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British Situation Comedy
A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television. Most British sitcoms are recorded on studio sets, while some have an element of location filming. A handful are made almost exclusively on location (for example, ''Last of the Summer Wine'') and shown to a studio audience prior to final post-production. A subset of British comedy consciously avoids traditional situation comedy themes, storylines, and home settings to focus on more unusual topics or narrative methods. ''Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and ''Yes Minister'' (1980–1988, 2013) moved what is often a domestic or workplace genre into the corridors of power. A later development was the mockumentary genre exemplified by series such as ''The Office'' (2001–2003). Early years ;''Pinwright's Progress'' Written by Rodney Hobson, ''Pinwright's Progress'' (1946–1947) was the world's first regular half-hour televised sitcom. Broadcast live by the BBC from Alexandra Palace, it was ab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new characters in each sketch, and stand-up comedy, where a comedian tells jokes and stories to an audience. Sitcoms originated in radio, but today are found mostly on television as one of its dominant narrative forms. A situation comedy television program may be recorded in front of a studio audience, depending on the program's production format. The effect of a live studio audience can be imitated or enhanced by the use of a laugh track. Critics disagree over the utility of the term "sitcom" in classifying shows that have come into existence since the turn of the century. Many contemporary American sitcoms use the single-camera setup and do not feature a laugh track, thus often resembling the dramedy shows of the 1980s and 1990s rather t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
It's That Man Again
''It's That Man Again'' (commonly contracted to ''ITMA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme which ran for twelve series from 1939 to 1949. The shows featured Tommy Handley in the central role, a fast-talking figure, around whom the other characters orbited. The programmes were written by Ted Kavanagh and produced by Francis Worsley. Handley died during the twelfth series, the remaining programmes of which were immediately cancelled: ''ITMA'' could not work without him, and no further series were commissioned. ''ITMA'' was a character-driven comedy whose satirical targets included officialdom and the proliferation of minor wartime regulations. Parts of the scripts were rewritten in the hour before the broadcast, to ensure topicality. ''ITMA'' broke away from the conventions of previous radio comedies, and from the humour of the music halls. The shows used sound effects in a novel manner, which, alongside a wide range of voices and accents, created the programme's atmosphere. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Muir
Frank Herbert Muir (5 February 1920 – 2 January 1998) was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wrote BBC Radio's ''Take It from Here'' for over 10 years, and then appeared on BBC radio quizzes ''My Word!'' and '' My Music'' for another 35. Muir became Assistant Head of Light Entertainment at the BBC in the 1960s, and was then London Weekend Television's founding Head of Entertainment. His many writing credits include editorship of ''The Oxford Book of Humorous Prose''. Birth and early life Muir was the second son of steam tug engineer Charles James Muir (1888–1934), originally from New Zealand, and his wife Margaret, daughter of ship's carpenter Harry Harding. Harry Harding had died young at sea; his widow, Elizabeth Jane (née Cowie) subsequently married Frank Herbert Webber, a former lighthouse inspector and licensee of the Derby ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whack-O!
''Whack-O!'' is a British sitcom TV series starring Jimmy Edwards, written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden, and broadcast from 1956 to 1960 and 1971 to 1972. The series (in black and white) ran on the BBC from 1956 to 1960 and (in colour) from 1971 to 1972. Edwards took the part of Professor James Edwards, M.A., the drunken, gambling, devious, cane-swishing headmaster who tyrannised staff and children at Chiselbury public school (described in the opening titles as "for the sons of Gentlefolk"). The Edwards character bore more than a passing resemblance to Sergeant Bilko as he tried to swindle the children out of their pocket money to finance his many schemes. The first six episodes were subtitled "Six of the Best". In 1959 a film was made based on the show, called ''Bottoms Up!''. The series was revived in colour with updated scripts in 1971–72, slightly retitled ''Whacko!''. In all, it ran for a total of 60 episodes, with 47 of black-and-white and 13 colour, of 30 minutes each ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Edwards
James Keith O'Neill Edwards, DFC (23 March 19207 July 1988) was an English comedy writer and actor on radio and television, best known as Pa Glum in ''Take It from Here'' and as headmaster "Professor" James Edwards in ''Whack-O!''. Early life Edwards was born in Barnes, Surrey, the son of a professor of mathematics. He had four brothers and four sisters. He was educated at St Paul's Cathedral School, at King's College School in Wimbledon and as a choral scholar at St John's College, Cambridge, where he sang in the college choir. Second World War Edwards served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, was commissioned in April 1942, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and ended the war as a flight lieutenant. He served with No. 271 Squadron RAF, based in Doncaster, who took part in the D-Day landings. His Dakota was shot down at Arnhem in 1944, resulting in facial injuries requiring plastic surgery, that he disguised with a large handlebar moustache that b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Eton
Peter Randolph Eton (28 May 1917 – December 1979) was a producer for BBC radio and television. He was invalided out of the navy after being wounded during the Dunkirk evacuation and joined the BBC. He worked at the Variety Department of the BBC from 1951 onwards and oversaw a number of radio series, notably ''The Goon Show''. He died in December 1979, at the age of 62. Biography Eton studied art before working as an artist and film art director; he joined the Royal Navy at the outbreak of World War II, but was invalided out after he was injured by shrapnel during the Dunkirk evacuation. Eton joined the BBC in 1941 in the London Transcription Service—a wartime propaganda unit within the BBC—as a producer. After spending time as a features and drama producer, he moved to the Variety Department in 1951. In 1951 Eton worked with Spike Milligan on ''Bumblethorpe''; Milligan wrote the series with Larry Stephens and Peter Ling, and the cast included Milligan himself, Robert ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patricia Hayes
Patricia Lawlor Hayes (22 December 1909 – 19 September 1998) was an English character actress. Early life Patricia Hayes OBE was born in Streatham,Dennis Barker, "Hayes, Patricia Lawlor (1909–1998)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 200available online Retrieved 18 June 2020. London, the daughter of George Frederick Hayes and Florence Alice Hayes. Her father was a clerk in the civil service and her mother was a schoolmistress. As a child, Hayes attended the Sacred Heart School in Hammersmith. Career Hayes attended RADA, graduating in 1928. She spent the next 10 years in repertory theatre.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/175668.stm She was featured in many radio and television comedy shows between 1940 and 1996, including ''Hancock's Half Hour'', ''Ray's a Laugh'', ''The Arthur Askey Show'', ''The Benny Hill Show'', ''Bootsie and Snudge'', ''Hugh and I'' and ''Till Death Us Do Part''. She played the part of Henry Bones in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English actor of Welsh heritage. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films, and appeared in many British television programmes and radio comedies, including series with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne, as well as being a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's comedy panel show ''Just a Minute'' from its second series in 1968 until his death 20 years later. Williams grew up in Central London in a working-class family; he claimed his father spoke cockney. He served in the Royal Engineers during World War II, where he first became interested in becoming an entertainer. After a short spell in repertory theatre as a serious actor, he turned to comedy and achieved national fame in ''Hancock's Half Hour''. He sustained continued success throughout the 1960s and 1970s with his regular app ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Le Mesurier
John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation comedy ''Dad's Army'' (1968–1977). A self-confessed "jobbing actor", Le Mesurier appeared in more than 120 films across a range of genres, normally in smaller supporting parts. Le Mesurier became interested in the stage as a young adult and enrolled at the Fay Compton Studio of Dramatic Art in 1933. From there he took a position in repertory theatre and made his stage debut in September 1934 at the Palladium Theatre in Edinburgh in the J. B. Priestley play ''Dangerous Corner''. He later accepted an offer to work with Alec Guinness in a John Gielgud production of ''Hamlet''. He first appeared on television in 1938 as Seigneur de Miolans in the BBC broadcast of ''The Marvellous History of St Bernard''. During the Second World War Le Mesuri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carry On (franchise)
The ''Carry On'' series of 31 British comedy films were released between 1958 and 1978, produced by Peter Rogers with director Gerald Thomas. The humour of ''Carry On'' was in the British comic tradition of music hall and bawdy seaside postcards. In between the films, Rogers and Thomas produced four Christmas television specials (1969–1973), a 1975 television series of thirteen episodes, and three West End stage shows that later toured the regions. The series drew on regular ensemble that included Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, Peter Butterworth, Hattie Jacques, Terry Scott, Bernard Bresslaw, Barbara Windsor, Jack Douglas, and Jim Dale. A 31st film was released in 1992, though featuring only four of the "irregular" cast members. The ''Carry On'' series contains the largest number of films of any British film series, and is the second longest running, albeit with a fourteen-year gap (1978–1992) between the 30th and 31st entrie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sid James
Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. He was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series. Born to a middle-class Jewish family in South Africa, James started his career in his native country before finding his greatest success in the UK. Beginning his screen career playing bit parts in films from 1947, he was cast in numerous small and supporting roles into the 1950s. He appeared in the film ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' in 1951, starring Alec Guinness. His profile was raised as Tony Hancock's co-star in ''Hancock's Half Hour'', first in the radio series and later when it was adapted for television and ran from 1954 to 1960. Afterwards, he became known as a regular performer in the Carry On films, appearing in 19 films of the series, with the top billing roles in 17 (in the other two he was cast below Frankie Howerd). His starring roles in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sidekick
A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato, Shrek's Donkey and Puss in Boots, Mickey Mouse's Donald Duck and Goofy, Mario's Luigi and Yoshi, Sonic's Tails and Knuckles, Donkey Kong's Diddy Kong, Daffy Duck's Porky Pig, Captain America's Bucky and Batman's Robin. Origins The first recorded use of the term dates from 1896. It is believed to have originated in pickpocket slang of the late 19th century. The "kick" was the front pocket of a pair of trousers, believed to be the pocket safest from theft. Thus, by analogy, a "side-kick" was a person's closest companion.Morris, EvanWord Detective(December 20, 1999). One of the earliest recorded sidekicks may be Enkidu, who adopted a sidekick rol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
