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Screwball

If there's a genre films I really love, it's screwball comedies. His Girl Friday has always been one of my favourite films, and alongside Bringing Up Baby, epitomises what I love in the genre. The rat-a-tat dialogue, strong female...

Posted by Adam Bowie on January 2, 2013 8:55 AM

The Daily Show - Back Daily in the UK

Since it's easier to moan than to be positive, I thought it was worth giving kudos to Comedy Central UK who are bringing the regular daily edition of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart back to the UK screens from...

Posted by Adam Bowie on June 26, 2012 12:53 PM

Christmas Television

Now Christmas is over*, it's time to carry out an appraisal of the good and the bad over the period. Like many, I think that Sherlock was probably the best programme on over the Christmas/New Year period. It's an incredibly...

Posted by Adam Bowie on January 3, 2012 10:10 PM

Mrs Brown's Boys - How Does A Programme Like This Get Commissioned?

Comedy can be a very personal thing. You find Big Momma's House funny. I disassociate myself from you completely. But there are degrees. I find Catherine Tate personable, but her show was full of overlong sketches that were the same...

Posted by Adam Bowie on February 21, 2011 10:58 PM

10 O'Clock Live

So what to make of Channel 4's new "it's not The Daily Show that we just cancelled" comedy current affairs series? Well it's not all bad, and it's not all good. There seemed to be quite a few first night...

Posted by Adam Bowie on January 22, 2011 10:49 AM

Ed Reardon's Week: Series 7

Photo: BBC Radio 4 Have I mentioned that Ed Reardon's Week is back for a new series? I have? Oh well, there's no harm in mentioning it again. Every Monday at 11:30 and then on the iPlayer. In The...

Posted by Adam Bowie on January 13, 2011 8:54 AM

Election Coverage Tonight

Channel 4's obviously not voting Green. They were advertising their alternative election special this evening with a helicopter dangling this ad at lunchtime over Soho. That follows a very expensively produced booklet that fell out of one of my...

Posted by Adam Bowie on May 6, 2010 2:40 PM

Party & Geoengineering

A couple of quick recommendations. You've only got a day left to listen to part 1 of Party, adapted by Tom Basden from his own play which has only just finished a run in the West End following its debut...

Posted by Adam Bowie on March 16, 2010 4:35 PM

Radio This Week

There's a few interesting things on TV just at the moment, but I'm going to concentrate on radio. All this week, Melvyn Bragg is celebrating the Royal Society's 350th anniversary with four episodes of In Our Time. The first is...

Posted by Adam Bowie on January 4, 2010 8:23 PM

Stripping

Is stripping a good idea? I mean the television scheduling practice of course. Tonight on ITV1, the first episode of a new series of Above Suspicion is starting. It's a three-parter really, with episodes each night from Monday to Wednesday....

Posted by Adam Bowie on January 4, 2010 8:11 PM

Ignorant Reviewer

Friday night saw the first in a new series of Genius on BBC2. It's a TV transition of the popular Radio 4 comedy presented by Dave Gorman. The radio series is very funny. The TV version is also very funny,...

Posted by Adam Bowie on March 23, 2009 10:19 AM

Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle

Stewart Lee's new comedy programme is excellent, if the first episode is anything to go by. Each week Lee addresses a different topic and this week it was books. OK - so this ticked all the boxes with me, with...

Posted by Adam Bowie on March 16, 2009 11:50 PM

David Mitchell on Digital Radio

Last Monday's Just A Minute included a round on the subject of digital radio. David Mitchell isn't a fan... Listen again to the whole show on the BBC iPlayer (by next Monday)....

Posted by Adam Bowie on March 11, 2009 1:30 PM

Juvenile Behaviour on the Radio

If you've never taken part in a phone-in on the radio, you might be surprised how easy it is to get through if you've got something interesting to say. Listen to "Tony" speaking to Five Live's Victoria Derbyshire on Monday:...

Posted by Adam Bowie on February 10, 2009 10:39 AM

BBC Three Sitcoms

There's a fun "debate" over at The Guardian about whether or not Pulling is actually better than the much feted Gavin & Stacey. I like them both. I missed out on Gavin & Stacey initially, for the most part because...

Posted by Adam Bowie on April 24, 2008 5:34 PM

Idiocracy

Idiocracy is a film that never actually got a cinema release in the UK. Made by the creator of Beavis & Butthead, as well as King of the Hill, Mike Judge, this film was made after the cult success of...

Posted by Adam Bowie on March 19, 2007 11:48 PM

Blades of Glory

Blades of Glory is the latest Will Ferrell film, and if you're like me, you won't know if you're going to see a good Will Ferrell film (like Anchorman) or a bad one (like Bewitched). Fortunately, Blades of Glory is...

Posted by Adam Bowie on March 19, 2007 10:23 PM

Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz is the new Simon Pegg/Nick Frost/Edgar Wright film. You know? The people who brought you Shaun of the Dead, and more importantly, Spaced. This time around we have Simon Pegg's diligent Sgt. Angel being transferred from the Met,...

Posted by Adam Bowie on January 18, 2007 12:59 PM

Radio Comedy

Today's Media Guardian leads off on a big piece about the state of play of radio comedy in this country at the moment. The piece is titled "Why Radio Comey Is a Joke", although all it seems to do is...

Posted by Adam Bowie on January 15, 2007 7:36 PM

Ed Reardon Returns

I make no apology for mentioning Ed Reardon's Week once again. Two reasons to mention it this week: 1) The third series starts on Friday morning at 11.30am on BBC Radio 4 with an episode called The Name-Check. Listen live,...

Posted by Adam Bowie on December 12, 2006 4:40 PM