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BatesLine 20th anniversary
First-ever Wayback Machine snapshot of BatesLine.com, from August 5, 2003 Twenty years ago today at 6:01 am, the first blog entry at batesline.com came into being, an automatically generated entry proclaiming, "MovableType 2.63 has been successfully installed!" The first blog entry authored by a human followed at 12:22 pm,...
"Hancock's Half Hour" classic radio sitcom episodes available online
If you're a fan of the British sitcoms that have made their way to American television -- "Fawlty Towers," "One Foot in the Grave," "Keeping Up Appearances," "Yes, Minister," to name a few examples -- you will enjoy the radio show that set the standard for the Britcom genre. "Hancock's Half Hour" has become my favorite British comedy, and a family favorite as well.
Christmas Night with the Stars 1958
Sixty years ago tonight, Christmas 1958, the BBC aired an entertainment extravaganza featuring Britain's top entertainers of the day: singer Vera Lynn, comedians Tony Hancock, Ted Ray, Jimmy Edwards, Charlie Drake, and Charlie Chester, the Beverley Sisters, and Billy Cotton and his band. The show closes with a sentimental scene...
Tulsa City Council District 4: No endorsement
"I shall show my contempt by going down to the polling booth, taking my form, crossing both their names out and writing 'GET KNOTTED' in." -- Tony Hancock, Hancock's Half Hour, "The Election Candidate" I share The Lad's sentiments about many of the races on the August 28, 2018, runoff...
The Archers
I have a confession to make. I've become a soap opera addict. At least I can indulge my habit without plopping myself on the sofa for hours. I can catch up on the latest episode while running errands. This addiction has its roots in a five-week business trip to London...
What I told the <em>Guardian</em> about Oklahoma's budget crisis and what the <em>Grauniad</em> published
If you're wondering why people believe the mainstream news media is more interested in pushing a narrative rather than reporting the facts, I've got a story for you. If you want to know why you shouldn't trust a mainstream news outlet to give you multiple reasoned perspectives on a complex...
"Missing Hancocks" returning for second series
In 2014, the British Broadcasting Corporation re-created five missing episodes of the groundbreaking and ever-popular radio sitcom Hancock's Half Hour, in honor of the 60th anniversary of the show. Of the 102 episodes broadcast over six series from 1954 to 1959, 20 episodes are missing from the archives. In...
Hancock's Half Hour: The Photographer
Just for fun, an episode of the 1950s British sitcom: Tony goes overboard buying new photographic equipment after his ancient camera blows up, and the situation becomes desperate when the first payment is due. Sid is exasperated. "And your exposures are too long. Five minutes! You had to wait for...
"Hancock's Half Hour" recreated episodes on BBC Radio 4
BBC photo. Tony Hancock and Kevin McNally, who plays Hancock in the recreated episodes. On November 2, 1954, the BBC radio sitcom "Hancock's Half Hour" made its debut. Starring comedian Tony Hancock and written by Alan Simpson and Ray Galton, the show quickly became appointment radio across the UK....
Scotland's independence referendum
Polls are now closed in Scotland, but it will be several hours until all the votes are counted in the referendum to decide whether its 307-year-old membership in the United Kingdom will be dissolved in favor of independence. The question on the ballot is simple: "Should Scotland be an independent...
Bill Kerr, RIP
Bill Kerr, veteran of radio, stage, and screen in Britain and Australia, died on August 28, 2014, at his home in Perth, at the ripe old age of 92. His son Wilton Kerr told ABC (Australia) News: "He said he wasn't feeling too well quite recently and he was just...
Sid Caesar, RIP
I'm struck by one detail in the obituaries for comedic actor Sid Caesar. He got married in 1943 to Florence Levy, and he stayed married to her until her death in 2010 -- 67 years on their way to together forever, as Paul Harvey used to say. Not a whiff...
Tony Hancock: The Blood Donor
Comedian Tony Hancock and writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson were pioneers of the situation comedy on British radio and TV in the 1950s and 1960s. At a time when comedy shows usually relied on short sketches with one gag after another, catchphrases and silly voices, Hancock's Half-Hour featured a...
"Yyyyyeee-esssss?"
If you don't know who Frank Nelson was, you should. If you're a fan of classic radio and TV you've seen and heard him a thousand times or more. If you're older than me, you know him from the Jack Benny Show. People my age will remember his cameos on...
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