TVSquad

Variety has an excellent article up about Hugh Laurie's comedic roots in Britain, a genre Laurie excelled at long before he took the lead dramatic role of the dour doctor in House.

Being a fan of Britcoms (particularly those of the 80's), this is the Hugh Laurie I remember. He was even mocked in the Brit satire series Spitting Image in the early 90's for being typecast as a rich, stupid person (In his defense, only his two most famous comedy roles, Prince George of Blackadder The Third and Bertie Wooster of Jeeves and Wooster, were bumbling members of the upper class).

While medical dramas are not my cup of tea, House suffers from an even bigger handicap on my part because whenever I see him on the screen, I flash to Blackadder or A Bit of Fry and Laurie (or even his cameo in The New Statesman). With that in mind, I promise right now that if his old comedy partner Stephen Fry appears on House (as suggested in the article), it would be enough to make me watch the show.

Oh thank God. Paris Hilton is going to England to try and find a new best friend for her reality television show Paris Hilton's My New BFF. Now, rather than subject us to her vapid, debutante antics, she'll be doing the same thing across the Atlantic where they're more used to that sort of behavior.

You know, this is quite an honor for some lucky Brit. There is nobody more loyal, caring and understanding as a friend than Paris Hilton. Just ask Nicole Richie.

I'm not sure who to root for in this particular dispute. The British authorities have banned Martha Stewart from entering the country due to her previous conviction of obstructing justice.

The television personality was hoping to visit England for some business engagements. Stewart's assistants confirmed her visa denial, but didn't give details (I don't understand this particular fact. American citizens don't need a visa to go to England, only need a passport.).

"Martha loves England; the country and English culture are near and dear to her heart," said Charles Koppelman, chairman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. "She has engagements with English companies and business leaders and hopes this can be resolved so that she will be able to visit soon."

I'm not the biggest fan of Martha, but this seems like a bit of a snow job. She did the crime and did her time. Why do the British authorities feel that she is still some sort of threat?

She did, however, get to visit her ancestral country of Poland. Score one for the Poles! Maybe they'll keep her.

Last year, after multiple recommendations from my English friends, I got around to watching a few episodes of The IT Crowd. Unfortunately, it failed to live up to all the wild hype generated by my buddies, but something did stick in my mind... The crazy-haired, nasal Moss character, played by Richard Ayoade. There was something wonderfully weird about him and, since I was so intrigued by his strange voice, I decided to look him up. Well, as it turns out, his usual voice is really that weird and nasal, which just made him a million times more better in my mind. In fact, Ayoade's the only cast member who has been carried over from the original version of The IT Crowd to the American adaptation, reprising his role as Moss.

HBO has plans to launch its HBO SVOD service in the UK, marking the first time the cable channel has launched its own channel in the UK market. The new on-demand service will be available on BT Vision, Tiscali TV and Virgin Media and will feature original miniseries; television series, comedy specials and documentaries. No dates have been set just yet as to when the new service will be available.

Here's a question for the UK readers: what do you think of this new service? The press release reads that HBO programs are popular in the UK, and I'm curious as to which shows you like and which ones you don't. Or, if you even give a flying fig newton* about HBO at all.

*Please excuse my language.

A new series on SkyOne in the UK called The Big Idea pits inventors and entrepreneurs against one another for a chance to have their invention or business idea realized, and to win £100,000. Since I live in the US I've never actually seen the show, but I did find a commercial for it I think you guys will enjoy. It features a ton of English pound coins toppled over like dominoes, a feat that may or may not have been accomplished with some clever editing, but who cares, it's still cool to look at. I think pounds are a bit thicker than American coins, but I still imagine it would be difficult to make them stand up like that. I don't think I would have the patience to pull off such a feat. In fact, I know I wouldn't. Check out the coinage after the jump.