TVSquad

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.

UK residents can already watch any show that's aired on the BBC over the last 7 days using the broadcast service's iPlayer software. Now the BBC plans to go one step further by offering a live stream of BBC One content on the internet.

The new service will be available sometime in the next few months and will be available only to viewers in the UK. You'll also need a broadband connection and you'll have to pay the same £139.50 annual license fee that you pay to watch television in the UK.

Critics have complained that it will be difficult for the BBC to make sure that viewers are actually paying their license fee, which means that television owners could wind up subsidizing free content for people who watch programs on their computers but do not own a TV. Right now there's not a huge number of people trading in their televisions for computers, but then there are aren't very many TV stations providing all of their content for free over the internet.

The BBC may be preparing to distribute some of its more popular programs via Apple's iTunes store. The Register is reporting that details on the partnership could be announced as soon as Tuesday.

UK residents can already watch a number of BBC shows online using the iPlayer service, which lets users watch any show that's been broadcast within the last 7 days for free. But the iPlayer is only available to British residents who pay for the BBC's programming with their taxes. Outside of the UK, you have to pay if you want your Doctor Who.

It's not clear right now whether any shows the BBC distributes via iTunes will be available outside of Britan or not. Apple charges UK customers £1.89 to download a television episode, which is almost $2 more than the $1.99 US customers pay. So while it's possible the BBC won't want to sell its content at the lower prices, some money is better than no money, right?

Update: It looks like BBC content is now available at the UK iTunes store, but not the US store.

Former TiVo CEO (and current board member) Mike Ramsey tells the Sunday Herald that TiVo could be returning tot he UK, but not with its own set-top-boxes.

Ramsey says manufacturing and distribution problems have kept the company from launching a new box in Britain, but the same technology that will allow TiVo software to run on cable boxes distributed by Comcast and Cox Cable in the US could be used to add TiVo software to Freeview boxes in the UK.

TiVo would work with a Freeview device maker to distribute the boxes, while TiVo would be responsible for providing service. The company has been talking with companies, but Ramsey says TiVo's not ready to announce any partnerships yet.

[via HDTiVo Blog]

If you've been enjoying the antics of Benny Hill on BBC America, I have sad news for you: the series is being removed from the channel.

The decision to remove The Benny Hill Show from the channel's lineup is just part of a new makeover that's discarding many older shows for newer ones. The channel hopes to give American audiences more modern shows instead of older fare such as Hill and Are You Being Served? and replace them with newer shows like Torchwood and Hollyoaks.

I must say, I never really understood the appeal of Benny Hill, though that certainly doesn't mean it was a bad show. Obviously, a lot of people liked the series, and how many of us can watch a scene shot in high speed and not start humming that goofy Benny Hill chase music?

I have to ask: will any of you miss Benny once he's gone? Or is he an artifact of an earlier age and no longer relevant?

[via CC Insider]

This poll in the UK edition of Esquire isn't too much of a surprise I guess. I can understand why chef and TV host Gordon Ramsay is the most admired guy, especially in a popular, "of the moment" sort of way. But what I find funny is that he beat scientist and author Stephen Hawking, a man that has literally changed the way we look at space, time, and the universe.

Other people on the list after Ramsay (17%) and Hawking (14%) are Ray Mears (a TV survival expert - probably unknown to many of us here in the U.S.), who got 11% of the vote, new James Bond Daniel Craig, who also got 11%, and comedian/writer Ricky Gervais, who somehow only got 9% of the vote.

The new season of Hell's Kitchen, the U.S. show that Ramsay hosts, starts on FOX, June 4 at 9pm.

[via TV Tattle]

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.

Christopher Guest has agreed to direct the pilot for The Thick of It, a comedy being created for ABC by Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz. The show is being adapted for an American audience from the popular British comedy by the same name. In Britain, it was about a member of Parliament who had to deal with inept politicians, a prime minister and other silly minions. I can only guess that the American version will take place in Congress?

According to his IMDB bio, Guest hasn't done much directing for television lately. He seems to stick to the "mockumentary" (he hates that word) movie genre that's heavy on improv, such as Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman.

Jack Bauer is a good name. It's a strong name that doesn't denote much ethnicity. It's the name of a fictional American hero.

And now it's also the name of a computer programmer in Britain. Tim Annan, 35, loves 24 so much that he has changed his name to 'Jack Bauer'. And he makes people at work call him that. He says, "It beats being plain Tim from Watford." Yes. Now he's "crazy Tim from Watford." No word on whether he does a lot of heavy breathing into a cell phone like his alter-ego.

According to British newspaper The Sun, the British Jack Bauer is single. Surprise, surprise.

Tomorrow, the UK's Channel Five will broadcast Five's Birth Night Live, a two-hour special during which one woman will give birth, or so the creators of the program are hoping. This is the first time a live birth will have been captured on British television, but while Channel Five and host Gabby Logan insist they'll remain unobtrusive, the series has caught a lot of flak from experts who insist the mother should be in a calm and unobtrusive environment, a situation they feel is impossible with a camera crew filming every moment. The folks behind the special say they'll withdraw if any problems arise for the mother or child, but that wasn't much assurance to those who feel they shouldn't be there in the first place. Perhaps one of out UK readers can fill me in on this, but I assume the mothers have to give permission before they can appear on camera? Whether or not you agree with this seems like a moot point if the one giving birth has agreed ahead of time.

The celebrity cameos are getting ridiculously funny on Extras, which is airing season two right now in Britain (HBO hasn't announced an air date for season two in the U.S.). Last week, it was Orlando Bloom trying to convince 'Maggie' that he's more famous than Johnny Depp. This week, it's David Bowie in a restaurant, singing a song about Andy and his pug nose face. It's completely over the top and, in true Ricky Gervais style, it's uncomfortably hilarious.

Video is after the jump.

A British study of 69 children ages 7 to 12 found that the kids, when having blood samples drawn, experienced less pain if they were watching cartoons than when their own mothers tried to soothe them. My first inclination, which was also echoed by Dr. Brenda McClain of Yale University, is that when a parent is obviously trying to console a child, the child becomes more anxious because they believe something must really be wrong. Kids tend to be smarter than people give them credit for, and they pick up on things like that. Nevertheless, other researchers insist that this means television is having more of an impact on kids than their own parents. I don't see it as anything so dramatic, but what do you guys, especially those of you with kids, think? I just wonder when the kids get to have their revenge and jab the researchers with sharp objects. It seems only fair.

[via Lost Remote]

"Terrour Plot": Senior Carryonologist John Oliver elaborated on the foiled terrorist plot over in England, live from Heathrow Airport. He contemplated the degree of seriousness in the airport security's new "no liquids" rule. Is yogurt a liquid? What about custard? And 75% of the human body?! John Oliver's fitting in pretty well. I wonder if he's going to do filmed reports any time soon. It'd be interesting to see what those are like.

Ah, you Brits are so lucky. Ricky Gervais, creator of The Office and Extras, is bringing his imaginary characters to life on ITV. The 'Flanimals', about which Gervais has now written two books, are ugly, little monster-like creatures with goofy names such as Clunge Ambler, Grundit, Puddloflaj... although it's much funnier to hear Gervais say the names in his accent. The Flanimals will be the subject of six 30-minute episodes that will air during primetime. Making the deal even better is the news that former Aardman Animations pioneers Charles Mills and Terry Brain are also on board. Aardman, by the way, is the brilliant claymation studio that created Wallace and Gromit.