Author: Simon Dunn
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The Marshall Chronicles Changed Sitcom History (Probably)
A small fact nugget keeps popping up about Seinfeld – that the show was renamed after the pilot to avoid allusions to the ABC show The Marshall Chronicles. As the pilot had been called The Seinfeld Chronicles, and the ABC show was cancelled after four episodes, they went with the much snappier new title. It’s…
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All Rise For Julian Clary
It’s always fun when two disparate things collide. I was reminded of All Rise For Julian Clary by, of all things, The Secret Barrister book, which mentions the show in passing. Barely a day later, following a mention on a YouTube video, I found theoldnet.com, and decided to look at the BBC’s website from 1996.…
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Hewitt – The British Answer To Seinfeld
Inevitably, during the late 1990s, British broadcasters were looking for something a bit like Seinfeld. When BBC Two launched Rhona, The Stage asked the eponymous star: So am I right in thinking British Seinfeld?‘We have more of a Seinfeldian interest,’ she says carefully. The Real Rhona, Ben Dowell, The Stage, Thursday 20th July 2000 Then…
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It’s Slightly Rippled With A Flat Underside
I was slightly amazed to learn that the Cadbury’s Boost bar is older than I thought. I had a feeling it was launched in the 1990s, with the famous Vic & Bob advertising campaign. (As an aside, here’s the slightly less famous (possibly forgotten) Gladiators one they did). But in actuality, the Boost was first…
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Kathy Burke Clippings
I had a little lament the other evening, that it’s such a shame Kathy Burke never appeared in The New Statesman. She would have been equally wonderful as a slick Tory backbencher, or a Labour frontbencher. Here’s an early review of Kathy’s work – a performance in the play Ghosts. In 1989, Maureen Paton is…