Comedy Slab

This week we review Lookwell (Pilot)Lookwell was a television pilot written and produced by Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel, the latter of whom would become a primary creative voice for O'Brien's late night show.It starred Adam West. Despite being a "personal favorite" of NBC chairman Brandon Tartikoff (who had left that position by the time the pilot aired and was replaced by Warren Littlefield), the pilot was not picked up as a series. It was broadcast on NBC on July 28, 1991, in a summer weekend timeslot reserved for burning off pilots which the network had passed on and has since become a cult classic.It stars Adam West as a washed-up TV action hero—who at the peak of his career was ceremonially deputized by local law enforcement and falsely believes he can solve crimes in real life. His student Jason (played by Todd Field) becomes his sidekick.Written by Conan O'Brien & Robert SmigelProduced by Lorne MichaelsDirected by E. W. SwackhamerA BGP / Broadway Video Production.Lookwell is available here: https://bit.ly/3xEJqfLThe Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review Not Going Out (Series 12 Episode 5)Not Going Out is a light-hearted, fast-paced mainstream sitcom based around the life of a man un-burdened by ambition or drive. Lee deflects criticism and bad news with his trademark wit and one-liners but deep down he is looking for love, a steady job and a flat he can call his own.By series 7, the will-they-won't-they tension between Lee and Lucy reach new highs, with Lee eventually proposing to Lucy.In series 8 we pick up the couple's story seven years later. The pair now live in a comfortable semi-detached home in Walton-on-Thames with their three kids: Charlie, and twins Benji and Molly but how has layabout Lee survived these dramatic life-changes?Created by Lee MackProduced by Alex Hardcastle, Nick Wood, Charlie Hanson, Jamie Rix, Richard Allen-Turner, Lee Mack, Jon Thoday, Sally Debonnaire and moreDirected by Alex Hardcastle and Nick WoodAn Avalon / Arlo Production for the BBC.Not Going Out is available here: https://bbc.in/2QsvzT2The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review Bob’s Burgers (Series 12 Episode 1)The show features the Belcher family. Bob, his wife Linda, and their children Tina, Gene, and Louise. The family runs a burger restaurant on Ocean Avenue in an unnamed seaside community (informally known as "Seymour's Bay" among the show's writing staff).Bob's Burgers is located in a green two-story building which features an apartment on the second floor where the Belcher family lives. The restaurant is sandwiched between two other commercial buildings, one of which houses "It's Your Funeral Home and Crematorium". As a running gag, the other building is shown in the opening credits to be a new business each week, often with names which are elaborate puns.Created by Loren BouchardProduced by Bernard DerrimanA Willo Production.Bob’s Burgers is available here: https://bit.ly/3L2debIThe Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review Bristow (Series 2 Episode 1)Bristow is a buying clerk (18th in line for Chief Buyer) working for the Chester-Perry organisation (the company's boss, Sir Reginald Chester-Perry, is never seen), who dreaming of grander things. Hoping the world is listening, he gives his opinions on life to anyone around, and if no one is around, is quite happy talking to himself.His work colleagues include his friend Jones (although he claims to be 18th in line for Chief Buyer), Miss Purdy the tea lady, and fearsome boss Fudge.Written by Frank DickensProduced by Neil CargillDirected by Neil CargillA BBC Production.Bristow is available here: https://amzn.to/3zZwi59 The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review Age Of Outrage (Series 1 Episode 1)A pioneer of virtual production in sketch comedy and the most popular and successful TV comedy show (of 2020) featuring a sketch based in a bakers' shop. Providing fodder for internet trolls since February 2020. With Miriam 'two bread rolls please' Isaac, Geraint Rhys 'too many characters' Edwards, Zak 'thinking' Ghazi-Torbati and Mali 'sourdough' Tudno-Jones. Featuring a special appearance by 'Godfather of Gunge' Dave Benson-Phillips.Written by Kate Reid, Zak Ghazi-Torbati, Dan Thomas, Sarah Breese, Berwyn Jackson, Mostyn Phillips, Beth Granville & Daniel HooperProduced by Phillip Moss and Paul FordeDirected by Phillip MossA Small & Clever Production for BBC Wales.Age Of Outrage is available here: https://bbc.in/3wczCsD The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review Steptoe & Son (Series 3 Episode 7)Living at Mews Cottage, Shepherd's Bush, Albert Steptoe and his son Harold are a family business. They are rag and bone men. With a yard full of battered furniture, tyres and scrap metal, Albert refuses to sell half of what Harold collects and keeps it, filling the house with worthless ornaments rather than pay the bills.Albert is a war veteran and lived at home with Harold since he was a child. His wife has passed on leaving just the father and son. Albert is so stuck with the same routine that it is impossible for his son to do anything without Albert devising some cunning ploy to stop him.Harold is in his late thirties and still lives at home. Not that he likes it; he hates everything about it. Paying bills, living in squalor and being on constant surveillance by his father are his biggest problems. Written by Ray Galton & Alan SimpsonProduced by Duncan WoodDirected by Duncan WoodA BBC tv Production.Steptoe & Son is available here: https://amzn.to/3JJ0DJP The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review Police Squad (Series 1 Episode 5)Created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, and starred Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin, Police Squad was first broadcast in the United States on the ABC network in 1982.A spoof of police procedurals, the series featured Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker's usual sight gags, wordplay and non sequiturs. While a parody of many television shows and movies, it bore a particular resemblance to the Lee Marvin cop show M Squad (in particular the opening credits) and the late 1960s series Felony Squad.TV Guide ranked it #7 on it’s list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon”.Created by Zucker, Abrahams & ZuckerProduced by Rick Correll & Deborah HwangDirected by variousA Paramount Production.Police Squad is available here: https://amzn.to/3zx6CNk The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review Hacks (Series 1 Episode 1)Deborah Vance, a legendary Las Vegas stand-up comedy diva, needs to re-invent her aging act to avoid losing her residency at the Palmetto Casino. Ava is a young comedy writer who is unable to find work due to an insensitive tweet and her reputation for being self-centered and arrogant. When Ava's manager sends her to work as Deborah's new head writer, the two slowly bond as Ava pushes her new boss to take more risks and Deborah, in turn, helps Ava start to work through her personal problems.Created by Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Carl Clemons-HopkinsProduced by Melanie J. ElinA First Thought / Paulilu / Femulon / 3 Arts Entertainment Production.Hacks is available here: https://amzn.to/3PCljVZ The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review Ankle Tag (Series 3 Episode 1)Former convict Bob is forced to live with his uptight son Gruff, sympathetic daughter-in-law Alice and granddaughter Carys whilst on parole.Gruff is a new father whose own father, Bob, suddenly comes back into his life after a long absence.Bob is a convicted fraudster, released from prison on licence, who wants to inveigle his way back into his estranged son's life. He's charming, optimistic and warm. People like him. That's why they gave him so much of their life savings. Gruff's wife Alice is quite taken with the charming Bob. She would be - he's a fraudster - that's how he works.Written by Gareth Gwynn and Benjamin PartridgeProduced by Victoria Lloyd and Adnan AhmedA BBC Studios Production.Ankle Tag is available here: https://bbc.in/3yYRCHL The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review Only Murders In The Building (Series 2 Episode 1)Three strangers share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one.When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their precise knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth. Perhaps even more explosive are the lies they tell one another. Soon, the endangered trio comes to realise a killer might be living among them as they race to decipher the mounting clues before it's too late.Created by Steve Martin & John HoffmanProduced by Thembi Banks, Jane Raab, Nick Pavonetti, Kristin BernsteinRhode Island Productions / Another Hoffman Story Productions / 40 Share for 20th Television.Only Murders In The Building is available here: https://bit.ly/3OgjkFd The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday.

This week we review Henry IX (Series 1 Episode 1)Set in the fictitious, contemporary court of Henry IX, King of the United Kingdom, this is the almost universal story of a forty-something man going through a mid-life crisis, except this one just happens to be the reigning monarch, King of Great Britain and the Commonwealth.This three part sitcom has been penned by the legendary, multi award-winning comedy writing team behind Porridge, The Likely Lads and Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.The series sees Henry struggle to make changes to his life in the face of centuries of tradition and a Royal household who are fairly sure they have his - and if not, certainly their own - best interests at heart.Written by Dick Clement and Ian La FrenaisProduced by Pete Thornton, Jon Rolph, Tarquin Gotch, Tanya Qureshi and Simon LuptonDirected By Vadim JeanA Retort in association with Serious Comedy Production for Gold.Henry IX is available here: https://bit.ly/3RokqBw The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review Benidorm (Series 1 Episode 1)The Solana holiday resort in Spain welcomes a regular group of British holiday makers each year.There are sex-mad swingers; OAPs; young families; singletons; dodgy dealers; couples; flamboyant homosexuals; pub quiz champions; dysfunctional families and everything in between. And they're just the guests!A similarly wild array of both Spanish and British staff members complete the line-up at Benidorm's all-inclusive Solana, where disaster never seems to be far down the road.Written by Derren LittenProduced by Geoffrey PerkinsDirected By Kevin AllenA Tiger Aspect Production.Benidorm is available here: https://bit.ly/3OGcavh The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review The Music Teacher (Series 1 Episode 1 & 2)The Music Teacher is a musical comedy written by and starring 2009 Writers' Guild award winner Richie Webb as music teacher Nigel Penny.Shut away in a windowless practice room in a regional arts centre, Nigel endures a succession of pupils. The middle-aged bachelor with his homemade Moog; the six-year-old trombonist whose arms aren't quite long enough; and the female student who is forever in a state of tearful crisis and never gets her oboe out are just some of the people who enter Nigel's airless little room.Written by Richie WebbProduced by Richie WebbDirected By Nick WalkerA Top Dog Production fro BBC Radio 4.The Music Teacher is available here: https://bbc.in/3OP5Kt4 The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review Superstore (Series 2 Episode 1)Starring America Ferrera and Ben Feldman (who both also serve as executive producers), Superstore follows a group of employees working at Cloud 9, a fictional big-box chain store in St. Louis, Missouri.Written by Justin SpitzerProduced by America Ferrera, Harry J. Lange Jr, Eric Ledgin, Sierra Teller Ornelas, Ben FeldmanA Pitzer Holding Company / The District / Universal Production.Superstore is available here: https://bit.ly/3tNgkJi The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review Here We Go (Series 1 Episode 1)Here We Go follows the highs and lows of the Jessop family as they navigate a combination of life's everyday challenges - changing careers, keeping the romance alive within a marriage, adopting a healthier lifestyle, kidnapping a dog, destroying a swimming pool and sabotaging a wedding.Youngest son Sam documents the family across the year using his camera. Moving back and forward in time, each episode offers an intimate, observed and absurd exposé of a modern British family doing its best to support each other, if accidentally annoying everyone else in the process.Written by Tom BasdenProduced by Tom Jordan, Josh Cole & Tom Basden.Directed by Will SinclairA BBC Studios Production.Here We Go is available here: https://bbc.in/3x1kXjy The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review Monty Python’s Flying Circus (Series 1 Episode 1)Surrealist, observational and curiously subversive, Monty Python's Flying Circus is a sketch show not quite like any other.Mixing off-the-wall animated sequences, observational humour, innuendo and plain silliness, it often shines an inquisitive and mocking light on the established conventions and idiosyncrasies of British life, and accepted ideas and norms.Some of the most celebrated and memorable Monty Python sketches include: "The Parrot Sketch", "The Spanish Inquisition", “The Artful Nudger“, "The Lumberjack Song", "The Ministry of Silly Walks" and "The Cheese Shop". Written by The Cast & Carol ClevelandProduced by John Howard Davies and Ian MacNaughtonDirected by John Howard Davies and Ian MacNaughtonA BBC Production.Monty Python’s Flying Circus available here: https://bit.ly/38wIe4G The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review The Secret World (Series 2 Episode 1)The Secret World allows listeners to eavesdrop on the bizarre, surprising and very secret lives of public people who have been caught unaware by the microphone.Parallel stories unfold from morning until night as the great and good become embroiled in the most unlikely situations. Although not topical or political, The Secret World is a surreal twist on the familiar "impression show" without parody, pastiche or the usual characterising.Written by Bill Dare, Julian Dutton and Duncan WisbeyProduced by Bill DareA BBC Production.The Secret World is available here: https://bbc.in/38VU092 The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review Modern Toss (Pilot)Modern Toss is a couple of cack handed trouble-makers thinking up jokes and drawing them up for comics, greetings cards, books and animation. Prized by connoisseurs and collectors, their laugh out loud prints and artwork decorate toilet walls throughout the country. They made two TV series for Channel 4 along with an impressive stack of other short animations for the telly. Written by Jon Link & Mick BunnageProduced by Rebecca FerrandDirected by Joe CornishA Channel X Production for Channel 4.Modern Toss clips are available here: https://bit.ly/3FBQSLy The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review Peter Kay’s Car Share (Series 1 Episode 3)Car Share is written, directed by and stars Peter Kay.The sitcom follows John and Kayleigh who have been thrown together in a company car share scheme, forcing their paths to cross as they journey to their respective jobs at a major out-of-town supermarket.Each journey brings fresh insight into John and Kayleigh's lives, with twists and turns in their unlikely relationship.Written by Paul Coleman, Peter Kay, Sian Gibson and Tim ReidProduced by Gill Isles & Margaret MubarakA Goodnight Vienna Production.Peter Kay’s Car Share is available here: https://amzn.to/3yq5U5B The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review Mum’s On The Run (Series 1 Episode 1)Sitcom starring Ronni Ancona as single mum Jen and John Gordon-Sinclair as Mr Rigby.Mum's On The Run follows Jen's hectic life as she finds herself spending most of her time as an unpaid chauffeur to her 14-year-old teenage existentialist son, Toby, and a tonally challenged harmonica practising 10-year-old daughter, Felicity.Meanwhile, she also has to cope with her jazz musician ex-husband, the fiercely competitive and annoying downstairs neighbour, and the huge crush she has on her son's history teacher.Written by Alex ZegermanProduced by Dawn Ellis & Alison Vernon-SmithA BBC Production.Mum’s On The Run is available here: https://bbc.in/3s8wzje The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube. Subscribe for a new episode each Tuesday. Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.