Comedy Showcase: Free Agents

The Comedy Showcase series on Channel 4 is a series of 6 one-off comedies showing the best of British talent. This week the programme was called “Free Agents” and starred Stephen Mangan (of Greenwing and Adrian Mole fame) as Alex and Tony Head (“The Prime Minister” in Little Britain and of Buffy fame) as his boss, Stephen.

Alex has been going through a divorce. He has left his wife and kids and finds that he has nowhere to live, so spends his nights on the office floor. He has a one night stand with his workmate Helen who are both left a little awkward after a night of “casual sex”. Helen has images of her dead fiancé everywhere and talks of him incessantly, as it is approaching the one-year anniversary of his death. She definitely sees the event as a “one-off” although Alex is not so sure.

Alex is offered a room at his boss’s home but would much prefer to stay with Helen (on the settee) or on the office floor. His boss is a sex-crazed pervert and provides way too much information on his sexual preferences. Alex spends one night at his house and is shocked to find that he has a milky hot drink, watches a porn film and pleasures himself before going to bed – this is Stephen’s nightly routine.

The comedy is full of sexual innuendo and has a “will they, won’t they?” element to the relationship between Alex and Helen, as Alex tries to persuade her to let him stay on the settee. Helen says that she will let him stay as long as he represents her mother’s new toy boy boyfriend (he is an agent). The boyfriend turns out to be a mime artist who also impersonates a rabbit, but he is largely talent-less.

Strike hits top US shows

The first writers strike in Hollywood for years has seen production stop on some of the most popular American TV shows, it has emerged. Action heroes such as Jack Bauer from the show 24 and the stars of comedy drama Desperate Housewives could be off British TV screens as the Writers’ Guild Association (WGA) battles it out with studios for a greater share of DVD sales.

Some of America’s most high-profile actors, including Eva Longoria and Robin Williams, have come out in support of the striking writers and even joined them on the picket lines in Hollywood.

“I have a whole crew that will have a terrible holiday season because there’s no resolution,” said Longoria. “I care about people losing their homes, I care about my hair and makeup artists who can’t make ends meet,” she added.

Longoria was married to her basketball star boyfriend Tony Parker earlier this year and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role as Gabrielle Solis in Desperate Housewives.

Coronation Street Round Up

Sean’s in a foul mood about being edged out of the role of father, and Marcus urges him too consult a solicitor to find out his rights.

Rosie’s enjoying making John jealous about Lee, but is not above a bit of jealousy herself when she sees John kissing Fiz. How long will she keep their affair secret?

Meanwhile, Fiz is increasingly convinced that John is having an affair with Sally, and enlists Kevin’s help to uncover the truth.

Claire decides she can’t live without her husband and is touched when Ashley presents her with a gold necklace.

David plays on Jason’s concern for him to distract him from his chores to get him into trouble with Sarah. But Jason could get himself into trouble after accepting a drink from Becky at the café. Spotting his chance to stir things up, David takes Jason’s phone and sends an incriminating message to Becky, who immediately responds.…

Without Jodie, Jerry is struggling to cope. He’s too busy to take up Eileen’s offer of a date and Jack and Vera arrive back to a messy house. He also fails to take an interest in Mel’s ambition to join the police force and is shocked when he discovers Kayleigh has been secretly going clubbing for months. Her accusation that he’s never there stings, and Jerry determines to make amends, even if it means putting his own love life on hold.

Elsewhere, Rita steers Doreen away from Norris and towards Ivor and George, but Norris is furious when he finds out, and Jack and Vera consider leaving Weatherfield for Blackpool.

Emmerdale Round Up

Debbie and Eli head over to the Dingle homestead to reveal the news of their relationship. An incredulous Zak tells them they must be mad and questions Debbie throwing her life away on Eli. Debbie insists that he’s wrong, but does she really believe herself?

Victoria confides in Jo about the bullying she’s endured at school since the fire. Jo promises to help

Victoria get rid of her bully, and the pair set a trap for Danielle.

Lexi is shocked when a face from the past, Lee, turns up in the village - and he has blackmail in mind. Desperate to keep her criminal past secret, Lexi resorts to blackmail herself to extort the cash she needs from Carrie, and when that fails, she steals one of the King’s goods trucks - unaware that Carl is in the back.

Later, Scarlett learns the truth about Lexi and is even more upset to see Carrie and Jimmy kissing.

Sam panics when Samson mistakenly drinks from a glass of vodka left in the kitchen from Daz’s drinking binge the night before.

Louise is desperate to get Jamie back, but would she really turn into a bunny boiler?

Neighbours Round Up

Kirsten puts her plan to kidnap Mickey into operation, but then gets cold feet. Instead, she and Ned discuss Mickey’s future, but with still no agreement on who should care for the lad it seems the issue may have to go before the courts, pitching Toadie against his old legal enemy Tim. Meanwhile, Kirsten is busy turning Mickey against his dad…

Harold has a new charitable scheme: assisting ex-prisoners assimilate back into the community. He wants Steph’s support, but Lou and Toadie don’t want criminals in their backyard. Toadie has enough troubles in that department, when he finds his addict brother Stonie is living up to his name by falling off the wagon. Steph wins a seat on the local council, promising to make a stand to fight for the rights of families.

Miranda and Steve are shocked when Riley reveals that he feels they’ve never really loved him, and he is determined to leave town. Luckily, his car fails to start, and Elle talks him into giving his adoptive parents another chance.

Speaking of second chances, Elle may have one of her own if Ollie has his way. His decision comes at the cost of Carmella, whose dreams of raising a family with him are shattered - although the blow is softened when Ollie offers to buy a house for her and their child.

Scheming Richard applies for a job at Declan’s new school, and it seems there’s nothing Rebecca can do to stop him. Paul’s efforts to help her backfire dramatically, leaving Toadie and Rosie to try to build a civil case against Richard - but will they succeed before a desperate Rebecca takes the law into her own hands?

EastEnders Round Up

Bradley gets some bad news about his job, but - this being soapland - by the end of the week he has a new job as assistant market inspector.

Kevin is shocked to find the Car Lot has been trashed. He spends the day trying to figure out who was responsible, but needs some new stock fast. Phil steps in to help with a batch of cars, but Kevin can’t help wondering whether they are kosher.

Billy is up to something to earn extra money, and ends up with a mark on his neck which causes him some embarrassment when Ian teases him about it and asks him whether it’s a love bite.

Meanwhile, the Wicks family hears that Deano has been attacked, Vince’s persistence with Shirley begins to pay off, and Jase wonders whether he should move on from Albert Square.

The Peter Serafinowicz Show

Peter Serafinowicz as Michael-6 The Peter Serafinowicz Show is one of the “Thursday Night is Comedy Night” shows on BBC2 and is written by Peter and his brother James. The show is a series of comedy sketches from the talented Liverpudlian, who does a great impersonation of Terry Wogan (as demonstrated on the Jonathan Ross show) and provided the voice for Darth Maul. He has also had varied acting roles, in Spaced and Murder Most Horrid, amongst others.

The programme is the first series for Peter Serafinowicz. Comedy sketch shows are largely absent from our TV screens and it takes a little getting used to, as Peter dons various wigs and guises and goes into character. The show parodies various TV programmes and adverts. The first show in the series had a parody advert of a household cleaning product (Cillit Bang), that got dishes sparkling clean but broke them (as if a bullet had been fired at them). His regular characters include an actor giving a master class (this week it was Marlon Brando as a cross between a huge slug and Jabba the Hut); the TV newsreader who reads out regular captions to the news and a bell rings when he gets the right story and Michael-6, a robotic man who regularly goes into overdrive on a Jeremy Kyle-type of show.

There is also a sketch based on a popular shopping channel programme which has had one of the hosts as a vampire. He also stars as a blonde and perma-tanned presenter Kennedy St. King, of O! News (clearly a mickey-take of Hollywood gossip programme E! News). Peter also does a great impersonation of Simon Cowell giving contestants his opinion on X-factor.

The programme is a bit of a grower but should do well – if only you could pronounce Peter’s surname!

Gavin and Stacey lead comedy award nominees

Cult sitcom Gavin and Stacey is up for a total of seven prizes at the British Comedy Awards, it has been announced.

The programme, broadcast on BBC Three, is nominated for more awards than any other show despite its lower profile on the digital channel.

It has made the shortlist for the best TV comedy award and best new British TV comedy, while cast member Ruth Jones is nominated in the best female comedy newcomer category.

The awards ceremony is due to take place on December 5th, with TV chat show host Jonathan Ross hosting the awards.

There appears to be uncertainty, however, about whether it will be broadcast on ITV as planned.

The current phone-in scandal, affecting shows hosted by Ant and Dec among others, has led ITV bosses to postpone its coverage of the annual event.

Ant and Dec are not up for any awards this year.

Autumnwatch

Autumnwatch presenters Autumnwatch is presented by Bill Oddie, Kate Humble and Simon King. It is the Autumnal version of “Springwatch” and is a two week focus on wildlife in the UK. The programme has now become an annual event encouraging people to monitor the species of birds and other species and plant a tree parties. Bill and Kate are at the Martin Mere Wildfowl centre in Burscough in Lancashire, whilst Simon’s reports from all around the country.

In tonight’s episode, we were given an update on two families of animals that were featured on Springwatch – the Heligan barnowl chicks that were raised by their mother (they had now grown up into beautiful birds) and the Chipshop foxes and their cubs who were still living in Glasgow (although one of the cubs had been run over).

The programme featured:

“Deer Diary” - examining deer during the rutting (mating) season on the Island of Rhum. There was a battle for supremacy between young stag Percy and the much older Caesar (who had fathered many deer).

The spotting of Wild Boar in the New Forest (the boar have been extinct in the UK for at least 300 years).

The devastating effect of flooding not only on the landscape but also on the mating season for birds (as the floods occurred during the Spring).

The catching, tagging and weighing of Hooper swans who spent summer in Iceland. Each swan’s bill is unique.

A focus on 4 beavers (not usually seen in the UK) who have been introduced to the Martin Mere site.

The cameramen on Autumnwatch are adept at taking unique shots –e.g. a close up of a Kingfisher and a mole in daylight above ground. The programme is inspiring and gives views of wildlife which would be otherwise unseen.

Nana Moon dies

The actress who played Victoria ‘Nana’ Moon in EastEnders has died at the age of 78 at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Hilda Braid, who had been suffering from dementia, left the popular BBC1 soap in 2005 after three years. Shane Richie, who played her grandson in the show, paid tribute to the actress and said he would miss her greatly.

An EastEnders spokesman said: “She was a lovely actress who brought her great humour and wit to the role of Nana Moon which earned her many fans, young and old alike. Everyone at EastEnders sends deepest sympathies and condolences to her family and close friends at this sad time.”

Over the years, the RADA-trained actress featured in 101 Dalmatians, Citizen Smith, Casualty and Man About the House. She also appeared in a number of theatre productions and had roles in Royal Shakespeare Company plays.

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