Channel 4, E4 unveil bumper season of comedy
Channel 4's autumn and winter 2010 schedule has been unveiled today. See below for details on all the new series. The programmes include a new comedy from Morgana Robinson, a 'relatively unknown, up-and-coming comic' whom the channel describes as like "Kenny Everett in his prime, but without the beard". After watching a tape of taster material sent in by her agent, the channel has bypassed its normal Comedy Lab process to give Robinson a five-part series. Channel 4's head of comedy, Shane Allen said: "Discovering, supporting and nurturing new talent is at the heart of Channel 4 comedy's remit, and in Morgana we really feel we've found a fresh performer with a huge amount of potential. Warm, daft and infectious, Morgana's range of charismatic characters somehow lodge in your head."
Amongst the other new comedies scheduled by Channel 4 this autumn is Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights, a show featuring the former Mock the Week star in pre-filmed sketches and delivering his trademark edgy stand-up. Meanwhile The Inbetweeners and 8 Out Of 10 Cats are amongst the channel's hit shows returning for another series.
Meanwhile Peep Show, starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb, will be returning for a landmark seventh series, making it Channel 4’s longest running sitcom (in terms of series broadcast: Desmond's and Drop the Dead Donkey have more episodes due to longer series runs). Webb will also be hosting his own show, Robert’s Web, which has been described as "an alternative take on the week’s online news."
Here is the network line-up in full, with more details about the new series:
8 Out of 10 Cats returns this autumn to bring debate, dispute and deliberation to the hot topics that are getting the almighty British public's chins wagging. As ever, Jimmy Carr plays host and he's joined by team captains Sean Lock and Jason Manford.
The new series kicks off with a Big Brother Special, featuring a wealth of ex-housemates. Airing on the last ever night of Big Brother the channel says it will be a "fitting tribute" to the ground-breaking reality show as it is finally put to rest.
The Inbetweeners (September, E4)
The multi award-winning show returns to E4 for its third hotly anticipated series.
At the start of a new term, Carli organises a charity fashion show which Simon eagerly agrees to take part in; Will tries to escape his reputation as the kid who shat himself in the exam; and Jay is still up to his neck in imaginary sexual experiences. Over the six episodes, the quartet also tries its hand at camping, gigs and some puff. All with disastrous consequences. And, as the year goes on, one of the boys gets a proper, living breathing girlfriend - something the others find a little hard to take, but very easy to ridicule. Our Guide
After a successful pilot as part of the Comedy Showcase season, PhoneShop makes its full series premiere on E4 this autumn.
Set in a phone shop, the series follows the adventures of the staff. Manager Lance's secret weapon, new recruit and graduate Christopher, looks like he's more likely to be a damp squib, so it's up to 'Sales Professionals' Ashley, Jerwayne and Janine to ensure that all threats are neutralised, all enemies defeated, and that every mug punter within five square miles gets locked down to the worst, most expensive mobile phone contract known to mankind. Our Guide
School Of Comedy (September, E4)
School of Comedy, E4's unique comedy sketch show featuring a mischievous cast aged between 12 and 18, which aims to lampoon the adult world, makes its second series premiere on E4 this autumn.
This series sees the return of popular characters like The Saffas, Museum Perv and The Cabbie as well as a raft of brand new pint-sized characters including: The Filth, two self-referential coppers from the 1970s, and Leonard Lizard, a repressed homosexual city trader from the 1980s.
Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret (November, More4)
Following the Comedy Showcase pilot, this sitcom starring David Cross moves to More4 for a full series. American Todd Margaret has bluffed his way into an apparently great job opportunity, heading up the sales team in his employer's London office. All he has to do is sell several thousand energy drinks before his boss (Will Arnett) arrives. Simple. Apart from the fact that he knows nothing about British culture and nothing about sales. He also spectacularly fails to impress Alice (Sharon Horgan) while Dave, his British co-worker, takes full advantage of Todd's situation.
Blake Harrison (who plays Neil in The Inbetweeners) takes over the role of Dave from Russell Tovey who was unavailable to film the full series. Our Guide
A brand new sketch show starring new talent Morgana Robinson. Playing to her strengths as a superb mimic, the show is packed with a host of Morgana's original, endearing, and skilfully-crafted characters. Character creations include Madolynn, a past-her-prime Hollywood siren; Gilbert, a well-meaning but socially inept teenage boy; and Verity the over-privileged, uber-cool teen who speaks in riddles.
These characters, and others, feature alongside Morgana's skewed impressions, including: Fearne Cotton the daredevil, Cheryl Cole the kid sister, and Boris Johnson as a bumbling 12-year-old public schoolboy. Our Guide
Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights (November)
A brand new six-part series combining Frankie Boyle's outrageous and often controversial stand-up with pre-filmed sketches in which he picks apart all aspects of modern life. Everything is given a uniquely Frankie spin - scabrous, sharp and scathing - for no-holds-barred comedy that promises Boyle with extra added bite. Among the sketches is 'Untitled Street', a new BBC soap opera which is so politically correct that actor's faces are blanked out to avoid offence and plots are so ambiguous that the viewers have to guess for themselves what it's about. Other sketches include 'Columbian Showbiz News', where anyone who's anyone is invariably shot dead before making it to the red carpet, and a new documentary 'Life in the 2050 house'. Is it all living with robots? Not quite. Our Guide
The smash hit sitcom returns for a seventh series. Mark has become a father whilst Jeremy has stumbled upon a new and exciting source of income, power and responsibility.
The six-part series follows Mark and Jeremy from the birth of Mark's baby to 'little Ian's' christening. We also meet Mark's parents for the first time as the boys attempt to celebrate a traditional family Christmas. And a disastrous New Year's Eve party culminates with Mark and Jeremy facing choices that could end their friendship.
Premiering on E4 this autumn, everyone's favourite ASBO teens return for the second series of the BAFTA-winning hit comedy drama.
There's the issue of their two dead probation workers to deal with; and, unknown to the others, Nathan is still trapped six feet under in a coffin immortal and very much alive. But it's not just the ASBO Five who were affected by the storm. With the super-charged local townsfolk going the way of Gotham City, the gang face a whole new world of weird and wild characters. And just who is the masked, hooded stranger who seems to be watching their every move? Our Guide
Alan Carr: Chatty Man (December)
Alan Carr's chat show continues to be a hit for the channel, and so the award-winning funnyman will be returning with a fifth series of Chatty Man in December.
The new series will deliver ten more episodes of topical banter and celebrity chat, including three Christmas and New Year specials.
A full series of the university-based sitcom written by the Green Wing team arrives on Channel 4 early next year.
Vice Chancellor of Kirke University, Jonty De Wolfe (Andy Nyman) swells his puffed-up chest as he surveys his crumbling kingdom. Huge debts, government cuts, the impending arrival of an icy management consultant, falling student numbers and lazy heads of department mean that his dream of dragging concrete Kirke up to red-brick status is getting harder and harder. Our Guide
Filmed in front of a studio audience, Robert's Web (working title) is a brand new comedy show about the week as seen from the internet.
The show features Robert Webb's alternative take on the week's online news and happenings - scouring the internet for the funniest tweets, the most talked about uploads, the weirdest new facebook groups and the best celebrity websites.
Meet The Parents (Date TBC, E4)
New comedy reality show. Two couples, one challenge - for a boyfriend to last the entire evening at his girlfriend's parents' house. The twist is that he's never met his girlfriend's parents before, and so E4 serve up a family all played by actors.
The characters include a father who is an ex-army type and uncomfortably tactile with his daughter; the mother who has the face of a 50-year-old and the body of a surgically enhanced 20-year-old; the brother, who keeps a pet cemetery in the garden and dead animals in his bedroom; as well as a very attractive sister; a handsome ex-boyfriend; and a man-hating aunt. All these characters are prepared do their upmost to make the evening as uncomfortable as possible. Our Guide
Elsewhere QI and Jonathan Creek star Alan Davies will be a presenting a documentary about the 1980s entitled Alan Davies' Teenage Revolution. It is also expected that a second series of A Comedy Roast, presented by Jimmy Carr, will be added to the schedule shortly.