Cuts (novel)

Last updated

Cuts
Cuts (novel).jpg
First edition
Author Malcolm Bradbury
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genrenovel
Publisher Hutchinson (UK)
Harper & Row (US)
Publication date
1987
Media typePrint
Pages96
ISBN 0-09-168280-0

Cuts was written by author Malcolm Bradbury, commissioned by Hutchinson as part of their Hutchinson Novella series, published in 1987. It used a host of plays on the word "cuts" to mock the values of Thatcherite Britain in 1986 and the world of television drama production in which Bradbury had become involved after the adaptation of The History Man (by Christopher Hampton). Bradbury derided the philistinism of television executives who wanted to capture the market of Brideshead Revisited and The Jewel in the Crown at impossibly low cost. He also explored the low esteem accorded writers in the hierarchy of television production.

Contents

Inspiration

Two years ago he was working on the dramatization of one of his novels, about an imaginary socialist state, for the BBC; 80 actors were taught an imaginary language, locations were scouted in Turkey, rehearsals started. Two days before shooting, the series was abandoned. Suddenly the BBC didn't have any money, Mr. Bradbury said. [1]

Plot

In the summer of 1986 government funds are being cut, and services are reducing, including education, health, the arts. Obscure university teacher and post-modernist novelist Henry Babbacombe was losing his staff while northern, hapless 'Eldorado Television' approaches him to produce a blockbuster of a series to be called Serious Damage. Henry is thrust into the media spotlight where he is forced to cut, edit and rewrite the series. Eventually the production is axed, much to his relief. Henry manages what it takes to be a success in Margaret Thatcher's Britain.

Reception

Adaptation

In 1996 an adaption appeared on Yorkshire Television, and starred Peter Davison, Timothy West, Donald Sinden, Nigel Planer and Pippa Haywood. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Bradbury</span> American writer (1920–2012)

Ray Douglas Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and realistic fiction.

<i>The Man from U.N.C.L.E.</i> 1960s American television spy drama series

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents Napoleon Solo, played by Robert Vaughn, and Illya Kuryakin, played by David McCallum, who work for a secret international counterespionage and law-enforcement agency called U.N.C.L.E.. The series premiered on September 22, 1964, and completed its run on January 15, 1968. The program was part of the spy-fiction craze on television, and by 1966 there were nearly a dozen imitators. Several episodes were successfully released to theaters as B movies or double features. There was also a spin-off series, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., a series of novels and comic books, and merchandising.

<i>You Cant Do That on Television</i> Canadian sketch comedy television series

You Can't Do That on Television is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that aired locally in 1979 before airing in the United States in 1981. It featured pre-teen and teenage actors performing in a sketch comedy format similar to America's Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and Canada's Second City Television. Each episode had a specific theme, typically relating to the popular culture of the time.

<i>The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen</i> Comic book series by Alan Moore and Kevin ONeill

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (LoEG) is a multi-genre, cross over comic book series co-created by writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill which began in 1999. The comic book spans four volumes, an original graphic novel, and a spin-off trilogy of graphic novella. Volume I and Volume II and the graphic novel Black Dossier were published by the America's Best Comics imprint of DC Comics. After leaving the America's Best imprint, the series moved to Top Shelf and Knockabout Comics, which published Volume III: Century, the Nemo Trilogy, and Volume IV: The Tempest. According to Moore, the concept behind the series was initially a "Justice League of Victorian England" but he quickly developed it as an opportunity to merge elements from numerous works of fiction into one world, in a matter akin to the shared fictional universes of Marvel and DC Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time Enough at Last</span> 8th episode of the 1st season of The Twilight Zone

"Time Enough at Last" is the eighth episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone, first airing on November 20, 1959. The episode was adapted from a short story written by Lynn Venable. The short story appeared in the January 1953 edition of the science fiction magazine If: Worlds of Science Fiction about seven years before the television episode first aired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Allen</span> American comedian (1894–1956)

John Florence Sullivan, known professionally as Fred Allen, was an American comedian. His absurdist topically-pointed radio program The Fred Allen Show (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the Golden Age of American radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malcolm Bradbury</span> English author and academic

Sir Malcolm Stanley Bradbury, was an English author and academic.

Lane Davies is an American actor.

<i>The Cricket on the Hearth</i> 1845 novella by Charles Dickens

The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home is a novella by Charles Dickens, published by Bradbury and Evans, and released 20 December 1845 with illustrations by Daniel Maclise, John Leech, Richard Doyle, Clarkson Stanfield and Edwin Henry Landseer. Dickens began writing the book around 17 October 1845 and finished it by 1 December. Like all of Dickens's Christmas books, it was published in book form, not as a serial.

<i>Something Wicked This Way Comes</i> (novel) 1962 dark fantasy novel by Ray Bradbury

Something Wicked This Way Comes is a 1962 dark fantasy novel by Ray Bradbury. It is about two 13-year-old best friends, Jim Nightshade and William Halloway, and their nightmarish experience with a traveling carnival that comes to their Midwestern home, Green Town, Illinois, on October 24th. In dealing with the creepy figures of this carnival, the boys learn how to combat fear. The carnival's leader is the mysterious "Mr. Dark", who seemingly wields the power to grant the townspeople's secret desires. In reality, Dark is a malevolent being who, like the carnival, lives off the life force of those they enslave. Mr. Dark's presence is countered by that of Will's father, Charles Halloway, the janitor of the town library, who harbors his own secret fear of growing older because he feels he is too old to be Will's dad.

<i>The Howling</i> (film) 1981 American film by Joe Dante

The Howling is a 1981 American horror film directed and edited by Joe Dante. Written by John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless, based on the novel of the same name by Gary Brandner, the film follows a news anchor who, following a traumatic encounter with a serial killer, visits a resort secretely inhabited by werewolves. The cast includes Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, Christopher Stone, Belinda Balaski, Kevin McCarthy, John Carradine, Slim Pickens, and Elisabeth Brooks.

<i>Something Wicked This Way Comes</i> (film) 1983 film directed by Jack Clayton

Something Wicked This Way Comes is a 1983 American dark fantasy film directed by Jack Clayton and produced by Walt Disney Productions, from a screenplay written by Ray Bradbury, based on his 1962 novel of the same name. It stars Jason Robards, Jonathan Pryce, Diane Ladd and Pam Grier.

<i>Are You Being Served?</i> (Australian TV series) Australian TV series or program

Are You Being Served? is an Australian sitcom that is based on the British sitcom of the same name; it was produced by Network Ten. A total of 16 episodes were produced in two series, which aired in 1980 and 1981. The draw-card was the presence of actor John Inman reprising his role of Mr. Humphries from the original series. The other characters were all directly based on the regular characters in the show's original British version, but were all given new names. Hence there were no other returning original actors.

"Demon with a Glass Hand" is an episode of the American television series The Outer Limits, the second to be based on a script by Harlan Ellison, which Ellison wrote specifically with actor Robert Culp in mind for the lead role. It originally aired on October 17, 1964, and was the fifth episode of the second season. In 2009, TV Guide ranked "Demon with a Glass Hand" #73 on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes.

<i>Fahrenheit 451</i> (1966 film) Film by François Truffaut

Fahrenheit 451 is a 1966 British dystopian drama film directed by François Truffaut and starring Julie Christie, Oskar Werner, and Cyril Cusack. Based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury, the film takes place in a controlled society in an oppressive future, in which the government sends out firemen to destroy all literature to prevent revolution and thinking. This was Truffaut's first colour film and his only non French-language film. At the 27th Venice International Film Festival, Fahrenheit 451 was nominated for the Golden Lion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Bathurst</span> English theatre and television actor

Robert Guy Bathurst is an English actor. Bathurst was born in The Gold Coast in 1957, where his father was working as a management consultant. In 1959 his family moved to Ballybrack, Dublin, Ireland and Bathurst attended school in Killiney and later was enrolled at Headfort, an Irish boarding school. In 1966, the family moved back to England and Bathurst transferred to Worth School in Sussex, where he took up amateur dramatics. At the age of 18, he read law at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and joined the Footlights group.

Russian political jokes are a part of Russian humour and can be grouped into the major time periods: Imperial Russia, Soviet Union and finally post-Soviet Russia. In the Soviet period political jokes were a form of social protest, mocking and criticising leaders, the system and its ideology, myths and rites. Quite a few political themes can be found among other standard categories of Russian joke, most notably Rabinovich jokes and Radio Yerevan.

"The Moms" is the twentieth episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 78th overall episode of the series. It was written by co-producer Kay Cannon and co-show runner and executive producer Robert Carlock. The episode was directed by co-executive producer John Riggi. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on May 6, 2010. Guest stars in "The Moms" include Buzz Aldrin, John Anderson, Elizabeth Banks, Kyoko Bruguera, Will Ferrell, Anita Gillette, Jan Hooks, Cheyenne Jackson, Patti LuPone, Novella Nelson, and Elaine Stritch.

<i>Frank McKlusky, C.I.</i> 2002 American film

Frank McKlusky, C.I. is a 2002 comedy film directed by Arlene Sanford and written by Mark Perez. Dave Sheridan plays McKlusky, a safety-conscious insurance claims investigator investigating the murder of his partner Jimmy, played by Kevin Farley. Randy Quaid and Dolly Parton play McKlusky's parents, “Madman” McKlusky, Frank's daredevil father, and Edith, Frank's over-protective mother.

References

  1. 1 2 Give Me Epic, Give Me Tragic, Give Me Cheap Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  2. The Literature Man Charles Nicholl Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  3. Cuts (1996) Retrieved 2021-05-20.