood, the show follows a wacky group of mothers (and a father) who couldn’t be more different, but are united by the daily school run and a shared abhorrence for those who take parenting a little too seriously.
Produced by “Catastrophe” creator Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford’s Merman Television, the show is written by Horgan, Helen Serafinowicz, Graham Linehan and Holly Walsh. It first premiered on BBC Two...
- 3/6/2023
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
BBC comedy Motherland has won its first BAFTA for its final season in the Best Scripted Comedy category as the award was presented by new Doctor Who Ncuti Gatwa.
The London-set sitcom starring Anna Maxwell-Martin and Diane Morgan recently aired its third season and has been a BBC Two staple for more than five years.
It beat Channel 4 double Stath Lets Flats and We Are Lady Parts and fellow BBC comedy Alma’s Not Normal.
The show is produced by Sharon Horgan’s Merman, with Horgan earlier winning for Best Single Drama Together. Horgan also writes with Graham Linehan.
“We are just a bunch of mums on the piss so we didn’t expect this,” said creator Holly Walsh, who thanked the team and cast and praised public service broadcasting for being “so bloody brilliant.”
The award was presented by Sex Education star Gatwa, who was earlier today revealed to...
The London-set sitcom starring Anna Maxwell-Martin and Diane Morgan recently aired its third season and has been a BBC Two staple for more than five years.
It beat Channel 4 double Stath Lets Flats and We Are Lady Parts and fellow BBC comedy Alma’s Not Normal.
The show is produced by Sharon Horgan’s Merman, with Horgan earlier winning for Best Single Drama Together. Horgan also writes with Graham Linehan.
“We are just a bunch of mums on the piss so we didn’t expect this,” said creator Holly Walsh, who thanked the team and cast and praised public service broadcasting for being “so bloody brilliant.”
The award was presented by Sex Education star Gatwa, who was earlier today revealed to...
- 5/8/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Paul Feig and Lionsgate are teaming with Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford’s Merman to adapt the hit BBC Two series “Motherland” for the U.S. market.
“Grace and Frankie” writer Julieanne Smolinski is adapting the show, which is in early development. Horgan, who co-created and co-wrote the BBC show, is not part of the writing team for the U.S. adaptation.
Lionsgate will co-finance and distribute. Feig has an overall deal with Lionsgate through his Feigco Entertainment label.
“Motherland” is a series about navigating the trials and traumas of middle-class motherhood, looking at the competitive side and unromantic take on parenting, and not the cute and acceptable public face of motherhood.
It has had two seasons on the BBC with a third due this year. Holly Walsh, Helen Linehan and Graham Linehan are the “Motherland” U.K. co-creators and co-writers, along with Horgan. The cast includes Anna Maxwell Martin,...
“Grace and Frankie” writer Julieanne Smolinski is adapting the show, which is in early development. Horgan, who co-created and co-wrote the BBC show, is not part of the writing team for the U.S. adaptation.
Lionsgate will co-finance and distribute. Feig has an overall deal with Lionsgate through his Feigco Entertainment label.
“Motherland” is a series about navigating the trials and traumas of middle-class motherhood, looking at the competitive side and unromantic take on parenting, and not the cute and acceptable public face of motherhood.
It has had two seasons on the BBC with a third due this year. Holly Walsh, Helen Linehan and Graham Linehan are the “Motherland” U.K. co-creators and co-writers, along with Horgan. The cast includes Anna Maxwell Martin,...
- 3/25/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Graham Linehan, creator of the British sitcoms “The It Crowd” and “Father Ted,” was banned from Twitter on Saturday after making transphobic comments on his social media account.
According to The Guardian, Twitter’s decision to ban Linehan came after he reportedly tweeted “men aren’t women tho” in response to a Pride post by the Women’s Institute in support of its transgender members. Twitter says it permanently suspended Linehan’s account, @glinner, for “repeated violations of our rules against hateful conduct and platform manipulation.”
Linehan has, in recent years, made several transphobic remarks, comparing trans activism to Nazism in a radio interview in 2018.
Also Read: 'Harry Potter' Star Emma Watson Tweets Support for Trans Lives After Jk Rowling's Transphobic Rant
‘The thing I can easily see happening, because I’ve had experience with these type of people already, is someone in a changing room, a man walks in,...
According to The Guardian, Twitter’s decision to ban Linehan came after he reportedly tweeted “men aren’t women tho” in response to a Pride post by the Women’s Institute in support of its transgender members. Twitter says it permanently suspended Linehan’s account, @glinner, for “repeated violations of our rules against hateful conduct and platform manipulation.”
Linehan has, in recent years, made several transphobic remarks, comparing trans activism to Nazism in a radio interview in 2018.
Also Read: 'Harry Potter' Star Emma Watson Tweets Support for Trans Lives After Jk Rowling's Transphobic Rant
‘The thing I can easily see happening, because I’ve had experience with these type of people already, is someone in a changing room, a man walks in,...
- 6/28/2020
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Autuerism and sports fandom aren’t as far apart from each other as the adherents of either might think. The cinephile and fan are both quick to announce their chosen favorites, accumulate vast bodies of arcane knowledge, and build peculiarly personal relationships with lofty, distant figures, Olympian personalities celebrated as much for individuality and style as sheer ability. Regarding the objects of their passions, both are equally quick to effusive tenderness and vindictive hostility. I am, of course, hardly the first to make this connection. In a 1997 article in Britain’s Neon magazine, Irish comic and then-future Black Books creator Graham Linehan penned a kind of comic fantasy envisioning film lovers as gangs of rival hooligans. “Kieslowski fans are bad enough,” decries Linehan’s narrator, a Greenaway partisan, “but when it comes to the worst of the worst, the lowest of the low, everyone agrees at the end of the...
- 11/8/2018
- MUBI
Exclusive: UK-based Eon Productions has hired theater, film and TV producer Patrick Daly to oversee production and development of the company’s theatrical projects.
Eon, best known in the film world for its longstanding production of James Bond movies, has been a big player on Broadway and the West End in recent seasons with involvement in, among others, Once and The Band’s Visit, both Tony Award winners for best musical.
Daly will serve as Eon’s Overseeing Consultant in charge of production and development across all theatrical projects. He will continue to run his own company, Caledonia Productions, launched last year to produce and develop a slate of upcoming stage and screen projects.
Prior to launching Caledonia, Daly was Vice President/Producer at Jean Doumanian Productions for 12 years.
“We are incredibly lucky to now have Patrick on board to oversee our theater projects,” said Eon producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
Eon, best known in the film world for its longstanding production of James Bond movies, has been a big player on Broadway and the West End in recent seasons with involvement in, among others, Once and The Band’s Visit, both Tony Award winners for best musical.
Daly will serve as Eon’s Overseeing Consultant in charge of production and development across all theatrical projects. He will continue to run his own company, Caledonia Productions, launched last year to produce and develop a slate of upcoming stage and screen projects.
Prior to launching Caledonia, Daly was Vice President/Producer at Jean Doumanian Productions for 12 years.
“We are incredibly lucky to now have Patrick on board to oversee our theater projects,” said Eon producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
- 10/19/2018
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Cringe comedy isn’t for everyone, but the best forms of it — “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “The Comeback,” “Peep Show” — find a way to make the awkward situations their characters go through feel necessary. It helps make that discomfort relatable and cathartic for the audience.
The Sundance Now acquisition “Motherland” has the perfect set-up: What’s more socially awkward than the passive aggressive, gossip-filled, and cliquey world of parenting? Though creators Sharon Horgan (“Catastrophe”), Graham Linehan (“The It Crowd”), Helen Linehan, and Holly Walsh (“Dead Boss”) build this chaotic existence well, they also shoot themselves in the foot by making their main characters self-destructive instead of self-sustaining. They don’t survive the madness so much as they consciously perpetuate it and then complain about the problems they’ve created.
Following one working mom who’s trying to balance her professional and familial responsibilities, “Motherland” begins on a particularly panicked day when...
The Sundance Now acquisition “Motherland” has the perfect set-up: What’s more socially awkward than the passive aggressive, gossip-filled, and cliquey world of parenting? Though creators Sharon Horgan (“Catastrophe”), Graham Linehan (“The It Crowd”), Helen Linehan, and Holly Walsh (“Dead Boss”) build this chaotic existence well, they also shoot themselves in the foot by making their main characters self-destructive instead of self-sustaining. They don’t survive the madness so much as they consciously perpetuate it and then complain about the problems they’ve created.
Following one working mom who’s trying to balance her professional and familial responsibilities, “Motherland” begins on a particularly panicked day when...
- 5/9/2018
- by Ben Travers
- Indiewire
And so, we reach the final month before Emmys eligibility closes once more. As the mad rush intensifies before the official start of summer, a number of returning TV shows will definitely be vying for your attention.
But amidst all the chaos of those shows making their way back into living rooms, some new series will also be vying for your attention. As is our custom at the beginning of each month, we’ve collected a rundown of the shows that might just be worth your time across broadcast, cable, and streaming.
(Missed our picks of what the first part of the year had to offer? Here are some notable TV premieres from February, March, and April.)
“Being Serena”
As one of the great athletes of her generation embarks on the new quest of being a mother, this five-part HBO series tracks her life on and off the tennis court.
But amidst all the chaos of those shows making their way back into living rooms, some new series will also be vying for your attention. As is our custom at the beginning of each month, we’ve collected a rundown of the shows that might just be worth your time across broadcast, cable, and streaming.
(Missed our picks of what the first part of the year had to offer? Here are some notable TV premieres from February, March, and April.)
“Being Serena”
As one of the great athletes of her generation embarks on the new quest of being a mother, this five-part HBO series tracks her life on and off the tennis court.
- 5/1/2018
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Sundance Now, AMC Networks’ premium video streaming service, has acquired the BAFTA-nominated hit British television series Motherland from Lionsgate, which has worldwide rights to the comedy. Watch the trailer above.
The series, written and created by Sharon Horgan, Holly Walsh, and Graham and Helen Linehan, will make its exclusive U.S. debut with the first two episodes making their Sundance Now premiere Thursday, May 10, the service announced. New episodes of the half-hour comedy starring Anna Maxwell Martin, Lucy Punch, Diane Morgan and Paul Ready will stream weekly every Thursday until the conclusion of Season 1 on June 14.
Jan Diedrichsen, General Manager of SundanceTV and Sundance Now, called Motherland “a hilariously honest and relatable portrayal of the hyper-competitive world of modern parenting,” adding that the series is sharply written and features a great ensemble cast.”
“Motherland has been a great success for the BBC, and we’re delighted to have found a U.
The series, written and created by Sharon Horgan, Holly Walsh, and Graham and Helen Linehan, will make its exclusive U.S. debut with the first two episodes making their Sundance Now premiere Thursday, May 10, the service announced. New episodes of the half-hour comedy starring Anna Maxwell Martin, Lucy Punch, Diane Morgan and Paul Ready will stream weekly every Thursday until the conclusion of Season 1 on June 14.
Jan Diedrichsen, General Manager of SundanceTV and Sundance Now, called Motherland “a hilariously honest and relatable portrayal of the hyper-competitive world of modern parenting,” adding that the series is sharply written and features a great ensemble cast.”
“Motherland has been a great success for the BBC, and we’re delighted to have found a U.
- 4/19/2018
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Is NBC giving The It Crowd another go? Deadline reports the network is developing an American remake of the hit UK comedy.From Graham Linehan, the sitcom centers on the eccentric It staff at a corporate office. The UK series starred Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, and Katherine Parkinson and ran for four seasons before ending with a special in 2013.Read More…...
- 12/20/2017
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
NBC refuses to give up on adapting The It Crowd for an American audience. On its third attempt to revitalize the British comedy, Deadline writes original series creator Graham Linehan is working on another script in an attempt to make his cult hit franchise a success in the U.S..
NBC first attempted to do this in 2007 and commissioned a pilot featuring Joel McHale, Jessica St. Clair, and cast member from the original series Richard Ayoade (far left in the picture). The series never made it to air as new NBC executive Ben Silverman gave it the ax before any episodes could be shown. In 2012 the pilot for the series was leaked online and many who were fans of the original series critiqued it for not being nearly as good.
In 2014 it was announced yet again that an American version of The It Crowd was in development, although nothing has...
NBC first attempted to do this in 2007 and commissioned a pilot featuring Joel McHale, Jessica St. Clair, and cast member from the original series Richard Ayoade (far left in the picture). The series never made it to air as new NBC executive Ben Silverman gave it the ax before any episodes could be shown. In 2012 the pilot for the series was leaked online and many who were fans of the original series critiqued it for not being nearly as good.
In 2014 it was announced yet again that an American version of The It Crowd was in development, although nothing has...
- 12/15/2017
- by Mick Joest
- GeekTyrant
The It Crowd creator Graham Linehan has confirmed that NBC is developing a remake of the British comedy – the third attempt in the U.S, although the first penned by the Irish writer. Linehan will write and exec produce the series alongside August: Osage County producer Patrick Daly and Jon Rolph, who runs FremantleMedia UK's Retort, which produced the original Channel 4 series. Universal Television will produce. The workplace comedy, which revolved around two computer…...
- 12/15/2017
- Deadline TV
Louisa Mellor Dec 15, 2017
We chatted to actor and writer Sally Phillips about comedy, European accents, special cuddles, writing films and more...
“I’m quite keen to meet a Finnish shaman, have you seen them?” asks Sally Phillips three minutes into an interview that’s supposed to be about her role in new family animation Ferdinand. Scrolling through her phone, she presents me with a photograph of a fearsome looking woman with Pris from Blade Runner eye make-up, wearing an elaborate headdress and holding a tambourine.
See related Star Wars: The Last Jedi review
“Look at the expression! Very, very miserable, tambourine, excellent eye make-up” says Phillips, delighted. “I play a character who looks a bit like that in Zapped! and I did something else recently where they painted a black chicken on one eye. I thought, well, it’s slowly, slowly happening, I’m turning into a Finnish Shaman.”
Despite not having visited Finland,...
We chatted to actor and writer Sally Phillips about comedy, European accents, special cuddles, writing films and more...
“I’m quite keen to meet a Finnish shaman, have you seen them?” asks Sally Phillips three minutes into an interview that’s supposed to be about her role in new family animation Ferdinand. Scrolling through her phone, she presents me with a photograph of a fearsome looking woman with Pris from Blade Runner eye make-up, wearing an elaborate headdress and holding a tambourine.
See related Star Wars: The Last Jedi review
“Look at the expression! Very, very miserable, tambourine, excellent eye make-up” says Phillips, delighted. “I play a character who looks a bit like that in Zapped! and I did something else recently where they painted a black chicken on one eye. I thought, well, it’s slowly, slowly happening, I’m turning into a Finnish Shaman.”
Despite not having visited Finland,...
- 12/14/2017
- Den of Geek
Kirsten Howard Aug 8, 2017
Series 3 of Graham Linehan and Steve Delaney's Count Arthur Strong will be its last, the BBC have revealed...
Sad news for fans of Count Arthur Strong, we're afraid: the BBC have decided not to pursue a fourth series of the cult show.
See related Avengers: Infinity War - the brand new poster Thor: Ragnarok's iconic trailer line came from an unlikely source Black Panther: loads of new images arrive Ant-Man And The Wasp is now in production
"There are no current plans for a further series of Count Arthur Strong on the BBC," a BBC spokesman said, with a source adding, "It's just sadly reached the end of the line for now. Count Arthur Strong is such a loved character amongst the fans, I'm sure he'll live on beyond the series."
The series does seem to have been given its best possible chances, having moved...
Series 3 of Graham Linehan and Steve Delaney's Count Arthur Strong will be its last, the BBC have revealed...
Sad news for fans of Count Arthur Strong, we're afraid: the BBC have decided not to pursue a fourth series of the cult show.
See related Avengers: Infinity War - the brand new poster Thor: Ragnarok's iconic trailer line came from an unlikely source Black Panther: loads of new images arrive Ant-Man And The Wasp is now in production
"There are no current plans for a further series of Count Arthur Strong on the BBC," a BBC spokesman said, with a source adding, "It's just sadly reached the end of the line for now. Count Arthur Strong is such a loved character amongst the fans, I'm sure he'll live on beyond the series."
The series does seem to have been given its best possible chances, having moved...
- 8/8/2017
- Den of Geek
One fascinating aspect of today’s media landscape is that many creators and executive producers enjoy using Twitter to engage with their audiences, share behind-the-scenes information about their shows, chat about politics, and otherwise communicate about what matters to them. So, each week, we’ll compile some of our favorite exchanges representing the wide variety of discourse seen on social media.
Read More: Mindy Kaling Has Some Thoughts on Hugh Jackman’s Career
This week: “BoJack Horseman” reveals its Fyc campaign (and it’s pretty great), while “Underground” fights for a new home and showrunners celebrate Jessica Chastain.
#UndergroundOnNetflix
The disappointing news that Wgn America will not be green-lighting a third season of “Underground” led to social media calls for other services and networks to pick up the series.
One person who thinks that sounds like a great idea? “Dear White People” creator Justin Simien, who even made sure to...
Read More: Mindy Kaling Has Some Thoughts on Hugh Jackman’s Career
This week: “BoJack Horseman” reveals its Fyc campaign (and it’s pretty great), while “Underground” fights for a new home and showrunners celebrate Jessica Chastain.
#UndergroundOnNetflix
The disappointing news that Wgn America will not be green-lighting a third season of “Underground” led to social media calls for other services and networks to pick up the series.
One person who thinks that sounds like a great idea? “Dear White People” creator Justin Simien, who even made sure to...
- 6/2/2017
- by Liz Shannon Miller
- Indiewire
Louisa Mellor May 4, 2017
Series 3 of Count Arthur Strong will start on BBC One on Friday the 19th of May at 8.30pm
Series three of Steve Delaney and Graham Linehan's extremely funny, warm-hearted sitcom Count Arthur Strong was completed last year and has been waiting in the BBC vaults for a suitable time slot.
See related DC Comics movies: upcoming UK release dates calendar Batman V Superman: where does it leave the Justice League? Why cinema needs Batman: the world’s greatest detective Zack Snyder interview: Batman V Superman Deborah Snyder & Charles Roven interview: Man Of Steel
And lo! What a slot has been found: Friday nights at half past eight on BBC One, starting from the 19th of May. It's the perfect position for the family-friendly show, which was pushed out at a bemusingly late hour last series, following its move from BBC Two to the flagship channel after the first run.
Series 3 of Count Arthur Strong will start on BBC One on Friday the 19th of May at 8.30pm
Series three of Steve Delaney and Graham Linehan's extremely funny, warm-hearted sitcom Count Arthur Strong was completed last year and has been waiting in the BBC vaults for a suitable time slot.
See related DC Comics movies: upcoming UK release dates calendar Batman V Superman: where does it leave the Justice League? Why cinema needs Batman: the world’s greatest detective Zack Snyder interview: Batman V Superman Deborah Snyder & Charles Roven interview: Man Of Steel
And lo! What a slot has been found: Friday nights at half past eight on BBC One, starting from the 19th of May. It's the perfect position for the family-friendly show, which was pushed out at a bemusingly late hour last series, following its move from BBC Two to the flagship channel after the first run.
- 5/4/2017
- Den of Geek
Pete Dillon-Trenchard Apr 22, 2017
Doctor Who series 10 remains in fine form with Smile - and we've been hunting for nerdy Easter eggs and spots in the episode. Spoilers!
This article contains lots of spoilers.
See related Better Call Saul season 3 episode 2 review: Witness Better Call Saul season 3 episode 1 review: Mabel The subtle rise of good prequels
Smile, folks - it’s that time of the week again where we take tonight’s episode of Doctor Who and shake it repeatedly until all of its hidden secrets fall out of its pockets - as well as callbacks and generally interesting observations. And if you think we’ve missed something, let us know in the comments below!
Happiness Will Prevail
If you’re reading this, you’re likely to fit into one of two categories – those of you who love and understand emojis and those of you (myself included) who have resigned...
Doctor Who series 10 remains in fine form with Smile - and we've been hunting for nerdy Easter eggs and spots in the episode. Spoilers!
This article contains lots of spoilers.
See related Better Call Saul season 3 episode 2 review: Witness Better Call Saul season 3 episode 1 review: Mabel The subtle rise of good prequels
Smile, folks - it’s that time of the week again where we take tonight’s episode of Doctor Who and shake it repeatedly until all of its hidden secrets fall out of its pockets - as well as callbacks and generally interesting observations. And if you think we’ve missed something, let us know in the comments below!
Happiness Will Prevail
If you’re reading this, you’re likely to fit into one of two categories – those of you who love and understand emojis and those of you (myself included) who have resigned...
- 4/22/2017
- Den of Geek
What made Ben Affleck feel sad, and why did people get naked on national television? Test your knowledge of this year’s film and TV with these questions
In a year heavy on sequels and remakes, which one stands as the UK’s top grosser of 2016?
Captain America: Civil War
Bridget Jones’s Baby
Finding Dory
The Jungle Book
A social media war over which film led to Twitter’s permanent suspension of alt-right poster boy Milo Yiannopoulos for racist trolling?
Suicide Squad
Central Intelligence
Moana
Ghostbusters
Dubbed “Sad Affleck” on the internet, a reaction shot from a Ben Affleck interview went viral in 2016. What had the interviewer been asking about at the time?
The reviews of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Reviews of The Accountant
His future as Batman in the DC Comics “extended universe”
His brother Casey’s Oscar buzz for Manchester By the Sea
Which film...
In a year heavy on sequels and remakes, which one stands as the UK’s top grosser of 2016?
Captain America: Civil War
Bridget Jones’s Baby
Finding Dory
The Jungle Book
A social media war over which film led to Twitter’s permanent suspension of alt-right poster boy Milo Yiannopoulos for racist trolling?
Suicide Squad
Central Intelligence
Moana
Ghostbusters
Dubbed “Sad Affleck” on the internet, a reaction shot from a Ben Affleck interview went viral in 2016. What had the interviewer been asking about at the time?
The reviews of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Reviews of The Accountant
His future as Batman in the DC Comics “extended universe”
His brother Casey’s Oscar buzz for Manchester By the Sea
Which film...
- 12/18/2016
- by Guy Lodge and Euan Ferguson
- The Guardian - Film News
Louisa Mellor Nov 11, 2016
As Red Oaks season 2 arrives on Amazon Prime Video, we chatted to lead Craig Roberts about his character, directing and more…
What Netflix’s Stranger Things is to 80s sci-fi horror, Amazon’s Red Oaks is to 80s coming-of-age romantic comedy. Without slipping into parody, both are a continuation of a familiar style of storytelling featuring characters and themes we know and love. If Stranger Things takes its cues from Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter, Red Oaks has made itself the inheritor of John Hughes, Rob Reiner and Amy Heckerling. (In a neat connection, Heckerling has directed multiple episodes of Red Oaks, which also stars Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Dirty Dancing’s Jennifer Grey, stitching it firmly into that continuity.)
See related Star Wars: Rogue One - what we know so far Star Wars: Rogue One - upcoming villains rumour round-up Star Wars...
As Red Oaks season 2 arrives on Amazon Prime Video, we chatted to lead Craig Roberts about his character, directing and more…
What Netflix’s Stranger Things is to 80s sci-fi horror, Amazon’s Red Oaks is to 80s coming-of-age romantic comedy. Without slipping into parody, both are a continuation of a familiar style of storytelling featuring characters and themes we know and love. If Stranger Things takes its cues from Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter, Red Oaks has made itself the inheritor of John Hughes, Rob Reiner and Amy Heckerling. (In a neat connection, Heckerling has directed multiple episodes of Red Oaks, which also stars Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Dirty Dancing’s Jennifer Grey, stitching it firmly into that continuity.)
See related Star Wars: Rogue One - what we know so far Star Wars: Rogue One - upcoming villains rumour round-up Star Wars...
- 11/7/2016
- Den of Geek
The Beeb is amping up the laughs. The BBC has commissioned three new comedy TV programs. BBC One has ordered the Porridge TV show revival from creators Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. The original prison-set series, starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale, ran on BBC One from 1974 to 1977. The Porridge reboot stars Kevin Bishop as Nigel ‘Fletch’ Fletcher, grandson of Barker’s iconic Norman Stanley Fletcher.BBC Two ordered the Motherland TV series, written by Graham Linehan and Sharon Horgan, Helen Linehan, and Holly Walsh, the show features the the trials and traumas of motherhood. The pilot, which aired as part of The BBC's "Landmark Sitcom Season," starred Anna Maxwell Martin, Lucy Punch, Diane Morgan, Paul Ready, Margaret Cabourn-Smith, and Oliver Chris.Meanwhile, BBC Three has commissions the first season of the A Brief History of Tim TV show,...
- 10/12/2016
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
Louisa Mellor Oct 6, 2016
Brilliant! The BBC has ordered a full series of new comedy Motherland, and of its rebooted Porridge starring Kevin Bishop...
Two new comedies are coming to the BBC: Motherland, written by the winning combination of Graham Linehan, Sharon Horgan, Holly Walsh and Helen Linehan, and a rebooted version of Porridge, from original creators Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.
Both part of the BBC's recent Landmark Sitcom season, the pilot for Motherland took an acerbic look at modern middle-class parenting. Starring Anna Maxwell Martin--an absolute treat to see in a comedic role--as harassed working mother of two Julia, it showed her dealings with playground queen bee Amanda (Lucy Punch), chaotic social outcast Liz (Diane Morgan) and eager-to-please stay at home dad Kevin (Paul Ready).
Sharp, well-observed and caustic about the smug, competitive cliques that form in the world of play dates and PTA committees, it was...
Brilliant! The BBC has ordered a full series of new comedy Motherland, and of its rebooted Porridge starring Kevin Bishop...
Two new comedies are coming to the BBC: Motherland, written by the winning combination of Graham Linehan, Sharon Horgan, Holly Walsh and Helen Linehan, and a rebooted version of Porridge, from original creators Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.
Both part of the BBC's recent Landmark Sitcom season, the pilot for Motherland took an acerbic look at modern middle-class parenting. Starring Anna Maxwell Martin--an absolute treat to see in a comedic role--as harassed working mother of two Julia, it showed her dealings with playground queen bee Amanda (Lucy Punch), chaotic social outcast Liz (Diane Morgan) and eager-to-please stay at home dad Kevin (Paul Ready).
Sharp, well-observed and caustic about the smug, competitive cliques that form in the world of play dates and PTA committees, it was...
- 10/6/2016
- Den of Geek
Louisa Mellor Sep 26, 2016
When life hurts, well-crafted, traditional sitcom like Count Arthur Strong can be an indispensable salve…
There’s a period a little while after a family death, after the days spent in a traffic jam of errands, decisions and phone calls, when you have to merge back into the regular lane. Normal life demands to re-start. The fridge needs filling and the lawn needs mowing, even if, impossibly, the person who usually does both has vanished forever.
For my family like most others, normal life means watching television. Telly is the cradle that rocked us through the decades. Whatever happened to us happened against a backdrop of soaps and sitcoms.
Losing our dad though, changed things. In the flayed-skin sensitivity of the days around his funeral, flicking through the channels meant running a gauntlet. A murder on EastEnders brought unwelcome ambulances and coroners back into our living room.
When life hurts, well-crafted, traditional sitcom like Count Arthur Strong can be an indispensable salve…
There’s a period a little while after a family death, after the days spent in a traffic jam of errands, decisions and phone calls, when you have to merge back into the regular lane. Normal life demands to re-start. The fridge needs filling and the lawn needs mowing, even if, impossibly, the person who usually does both has vanished forever.
For my family like most others, normal life means watching television. Telly is the cradle that rocked us through the decades. Whatever happened to us happened against a backdrop of soaps and sitcoms.
Losing our dad though, changed things. In the flayed-skin sensitivity of the days around his funeral, flicking through the channels meant running a gauntlet. A murder on EastEnders brought unwelcome ambulances and coroners back into our living room.
- 9/25/2016
- Den of Geek
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Did you spot the photo of Amy Poehler in Liz Lemon’s 30 Rock office? Or the Han Solo model in Firefly?
Surrounding your workspace with more clutter than a mid-noughties Myspace page is one way to assert individualism inside a bland corporate identity. It tells the world, ‘I’m not a number, I’m a free man! A free man overly fond of Pikachu!’ It can also be an act of mild rebellion, akin to leaving out the short and skinny bit of your school tie instead of the long, fat bit of your school tie that the man wants to see.
And then there’s sentimental desk décor, the talismans from loved ones from which you draw daily strength, reminding you why you shackled yourself to the capitalist cart horse in the first place. These are the photos, drawings and poorly made pottery items that prove you exist outside of work,...
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Did you spot the photo of Amy Poehler in Liz Lemon’s 30 Rock office? Or the Han Solo model in Firefly?
Surrounding your workspace with more clutter than a mid-noughties Myspace page is one way to assert individualism inside a bland corporate identity. It tells the world, ‘I’m not a number, I’m a free man! A free man overly fond of Pikachu!’ It can also be an act of mild rebellion, akin to leaving out the short and skinny bit of your school tie instead of the long, fat bit of your school tie that the man wants to see.
And then there’s sentimental desk décor, the talismans from loved ones from which you draw daily strength, reminding you why you shackled yourself to the capitalist cart horse in the first place. These are the photos, drawings and poorly made pottery items that prove you exist outside of work,...
- 2/11/2016
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
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Film directors and their crew discuss the techniques and approaches to capturing fruitiness on the big (and small) screen...
John Badham has written a couple of excellent books where he passed on advice about directing movies, and the lessons he's learned across his own career. In the latest, John Badham On Directing, he raises the spectre of filming sex scenes, and the problems that ensue.
Actors get really spooked when it comes to intimacy in a scene, even kissing", he wrote. "This is where the director has to be extremely patient with the actors and know that the emotional or intimate part of scenes don’t always shoot as easily as the production department thinks they should. The actors are not robots on a Toyota assembly line".
But just how do different filmmakers approach putting intimacy on film? In lots of different ways, is the answer...
Noel Clarke...
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Film directors and their crew discuss the techniques and approaches to capturing fruitiness on the big (and small) screen...
John Badham has written a couple of excellent books where he passed on advice about directing movies, and the lessons he's learned across his own career. In the latest, John Badham On Directing, he raises the spectre of filming sex scenes, and the problems that ensue.
Actors get really spooked when it comes to intimacy in a scene, even kissing", he wrote. "This is where the director has to be extremely patient with the actors and know that the emotional or intimate part of scenes don’t always shoot as easily as the production department thinks they should. The actors are not robots on a Toyota assembly line".
But just how do different filmmakers approach putting intimacy on film? In lots of different ways, is the answer...
Noel Clarke...
- 1/20/2016
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
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It's the final entry in Wesley's top 100 Christmas TV episodes of all time list, numbers 20 to 1. Merry Christmas to all!
Read entries 100 - 81 here, entries 80 - 61 here, entries 60 - 41 here, and entries 40 - 21 here.
Since the medium’s infancy, viewers have enjoyed sharing holidays with their favourite television characters. We grow invested in our friends on screen over the years; spending Christmas with them is a rite of passage, a chance for us to share tradition from our world with the fictional ones we see on screen. Some shows embrace the season wholeheartedly, characters in good spirits and enjoying the trappings of the season; others skew a little darker, bringing the more oppressive, burdensome side of the holidays to life. Either way, Christmas episodes tend to demonstrate the strengths of our favourite series, and it’s long been a festive ritual of mine to wheel out old...
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It's the final entry in Wesley's top 100 Christmas TV episodes of all time list, numbers 20 to 1. Merry Christmas to all!
Read entries 100 - 81 here, entries 80 - 61 here, entries 60 - 41 here, and entries 40 - 21 here.
Since the medium’s infancy, viewers have enjoyed sharing holidays with their favourite television characters. We grow invested in our friends on screen over the years; spending Christmas with them is a rite of passage, a chance for us to share tradition from our world with the fictional ones we see on screen. Some shows embrace the season wholeheartedly, characters in good spirits and enjoying the trappings of the season; others skew a little darker, bringing the more oppressive, burdensome side of the holidays to life. Either way, Christmas episodes tend to demonstrate the strengths of our favourite series, and it’s long been a festive ritual of mine to wheel out old...
- 12/17/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
British Satellite Broadcasting
Television pilots are important. They’re used by networks in order to assess the financial merits of a concept. A good pilot has the power to spawn a potentially brilliant new TV series. A bad one can sink a show before it ever gets a chance to breathe.
Over the years there have been tons of terrible TV pilots. Take How I Met Your Dad, for example, a female spin-off of How I Met Your Mother. Or what about the American version of Graham Linehan’s brilliant The It Crowd? That was a pilot so humourless it managed to destroy an already tried and tested concept.
But the history of television has proved difficult to predict. Who would have thought there’d be such huge audiences for surreal shows like Twin Peaks or Tim And Eric? Or that a show about a man who time travels in...
Television pilots are important. They’re used by networks in order to assess the financial merits of a concept. A good pilot has the power to spawn a potentially brilliant new TV series. A bad one can sink a show before it ever gets a chance to breathe.
Over the years there have been tons of terrible TV pilots. Take How I Met Your Dad, for example, a female spin-off of How I Met Your Mother. Or what about the American version of Graham Linehan’s brilliant The It Crowd? That was a pilot so humourless it managed to destroy an already tried and tested concept.
But the history of television has proved difficult to predict. Who would have thought there’d be such huge audiences for surreal shows like Twin Peaks or Tim And Eric? Or that a show about a man who time travels in...
- 12/12/2015
- by Brian Wilson
- Obsessed with Film
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E4 presents Tripped, a new sci-fi comedy starring Blake Harrison, aka Neil from The Inbetweeners. Here's the first trailer...
Here's one that has our attention. Tripped sees Blake Harrison (Neil from The Inbetweeners, soon to star in the Dad's Army reboot) and George Webster (City Of Dreamers, My Name Is Emily) embroiled in a fantasy quest involving umpteen parallel universes.
E4's new sci-fi comedy series started life as Alt, a pilot by Mr Jamie Mathieson - the writer of two of the best Doctor Who episodes from series 8 (Flatline and Mummy On The Orient Express), as well as feature film Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel. It starred Craig Roberts and Gethin Anthony in that incarnation.
Now The Missing's Harry and Jack Williams are the ones behind the scripts, with Jamie Magnus Stone directing.
Here's the first trailer...
We don't know the premiere date for Tripped yet,...
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E4 presents Tripped, a new sci-fi comedy starring Blake Harrison, aka Neil from The Inbetweeners. Here's the first trailer...
Here's one that has our attention. Tripped sees Blake Harrison (Neil from The Inbetweeners, soon to star in the Dad's Army reboot) and George Webster (City Of Dreamers, My Name Is Emily) embroiled in a fantasy quest involving umpteen parallel universes.
E4's new sci-fi comedy series started life as Alt, a pilot by Mr Jamie Mathieson - the writer of two of the best Doctor Who episodes from series 8 (Flatline and Mummy On The Orient Express), as well as feature film Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel. It starred Craig Roberts and Gethin Anthony in that incarnation.
Now The Missing's Harry and Jack Williams are the ones behind the scripts, with Jamie Magnus Stone directing.
Here's the first trailer...
We don't know the premiere date for Tripped yet,...
- 11/17/2015
- by rleane
- Den of Geek
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Father Ted’s Graham Linehan and The Adam And Joe Show’s Adam Buxton are writing The Cloud, a new comedy series for Channel 4…
Here’s some exciting news. Channel 4 has picked up new sci-fi comedy, The Cloud, from Father Ted and The It Crowd creator Graham Linehan and Adam Buxton of Adam Buxton's Bug and The Adam And Joe Show. Mr Buxton is also much praised, in this writer’s household at least, for engineering this chuckle-inducing moment in Never Mind The Buzzcocks.
"We have commissioned the series but we have no word yet on casting, though we can assure you that it will still be set in space," an informative Channel 4 source told the Radio Times.
We’ve also learned that “The Cloud follows the fairly hapless crew of Cloud Station 13, a data hub floating in space, set up to protect...
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Father Ted’s Graham Linehan and The Adam And Joe Show’s Adam Buxton are writing The Cloud, a new comedy series for Channel 4…
Here’s some exciting news. Channel 4 has picked up new sci-fi comedy, The Cloud, from Father Ted and The It Crowd creator Graham Linehan and Adam Buxton of Adam Buxton's Bug and The Adam And Joe Show. Mr Buxton is also much praised, in this writer’s household at least, for engineering this chuckle-inducing moment in Never Mind The Buzzcocks.
"We have commissioned the series but we have no word yet on casting, though we can assure you that it will still be set in space," an informative Channel 4 source told the Radio Times.
We’ve also learned that “The Cloud follows the fairly hapless crew of Cloud Station 13, a data hub floating in space, set up to protect...
- 11/3/2015
- by rleane
- Den of Geek
Not to make you feel old, but Black Books turns 15 today. That's right, every slob and pessimist's hero Bernard Black first emerged on our TV screens back on September 29, 2000 on Channel 4.
Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan's comedy has become a cult classic over the years, and we will forever be quoting Bernard, Manny and Fran's struggles through life, especially when we're hungover ("Shut up all of you, I'm dying").
Digital Spy recently caught up with Manny himself Bill Bailey and spoke to him about the show's continued popularity, and whether it could one day make a comeback.
"It's been wonderful watching it have this big long life after it went out on TV," Bill told us. "It's developed this cult following around the world. I get security guards in airports in Eastern Europe rubbing the breasts going 'Bernard Bernard Bernard Bernard'."
When asked what he thought of the...
Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan's comedy has become a cult classic over the years, and we will forever be quoting Bernard, Manny and Fran's struggles through life, especially when we're hungover ("Shut up all of you, I'm dying").
Digital Spy recently caught up with Manny himself Bill Bailey and spoke to him about the show's continued popularity, and whether it could one day make a comeback.
"It's been wonderful watching it have this big long life after it went out on TV," Bill told us. "It's developed this cult following around the world. I get security guards in airports in Eastern Europe rubbing the breasts going 'Bernard Bernard Bernard Bernard'."
When asked what he thought of the...
- 9/29/2015
- Digital Spy
Very British Problems, the 1 million follower-plus @soverybritish Twitter feed turned best-selling book of Britons' daily woes, hits our small screens tonight (August 13).
Starring Jonathan Ross, James Corden and a variety of famous funny Brits moaning creatively in a Grumpy Old Men stylee, the Channel 4 series looks to bottle the retweet phenomenon for a non-social audience.
I meet its London-based creator Rob Temple to find out how that's going to work and, to be honest, exactly how it all got this far. Over a beer, not an under-heated cup of tea ("I don't even like tea," laughs Temple), I ask how the idea started. "Well, it started it in 2012, cause you told me to."
Now, this is sort of true. Full disclosure: I used to work with Rob. And I did implore him to start a Twitter feed, as despite having never seen it himself, his dry, pithy humour was clearly a good fit.
Starring Jonathan Ross, James Corden and a variety of famous funny Brits moaning creatively in a Grumpy Old Men stylee, the Channel 4 series looks to bottle the retweet phenomenon for a non-social audience.
I meet its London-based creator Rob Temple to find out how that's going to work and, to be honest, exactly how it all got this far. Over a beer, not an under-heated cup of tea ("I don't even like tea," laughs Temple), I ask how the idea started. "Well, it started it in 2012, cause you told me to."
Now, this is sort of true. Full disclosure: I used to work with Rob. And I did implore him to start a Twitter feed, as despite having never seen it himself, his dry, pithy humour was clearly a good fit.
- 8/13/2015
- Digital Spy
Paul Weedon chats to Brian Limond, aka Limmy, about comedy, gallows humour, and new book, Daft Wee Stories. Strong swearing ahead...
Warning: the following contains frequent strong swearing and content some readers may find er, offensive.
With a cult following that would make even the most mainstream of comedians jealous, Brian Limond, better known to his legion of fans as Limmy, has spent the past decade and a half building a reputation as one of the strangest, most bafflingly brilliant comedians currently working. With the release of his new book, Daft Wee Stories, we sat down for a lengthy chat with Glesga’s favourite son.
“I love saying terrible things,” Limmy exclaims with a wry smile. “Things that I think are terrible and I’ve gotten in to trouble in the past – just hearing it come out of my mouth or seeing it typed and seeing it out there – something...
Warning: the following contains frequent strong swearing and content some readers may find er, offensive.
With a cult following that would make even the most mainstream of comedians jealous, Brian Limond, better known to his legion of fans as Limmy, has spent the past decade and a half building a reputation as one of the strangest, most bafflingly brilliant comedians currently working. With the release of his new book, Daft Wee Stories, we sat down for a lengthy chat with Glesga’s favourite son.
“I love saying terrible things,” Limmy exclaims with a wry smile. “Things that I think are terrible and I’ve gotten in to trouble in the past – just hearing it come out of my mouth or seeing it typed and seeing it out there – something...
- 7/29/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Remember Kinvig, Clone, Not With A Bang? These are the UK sci-fi sitcoms you’re unlikely to see on comedy best-of lists…
With E4 sci-fi comedy commissions, Tripped and Aliens, and in-development Channel 4 projects, Space Ark and Graham Linehan/Adam Buxton collaboration The Cloud, in the works, a new crop of sci-fi sitcom could be making its way to UK TV.
Making funny sci-fi on a small-screen budget is tough enough without the additional pressure of having to attract viewers more traditionally down-to-earth in their sitcom tastes. Sci-fi sets and effects can be seen as prohibitively expensive by comedy commissioners (which is perhaps why the best UK sci-fi sitcoms of recent years has been on BBC Radio), and the genre’s niche status doesn’t scream mainstream hit. Over the years, one or two stand-outs have managed to straddle the sci-fi and comedy TV worlds, but plenty more have stumbled in the attempt.
With E4 sci-fi comedy commissions, Tripped and Aliens, and in-development Channel 4 projects, Space Ark and Graham Linehan/Adam Buxton collaboration The Cloud, in the works, a new crop of sci-fi sitcom could be making its way to UK TV.
Making funny sci-fi on a small-screen budget is tough enough without the additional pressure of having to attract viewers more traditionally down-to-earth in their sitcom tastes. Sci-fi sets and effects can be seen as prohibitively expensive by comedy commissioners (which is perhaps why the best UK sci-fi sitcoms of recent years has been on BBC Radio), and the genre’s niche status doesn’t scream mainstream hit. Over the years, one or two stand-outs have managed to straddle the sci-fi and comedy TV worlds, but plenty more have stumbled in the attempt.
- 7/23/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Count Arthur Strong is coming back for a third TV series.
The comedy will air seven new episodes on BBC One, with both Steve Delaney and Rory Kinnear reprising their roles.
A reboot of the original radio show, Count Arthur Strong stars Delaney as an ex-variety star, while Kinnear plays Michael, the son of his old performing partner.
Delaney said: "I'm thrilled, delighted and humbled that BBC One have requested another series of Count Arthur Strong. Where do I sign? Quick, before they change their minds!"
Co-writer Graham Linehan added: "Very happy to hear that Arthur, Michael and the gang will have more adventures. And we've got some crackers lined up for this series."
Critics were divided when Count Arthur Strong first aired on TV in 2013, with BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow describing the show as "Marmite" after recommissioning the comedy for a second series.
However, Linehan later suggested: "I...
The comedy will air seven new episodes on BBC One, with both Steve Delaney and Rory Kinnear reprising their roles.
A reboot of the original radio show, Count Arthur Strong stars Delaney as an ex-variety star, while Kinnear plays Michael, the son of his old performing partner.
Delaney said: "I'm thrilled, delighted and humbled that BBC One have requested another series of Count Arthur Strong. Where do I sign? Quick, before they change their minds!"
Co-writer Graham Linehan added: "Very happy to hear that Arthur, Michael and the gang will have more adventures. And we've got some crackers lined up for this series."
Critics were divided when Count Arthur Strong first aired on TV in 2013, with BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow describing the show as "Marmite" after recommissioning the comedy for a second series.
However, Linehan later suggested: "I...
- 5/22/2015
- Digital Spy
April 21, 1995 – would that be the day the ice age ended?
Well, no, you can't be that precise about the ice age. But it would be the day that Father Ted debuted on Channel 4.
It's hard to believe, but it's been 20 years since we first met Father Ted Crilly, Father Dougal McGuire, Father Jack Hackett and Mrs Doyle. We came to the Parochial House looking for a cup of tea and a Jaffa cake, and decided to stay longer than Father Stone.
Two decades on, and Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews' sitcom is still as clever, fresh and fecking hilarious as it was back then. And it's not difficult to see why the show about three priests and their housekeeper trapped on Craggy Island has enjoyed such longevity, or to argue why it is the greatest TV comedy ever made.
It has topped countless 'all-time TV comedy' polls in the past,...
Well, no, you can't be that precise about the ice age. But it would be the day that Father Ted debuted on Channel 4.
It's hard to believe, but it's been 20 years since we first met Father Ted Crilly, Father Dougal McGuire, Father Jack Hackett and Mrs Doyle. We came to the Parochial House looking for a cup of tea and a Jaffa cake, and decided to stay longer than Father Stone.
Two decades on, and Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews' sitcom is still as clever, fresh and fecking hilarious as it was back then. And it's not difficult to see why the show about three priests and their housekeeper trapped on Craggy Island has enjoyed such longevity, or to argue why it is the greatest TV comedy ever made.
It has topped countless 'all-time TV comedy' polls in the past,...
- 4/20/2015
- Digital Spy
Graham Linehan, the creator of beloved British sitcom "The It Crowd," is planning a new sci-fi comedy TV series.
Entitled "The Cloud," the story follows the crew of Cloud Station 13 which is in orbit around Earth. The station is set up to protect the vast amounts of information humanity now hoards on its devices - the majority of which comprises selfies, pictures of kittens and porn.
The disparate group manning the hub are aren't technical geniuses, a big problem as the largely voice-activated ship is unreliable at best.
Adam Buxton ("The Persuasionists") is co-creating the sitcom with Lineman. Channel 4 has commissioned a pilot which will shoot this Spring. Buxton, Aisling Be and Jamie Demetriou will star.
Source: The Guardian...
Entitled "The Cloud," the story follows the crew of Cloud Station 13 which is in orbit around Earth. The station is set up to protect the vast amounts of information humanity now hoards on its devices - the majority of which comprises selfies, pictures of kittens and porn.
The disparate group manning the hub are aren't technical geniuses, a big problem as the largely voice-activated ship is unreliable at best.
Adam Buxton ("The Persuasionists") is co-creating the sitcom with Lineman. Channel 4 has commissioned a pilot which will shoot this Spring. Buxton, Aisling Be and Jamie Demetriou will star.
Source: The Guardian...
- 2/12/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Graham Linehan is reportedly working on a new Channel 4 sitcom pilot set in space.
The Cloud will star Adam Buxton as part of a hapless data hub crew who are floating around Earth. Their ship is designed to protect information on the internet, even if it is only just selfies, porn and funny cat photos.
Aisling Bea and Jamie Demetriou will also star in the project, according to Radio Times.
The non-broadcast pilot will film in the spring. Channel 4 will announce whether it has received a full commission later this year.
Previous British sitcoms set in space include the iconic Red Dwarf, Nick Frost's Hyperdrive, and the TV adaptation of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Linehan recently revealed that a potential musical version of his classic show Father Ted could be a success.
The writer's current series Count Arthur Strong - which he...
The Cloud will star Adam Buxton as part of a hapless data hub crew who are floating around Earth. Their ship is designed to protect information on the internet, even if it is only just selfies, porn and funny cat photos.
Aisling Bea and Jamie Demetriou will also star in the project, according to Radio Times.
The non-broadcast pilot will film in the spring. Channel 4 will announce whether it has received a full commission later this year.
Previous British sitcoms set in space include the iconic Red Dwarf, Nick Frost's Hyperdrive, and the TV adaptation of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Linehan recently revealed that a potential musical version of his classic show Father Ted could be a success.
The writer's current series Count Arthur Strong - which he...
- 2/10/2015
- Digital Spy
Graham Linehan has confirmed that the BBC has dropped The Walshes after one series.
The Father Ted writer's sitcom was brought over from Irish channel Rte One to BBC Four and later BBC Two in 2014. However, it will no longer be shown on the BBC.
The Walshes there, which BBC2 dropped because it didn't find an audience after three episodes and zero publicity. Anyway...
— Graham Linehan (@Glinner) January 20, 2015
Linehan continued: "I should say that [comedy commissioner] Shane Allen, who brought The Walshes over to BBC2, always fought hard for it. The order to nix it came from higher up."
Bemoaning the decision to drop the show, he added: "But I really struggle to grasp the point of putting out a three-episode series, giving it no publicity, and then pulling it. Befuddling.
"Ta for all the kind words on The Walshes, folks. Really appreciated. Working now to make sure it's not the last you've seen of them.
The Father Ted writer's sitcom was brought over from Irish channel Rte One to BBC Four and later BBC Two in 2014. However, it will no longer be shown on the BBC.
The Walshes there, which BBC2 dropped because it didn't find an audience after three episodes and zero publicity. Anyway...
— Graham Linehan (@Glinner) January 20, 2015
Linehan continued: "I should say that [comedy commissioner] Shane Allen, who brought The Walshes over to BBC2, always fought hard for it. The order to nix it came from higher up."
Bemoaning the decision to drop the show, he added: "But I really struggle to grasp the point of putting out a three-episode series, giving it no publicity, and then pulling it. Befuddling.
"Ta for all the kind words on The Walshes, folks. Really appreciated. Working now to make sure it's not the last you've seen of them.
- 1/22/2015
- Digital Spy
Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan's Channel 4 sitcom Black Books, starring Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig, was comedy genius. Here's why...
Everyone loves second-hand bookshops, don’t they? The satisfaction of leafing through some dusty volume of antiquarian musings, the rich scent of aged leather bindings, redolent of the past… Add to all that the opportunity to indulge in some intellectual posing and impress the philosophy student lounging in the corner, and you’ve got yourself a full Saturday afternoon’s entertainment.
That is, of course, unless you happen to find yourself in one particular Bloomsbury establishment, presided over by a certain Bernard Black. Make no mistake: our Bernard (Dylan Moran) may have an aesthete’s tousled pallor, but there’s nothing remotely poetic about his attitude to running a shop. Only dimly familiar with the concept of customer service, he rules his domain with a rod of iron.
Everyone loves second-hand bookshops, don’t they? The satisfaction of leafing through some dusty volume of antiquarian musings, the rich scent of aged leather bindings, redolent of the past… Add to all that the opportunity to indulge in some intellectual posing and impress the philosophy student lounging in the corner, and you’ve got yourself a full Saturday afternoon’s entertainment.
That is, of course, unless you happen to find yourself in one particular Bloomsbury establishment, presided over by a certain Bernard Black. Make no mistake: our Bernard (Dylan Moran) may have an aesthete’s tousled pallor, but there’s nothing remotely poetic about his attitude to running a shop. Only dimly familiar with the concept of customer service, he rules his domain with a rod of iron.
- 1/9/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Father Ted creator Graham Linehan has spoken about the possibility of adapting the sitcom for the stage.
The writer told Radio Times that he believes a musical version of the show could be a success.
"I would never bring back the TV show, because of the risk you poison people's memories of the original," he insisted.
"But if you were to come up with a completely new format, I think it would be worth doing. I have this vision of a dance number, with spinning cardinals."
Although he admitted that co-creator Arthur Mathews is "not as convinced" by the idea, Linehan added: "I think it could work."
Linehan also spoke about the likelihood of the potential project referencing child sex scandals within the Catholic Church, saying: "The jokes would have to have a little bit more edge, because you just can't ignore this stuff."
Father Ted fans recently attempted to...
The writer told Radio Times that he believes a musical version of the show could be a success.
"I would never bring back the TV show, because of the risk you poison people's memories of the original," he insisted.
"But if you were to come up with a completely new format, I think it would be worth doing. I have this vision of a dance number, with spinning cardinals."
Although he admitted that co-creator Arthur Mathews is "not as convinced" by the idea, Linehan added: "I think it could work."
Linehan also spoke about the likelihood of the potential project referencing child sex scandals within the Catholic Church, saying: "The jokes would have to have a little bit more edge, because you just can't ignore this stuff."
Father Ted fans recently attempted to...
- 1/6/2015
- Digital Spy
Graham Linehan has hinted that the upcoming Us remake of The It Crowd will be a departure from the original series.
NBC previously attempted to adapt the Channel 4 sitcom for a 2007 pilot, producing a near shot-for-shot remake, but Linehan told Digital Spy that he wants the network's second attempt to diverge from the UK series.
"It's one of the few things I've done that could translate," he said. "You just have to pull back on the surrealism and concentrate more on the character comedy - the Americans do character comedy so beautifully, so I think you have to adapt it to suit that.
"So I'm going over [to Los Angeles] to say to them, 'Please don't do my show' - or do my show, just a suitable American version.
"I'm really glad they're giving me the chance to pitch that to them - it's better to start off with a template that actually gives you a chance.
NBC previously attempted to adapt the Channel 4 sitcom for a 2007 pilot, producing a near shot-for-shot remake, but Linehan told Digital Spy that he wants the network's second attempt to diverge from the UK series.
"It's one of the few things I've done that could translate," he said. "You just have to pull back on the surrealism and concentrate more on the character comedy - the Americans do character comedy so beautifully, so I think you have to adapt it to suit that.
"So I'm going over [to Los Angeles] to say to them, 'Please don't do my show' - or do my show, just a suitable American version.
"I'm really glad they're giving me the chance to pitch that to them - it's better to start off with a template that actually gives you a chance.
- 1/6/2015
- Digital Spy
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