Paul Merton profiles some of the great stars of silent comedy, examining their lives and works, and uncovering seldom-seen material
Social & External
Himself
A 1980 documentary series exploring the establishment and development of the Hollywood studios and its impact on 1920s culture.
A series about the life, career and works of the movie comedy genius.
Spanish documentary series.
Mammamia! is an Italian television series that aired between 2003 and 2004 , written and directed by Maurizio Nichetti. The series unfolds in thirty episodes of eight minutes each, and no dialogue. The heroine is Angela Finocchiaro, who plays the part of a mother struggling with the problems of the daily life of her children of 4, 7 and 13 years.
The adventures of superhero Darkwing Duck, aided by his sidekick Launchpad McQuack. In his secret identity of Drake Mallard, he lives in a suburban house with his adopted daughter Gosalyn, next door to the bafflingly dim-witted Muddlefoot family. A spin-off of DuckTales.
Three anthropomorphic mice motorcyclists named Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie escape a war on their home planet Mars before arriving to defend the Earth from the evil that destroyed their homeland and to one day return to Mars.
Oblivious is a comedy game show that aired within the United States of America on TNN/Spike TV at various points between 2002 and 2004. It was also aired on Challenge in the UK, Ireland and The Comedy Channel in Australia and still airs on Real TV in South Korea and on TV2 Zebra in Norway. It no longer airs on Spike TV. Comedian Regan Burns served as host. A DVD was later released featuring the best clips of both seasons.
Soul Train is an American musical variety show that aired in syndication from 1971 to 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists have also appeared. The series was created by Don Cornelius, who also served as its first host and executive producer. Production was suspended following the 2005–06 season, with a rerun package airing for two years after that. As a nod to Soul Train's longevity, the show's opening sequence contained a claim that it was the "longest-running first-run, nationally syndicated program in television history," with over 1,100 episodes produced from the show's debut through the 2005-06 season. Despite the production hiatus, Soul Train will continue to hold this honor until at least 2016, if and when its nearest competitor, Entertainment Tonight, completes its 35th season.
Soupy Norman was an eight-part Irish television programme broadcast by RTÉ. It was aired weekly on Thursday nights at 23:05 on the RTÉ Two channel, in ten-minute segments. The series ran from 24 May to 24 July 2007 . The show is a comedic re-dubbing of the Polish soap opera Pierwsza miłość, which has been running on Polsat television since 2004. The series is written and edited by Barry Murphy and Mark Doherty, with additional voices provided by Tara Flynn, Sue Collins, Luke Murphy and Mario Rosenstock. Where the original soap opera dealt with a girl leaving her family behind to go to college, the re-dubbed version of the programme explores the culture shock of a dysfunctional Cork family in Dublin. The series' surreal humour led to a cult following, with its episodes being popular on YouTube. A special episode entitled "The Late Late Soupy Norman Tribute" which featured dubbed clips from RTÉ's The Late Late Show as well as clips from previous episodes of Soupy Norman as well as including a new scene of the show. This was broadcast on Christmas Eve 2007.. A pilot sketch for the series initially aired on Armando Iannucci’s show Time Trumpet on BBC 2.
Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about a father and son played by Wilfred Brambell and Harry H. Corbett who deal in selling used items. They live on Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. Its theme tune, "Old Ned", was composed by Ron Grainer. The series was voted 15th in a 2004 BBC poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom. It was remade in the US as Sanford and Son, in Sweden as Albert & Herbert and in the Netherlands as Stiefbeen en zoon. In 1972 a movie adaptation of the series, Steptoe and Son, was released in cinemas, with a second Steptoe and Son Ride Again in 1973.
Blunder was a Channel 4 comedy sketch series shown in the UK on E4 and repeated on Channel 4. No announcement of a second series has been made.
The Bradley family are proud owners of the Shady Rest Hotel. Kate and her three young daughters do the job of running the hotel.
College Girls is a Channel 4 documentary series, first transmitted in the United Kingdom from 8 September 2002. The documentary followed the lives of six students who studied at St Hilda's College, Oxford, the last remaining single-sex college at the University of Oxford, between 1998 and 2001.
Airline is a fly on the wall television programme, produced in the United Kingdom that showcases the daily happenings of passengers, ground workers and on-board staff of Britannia and later EasyJet. The show was broadcast between 1998 and 2006 on ITV, is often repeated on ITV2 and shown on syndication on Pick TV. The programme's success sparked a US version of the series, following American low-cost airline Southwest Airlines.
The Edge is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Mirkin which ran on the Fox Network from 1992 to 1993.
Odd Man Out is an American sitcom that aired on the ABC television network as a part of the TGIF lineup. It aired from September 24, 1999 to January 7, 2000. Created by Ed Decter and John J. Strauss, the show also featured Bill Cosby as executive producer.
Grim & Evil also known as Maxwell Atoms' Grim & Evil and promotionally referred to as The Grim & Evil Show, is an American animated television series created by Maxwell Atoms. The series, which debuted on Cartoon Network, consisted of two segments which were eventually spun off into their own series, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Evil Con Carne.
Dr. 90210 is an American reality television series focusing on plastic surgery in the wealthy suburb of Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, Southern California. The series began its run in 2004. Dr. 90210 gets its name from the zip code of the core of Beverly Hills, familiar to most viewers because of the former popular television series Beverly Hills, 90210. The show is produced by E!, but is broadcast on several other basic cable network channels, such as the Style Network. Each episode is approximately one hour long. The show stands out from other programs of this sort in that it also examines the lives of the doctors featured in its lineup.
Hype is a sketch comedy television series on The WB Television Network. It ran for 16 episodes from October 8, 2000 to February 18, 2001. Most of the central jokes making fun of celebrities in the news at the time. The show however didn't garner enough attention and was canceled after one season, though two of its cast members would go on to find success on the FOX sketch show MADtv.
