History of the World: Part II

Vic Reeves Big Night Out

November 2024 •English

Vic Reeves Big Night Out is a British cult comedy stage show and later TV series which ran on Channel 4 for two series in 1990 and 1991, as well as a New Year special. It marked the beginnings of the collaboration between Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer and started their Vic and Bob comedy double act. The show was later acknowledged as a seminal force in British comedy throughout the 1990s and which continues to the present day. Arguably the most surreal of the pair's work, Vic Reeves Big Night Out was effectively a parody of the variety shows which dominated the early years of television, but which were, by the early 1990s, falling from grace. Vic, introduced by Patrick Allen as "Britain's Top Light Entertainer and Singer", would sit behind a cluttered desk talking nonsense and introducing the various segments and surreal guests on the show. Vic Reeves Big Night Out is notable as the only time in their career where Vic solely took the role of host, while Bob was consigned to the back stage, appearing every few minutes as either himself or as a strange character. The two received equal billing in the series credits. On 3 October 2007, the first episode was re-broadcast on More4 as part of Channel 4 at 25, a season of classic Channel 4 programmes shown to celebrate the channel's 25th birthday.

Alfresco

November 2024 •English

A sketch comedy show featuring some of Britain's great comedic talents of the 1980s and 1990s in one of their earliest TV appearances.

Monty Python's Flying Circus

November 2024 •English

A British sketch comedy series with the shows being composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines.

French & Saunders

November 2024 •English

French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act.

Alas Smith and Jones

November 2024 •English

A British comedy sketch television series featuring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones that ran on BBC One and BBC Two from 31 January 1984 to 14 October 1998. From series 5 in 1989 the 'Alas' title was dropped and became simply Smith and Jones.

Robot Chicken

November 2024 •English

A series of pop-culture parodies using stop-motion animation of toys, action figures and dolls. The title character was an ordinary chicken until he was run down by a car and subsequently brought back to life in cyborg form by mad scientist Fritz Huhnmorder, who tortures Robot Chicken by forcing him to watch a random selection of TV shows, the sketches that make up the body of each episode.

Chappelle's Show

November 2024 •English

Dave Chappelle's singular point of view is unleashed through a combination of laidback stand-up and street-smart sketches.

Little Miss Jocelyn

November 2024 •English

Little Miss Jocelyn is a British TV sketch comedy written by and starring Jocelyn Jee Esien. The show is made up of studio sketches and hidden camera footage in which unsuspecting members of the public become part of a sketch. The series ran for 2 series from 22 August 2006 until its cancellation on 14 February 2008. 12 episodes aired whilst a 13th episode was never broadcast for unknown reasons but is featured as a bonus extra on the Series 2 DVD. In 2007, Esien featured in Girls Aloud and Sugababes' Comic Relief video for "Walk This Way", where she puts a parking ticket on Ewen Macintosh, a reference to the character Jiffy from the show Little Miss Jocelyn.

The one and a half meters show

November 2024 •Dutch

In the most corona proof program ever, Jelle De Beule, Koen De Poorter and Rik Verheye get to work creatively with the distance rules.

The Amanda Show

November 2024 •English

The Amanda Show is an American live action sketch comedy and variety show that aired on Nickelodeon from October 16, 1999 to September 21, 2002. It starred Amanda Bynes, Drake Bell, and Nancy Sullivan, along with several performing artists who came and left at different points, such as John Kassir, Raquel Lee, and Josh Peck. The show was a spin-off from All That, in which Bynes had co-starred for several years. The show was unexpectedly cancelled at the end of 2002, according to creator Dan Schneider's blog. Writers for the show included John Hoberg, Steven Molaro, Andrew Hill Newman, and Dan Schneider. Two years after the end of The Amanda Show, Dan Schneider created a new series, called Drake & Josh, featuring Drake Bell, Josh Peck and Nancy Sullivan.

Little Britain

November 2024 •English

A zany comedy show with Matt Lucas and David Walliams, featuring characters from all over Little Britain.

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?

November 2024 •English

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? is a British sitcom which was broadcast between 9 January 1973 and 9 April 1974 on BBC1. It was the colour sequel to the mid-1960s hit The Likely Lads. It was created and written, as was its predecessor, by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. There were 26 television episodes over two series; and a subsequent 45-minute Christmas special was aired on 24 December 1974. The cast were reunited in 1975 for a BBC radio adaptation of series 1, transmitted on Radio 4 from July to October that year. In 1976, a feature film spin-off was made. Around the time of its release, however, Rodney Bewes and James Bolam fell out over a misunderstanding involving the press and have not spoken since. This long-suspected situation was finally confirmed by Bewes while promoting his autobiography in 2005. Unlike Bewes, Bolam is consistently reluctant to talk about the show, and has vetoed any attempt to revive his character.

HILLarious

November 2024 •German

Os Parças - A Série

November 2024 •Portuguese

Bo' Selecta!

November 2024 •English

Bo' Selecta! is a British sketch show written and performed by Leigh Francis, which lampoons popular culture and is known for its often surreal, abstract toilet humour.

Mr. Show with Bob and David

November 2024 •English

A sketch comedy series starring and hosted by Bob Odenkirk and David Cross. The pair introduce most episodes as heightened versions of themselves before transitioning to a mixture of live sketches and pre-taped segments.

Reuter & Skoog

November 2024 •Swedish

Knallerfrauen

November 2024 •German

CoinCoin and the Extra-Humans

November 2024 •French

In this sequel to “Li’l Quinquin,” a strange magma is found near CoinCoin’s home town, causing the inhabitants to behave strangely. Goofy detective Captain Van Der Weyden and his loyal assistant Carpentier set about investigating these alien attacks, discovering that an extra-terrestrial invasion has begun.

Murphy Brown

November 2024 •English

Amid a divided nation, chaotic national discourse and rampant attacks on the press, Murphy decides to return to the airwaves and recruits her FYI team. Joining them is social media director Pat Patel, who is tasked with bringing Murphy and the team into the 21st century.