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The lead character in United States of Al is a bumbling, one-dimensional cliche whose sole purpose is helping his white peers. How sad that shows like this still get madeIt feels sad, amid a wave of such positive, nuanced, complex depictions of immigrants on TV, that United States of Al had to launch this month in the US.“How do you say: ‘We’re so happy...

Paul Ritter, who died on Monday at the age of 54, is destined to be remembered as the dad from Friday Night Dinner. And rightly so. If you think of Ritter, or Friday Night Dinner for that matter, one image will almost certainly be seared into your mind: Ritter, walking around with his top off like it was the most no...

The thing about being a standup comedian is that you can never turn off that part of your brain, not even when you are trying to kill yourself. Margaret Cho learned this in 2013 when she attempted suicide in a hotel room, using a shower curtain rail. “It started bending and I was like: Oh shit, I’m too fat to kill m...

Jessica Walter racked up a reported 161 film and TV credits over her 70-year acting career. If that number had only been 160, she would have still been the best sort of actor: a safe pair of hands who gets consistent work shoring up individual episodes of long-running shows. The spectrum of series that Walter appear...

Jay Leno has made an apology for a history of making anti-Asian jokes. The comedian and former host of The Tonight Show has found himself under fire for over a decade for making offensive jokes that provoked the organisations Asian Americans Advancing Justice and the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (Manaa) ...

Can Grammer successfully reprise his role in the classic comedy as fastidious radio psychiatrist Dr Frasier Crane?Kelsey Grammer to return as Frasier in reboot of hit comedyAlready standing high in the tiny line of spinoff shows that at least equal the longevity and legend of the parent, Frasier (NBC, 1993-2004) – born out of Cheers (NBC, 1982-93) – will aim for a place on...

Like everyone else, the comic spent 2020 walking around his flat. Unlike everyone else, he also wrote a book of poetry. He introduces two excerptsThey’re curious old things, lockdowns. The first one, in particular, was high-impact. Very disorienting. Nothing made sense at first. All energy was diverted into vaguely getting used to the word and then the concept. Lockdown. Related: The Guide: Staying In...

The biggest TV hit of the pandemic? A comedy about a family holed up against their will. Its star discusses warmth, wigs and why she loves playing Moira RoseCatherine O’Hara and I spend most of our time together anxiously apologising to one another, me for my terrible wifi connection, her for what she describes as her “ramblings”. Her infraction is more forgivable. A frozen...

Influencers attract a lot of scorn, but have we got the wrong end of the selfie stick, wonders Pls Like creator Liam WilliamsThe Covid-19 pandemic era has been a strange one for influencers. While audiences are more captive than ever, marketing spend froze in early 2020 and has been erratic ever since. For those whose trade involves taking photographs of their thighs in front...

The scene-stealing star of the French comedy series - a word-of-mouth Netflix hit - on her journey from a prank show in Paris to co-stardom with Matt Damon“I bought a few sheep during lockdown. Nobody told me they’d eat all my plants. How Parisian is that?” I’m discussing the pandemic with actor Camille Cottin, who during the first Covid lockdown last year decamped from...

The writer and star of the dysfunctional-family sitcom on his top shows of 2020 and the touching legacy of his hit seriesWas there a show that everyone else loved this year that you just couldn’t get on with? Tiger King. I couldn’t do it. Something about it felt a little too exploitative for me. I never felt OK when I was watching it. Maybe...

The star of Young Guns made his name as one of the Brat Pack. Three decades on, while others have crashed and burned, he is dreaming of ‘reopening’ the entertainment industry after lockdownIn a quiet corner of his Los Angeles home, Dermot Mulroney grapples with a question that many actors’ egos would not allow them to entertain: why isn’t he a bigger star?“Well, I...

On Radio 4’s Today programme, the comedian justified decision to portray former South African president in blackface Harry Enfield has defended the use of blackface on television in an interview broadcast on Radio 4’s Today programme. In conversation with host Nick Robinson and fellow guest Ava Vidal, the comedian aimed to justify his decision to portray Nelson Mandela, describing it as “so wrong that...

The writer-director’s comedies – from Office Space to Silicon Valley – always sum up the spirit of their times. So why has he made an LSD-soaked cartoon about George Clinton and Bootsy Collins?Few writer-directors have been as consistent and ruthless at capturing the moment as Mike Judge, although he never actually intends to do so. “It’s always a shock when something comes out and...

Locked down and bored, or just dreading the prospect? Our top team of TV writers has chosen 50 of the most enjoyable binge-watches to see you through self-isolationOver the coming weeks more and more of us will find ourselves unable to leave home. With live TV shutting down, no sport, and even the soaps likely to shut up shop, here is our writers’ guide...

From apocalyptic standup Frankie Boyle to the many hilarious faces of Tina Fey, Steve Coogan, Sharon Horgan and Kristen Wiig, we present the funniest comics of the eraOur No 1 comedian’s funniest momentsMore of the best Theatre | TV | Dance | Film | Albums Continue reading...

As the dyspeptic old-school entertainer embarks on a tour, his creator Steve Delaney reflects on dedicating his life to one characterComedy has its careerists: thrusting tyros zeroing in on the fame, the TV gigs, the movie roles. But there are other, more circuitous routes to the top. The fictional Count Arthur Strong certainly took one, via the dog days of vaudeville and bit parts...

Director says Brexit makes him ‘terminally depressed’ while fellow Python Cleese backs itTerry Gilliam has said he disagrees with the way his friend and fellow Monty Python member John Cleese sees the world, following comments from the latter endorsing Brexit and criticising the makeup of London.The Python animator and Hollywood director despairs of Donald Trump and Brexit, both of which make him “terminally depressed”....