"She’s a woman of great characters."
Tracey Ullman returns with her unique take on some of the extraordinary characters who make up the global hub that is the UK.
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Tracey Ullman
Various
Sketch comedy show with black comedians.
The adventures of a late-20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J. Fry, who, after being unwittingly cryogenically frozen for one thousand years, finds employment at Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery company in the retro-futuristic 31st century.
Bo' Selecta! is a British sketch show written and performed by Leigh Francis, which lampoons popular culture and is known for its often surreal, abstract toilet humour.
A sketch comedy series starring and hosted by Bob Odenkirk and David Cross. The pair introduce most episodes as heightened versions of themselves before transitioning to a mixture of live sketches and pre-taped segments.
Baddiel and Skinner unplanned was a free-form talk show hosted by British comedians/personalities David Baddiel and Frank Skinner and produced by Avalon Television. Its concept was developed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and had a run in the West End at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 2001. The show features the two hosts sitting on a couch on-stage and responding to questions from the audience — at times rather seriously, but usually with bizarre digressions into satirical comedy. An audience member is chosen as "Secretary" and has the job of keeping a note of the topics covered on a white board. In practice, the personality of the secretary will also prompt many jokes — usually at his or her expense. At the end of the show, Skinner asks either the secretary or the audience to choose between two song books, and to pick a page number between 1 and 20. This process determines which song is performed by the duo, sung by Skinner with Baddiel accompanying him on piano. Topics of discussion are wholly mandated by the audience and have ranged from discussions of the war against Iraq and other political events to comments on the latest plot twists of popular soap operas and the Atkins diet. Skinner's Catholicism and Baddiel's Jewish faith are also occasional targets of humour.
Vic Reeves Big Night Out is a British cult comedy stage show and later TV series which ran on Channel 4 for two series in 1990 and 1991, as well as a New Year special. It marked the beginnings of the collaboration between Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer and started their Vic and Bob comedy double act. The show was later acknowledged as a seminal force in British comedy throughout the 1990s and which continues to the present day. Arguably the most surreal of the pair's work, Vic Reeves Big Night Out was effectively a parody of the variety shows which dominated the early years of television, but which were, by the early 1990s, falling from grace. Vic, introduced by Patrick Allen as "Britain's Top Light Entertainer and Singer", would sit behind a cluttered desk talking nonsense and introducing the various segments and surreal guests on the show. Vic Reeves Big Night Out is notable as the only time in their career where Vic solely took the role of host, while Bob was consigned to the back stage, appearing every few minutes as either himself or as a strange character. The two received equal billing in the series credits. On 3 October 2007, the first episode was re-broadcast on More4 as part of Channel 4 at 25, a season of classic Channel 4 programmes shown to celebrate the channel's 25th birthday.
Makoto Kanzaki is a PR man at a university. He is swept up in a series of scandals and is driven into a corner as he tries to make temporary solutions. A satirical comedy about modern society depicting the contradictions of modern society and the sorrows of its people with black humor.
Disillusioned after a long career at Sunshine Desserts, Reginald Iolanthe Perrin endures a midlife crisis and fakes his own death. Returning in disguise after various attempts at finding a 'new life', Perrin gets his old job back and finds nothing has changed. He is eventually found out, and later finds success with a chain of junk shops. However, it becomes so successful that he feels he has created a monster and decides to destroy it.
Little Miss Jocelyn is a British TV sketch comedy written by and starring Jocelyn Jee Esien. The show is made up of studio sketches and hidden camera footage in which unsuspecting members of the public become part of a sketch. The series ran for 2 series from 22 August 2006 until its cancellation on 14 February 2008. 12 episodes aired whilst a 13th episode was never broadcast for unknown reasons but is featured as a bonus extra on the Series 2 DVD. In 2007, Esien featured in Girls Aloud and Sugababes' Comic Relief video for "Walk This Way", where she puts a parking ticket on Ewen Macintosh, a reference to the character Jiffy from the show Little Miss Jocelyn.
Totally Full Frontal was a spin-off of the 1993 popular comedy sketch show 'Full Frontal', introducing new characters Vic Plume, Julia Zemiro, and Paul McCarthy.
My Honourable Mrs is a 1975 British comedy-drama written by Richard Waring and produced by Graeme Muir for BBC One. Jane Prendergast becomes a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), much to the disruption of her publisher husband Henry. The show focuses on the domestic and political chaos that ensued as the couple navigated her new role, with Pauline Yates as Jane.
Frankie Howerd became one of the nation's best-loved comics as a result of a roller-coaster career with many sharp turns, exhilarating highs and sudden dizzying drops. As early as his first television series, The Howerd Crowd, in 1952, he had developed the act that would last the rest of his career: rolled eyes, asides to the audience, the sudden switch to a high-pitched voice and exaggerated "ooohs" and "aaahs". Howerd's famous catchphrases have become part of the national vocabulary ("Ooh er missus!", "Titter ye not", "Oooh no!") and his cosy but risque rapport with the audience in stand-up, cabaret and sit-com is often emulated but never surpassed. This compilation draws together the very finest Howerd moments from his numerous stand-up and sketch shows (Nuts in May, An Evening with Francis Howerd, Howerds History of England) as well as classic moments from the Carry On inspired sit-com Up Pompeii!
Uf (2016) Various actors and actresses perform satirical sketches that depict economic and social issues faced by the Lebanese society.
Family-based sitcom set in the capital of British Pakistan - Sparkhill, Birmingham. Citizen Khan follows the trials and tribulations of loud-mouthed, tight-fisted, self-appointed community leader Mr Khan and his long suffering family, wife Mrs Khan and daughters Shazia and Alia.
A British sketch comedy series with the shows being composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines.
A British television comedy series, written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame. Following an initial pilot episode in January 1976, it ran for two subsequent series of five and three episodes in October 1977 and October 1979 respectively. Each episode had a different setting and characters, looking at a different aspect of British culture and parodying pre-World War II literature aimed at schoolboys.
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act.
A British comedy sketch television series featuring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones that ran on BBC One and BBC Two from 31 January 1984 to 14 October 1998. From series 5 in 1989 the 'Alas' title was dropped and became simply Smith and Jones.
Comedy soap opera re-imagining the lives of the British Royal Family as you have never seen them before.
Investigative reporter Chris Morris puts modern Britain under the spotlight, and smacks the issues of the day till they bleed. He tackles weighty issues including animals, drugs, sex and skewered celebrities and politicians alike - and in a later episode in 2001, paedophiles.
Set in the corridors of power and spin, the Minister for Social Affairs is continually harassed by Number 10's policy enforcer and dependent on his not-so-reliable team of civil servants.
Created by stars Keenen Ivory Wayans and Damon Wayans, this Emmy-winning sketch series offers cutting-edge satire and features a host of talent, including Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey, David Alan Grier and Tommy Davidson.
The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy group formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson.
A narrative series set in a limitless magical reality full of dynamic, hilarious characters and celebrity guests presenting sketches performed by a core cast of black women.
The New York-based sketch comedy ensemble takes it's act to the small screen in this outrageous cable series. Led by Trevor Moore and Zach Cregger, the troupe takes on every stereotype, foible, and irony found in everyday life, no matter how un-PC the results.
Nelson 'the urbane fox' and his anthropomorphic animal friends navigate the urban jungle from their home in London's East End in a puppet sitcom for adults.
Yankerville's puppet citizens -- voiced by celebrities and stand-up comedians -- make real calls to real people, whether they like it or not. They make all the crank phone calls you wish you'd made when you were a kid.
Satirical sketch comedy set and filmed in Portland, Oregon that explores the eccentric misfits who embody the foibles of modern culture.
There is no such thing as an ordinary interaction in this offbeat sketch comedy series that features a deep roster of guest stars.
Peep Show follows the lives of two men from their twenties to thirties, Mark Corrigan, who has steady employment for most of the series, and Jeremy "Jez" Usbourne, an unemployed would-be musician.
Dave Chappelle's singular point of view is unleashed through a combination of laidback stand-up and street-smart sketches.
Comic Garry Shandling draws upon his own talk show experiences to create the character of Larry Sanders, a paranoid, insecure host of a late night talk show. Larry, along with his obsequious TV sidekick Hank Kingsley and his fiercely protective producer Artie, allows Garry Shandling and his talented writers to look behind the scenes and to show us a convincing slice of behind the camera life.
A comedic talk show from an alternate reality featuring unstable hosts, a variety of celebrities—both real and fake—and unusual studio action.
Lee is a childish northerner who lives in a fancy penthouse apartment in London who goes through a variety of jobs such as a janitor and ice cream man, as well as attempting relationships with female flatmates. His best mate, Daily Mail reading, middle-class citizen Tim is always there to stop Lee from getting in trouble, or not? Mayhem is never far away with cleaner Barbara who has never done an honest day's work in her life.
Matt Lucas and David Walliams, the stars of the smash-hit BBC comedy Little Britain, bring their unique blend of scripted comedy and characterization to America.
The comic/folk duo Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci hit prime time with their act in this scripted series for IFC. It follows hard-working underdogs trying to make their mark in comedy while muddling through messy dating scenarios, and doing so by performing one satirical (and often quite saucy) song after another. Nothing stops the ukulele- and guitar-wielding twosome from singing about life's unspoken truths, despite it leaving them detached from their peers. The series is titled after Lindhome and Micucci's band name, inspired by "two famous rock 'n' roll second bananas," Art Garfunkel and John Oates.
A satirical half-hour series from comedian Sacha Baron Cohen exploring the diverse individuals, from the infamous to the unknown across the political and cultural spectrum, who populate our unique nation.