Big Train
''Big Train'' is a British television sketch show created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan. The first series was broadcast on BBC Two in 1998, while the second, in which Linehan was not involved, aired in 2002. Overview The series starred the actors Kevin Eldon, Mark Heap and Simon Pegg in both series one and two, with Julia Davis and Amelia Bullmore in the first series (Nick Frost also appeared in two episodes), and Rebecca Front, Tracy-Ann Oberman and Catherine Tate in the second series. All starred in a variety of other comedy shows including ''I'm Alan Partridge'', ''Look Around You'', ''Spaced'', ''Smack the Pony'', ''Brass Eye'' and ''Green Wing.'' Tate went on to get her own show on the BBC, ''The Catherine Tate Show''. The first series was directed by Graham Linehan and other series contributors included David Mitchell and Robert Webb. The pilot episode was directed by Chris Morris but was never broadcast in full. Some sketches from the pilot are scattered throu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Graham Linehan
Graham George Linehan (; born May 1968) is an Irish comedy writer and anti-transgender activist. He created or co-created the sitcoms ''Father Ted'' (1995–1998), '' Black Books'' (2000–2004), and ''The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013), and has written for shows including '' Count Arthur Strong'', ''Brass Eye'' and ''The Fast Show''. Early in his career, he partnered with the writer Arthur Mathews. Linehan has won five BAFTA awards, including Best Writer, Comedy, for ''The IT Crowd'' in 2014. After an episode of ''The IT Crowd'' was criticised as transphobic, Linehan became involved in anti-transgender activism. He argues that transgender activism endangers women and has likened the use of puberty blockers to Nazi eugenics. Linehan says his views have lost him work and ended his marriage. Life and career Linehan was born in Dublin in 1968 and attended Catholic University School, a Roman Catholic secondary school for boys. In the 1980s, he joined the staff of the Dublin politics ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Smack The Pony
''Smack the Pony'' is a British sketch comedy show that was originally broadcast between 1999 and 2003 on Channel 4. The main performers on the show were Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan and Sally Phillips. There were also regular appearances from Sarah Alexander, Darren Boyd and Cavan Clerkin. The show's theme tune was a version of the Dusty Springfield song "In the Middle of Nowhere", sung by Jackie Clune. In addition to the three principal cast members, the show was written by many writers, the core of whom went on to write '' Green Wing'' and ''Campus''. Among the show's regular themes were unsuccessful relationships, competition in the workplace, and latent lesbianism, but sketches would also dip into the surreal. Two regular strands involved a series of different women making dating agency videos about their general likes and dislikes, and a musical parody that would close the show. History The show was created by Victoria Pile after being commissioned by Caroline Leddy of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Monty Python
Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy series '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which aired on the BBC from 1969 to 1974. Their work then developed into a larger collection that included live shows, films, albums, books, and musicals; their influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. (The live version of the Web page does not contain the quoted line, but the archived version does.) Their sketch show has been called "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy". ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' was loosely structured as a sketch show, but its innovative stream-of-consciousness approach and Gilliam's animation skills pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy unit, the Pythons had creative ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Laugh Track
A laugh track (or laughter track) is an audio recording consisting of laughter (and other audience reactions) usually used as a separate soundtrack for comedy productions. The laugh track may contain live audience reactions or artificial laughter (canned laughter or fake laughter) made to be inserted into the show, or a combination of the two. The use of canned laughter to "sweeten" the laugh track was pioneered by American sound engineer Charles "Charley" Douglass. The Douglass laugh track became a standard in mainstream television in the U.S., dominating most prime-time sitcoms and sketch comedies from the late 1950s to the late 1970s. Use of the Douglass laughter decreased by the 1980s upon the development of stereophonic laughter. In addition, single-camera sitcoms eliminated audiences altogether. Canned laughter is used to encourage the viewer to laugh. History in the United States Radio Before radio and television, audiences experienced live comedy performances in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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DigiBeta
Betacam is a family of half-inch professional videocassette products developed by Sony in 1982. In colloquial use, ''Betacam'' singly is often used to refer to a Betacam camcorder, a Betacam tape, a Betacam video recorder or the format itself. All Betacam variants from analog Betacam, Betacam SP and Digital Betacam, HDCAM and HDCAM SR use the same shape videocassettes, meaning vaults and other storage facilities do not have to be changed when upgrading to a new format. The cassette shell and case for each Betacam cassette is colored differently depending on the format, allowing for easy visual identification. There is also a mechanical key that allows a video tape recorder to identify which format has been inserted. The cassettes are available in two sizes: S (short or small) and L (long or large). The Betacam camcorder can only load S magnetic tapes, while television studio sized video tape recorders (VTR) designed for video editing can play both S and L tapes. The format suppl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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35 Mm Movie Film
35 mm film is a film gauge used in filmmaking, and the film standard. In motion pictures that record on film, 35 mm is the most commonly used gauge. The name of the gauge is not a direct measurement, and refers to the nominal width of the 35 mm format photographic film, which consists of strips wide. The standard negative pulldown, image exposure length on 35 mm for movies ("single-frame" format) is four film perforations, perforations per Film frame, frame along both edges, which results in 16 frames per foot of film. A variety of largely proprietary gauges were devised for the numerous camera and projection systems being developed independently in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, along with various film feeding systems. This resulted in cameras, projectors, and other equipment having to be calibrated to each gauge. The 35 mm width, originally specified as inches, was introduced around 1890 by William Kennedy Dickson and Thomas Edison, using 120 film st ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains (VT) (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach Group, Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 9 March 1997 to 7 December 2019. The franchise covered long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands (region), West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and southern Scotland, consequently connecting six of the UK's largest cities: London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh, which have a combined Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of over 18 million. It had around 3,400 employees in 2015. The Virgin Trains brand was also used on the legally and operationally separate Virgin Trains East Coast from 2015 until 2018, and previously on Virgin CrossCountry, which operated between 1997 and 2007, as well as from 2018 to 2020 by Brightline, Virgi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Max Greger
Max Greger (; 2 April 1926, in Munich – 15 August 2015, in Munich) was a German jazz musician, saxophonist, big band bandleader and conductor. He recorded over 150 records in jazz and pop music. In 1948 he founded his first sextet with musicians, including Hugo Strasser. In 1959 his orchestra was the first western orchestra to tour the Soviet Union. In 1963 he put together an orchestra for ZDF. His son, Max Greger Jr. and grandson, Max Greger III, are also musicians. Selected albums * ''European Jazz Sounds'' (1963), Brunswick Records 267 918, Polydor 829 257-2 * ''Yakety Sax'' (1964), Polydor 237 374 * ''Maximum'' (1965), Brunswick, Polydor 825 703-2 * ''Ball Paré'' (1965), Polydor 237 483 * ''Tanz mit mir'' (1965), Polydor 249 034 * ''Eine kleine Tanzmusik'' (1966), Polydor 249 066 * ''Greger in the Night'' (1966), Polydor 249 103 * ''Greger in Rio'' (196?), Polydor 249 112 * ''Live – „Tour de dance“ with 28 Hits and Evergreens'' (196?), Polydor 249 273 * ''In the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jam (TV Series)
Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the method of preparation, type of fruit used, and its place in a meal. Sweet fruit preserves such as jams, jellies, and marmalades are often eaten at breakfast with bread or as an ingredient of a pastry or dessert, whereas more savory and acidic preserves made from " vegetable fruits" such as tomato, squash or zucchini, are eaten alongside savory foods such as cheese, cold meats, and curries. Techniques There are several techniques of making jam, with or without added water. One factor depends on the natural pectin content of the ingredients. When making jam with low-pectin fruits like strawberries, high-pectin fruit like orange can be added, or additional pectin in the form of pectin powder, citric acid or citrus peels. Often the fruit will ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chris Morris (satirist)
Christopher J. Morris (born 15 June 1962) is an English comedian, radio presenter, actor and filmmaker. Known for his deadpan, dark humour, surrealism and controversial subject matter, he has been praised by the British Film Institute for his "uncompromising, moralistic drive". Morris teamed up with his radio producer Armando Iannucci in the early 1990s to create '' On the Hour'', a satire of news programmes. A television spin off, '' The Day Today'', launched the career of comedian Steve Coogan and was hailed as one of the most important satirical shows of the 1990s. Morris further developed the satirical news format with ''Brass Eye'', which lampooned celebrities whilst focusing on themes such as crime and drugs. For some, the apotheosis of Morris's career was a ''Brass Eye'' special dealing with the moral panic surrounding paedophilia. It became one of the most complained-about programmes in British television history, leading the ''Daily Mail'' to describe him as "the most ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Robert Webb
Robert Patrick Webb (born 29 September 1972) is an English comedian, actor and writer. He rose to prominence alongside David Mitchell as part of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb. Mitchell and Webb starred in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Peep Show'', in which Webb plays Jeremy "Jez" Usbourne. The two also starred in the sketch show '' That Mitchell and Webb Look'', for which they then performed a stage adaptation, '' The Two Faces of Mitchell and Webb''. The duo starred in the 2007 film '' Magicians'', and in the short-lived series ''Ambassadors'' in 2013. Webb headed the critically acclaimed sitcom '' The Smoking Room'' and was a performer in the sketch show '' Bruiser''. From 2017 to 2021, he starred alongside Mitchell in the Channel 4 comedy-drama '' Back''. Webb is also a regular comedy panellist, appearing on shows such as ''The Bubble'', '' Have I Got News for You'', '' Never Mind the Buzzcocks'', '' QI'', ''Mastermind'', '' Argumental'', and '' Was It Something I Said?'' He ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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David Mitchell (comedian)
David James Stuart Mitchell (born 14 July 1974) is a British comedian, actor, and writer. Mitchell rose to prominence alongside Robert Webb as part of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb. The duo starred in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Peep Show'', in which Mitchell plays Mark Corrigan. He won the British Academy Television Award for Best Comedy Performance in 2009 for his performance. Mitchell and Webb have written and starred in several sketch shows including '' Bruiser'', '' The Mitchell and Webb Situation'', '' That Mitchell and Webb Sound'', and '' That Mitchell and Webb Look''. They have also starred in the British version of Apple's " Get a Mac" ad campaign. Their first film, '' Magicians'', was released in 2007. They starred in the short-lived TV series ''Ambassadors'' in 2013, and in the Channel 4 comedy-drama ''Back'' from 2017 to 2021. Mitchell starred as Owen in the BBC Radio 4 sitcom '' Think the Unthinkable'', as Dr. James Vine in the BBC One sitcom '' Jam & Jerusalem' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |