The Sitcom Showdown

Last updated
The Sitcom Showdown
Presented by Danny Baker
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes5
Production
Producer UMTV
Running time29 minutes
Original release
Network UKTV Gold
Release22 April (2006-04-22) 
20 May 2006 (2006-05-20)

The Sitcom Showdown is a British television quiz show hosted by Danny Baker. To date, it has run for one five-episode series, and was produced by UMTV for the UKTV Gold digital television channel.

Contents

Synopsis

Each episode features two teams of three - a 'superfan', their best friend, and a comedian/celebrity. Each team represents their favourite sitcom, and through numerous rounds of quizzes, challenges and good-old laughs, the teams collect points in order to crown an eventual 'winning' show. The show was conceived and developed by Baker who originally envisioned the winning team being allowed to show an episode of their favourite sitcom after the episode was over but such a concept never materialized. In a 2014 interview with Richard Herring Baker described the show as a "stinker" and "not the worst show there's ever been but it was close".

Episodes

  1. 'Allo 'Allo! vs. Absolutely Fabulous
  2. The Vicar of Dibley vs. The Royle Family
  3. One Foot in the Grave vs. dinnerladies
  4. Yes Minister vs. Blackadder
  5. Fawlty Towers vs. Porridge

Celebrity team members


Related Research Articles

<i>Fawlty Towers</i> British TV sitcom (1975–1979)

Fawlty Towers is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, originally broadcast on BBC Two in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The series is set in Fawlty Towers, a dysfunctional fictional hotel in the English seaside town of Torquay in Devon. The plots centre on the tense, rude and put-upon owner Basil Fawlty (Cleese), his bossy wife Sybil, the sensible chambermaid Polly (Booth), and the hapless and English-challenged Spanish waiter Manuel. They show their attempts to run the hotel amidst farcical situations and an array of demanding and eccentric guests and tradespeople.

A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television.

<i>Not the Nine OClock News</i> British television comedy sketch show (1979–1982)

Not the Nine O'Clock News is a British television sketch comedy show which was broadcast on BBC2 from 16 October 1979 to 8 March 1982. Originally shown as a comedy alternative to the Nine O'Clock News on BBC1, it features satirical sketches on then-current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy sketches, re-edited videos, and spoof television formats. The programme features Rowan Atkinson, Pamela Stephenson, Mel Smith, and Griff Rhys Jones, as well as Chris Langham in the first series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dawn French</span> British actress, comedian and writer (born 1957)

Dawn Roma French is a British actress, comedian, and writer. She is known for writing and starring on the BBC sketch comedy series French and Saunders (1987–2007) with her best friend and comedy partner Jennifer Saunders, and playing the lead role of Geraldine Granger in the BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley (1994–2020). French has been nominated for seven British Academy Television Awards and won a BAFTA Fellowship with Saunders in 2009.

U&Gold is a British premium television channel from the UKTV network that was launched in late 1992 as UK Gold before it was rebranded UKTV Gold in 2004. In 2008, it was split into current flagship channel Gold and miscellaneous channel, W, with classic comedy based programming now airing on Gold, non-crime drama and entertainment programming airing on W, and quiz shows and more high-brow comedy airing on Dave. It shows repeats of classic programming from the BBC, ITV and other broadcasters. Every December, from 2015 until 2018, the channel was temporarily renamed Christmas Gold. This has since been discontinued, although the channel still continues to broadcast Christmas comedy.

<i>The Vicar of Dibley</i> British TV sitcom (1994–2007)

The Vicar of Dibley is a British sitcom. It consists of three series, which aired on BBC One from 10 November 1994 to 1 January 2000, and several specials, the most recent of which aired on 23 December 2020. It is set in the fictional Oxfordshire village of Dibley, which is assigned a female vicar following the 1993 changes in the Church of England that permitted the ordination of women. Dawn French plays the lead role of vicar Geraldine Granger.

Robert Alexander Spiers was a Scottish television director and producer. He worked on many sitcoms, including Dad's Army and Are You Being Served?, and won two British Academy Television Awards for Fawlty Towers and Absolutely Fabulous. Spiers also directed the films That Darn Cat and Spice World, and Kevin of the North (2001).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Comedy Awards</span> British awards ceremony

The National Comedy Awards is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year.

British humour carries a strong element of satire aimed at the absurdity of everyday life. Common themes include sarcasm, tongue-in-cheek, banter, insults, self-deprecation, taboo subjects, puns, innuendo, wit, and the British class system. These are often accompanied by a deadpan delivery which is present throughout the British sense of humour. It may be used to bury emotions in a way that seems unkind in the eyes of other cultures. Jokes are told about everything and almost no subject is off-limits, though a lack of subtlety when discussing controversial issues is sometimes considered insensitive. Many British comedy series have become successful internationally, serving as a representation of British culture to overseas audiences.

John Howard Davies was an English director, producer and former child actor. He became famous for appearing in the title role of David Lean's film adaptation of Oliver Twist (1948). After joining the BBC as a production assistant in 1966, Davies became a hugely influential television director and producer, specialising in comedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Japan</span> Japanese television channel

BBC Japan was a short-lived subscription television channel co-owned by BBC Worldwide and SKY PerfecTV! subsidiary Japan Mediarc that was available via satellite in Japan. The channel's aim was to showcase the BBC's programming to the Japanese market, but it suffered from financial issues from its co-owner that led to the channel's closure a year later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Bluthal</span> Australian actor (1929–2018)

John Bluthal was a Polish-born Australian actor and comedian, noted for his six-decade career internationally in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Classics is an Australian cable and satellite channel that specializes in showing television series and ad-free classic movies, themed movie nights and miniseries from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

Shaggy Dog Story is a three-minute promotional trailer for Children in Need, put together by the BBC and Gorgeous Productions in 1999 as a sequel to the previous year's Future Generations video, and the great success of 1997's "Perfect Day" charity single. It was first shown on Christmas Day 1999. A slightly extended alternative version was created but never aired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geraldine Granger</span> Central character in BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley

Geraldine Granger is a fictional female vicar, the central character of the successful British BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley. She is portrayed by Dawn French, described by the British Comedy Guide as "the jolly, down-to-earth female vicar of Dibley, a small country village inhabited by oddballs. After overcoming the town's initial shock at her gender Geraldine helps to improve the village." Much of the source of comedy comes from the way French plays the female vicar with her extroverted and fun-loving nature, frequent colourful language, and behaviour as a vicar which would usually be frowned on by the church.