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We Have Ways Of Making You Laugh
''We Have Ways of Making You Laugh'' is a comedic television series produced by Humphrey Barclay and directed by Bill Turner for London Weekend Television. Frank Muir hosted the show. It featured Kenneth Cope, Eric Idle and Katherine Whitehorn, with music and writing by Benny Green. The theme music was composed by Don Partridge and played in his 'one-man-band' style. Dick Vosburgh prepared material spoofing Jimmy Young for the show. Terry Gilliam created animations using cut-outs, a technique he later used in ''Monty Python's Flying Circus''. The series was live. Its debut broadcast was scheduled for 2 August 1968. Although the cast performed, only the first 15 seconds of the first show were transmitted, due to an industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay and to incre ...
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Frank Muir
Frank Herbert Muir (5 February 1920 – 2 January 1998) was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wrote BBC Radio's '' Take It from Here'' for over 10 years, and then appeared on BBC radio quizzes '' My Word!'' and '' My Music'' for another 35. Muir became Assistant Head of Light Entertainment at the BBC in the 1960s, and was then London Weekend Television's founding Head of Entertainment. His many writing credits include editorship of ''The Oxford Book of Humorous Prose''. Birth and early life Muir was the second son of steam tug engineer Charles James Muir (1888–1934), originally from New Zealand, and his wife Margaret, daughter of ship's carpenter Harry Harding. Harry Harding had died young at sea; his widow, Elizabeth Jane (née Cowie) subsequently married Frank Herbert Webber, a former lighthouse inspector and licensee of the De ...
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Jimmy Young (disc Jockey)
Sir Leslie Ronald Young , known professionally as Jimmy Young (21 September 1921 – 7 November 2016), was an English singer, disc jockey and radio personality. Early in his career in the 1950s he had two number ones, " Unchained Melody" and "The Man from Laramie", both in 1955, and several other top ten hits in the UK chart, but he became better known for his long-running show on BBC Radio 2, The JY Prog, which ran from 1973 until 2002. Early life Young was born in Cinderford, Gloucestershire. The son of a baker and a dressmaker, he attended East Dean Grammar School. Young nearly died from bronchitis, double pneumonia and pleurisy as a child. He excelled at boxing and rugby, playing for Cinderford RFC and later turning down a place with Wigan's rugby league team. After his parents divorced in 1939, he left for South Wales to work as an electrician. Young later joined the RAF staying until 1949, becoming a PT instructor. Singing career Young signed to the new Polygon ...
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ITV Comedy
ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands **ITV1, a brand name used by ITV plc for twelve franchises of the ITV television network covering England, Southern Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands ** ITV Digital, a defunct UK digital terrestrial television broadcaster, which opened in 1998 as ONdigital and closed in 2002 **ITV plc, the British parent company which owns thirteen of the fifteen ITV television network franchises ** ITV Studios, a television production company owned by ITV plc ** itv.com, the main website of ITV plc * ITV Parapentes, a defunct French aircraft manufacturer *ITV Independent Television Tanzania, a Tanzanian television station and member of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA) * CITV-DT, a television station in Edmonton, Al ...
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Monty Python
Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy". Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' was conceived, written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach aided b ...
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1968 British Television Series Debuts
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * January 10 – John Gorton is sworn in as 19th Prime Minister of Australia, taking over from John McEwen after being elected leader of the Liberal Party the previous day, following the disappearance of Harold Holt. Gorton becomes the only Senator to become Prime Minister, though he immediately transfers to the House of Representatives through the 1968 Higgins by-election in Holt's vacant seat. * January 15 – The 1968 Belice earthquake in Sicily kills 380 and injures around 1,000. * January 21 ** Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh – One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins, ending on April 8. ** 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash: A U.S. B-52 Stratofortress crashes in Greenland, discharging 4 nuclear bombs. * January 23 ...
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Industrial Action
Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay and to increase bargaining power with the employer and intended to force the employer to improve them by reducing productivity in a workplace. Industrial action is usually organized by trade unions or other organised labour, most commonly when employees are forced out of work due to contract termination and without reaching an agreement with the employer. Quite often it is used and interpreted as a euphemism A euphemism () is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes ... for strike or mass strike, but the scope is much wider. Industrial action may take place in t ...
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Live Television
Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television over the Internet when content or programming is played continuously (not on demand). For example, the Pluto TV app has two categories for viewing: "Live TV" & "On Demand." On its website, Xfinity states "Watch TV series and top rated movies live and on demand with Xfinity Stream." In most cases live programming is not being recorded as it is shown on TV, but rather was not rehearsed or edited and is being shown only as it was recorded prior to being aired. Shows broadcast live include News broadcasting, newscasts, Breakfast television, morning shows, awards shows, sports programs, reality programs and, occasionally, episodes of scripted television series. Live television was more common until the late 1950s, when videotape technology was invented. Because of the prohibitive cost, adoption was slow, and some telev ...
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Monty Python's Flying Circus
''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (also known as simply ''Monty Python'') is a British surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, who became known as "Monty Python", or the "Pythons". The first episode was recorded at the BBC on 7 September 1969 and premiered on 5 October on BBC1, with 45 episodes airing over four series from 1969 to 1974, plus two episodes for German TV. The series stands out for its use of absurd situations, mixed with risqué and innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines. Live action segments were broken up with animations by Gilliam, often merging with the live action to form segues. The overall format used for the series followed and elaborated upon the style used by Spike Milligan in his groundbreaking series '' Q...'', rather than the traditional sketch show format. The Pythons play the majority of the series' chara ...
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Cutout Animation
Cutout animation is a form of stop-motion animation using flat characters, props and backgrounds cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or photographs. The props would be cut out and used as puppets for stop motion. The world's earliest known animated feature films were cutout animations (made in Argentina by Quirino Cristiani), as is the world's earliest surviving animated feature '' Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed'' (1926) by Lotte Reiniger. The technique of most cutout animation is comparable to that of shadow play, but with stop motion replacing the manual or mechanical manipulation of flat puppets. Some films, including ''Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed'', also have much of their silhouette style in common with shadow plays. Cutout animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger studied the traditions of shadow play and created several shadow play film sequences, including a tribute to François Dominique Séraphin in Jean Renoir's film ''La Marseillaise'' (1938). W ...
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Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), ''Brazil'' (1985), '' The Adventures of Baron Munchausen'' (1988), '' The Fisher King'' (1991), '' 12 Monkeys'' (1995), '' Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'' (1998), '' The Brothers Grimm'' (2005), ''Tideland'' (2005), and '' The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'' (2009). Being the only Monty Python member not born in Britain, he became a naturalised British subject in 1968 and formally renounced his American citizenship in 2006. Gilliam was born in Minnesota, but spent his high school and college years in Los Angeles. He started his career as an animator and strip cartoonist. He joined Monty Python as the animator of their works, but eventually became a full member and was given acting roles. He became a feature film director in the 1970s. Mo ...
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Dick Vosburgh
Richard Kennedy Vosburgh (27 August 1929 – 18 April 2007) was a Grammy-nominated, Tony-nominated American-born comedy writer and lyricist working chiefly in Britain. Early life Vosburgh was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He persuaded his father to let him study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London (where he met his future wife, Beryl Roques) and won the Comedy Acting prize. He was soon writing for BBC Radio, starting with scripts for Bernard Braden in 1953. Career In the 60s he moved from radio to television, writing (and occasionally performing onscreen) on television comedy shows like ''The Frost Report'', ''That Was The Week That Was'', '' We Have Ways of Making You Laugh'', '' Do Not Adjust Your Set'', ''At Last The 1948 Show'' and '' How To Irritate People''. On all these shows Vosburgh worked alongside members of what was to be Monty Python and he formed lasting friendships with them. He later appeared on one episode of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' as a ...
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Comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term originated in ancient Greece: in Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing ''agon'' or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses w ...
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