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Horgan Runs And Jumps In New York

23 Apr

Sharon Horgan features in a new film, Run and Jump, which premieres at the Tribeca Festival in New York.

The Irish-German co-production, directed by Oscar-nominated Steph Green,  is based on an original screenplay by Ailbhe Keogan. It follows the story of  a spirited Irish woman who struggles to rebuild her family when her husband returns home after suffering a stroke that has left his personality fundamentally changed. She finds comfort in an American ethnographer sent to document the recovery process. Actress Maxine Peake plays the lead part, while  Horgan plays the role of her friend, Tara, in the film. You can see her in the trailer below:

Run and Jump can be seen for two further screenings at Tribeca: this evening, Tuesday 23rd at 8.30pm at Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 4 (be quick!), and then finally on Friday 26th at 6pm at AMC Loews Village 7 – 1. For more information, availability and tickets click here.

The Tribeca Festival runs until 28th April. Its mission is to help filmmakers reach the broadest possible audience, enable the international film community and general public to experience cinema and promote New York City as a major filmmaking centre. For more information take a look at their website.

Pulling US Style

23 Feb

Last September we revealed that a US adaptation of the cult hit comedy Pulling was on the cards, having been bought by the ABC network in America. Now two of the key cast members have been announced!

© Radio Times

June Diane Raphael (on the left in the picture) will take the role of Donna – originally played by Sharon Horgan – who moves back in with her single best friends, Louise and Karen, when her perfect life suddenly falls apart. Mandy Moore (right in the picture) will play Louise, a role previously filled by Rebekah Staton. The character of Karen is yet to be cast.

The show will be directed by Pitch Perfect‘s Jason Moore, and the pilot has been penned by Bad Teacher‘s Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky.

If we hear any more, we’ll be sure to keep you posted!

Hey Diddly Dee, It’s Paul Kaye And Kylie!

18 Jan

Paul Kaye is part of the star studded cast of the next series of Playhouse Presents for SkyArts, starring alongside Peter Serafinowicz and pop princess Kylie Minogue in a one-off comedy drama.

©2013 Sky Atlantic

The series allows a number of big name stars a chance to direct their own short films – with the likes of Idris Elba, Matt Smith and Johnny Vegas amongst this year’s helmers.

Hey Diddly Dee, described as a dark comedy drama about the death of a theatre actor, is written and directed by Hustle star Mark Warren.  It’s leading lady is non other than legendary pop singer, and occasional actress Kylie Minogue, who was quoted by Radio Times as saying:  ”When the script was sent to me, I read it and knew instinctively I wanted to be part of this project. Marc has created a beautiful and quirky story.”

The project co-stars Paul Kaye, Peter Serafinowicz (pictured above with Minogue), Matthew Horne and David Harewood.  Serafinowicz has been confirmed as playing a character callde Roger, who is portraying Andy Warhol in a play – whilst Minogue plays actress Bibi, set to portray one of Warhol’s muses, Edie Sedgwick.

Kylie, who celebrated her 25th year in pop music in 2012, seems to be a fan of alternative comedy.  She recently posted a photo of a signed copy of The Peter Serafinowicz Show (which featured the work of Matt Berry, no less), to her Twitter page, including the glorious hashtag #bonbonbonbons, and since then posted a link to a sketch from CBBC show Fit featuring Serafinowicz as Butterfield.  Last year, she also waxed lyrical on Twitter about Julia Davis, so we’d be honoured if she ever graced our pages to find out what her favourite funny people are up to!

Hey Diddly Dee opens the Playhouse Presents series on March 14th exclusively on SkyArts, and the series will continue until May – culminating in a full series of last year’s one-off show Pyschobitches featuring Davis, Sharon Horgan and Katy Brand – with another TVO face, Lucy Montgomery on the writing team.  We can’t wait!

© Tiger Aspect / Sky Atlantic

The Secrets Of A Good Marriage

4 Jan

© Channel Four

Not only has Sharon Horgan got the talent of making us laugh up our beverage through our noses in Bad Sugar, she is also one hands-on relationship advisor.

Earlier this week you may have missed Horgan on Channel Four trying to find out The Secrets Of A Good Marriage, where she met and heard from real couples on what it really is like to be in a happy and content relationship.

Not to worry if it didn’t pass your peepers, as it is available on 4OD for the next month and well worth a watch!

Catch the show right here until February 2nd plus if you want, you can check out her previous show on How To Be A Good Mother right after!

Wipe Away 2012 With Some Friends of TVO

28 Dec

© The Quietus

Charlie Brooker will be bringing his gloriously acerbic perspective on life to our TV sets on 1st January with Charlie Brooker’s 2012 Wipe.

His satirical look back at the events of the past 12 months includes the Olympic Games, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the jailing of members of Pussy Riot and the US presidential election.

As you know, Brooker himself has a TVO connection thanks to his role as co-creator of Nathan Barley.  Tomorrow’s show deserves a special mention, however, because it includes contributions from Sharon Horgan (and Peter Serafinowicz who, while not a regularly-featured TVO artist, has appeared in a whole host of related shows including IT Crowd, This is Jinsy and Bad Sugar amongst others).

The show airs at 10-11pm on BBC2 on Tuesday 1st January (2nd January for Northern Ireland), and will be on iPlayer for seven days afterwards.

Psychobitches Returns

18 Dec

One-off sketch show Pyschobitches will return for a full series in 2013.

© Tiger Aspect / Sky Atlantic

The Sky Arts show features The Day Today legend Rebecca Front as The Therapist – who interviews history’s most famous women about their obsessions and psychoses.  The pilot episode featured Catherine Tate, Sheila Reid, Samantha Spiro, Selina Griffiths and TVO’s very own Katy Brand and Sharon Horgan.  A pilot aired back in June, and proved to be a hit with audiences and critics alike.

News of its return leaked at The British Comedy Awards last week, and Sky Comedy have now confirmed the show will return.  Alongside the current cast, the show will also feature Julia Davis, Frances Barber and Kathy Burke amongst others, with The Therapist talking to Sylvia Plath, Eve, Audrey Hepburn, Bette Davis, Mona Lisa, Mary Shelley and more.

There’ll also be guest appearances by Jack Whitehall and Harry Enfield – and most excitingly of all, The League Of Gentlemen themselves: Mark Gatiss, Reece Shearsmith & Steve Pemberton.  The show is directed by the fourth member of The League, Jeremy Dyson, making this only the second project the team have worked on together since their last tour in 2005 – the other project being, of course, Horrible Histories.

We can’t wait. Psychobitches will return next year, and we’ll be bringing you more news as we can get it, so stay peeled.

Cracker Times

12 Dec

© Sky 1

Sky has now confirmed the transmission times of its festive-themed mini series, Little Crackers. As we’ve mentioned previously, the 2012 series features a couple of TV faces – so here’s when you can catch their episodes:

Katy Brand‘s Little Cracker airs first at  9.30pm on Wednesday 19th December, then again at 11.30pm on 26th December – both times on Sky 1. Katy’s episode is set in 1989 when 10-year-old Katy makes an earth-shattering discovery on Christmas Eve.

However, all is not lost when an unlikely opportunity to save Christmas presents itself, prompting young Katy to step forth and lead the heroics.

Sharon Horgan‘s Little Cracker airs at 9.00pm on Thursday 20th December, then again at midnight on 26th December – both times on Sky 1. Sharon’s episode is set in 1984. Christmas on the Horgans’ turkey farm is a hectic time and 14-year-old Sharon must do her share of the turkey plucking. Things look up when she meets easy-on-the-eye fellow plucker, James, although their plan to meet later that night sparks a chain of events that spell disaster for the Horgans.

So grab a paper crown, pour a large one and settle down in front of the box for what’s fast becoming part of the Christmas TV-viewing tradition. For details of all episodes in the new series click here.

Vintage Sights: Top Ten Alice & Steve Moments On YouTube

30 Nov

Today marks the release of Sightseers into UK cinemas.  At long last, this brilliant film starring Alice Lowe, Steve Oram and Richard Glover can be shared by you all.  Directed by Ben Wheatley, we’ve gone bananas for it because it truly is brilliant and deserves your attention.  It opens in 92 cinemas nationwide, and it’s success this weekend will decide if it expands to further cinemas next week, so it’s crucial if you have a passing interest in the film, you go and see it now!

Of course, most of you will be more than aware of the work of Alice Lowe and Steve Oram before this film was released, but for those of you who are new to their genius, we thought we’d compile a handy list of easy-to-access clips from the Tube of You.  It’s been tough selecting only five each, but we think we’ve found you some absolute corkers.

© Eamonn McCormack/Getty Images Europe

© Eamonn McCormack/Getty Images Europe

All of these clips are either web-shorts, live clips or tv taster pilots which didn’t go to broadcast, which helped narrow the list down somewhat.  Obviously, they only scratch the surface of the great work the pair have been crafting for the past decade.  To truly experience their mastery, you simply must see them live at the earliest opportunity, and to find out when that next is, you’ll have to keep coming back here!  We’ll be keeping you posted on any appearances they make, so pop back every now and then to find out more.

If that’s too long a wait, you can browse their ‘videographies’, as it were, via our TVO webstores.  Both run by Amazon on our behalf, we have dedicated sections for every artist we feature in a UK and US store – and both will ship internationally too.  For Alice’s stuff, visit here for UK, and here for US – and if Steve’s your bag, visit here for UK, and here for US.

Now to the top ten! Continue reading →

Little Crackers Returns

29 Nov

The first trailer for Little Crackers 3 has emerged online.

The third run of semi-autobiographical comedy shorts from SkyOne will air over Christmas, and yet again, a couple of TVO faces are involved.  This time around, Katy Brand and Sharon Horgan join the line-up with also includes the likes of Joanna Lumley, Dylan Moran, Rebecca Front and many more.  You can see the trailer below.

For more details on all three series, check out SkyOne’s website over yonder.

Another Little Cracker (And A BAFTA Preview!)

10 Nov

© Meath Chronicle

Two years ago, we Velvet Onion folk got very excited about a new Sky 1 series for the Christmas season called Little Crackers. The first series featured three TVO acts: Julian Barratt, Julia Davis and Chris O’Dowd.

For the uninitiated, each Little Crackers episode is penned and directed by a different British or Irish comedian and features a storyline based on their unique take on their younger selves.

Series two in 2011 didn’t feature any TVO-related artists, but was still worth watching; and now the full line-up for 2012′s series three has been announced!

There are two TVO-flavoured people in the mix this year: Katy Brand (as we’ve mentioned previously) and Sharon Horgan (a more recent addition!). For more inforation about the new series, which even features two 3D episodes, click here.

What’s more, tickets are available for a Preview screening of the new series, followed by a Q&A with three of its stars: Katy Brand, Joanna Lumley and Rebecca Front. How amazing does that sound? The event takes place at BAFTA in Picadilly London on Tuesday 27th November at 18:45. Tickets are £7.50 to members of the public and can be procured here.

Kinky Sex

17 Oct

The latest Feed My Funny short from BBC Comedy is definitely not safe for work, but features a bevy of TVO Talent – quite how it should be!

Kinky Sex with Rob Delaney & Sharon Horgan does exactly what it says on the tin… almost, as the attempts of its stars to liven things up in the bedroom brings out the weird side in both of them.

As well as Sharon Horgan, the short also features a cameo from Waen Shepherd, and is produced by Matt Stronge (sound man on Dead Boss, Mongrels and The IT Crowd, and recent producer of For The Win).  Check out this corker below.

Yanking

27 Sep

© BBC

The rights to the much-loved and much-missed UK comedy series, Pulling, have been bought by the ABC network in America.

For the uninitiated, Pulling was co-written by and starred Sharon Horgan as Donna, one of three female friends who live in London. The BAFTA-nominated show ran for two series from 2006 to 2008, only to be cancelled by the BBC in a move that surprised everyone – least of all its cast. Thankfully fans were granted an hour-long special in 2009 to wrap up the storylines and bring things to a close.

Bad Teachers writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky will write the US adaptation. Horgan and Dennis Kelly, who created of the original series, will executive produce with them. ABC first took a stab at developing an US version of Pulling during the 2008-09 season; the project went to pilot but not to full series.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens with this latest incarnation of the show (let’s be honest, US adaptations can be hit and miss affairs…). Let’s hope this one generates as much positive buzz as the show garnered in the UK when it first aired.

The Increasingly Large DVD Collections Of Todd Margaret Fans

22 Sep

© 2|Entertain

Series One of cult US/UK crossover sitcom The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret is released on dvd in the UK on Monday.

The show was created by American stand-up and actor David Cross, and originally aired as a backdoor pilot as part of Channel 4′s Comedy Showcase series in 2009.  Two six part seasons followed in Autumn 2010 and the early part of this year via American channel IFC and UK-based digital channel More4, though the latter has yet to air the second series in the UK.

TVO’s main link into the show is Cross’ leading co-star: the inimitable Sharon Horgan - though there are further connections to the realm of Onion-land, as Justin Edwards and Hunderby star Alex MacQueen also make recurring appearances throughout the run, whilst Dan Tetsell also crops up in season one, and Rufus Jones, Steve Oram, Lucy Montgomery and Shelley Longworth all make an appearance in the second batch of episodes.

Tucked away on an obscure digital channel, we have to confess this one almost slipped us by – and we’re pleased to learn the show has a dedicated cult following.  Already available on dvd in the US, the release of the first series on this side of the Pond bodes well for a broadcast of the second series sometime soon – and we’ll be keeping an eye on any developments.  In the meantime, you can pre-order Series One here, or pick up its R1 release over yonder.

Bad Sugar Sweetens Channel 4

13 Sep

© Phil Fisk

Bad Sugar - the one-off grandiose soap-spoof featuring Julia Davis, Sharon Horgan and Olivia Coleman, is set to return.

The spoof of Dallas and Dynasty, given a thoroughly British twist, was one of the highlights of the recent Funny Fortnight for the broadcaster.

Written by Peep Show and Four Lions writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, it featured Horgan as Lucy Caldwell, the newly wed wife of closet-homosexual Rolph – brilliantly played with pompous stupidity by Peter Serafinowicz – alongside Rolph’s sisters: the wicked, devious Daphne (Davis) and kindhearted simpleton Joan (Coleman).

With a cast rounded out by Reece Shearsmith, Kayvan Novak, David Bradley and Julia Deakin – this top notch cast and hugely talented writing team was a surefire hit, and with its director Ben Palmer also being responsible for Star Stories, Penelope Princess Of Pets and Milton Jones House Of Rooms (as well as The Inbetweeners and its movie spin-off) – we at TVO were all really hoping it would return.

Now Channel 4 have announced new episodes will air next year, with their acting head of comedy Nerys Evans, telling Chortle: ‘We’re delighted to announce a series of Bad Sugar, not only with the brilliant writing talents of Sam and Jesse but also starring the country’s most ridiculously talented comedy cast.’

We hope to bring you more news on the show’s return when it happens, so stay peeled. In the meantime, you can see the pilot via 4oD below.

Big Face Strikes Again: An Introduction to John ‘Willie’ Hopkins

9 Sep

The world of comedy is an ever-changing, shape-shifting beastie. New talent pops up, develops, and is clasped to our Velvet Onion bosom – if it’s any good. But we get just as excited about discovering existing hidden talent in the nooks and crannies of the wider Booshniverse. Velveteers Paulyne and Mog bring one such hidden gem to today’s show and tell:

© Big Face Productions

John ‘Willie’ Hopkins (recently of For The Win fame) was first introduced to us as “The only man to have survived Old Gregg”. Once we’d finished our range of over-enthusiastic impersonations, we discovered that not only is Mr Hopkins one of those rare, genuinely lovely and naturally funny men, but his contribution to comedy and his linkage with other TVO artists is far, far greater than we ever imagined. What’s more, he was also the assistant director of Spiceworld…but that’s a whole different story!

John was part of the Ealing Live Alumni, a group of cutting-edge comedians who helped to light the performance touch paper for many of the artists who grace our pages, and who, still to this day, work closely together. To see for yourself the extensive reach of the Ealing Alumni, just take a look at the sub-category in our tags column!

During the Ealing Live days John partnered with (and indeed lived with) Richard Glover, and together they performed some brilliantly fun, quirky sketches: “We thought we knew what we were doing – we didn’t – and suddenly we found ourselves on stage with all these people like [Simon] Farnaby.” Laughs John. “They assumed we must be good, so we had to come up with something. It was all an accident, no actual decisions were made.”

We’re very excited to be able to show you an original Hopkins & Glover sketch from back in the day, featuring a fresh-faced duo!


Continue reading →

A Taste of Bad Sugar

19 Aug

© Channel 4

If you’re anything like us, you’ll be anticipating the screening of Bad Sugar, the new series featuring Julia Davis, Sharon Horgan and Olivia Coleman, with giddy excitement. Channel 4 have now released 2 clips from the first episode, and it looks to be a real corker!

Click here to view the ‘meeting the family’ clip and here to view the ‘oh dear’ clip (apologies – we think it’s UK viewers only, but with any luck some of our overseas peelers may be able to view them). With Davis oozing unhinged darkness as only she can, and hilarious performances from Horgan, Coleman, Kayvan Novak and Reece Shearsmith too, they’re well worth a look.

Don’t forget Bad Sugar airs on Channel 4 at 10pm on Sunday 26th August. We can’t wait!

Funny Fortnight Films

17 Aug

© Channel 4

Now that Channel 4′s Funny Fortnight is well underway, the channel has uploaded the collected trailers for the run to their official YouTube page.

These monochrome slices of fun feature a whole host of stars, including the likes of Noel Fielding talking to Vic Reeves, Sharon Horgan being filthy with Gregg Davies, Matt Berry discussing practicalities with Mickey Flannigan, Charlie Brooker chatting to Sally Phillips and the wonderful reuniting of Spaced stars Simon Pegg & Jessica Hynes.

You can see all three collections below, and for a full breakdown of the great shows coming up during Funny Fortnight, click on the word AMUSING.

In addition to our round-up of the first batch of Funny Fornight shows listed above, we can now confirm that Bad Sugar will air on Sunday 26th August at 10pm.   The remaining Onion-related additions to the Funny Fortnight schedule, in brief are as follows.

Saturday 18th August

11:20pm - The IT Crowd: The Work Outing

Sunday 19th August

10:40pm - The Function Room

1:45am - The 11 O’Clock Show

Monday 20th August

10:00pm - Toast Of London

11:40pm - Steve Coogan Presents & Live And Lewd

12:45am – Jam: Episode 1

1:15am – Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace: Skipper The Eye Child

Saturday 25th August

9:00pm - C4′s 30 Greatest Comedy Shows & The Winner Is

1:45am – Comedy Lab Presents: Anna & Katy

Sunday 26th August

10:00pm – Bad Sugar

10:50pm – Black Books: Grapes Of Wrath

Monday 27th August

11:10pm - The Inbetweeners: The Field Trip

Funny Fortnight Favourites!

13 Aug

© Channel 4

Details have emerged of the exact transmission times for much of the programming in Channel 4′s Funny Fortnight – which features a number of TVO faces in new productions and old favourites.

These include Julia Davis and Sharon Horgan in Bad Sugar, Matt Berry in Toast Of London  Kevin Eldon and Colin Hoult appearing in The Function Room and repeats of The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, Brass Eye, Jam and more.

The season will also include new material from Vic & Bob and Harry Hill, archive programming long forgotten, stand-up from the likes of Steve Coogan, Lee Evans and Peter Kay, plus a count-down of the Top 30 Comedy Shows in the history of Channel 4.

© Talkback Productions

The special season starts this Thursday night (Aug 16th) with the broadcast of Peter Kay’s latest live show, followed by Phonejacker spin-off Verry Terry from Kayvan Novak.  The first TVO flavoured show crops up after these – with a repeat showing of the infamous Brass Eye at 11:30pm.

Not too long afterwards, the early hours of Friday 17th bring us a repeat of Russell Brand And Friends at 1:10am, which featured a memorable appearance from Paul Kaye as Mike Strutter.  Another Onion flavoured repeat comes along on Saturday night (Aug 18th) with another chance to see a firm favourite from The IT Crowd.  Series two opener The Work Outing is the chosen episode, which of course, was the one with the gay musical, the disabled toilet, and Richmond’s missing copy of Heat.

© Phil Fisk

Sunday evening (Aug 19th), sees the first new show to feature TVO faces, in the form of star-packed trad-sitcom The Function Room.  In this pilot episode, police officers hold a public meeting to discuss crime in the local area.  However, their plans for the event get derailed when it emerges local residents only want to talk about one thing – a notorious criminal with a highly offensive alias.

The Fucntion Room stars the legendary Kevin Eldon, League Of Gentlemen/Psyschoville star Reece Shearsmith, Fast Show favourite Simon Day, and The Vicar Of Dibley‘s James Fleet, alongside Paul Ritter, Daniel Rigby, Blake Harrison and our very own Colin Hoult!  Eldon portrays unflappable Inspector Marks, who wants to present a human face to the force, but is just a little bit weird.  Meanwhile Hoult and Josephine Bulter play local well-to-do couple Stuart & Marina, who effortlessly rub all the other locals up the wrong way.

A few hours later, early into Monday, Aug 20th, is a very rare chance to see a compilation episode of The 11 O’Clock Show from 1999.  The satirical news-based show was a breeding ground for comedic talent – launching the careers of Iain Lee, Daisy Donovan, Sacha Baron Cohen, Mackenzie Crook and Ricky Gervais.  It also brought to prominence Rich Hall’s blossoming UK career, and boasted a fine writing staff which included James Bachman, Rhys Thomas, Tony Way, Phil Whelans, Charlie Brooker and Stephen Merchant, and one of it’s associate producers was none other than Spencer Millman!

© Kuba Wierczorek

Monday 20th is, perhaps, the biggest night for Onion fans – starting with the première of Toast Of London at 10pm- written by Matt Berry and Arthur Matthews, and starring Matt alongside Robert Bathurst, Geoff McGivern,  Tracy-Ann Oberman and Lee Cornes.  With that fantastic cast behind it, the lineage of both it’s writers, and the hilarious preview clip which appeared online recently, we’ve marked this one down as a must-see.

© Dan Goldsmith

Not long afterwards, the repeats kick in, with a re-run of Steve Coogan‘s 1994 live show Live & Lewd at 11:40pm, preceded by a new introduction from the comic.  This is followed by a repeat episode of Chris Morris‘ dark and devious project Jam featuring Kevin Eldon and Julia Davies, followed by a very rare chance to see Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace back on our screens with the classic episode, Skipper The Eye-Child.

For those who don’t know, Darkplace aired not long before the first series of The Mighty Boosh, and this sci-fi horror spoof featuring Matthew Holness, Richard Ayoade, Alice Lowe, Matty Berry, Kim Noble, Stuart Silver and occasionally, Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding too {though not in this episode, sadly} was a golden nugget of genius which sorely deserves en-mass reappraisal.

Things go a little quiet on the Onion front for a while after that, beyond Friday night’s short editions of Baby Cow’s Comedy Blaps which will feature the voice of Steve Coogan, but with the promise of Julia Davies & Sharon Horgan‘s Bad Sugar, repeats of Anna & Katy, Star Stories  and Black Books, plus the countdown of Channel 4′s greatest comedy shows ever still to come at some point between the 25th and the 31st, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the schedules for any news worth shouting about.

In the meantime, enjoy the gallery of images from Bad Sugar below.  With the likes of Olivia Colman, Reece Shearsmith, Peter Serafinowicz, Greg Davis & Kayvan Novak joining Davis & Horgan, this is looking likely to be an absolute cracker!

Blinkbox Booshdom!

6 Aug

© Copyright blinkbox Entertainment Limited.

Steve Coogan‘s sitcom Saxondale and anthology spoof Dr Terrible’s House Of Horrible are amongst a smattering of TVO favourites available to watch free online.

UK based video on demand service Blinkbox offers television and film from both sides of the pond to download or stream via pc, mac, games consoles, tablets and smart tv’s – and already offers a large back catalogue of programming for purchase.

This includes the TVO flavoured likes of The Mighty Boosh, Dead Boss, This Is Jinsey, Horrible Histories and Mongrels, and movies Come On Eileen, Weekender and The Boat That Rocked to name but a few.

Coogan’s work is well represented on the site, from films such as Tropic Thunder and Hot Fuzz (also featuring our very own Alice Lowe), and the televisual adventures of one Alan Partridge.

Now as part of a deal with the BBC, a number of comedy classics are available to stream free of charge.

These include Saxondale – which also featured Matt Berry, James Bachman and Tom Meeten, and underrated spoof Dr Terrible - featuring Julia Davis.

© BBC

Also up for free viewing is criminally ignored sitcom Lab Rats featuring Dan Tetsell alongside Chris Addison and Dead Boss star Geoffrey McGivern.

You can also take another look at Rob Brydon’s Annually Retentive which co-stars Sharon Horgan and Alice Lowe, or That Mitchell And Web Look featuring James Bachman.

For something a little bit more ‘out there’, you can also catch rarely seen French animation series A Town Called Panic – which included Lucy Montgomery and Alexander Armstrong in it’s English dub cast.

To browse the full Blinkbox catalogue, click on any of the links above, or be really obvious and fall onto it’s home page via the word Battenberg - and of course, almost all of these shows, and more, can still be purchased the good old fashioned way on dvd and blu-ray via THE VELVET ONION AMAZON STORE!

Funny Fortnight Forthcoming!

20 Jul

© Channel 4

Channel 4 have released more details of their Funny Fortnight next month, which features more than a smattering of TVO regulars and influences.

Over 30 hours of programming across two weeks of television, the season promises brand new shows, excellent stand up and familiar faces staging their returns to the channel.

A new video preview over on the Channel 4 press website showcases highlights from some of the channel’s flagship shows, and offers an exclusive look at a number of exciting specials.

© Tiger Aspect Productions

Amongst these new shows is Bad Sugar - written by Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong of Peep Show and Four Lions fame.  It combines three of comedy’s biggest names of the moment - Julia Davis, Sharon Horgan and Olivia Colman, and centres on a dysfunctional, wealthy mining dynasty, with an ailing patriarch and some greedy siblings.

The show also stars David Bradley, Peter Serafinowicz, Kayvan Novak and Reece Shearsmith, and it’s producer is Derren Schlesinger – who was previously responsible for both Four Lions and Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy.  Undoubtedly one of the most exciting shows on telly in some time, this Tiger Aspect Productions show has real potential to be a smash hit.

© Objective Productions

Also set to première is Toast Of London, the new sitcom pilot by Matt Berry and Father Ted/Big Train creator Arthur Matthews.  Matt stars as successful actor Steven Toast, who has recently made a career faux pass by electing to star in a controversial west end stage play.

Recently divorced, and attacked in the street by members of appalled public, the previously much loved actor auditions for a role in the long running television series, Inspector Somerset.  However, it’s producer has been imprisoned for racial chanting on set, so Toast auditions for the part of a gay corrupt detective during prisoner’s visiting time.  Made by Objective Productions, we’re keen to see if this show lives up to its potential.

Other new shows include: Them From That Thing  – a two part sketch show featuring Kayvan Novak, Sally Phillips and many more, co-written by one Charlie Brooker; The Function Room - a traditional looking sitcom featuring the likes of Reece Shearsmith, Kevin Eldon, Simon Day and James Fleet; Lucky Sexy Winners - a new panel show from Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer; Very Terry - a Phonejacker spin off from Kayvan Novak focusing on car salesman Terry Tibbs; Harry Hill: The Reunion - in which the madcap comic seeks out the cast of his old Channel 4 show to find out “where are they now?”; The Boyle Variety Performance  – a spoof of the annual royal-attended show from Frankie Boyle; Just Around The Corner  – from the creators of Drop The Dead Donkey; and I’m Spazticus  - a prank show featuring disabled performers which has been seven years in development since its pilot aired in 2005.

© Avalon Productions

And that’s not all!  As we previously reported, Channel 4 are counting down their 30 Greatest Comedy Shows, which will feature the Onion flavoured vehicles Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, The IT Crowd, Brass Eye, Father Ted, Star Stories, Spaced, Black Books, and Friday Night Dinner. 

These classics will be up against the likes of The Comic Strip Presents, Vic Reeves’ Big Night Out, The Adam & Joe Show,  Da Ali G Show, Trigger Happy TV, Pheonix Nights, Bo’ Selecta!, Peep Show, Green Wing and The Inbetweeners and more.

© Talkback Thames

The channel have also turned to the writers of classic shows to name their favourite episodes, which will air across the fortnight.  These include Graham Linehan‘s favourite ever The IT Crowd  and Father Ted; Chris Morris‘s legendary Brass Eye; mockumentary series Star Stories which featured Fergus Craig, Alice Lowe, Tom Meeten, Laura Patch, Rhys Thomas and Dolly Wells in it’s expansive cast; plus episodes of Spaced, The Inbetweeners, Peep Show and Vic Reeves Big Night Out.

There’s also a chance to catch tv premieres of live shows from Alan Carr, Peter Kay, Lee Evans and Micky Flanagan, plus the early and rare Vic & Bob special The Weekenders, Harry Endfield one-off Norbert Smith: A Life and Peter Cook’s interview with Clive Anderson, plus editions of Comedy Labs featuring Dynamo, Peter Kay, Karl Pilkington and TVO’s very own Anna And Katy!  Plus we’ll still have The Midnight Beast featuring Simon Farnaby every Thursday too!

Phew – we think we’ll need a lie-down after all that!  Exciting times indeed.  We’ll aim to bring you a complete run-down of exactly when each show will air as soon as possible, so stay peeled.  In the mean time, check out the video preview over on the Channel 4 press website – and you can pick up a string of Channel 4 classics in The Velvet Onion Amazon Store.

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