TVSquad

My first introduction to The Avengers, the classic cult 60s show with Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg, Honor Blackman and Linda Thorson, was actually the second version of the show in the 70s, The New Avengers. CBS used to run the show late at night, back in the day, when they showed crime and action shows after the local news.

"Back in the day?" I'm getting really old.

The new version also starred Macnee, but this time he was paired with Joanna Lumley (as Purdey), who later went on to fame in Absolutely Fabulous, and Gareth Hunt, who played Mike Gambit. Isn't that a great name for an action hero, Mike Gambit? I really liked this show (and the original series, which I started watching repeats of later). Supposedly it only lasted 26 episodes, though it seems like more.

Hunt died of pancreatic cancer this week in London. Besides The New Avengers, he appeared in Upstairs, Downstairs, EastEnders, Space: 1999, Doctor Who, The New Adventures of Robin Hood, and many other TV shows and movies. Lumley has a lot of nice things to say about her costar.

There are drinkers, and then there are drinkers. The ones that always seem to have a drink in their hand. It's a social thing, it's a private thing, but most of all, it's an everyday thing. Here are five TV characters who drank. A lot.

1. Larry Tate (Bewitched): Sure, it was the 60s and drinking was everyone and not frowned upon like it is in a lot of situations today, but mother of God Larry used to drink a lot. Every single time he came over to the Stephens' home he rushed over to their bar and made himself a drink, or Samantha gave him one. He seems like a prime candidate for alcoholism: a harried advertising guy, always on the go, and an ad exec who works for him that seems to vanish or have odd things happen to him all the time. That couldn't have been easy to deal with. This guy drinks a lot. In fact, if you play the Bewitched drinking game (take a drink every time Larry takes a drink), you probably won't make it past an episode.

BBC America has teamed up with Ab Fab creator Jennifer Saunders to produce two new series for the network - one of which reunites Saunders with Ab Fab's Joanna Lumley and longtime partner Dawn French. And, get this, both series are being produced by Jon Plowman, who oversaw the UK's Office and Extras. Does comedy news get much better than this?

The first show - Clatterford - is being compared to the Golden Girls with Lumley and Saunders playing women's club members in a small English town. Lumley is an eccentric stirring up trouble, and Saunders is the town busybody. Dawn French and Sue Johnston are also on board.

This morning's Very Short List has a story about the Australian TV comedy Kath & Kim. The producers who oversaw the transformation of the UK Office into the stateside Dunder-Mifflin team are busy recreating Kath & Kim for American audiences.

The Aussie half-hour is a faux reality show about suburban mom Kath and her self-involved, lay-about adult daughter Kim. The show's been called "Absolutely Fabulous without the fabulous." The Sundance Channel will be playing a 90-minute Kath & Kim made-for-TV movie on December 24th and plans to air the Aussie version's third season. The American take is set to debut in 2007. If The Office's translation is any indication, this could be good news for comedy fans. Anyone other there familiar with the show? Personally, I'm happy to get behind any series that smacks of Ab Fab.

Major U.S. networks ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, along with Discovery, History and National Geographic channels, have all shown interest in acquiring the rights to the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are?

The popular UK series focuses on the subject of genealogy. The potential U.S. version, much like the UK one, would follow a different celebrity guest each week as he or she uncovered his or her family history. (That's Julia Sawalha of Ab Fab and Press Gang pictured to the right during her WDYTYA episode.)

Who Do You Think You Are? has a spanky website that can help you get started on the hunt for your own ancestors.

I never watched Absolutely Fabulous. I'm sure it was a fine show, I just never watched it. Nevertheless, I know some of you would be interested to know that Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders, stars of the hugely popular series, are teaming up once again for a seven-episode series being produced for both the BBC and BBC America (so we'll actually get to see it here, too). The series, which has no title yet, was created by Saunders and will focus on a women's club attended by gossipy types. If I didn't know the Ab Fab girls were behind this I think that plot synopsis would send me screaming in the other direction. The show, which has no airdate yet, will also star Dawn French, who worked with  both Lumley and Saunders before Ab Fab.