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The classic sitcomAll in the Family, considered by many to be ahead of its time when it aired from 1971 to 1979, as it pushed boundaries regarding social issues like racism and sexism, is heading to a free streaming service soon. The comedy series, which won 22 Emmy Awards during its run, will come to Tubi on March 1.

All in the Family was created by sitcom legend Norman Lear, who was behind other classics like Maude, Sanford and Son, and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Lear died in 2023 at the age of 101.All in the Family starred Carroll O’Connor as the cranky Archie Bunker and Jean Stapelton as his wife, Edith Bunker. Sally Struthers portrayed the Bunker’s daughter, Gloria, and actor-turned-director Rob Reiner played her husband Michael, who was better known as “Meathead” on the show.

Related10 Best '70s Sitcoms (That Everyone Forgot About)

The 70s is a decade chock full of innovative and hilarious sitcoms,...

Peacock’s The Traitors continues its descent into delicious paranoia with “Til Death Us Do Part,” an episode that features a “face-to-face” murder. Forget the usual cloak-and-dagger theatrics; this time, it’s personal. The “Faithful,” we’re told, are closing in on their targets, which means the “Traitors” are feeling the heat. And what better way to respond […]

The Traitors: Til Death Us Do Part...

Third time may not always be the charm, but it was for "All in the Family." Following a pair of failed pilots, Norman Lear's pioneering sitcom hit the airwaves on January 12, 1971. Fittingly titled "Meet the Bunkers," the show's first episode is a pretty typical outing for Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor) and his kin. It's basically plotless; Archie and his son-in-law Michael/Mike (Rob Reiner) squabble over religion and politics like it's their personal hobby; Archie's daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers) is equally irritated and on the verge of tears as she tries to keep the peace between the stubborn men in her life; Archie is deservedly (and hilariously) made to look like a clown for his bigotry; and the whole thing wraps up with some unguarded earnestness, illustrating why his loved ones even put up with Archie in the first place.

Like any TV pilot, the characters aren't done cooking yet.

Norman Lear knew what he was getting into with "All in the Family." The late TV giant was warned from the outset that Americans would revolt against a sitcom that talked about the hot political topics of the day and didn't try to sugarcoat the country's history of racism and using religion to justify its bigotry and hatreds towards those deemed "the other." Nor, for that matter, did his doubters buy into the concept that audiences wanted to see an honest reflection of how families behave in the comfort of their homes.

Hindsight being 20/20, it's worth noting that Lear's skeptics had valid reasons for believing what they did. Despite being based on the British comedy series "Till Death Us Do Part," there was nothing quite like "All in the Family" on the U.S. airwaves when it premiered in 1971 on CBS. American sitcom dads were upstanding, tolerant members of their...

Aaron Spelling did not try to license Degrassi Junior High before creating Beverly Hills 90210. Degrassi Junior High/Degrassi High was a popular Canadian prime time soap opera about high school students. The soap opera format of Degrassi Junior High/Degrassi High had a major influence on shows like Beverly Hills 90210, but there was no direct connection between the shows.

TV Urban Legend: Aaron Spelling tried to license Degrassi Junior High/Degrassi High for the United States television market and created Beverly Hills 90210 instead when his licensing attempt failed.

Television history is filled with examples of American producers adapting hit shows from other countries into successful shows here, like All in the Family (Till Death Us Do Part), Sanford and Son (Steptoe and Son), and Three's Company (Man About the House). That tradition continues to this day with hit shows like Ghosts (based on the British series of...

Herman Rush, a veteran television producer best known for licensing Till Death Us Do Part, the UK sitcom that Norman Lear turned into All in the Family, died Dec. 12 at 94 of natural causes in Los Angeles, according to several news reports.

Rush began his career in 1951, working in sales for Official Film. He later purchased Flamingo Films, a television syndication firm, growing it into a major independent syndication company.

Up into the 1970s, Rush was with Creative Management Associates as the president of the television division, playing a role in the agency’s entry into television packaging. Some of the shows he was placed on networks included The Perry Como Show, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Kraft Music Hall and The Hollywood Palace.

H also represented producer Irwin Allen for TV hits Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost In Space, The Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants.

Herman Rush, who produced several television shows and was the former president of Columbia Pictures Television, has died. He was 94.

Rush died on Dec. 12 of natural causes in Los Angeles, his daughter Mandie told The Hollywood Reporter.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1929, Rush grew up in a show-business family, with his uncle Manie Sacks being Frank Sinatra’s first manager.

In 1951, Rush began his career in television, working first as a salesman for Official Film before moving up to several different leadership positions. He later purchased Flamingo Films, a television syndication firm, in 1957 and turned it into a major independent syndication company.

Throughout the ’60s and early ’70s, he was with Creative Management Associates as the president of the television division. He also worked for CMA’s predecessor organization, General Artists Corporation, now known as International Creative Management, and played a huge role in the agency’s entry into television packaging.

Usually, if you’re a news organization that deals in entertainment, you have material prepared in advance to honor icons of your industry – an obituary, an appreciation, something. But I didn’t prepare anything about Norman Lear even as he passed his 100th birthday last year and then his 101st this past July because it seemed inconceivable he could ever die. He would just glide around beneath his signature porkpie hat forever, reassuring the masses that everything was right with the world because he was still in it.

But now that Lear is gone – he died Tuesday night in his sleep – it’s time to give the man who produced “All in the Family,” and “Sanford and Son,” and “The Jeffersons,” and “Maude,” and “Good Times,” and “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” and “One Day at a Time” his due. The thing is, it’s not really possible to adequately describe...

With the passing of Norman Lear at the age of 101, we bid a fond farewell to one of the most important figures in the history of not just sitcoms, but television as a medium. TV shows that dared to address real-world problems were not unheard of when Lear came to fame by creating "All in the Family" in 1971 ("The Twilight Zone" had already existed for over a decade). However, they were very much the exceptions to the rule. Sitcoms, in particular, were overwhelmingly white, heterosexual, and conservative in their outlook, steering clear of any topic that could be considered even remotely controversial or polarizing.

Lear, of course, recognized this facade for what it was. In his autobiography "Even This I Get to Experience," the multi-hyphenate rightly dismisses the idea that his first big hit sitcom was any more "political" than other shows airing at the time. In his own words:...

Norman Lear, who died Dec. 5 at 101, had a huge influence on television history. He turned the British sitcom “Till Death Us Do Part” into the massive hit series “All in the Family,” which ran for nine seasons and revolutionized what type of topics were acceptable on television. He went on to spin off “Sanford and Son” from the British show “Steptoe and Son,” and then created “Maude,” “The Jeffersons,” “One Day at a Time” and “Good Times.”...

Norman Lear, the groundbreaking TV producer who smashed boundaries with politicized sitcoms such as All in the Family, helped diversify network television with shows The Jeffersons and Good Times, and used the half-hour comedy to address social issues and taboo, hot-button topics, died Tuesday at his Los Angeles home. He was 101. Lear’s rep, Lara Bergthold, confirmed his death to The New York Times.

“Norman lived a life in awe of the world around him,” his family wrote in a statement. “He marveled at his cup of coffee every morning,...

Norman Lear, the writer, producer and citizen activist who coalesced topical conflict and outrageous comedy in such wildly popular sitcoms as All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and The Jeffersons, has died. He was 101.

Lear died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles surrounded by his family who, according to a statement on his official Instagram account, sang songs until the very end.

“Norman lived a life in awe of the world around him. He marveled at his cup of coffee every morning, the shape of the tree outside his window, and the sounds of beautiful music,” read the post. “But it was people — those he just met and those he knew for decades — who kept his mind and heart forever young. As we celebrate his legacy and reflect on the next chapter of life without him, we would like to thank everyone for all the love and support.

Two further lost British sitcom episodes have been discovered via the BFI’s Missing Believed Wiped initiative. Here are the details.

Thanks to the hard work of the BFI, it’s an incredible time to be a fan of vintage British comedy.

In the last few months, the entire series of The Complete And Utter History of Britain and episodes of Til Death Us Do Part, Hugh and I and Sykes and a… have been found.

We can now add two more to the list, according to the British Comedy Guide. The first is the fifth episode of 1964 series Lance At Large, the first sitcom by The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin writer David Nobbs.

Previously thought entirely wiped, the show was written by Nobbs and Peter Tinniswood, and starred Lance Percival and Bernard Spear. The recovered episode also features guest stars Fred Emney, Hugh Paddick and Diana Chappell.

From the absurdist laughs of The Simpsons to the heartbreaking tragedy of Succession, there are a ton of iconic family TV shows to enjoy. Focusing on a family is one of the oldest storytelling traditions in television history. Family stories allow for a wide range of colorful characters who all share uniquely deep relationships with one another and all live under the same roof. Early groundbreaking sitcom classics like Leave It to Beaver and The Dick Van Dyke Show paved the way for modern hits like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and the One Day at a Time reboot.

Some hit family TV shows have updated the format for a contemporary audience, like Modern Family with its mockumentary style and inclusive ensemble. Additionally, there are classic family TV shows that went off the air decades ago but are still wildly subversive even by today’s standards, like All in the Family.

The world has lost a beloved star. Una Stubbs died at the age of 84 on Thursday, Aug. 12. Her family told NBC News the Sherlock star passed away quietly surrounded by family in Edinburgh, Scotland. While Stubbs' cause of death has yet to be revealed, her agent Rebecca Blond told the BBC the actress had been ill for a few months.   "We are desperately sad to have lost not only a wonderful actress, whose screen and stage career, spanning over 50 years, was so extraordinarily varied, from Till Death Us Do Part to Sherlock, as well as memorable performances in the West End, at the Old Vic, Donmar Warehouse, Sheffield Crucible and National Theatre, but also a wickedly funny, elegant, stylish, graceful,...

Una Stubbs, the British actress who died in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Thursday at age 84, may be best known to modern audiences for her role as Sherlock Holmes’ landlady, Mrs. Hudson, on the Benedict Cumberbatch-led series “Sherlock.”

But she had her breakout role in the long-running BBC sitcom “Till Death Do Us Part,” which ran for seven seasons between 1965-75 and inspired Norman Lear’s classic American hit “All in the Family.”

In “Till Death Do Us Part,” Stubbs played the Sally Struthers role — the left-leaning daughter of a reactionary white working-class father (played by Warren Mitchell) who regularly clashes with the Liverpool socialist husband of Stubbs’ character (played by Anthony Booth).

In a 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lear recalled how his partner, Bud Yorkin, tipped him off about “Till Death Do Us Part” while shooting a film in London in the late 1960s. “’Holy s—, I’ve lived through that,...

Una Stubbs, beloved actor on television shows like “Sherlock,” “Worzel Gummidge,” “Till Death Us Do Part” and “EastEnders,” has died aged 84.

She died at her home in Edinburgh surrounded by her family, her agent Rebecca Blond said. She had been ill for a few months, the agent told BBC News.

“We are desperately sad to have lost not only a wonderful actress, whose screen and stage career, spanning over 50 years, was so extraordinarily varied, from ‘Till Death Us Do Part’ to ‘Sherlock,’ as well as memorable performances in the West End, at the Old Vic, Donmar Warehouse, Sheffield Crucible and National Theatre, but also a wickedly funny, elegant, stylish, graceful, gracious and kind and constant friend,” Blond said.

Stubbs debuted with TV show “Rush Hour” in 1958. Her last major role was playing Sherlock Holmes’ landlady Mrs Hudson in BBC series “Sherlock” starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.

Stubbs appeared in...

Una Stubbs, an English actress best known for her recurring role as Mrs. Hudson on the series “Sherlock” with Benedict Cumberbatch, has died. She was 84.

Stubbs died in Edinburgh on Thursday surrounded by her family, according to a statement from her family.

“Mum passed away quietly today with her family around her, in Edinburgh. We ask for privacy and understanding at this most difficult and sad of times,” the family said in a statement to TheWrap.

Una Stubbs was best known for playing the liberal daughter of a reactionary working-class dad in the 1960s British sitcom “‘Till Death Do Us Part,” which ran for seven seasons from 1965-75 and inspired Norman Lear’s U.S. hit “All in the Family.” In the last decade, she regained fame as Sherlock’s landlady Mrs. Hudson on “Sherlock,” appearing in all four seasons of the BBC series dating back to 2010.

“We are desperately...

English actress Una Stubbs, best known stateside for her role as Mrs. Hudson opposite Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman in PBS’ Sherlock, has died. She was 84.

According to the BBC, Stubbs died at her home in Edinburgh surrounded by her family following a brief illness.

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Stubbs appeared in all 13 installments of Sherlock, through to 2017’s series-ending “The Final Problem.”

Her credits also included UK series Worzel Gummidge,...

Una Stubbs, the English actress who played Mrs. Hudson in Sherlock to cap a half-century career in TV, theater and film, died today following an illness, her agent confirmed to Deadline. She was 84.

“Mum passed away quietly today with her family around her, in Edinburgh. We ask for privacy and understanding at this most difficult and sad of times,” a statement from the family read.

Stubbs was a stalwart of British TV and stage for six decades, breaking through in the 1960s with the film Summer Holiday, which starred Cliff Richard, before she landed the role of Rita Rawlings in the long-running sitcom Till Death Do Us Part; she also starred in the 1968 film of the same name. Stubbs also appeared with Richard and the Shadows in 1964’s Swingers’ Paradise.

Stubbs would go on to appear in Worzel Gummidge, The Worst Witch, Call The Midwife and many more series before portraying Mrs.

Una Stubbs, known for her roles in BBC’s Sherlock, EastEnders and the 1960s sitcom Till Death Do Us Part, has died. She was 84.

Stubbs’ sons Joe and Christian Henson and Jason Gilmore announced that the British star had died in a statement to the BBC. “Mum passed away quietly today with her family around her, in Edinburgh. We ask for privacy and understanding at this most difficult and sad of times.”

The British theater and screen star broke out in Cliff Richard’s 1963 film Summer Holiday before notably appearing in the 1966 sitcom Till Death Us Do Part as ...

Never one to mince words, comedian Ricky Gervais has shed some clarity on recent remarks that the beloved BBC sitcom “The Office” would be retroactively canceled today due to offensive content. (Via The Hollywood Reporter.)

As the show that inspired a massive American remake turns 20, Ricky Gervais told the BBC, “I mean, now it would be cancelled. I’m looking forward to when they pick out one thing and try to cancel it. Someone said they might try to cancel it one day, and I say, ‘Good, let them cancel it. I’ve been paid!'”

But as the comments went viral, Gervais took to Twitter to clarify for his more than 14 million followers that the remarks were intended as a joke.

“Just to be clear, I did not say The Office would be cancelled if it were made today. That makes no sense. It’s still around. This is my actual quote.

When “All in the Family” debuted Jan. 12, 1971, on CBS, it was exactly the TV show America needed — though America didn’t realize it at the time.

Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin had taped two ABC pilots of the script, both starring Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton, starting in 1968. But ABC was reluctant to commit; as Lear told Variety’s Army Archerd, it was “too controversial.”

Lear and Yorkin took the show to CBS, which surprisingly bought it.

The show was carefully tested for a long time. On July 22, 1970 — six months before the debut — Variety asked CBS president Robert Wood why the network wasn’t trumpeting the new show. He said, “Frankly, we’re still not sure how to introduce this one to the public … it might just be best to go on with no fanfare, and then prepare ourselves for the explosion.”

The first episode, “Meet the Bunkers,” aired Tuesday,...

All in the Family is roundly considered a touchstone for television achievement now, but when it debuted 50 years ago, even the network carrying it hoped it would fizzle quickly and unnoticed. CBS put an army of operators at phone lines expecting a barrage of complaints from offended middle Americans demanding its cancellation. Those calls didn’t come. What came was a deluge of support from people hoping this mid-season replacement was a permanent addition to the network’s lineup. The premiere episode contained a considerable list of “television firsts.” One of these rarities continues to remain scarce on network TV: creator Norman Lear trusted the intelligence of the viewing audience. To celebrate All in the Family’s 50th anniversary, we look back at its journey from conception to broadcast, and how it continues to influence and inform entertainment and society today.

Actor Carroll O’Connor, who was a large part of...

As Disney quietly disappears huge swathes of film history into its vaults, I'm going to spend 2020 celebrating Twentieth Century Fox and the Fox Film Corporation's films, what one might call their output if only someone were putting it out.And now they've quietly disappeared William Fox's name from the company: guilty by association with Rupert Murdoch, even though he never associated with him.***There are some films where, lacking access to one's own personal cinematheque, one has to speculate. For example, some of Fox's fifties films, shot in CinemaScope as all movies at that studio had to be, have never been made available in widescreen formats. Richard Fleischer was one the directors who adapted zestfully to that format, so it's a crying shame that Crack in the Mirror (1960) seems to exist only in blurry, 4:3 TV recordings. His other Orson Welles film, Compulsion (1959), is a cracker.Anatole Litvak's...

Jane Fonda was the talk of Friday night’s British Academy Britannia Awards – and she didn’t even have to show up to steal the spotlight.

Receiving the prestigious Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award For Excellence In Film, Fonda pulled off what is easily the most unusual acceptance speech ever given in the annals of Hollywood awards shows. Although she had originally been scheduled to accept in person, I am told the organization learned a couple of weeks ago that she couldn’t attend because, as is her custom now every Friday, she planned to be in Washington D.C. demanding urgent action to battle climate change and calling for a Green New Deal and no new drilling for fossil fuels. Along with others, including actor Ted Danson, she was arrested, in her case, for the third Friday in a row, on the Southeast lawn of the Us Capitol building.

Presenter...

Alright Anglophiles, welcome to Day 2 of our investigation of streaming services for the lovers of foreign television.

From the opening and the title of the service, you can probably tell BritBox is exactly what it says it is -- TV for those who dig all things British.

Well, not all things. Things brought to you directly from two British networks, BBC and ITV. It's a decent offering unless you happen to love Channel 4. That's for another time!

What sets BritBox apart from other services are its comedies and soap operas.

It's the only streamer to offer Coronation Street, Eastenders, Emmerdale, Casualty and Holby City (my favorite!).

However, they only offer current seasons of each, so if it's your hope to start somewhere in the archives of these shows or catch up on previous series (as they call seasons across the pond) you'll have to find another way to do it.

The BFI’s Missing Believed Wiped returns to BFI Southbank this December to present British television rediscoveries, not seen by audiences for decades, most since their original transmission dates…. The bespoke line-up of TV gems feature some of the countries most-loved television celebrities and iconic characters including Alf Garnett in Till Death Us Do Part: Sex Before Marriage, Cilla Black in her eponymous BBC show featuring Dudley Moore , Jimmy Edwards in Whack-o!, a rare interview with Peter Davison about playing Doctor Who, an appearance by future Doctor Who Patrick Troughton from ITV’s early police drama, No Hiding Place plus a significant screen debut from a young Pete Postlethwaite.

However for Nerdly readers, one of the real highlights of this edition of Missing Believed Wiped is the uncovering of TV horror Late Night Horror: The Corpse Can’t Play. Originally broadcast on 3 May, 1968 on BBC2 this is the only...

Actor starred in 'Till Death Us Do Part', 'Coronation Street', and 'Holby City'...

Set in the grimy streets of early-60s Soho, The Small World of Sammy Lee is a lost gem of British cinema. Starring Anthony Newley as a strip-club compere who owes a large amount of money to a local villain, it was written and directed by Ken Hughes (best known for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and was photographed by the renowned Wolfgang Suschitzky. It also features a host of recognisable faces in smaller roles, including Steptoe’s Wilfrid Brambell, The Rag Trade’s Miriam Karlin, and Till Death Us Do Part’s Warren Mitchell.

•The Small World of Sammy Lee is released on Blu-ray on 14 November

Continue reading...

Saying someone is iconic or influential is easy to do. However, few names defy even those labels quite like TV Titan, Norman Lear. Not one of, but easily the more influential and groundbreaking TV creator/producer in the medium’s history, Lear’s influence spans decades, even as we make our way through this new “golden age” of television.

Best known for TV shows ranging from All in the Family to Maude, Lear’s career really sparked in the early ‘70s, after discovering a British series entitled Till Death Us Do Part. The story of a conservative father and his relationship with his progressive son, Lear ostensibly took that premise, and adapted it for the Us, a country in the midst of a cultural revolution incomparable to any moment in its history before or really since. That show was the aforementioned Family, and driven by a groundbreaking sense of humor...

BBC One has announced details of a new Comedy Playhouse season.

Three new half-hour one-off specials will be broadcast on the channel later this year, featuring the likes of Hugh Dennis, My Mad Fat Diary star Sharon Rooney and Mark Heap.

Steptoe and Son, Till Death Us Do Part, Are You Being Served? and Last of the Summer Wine are among classic BBC sitcoms which were born out of former BBC Comedy Playhouse seasons.

Comedy commissioning controller Shane Allen said: "BBC One delivers enormous audiences for comedy and this season revival reflects our commitment in mainstream to do new and daring projects.

"We want BBC One to fly the flag of popular British comedy and want this dedicated space to promote tomorrow's classic comedy today."

Dennis and Neil Morrissey will star in Over To Bill, a sitcom from Red Dwarf writer Doug Naylor.

BBC weatherman Bill Onion (Dennis) is fired...

Jean Stapleton, the versatile actress who will forever be remembered for her long-running role as the dim-witted but deep-hearted Edith Bunker on the groundbreaking 1970s sitcom All in the Family, died Friday at her home in New York City, her family confirms. Stapleton, who was 90, succumbed to natural causes. Having already established a career during the 1950s and early '60s for playing nosy neighbor roles in such Broadway smashes as Damn Yankees, Funny Girl and Bells Are Ringing, in which she played the owner of the titular answering service, Stapleton entered the TV pantheon with her high-pitched comic voice...

By Rachel Bennett

Television Editor & Columnist

***

Sunday night was the season two premiere of Showtime’s Homeland, and among my 12 reasons why you should tune in to the political drama, one is because it’s a foreign remake that works.

In case you missed it, Homeland is an American adaptation of the 2010 Israeli series Hatufim (Prisoners of War). “Both shows are very similar in the fact that they raise very relevant and timely questions in their societies,” says Homeland executive producer Gideon Raff, who also created Prisoners of War. Prisoners of War is a drama that follows soldiers as they readjust to their society in addition to the people who question the truth of their service.

However, Homeland is not an exact copy of Prisoners of War. The Showtime series features the overhanging threat of terrorism after 9/11, personified in character Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis). This change in crafting Homeland...

While not all of the American populace purports to always understand British humor, it’s been an indelible part of the cultural landscape for decades. Whether the sophisticated stylings of Noel Coward or the outrageous offerings of French & Saunders, British television comedies (aka Britcoms) have provided countless hours of entertainment to legions of fans, and have even occasionally been adapted into historic mega-smashes (without ‘Til Death Us Do Part and Man About the House, we’d never have seen the likes of All in the Family and Three’s Company, after all). Fifteen of those shows will always immediately spring to mind and provide copious memories of cherished moments in front of the tube (or the telly, as it were).

15. To the Manor Born (1979-81)

Formulaic though it may have been (widowed aristocrat gives up ancestral estate after purchase by a supermarket magnate of Bratislavic descent, and moves with butler...

Since Una Stubbs's film debut half a century ago, she's never been out of work. With a string of memorable TV series to her name, from Till Death Do Us Part to Sherlock, how does she feel now about her return to the National theatre stage at 75?

Una Stubbs can't quite believe she's being interviewed. "So who else are you speaking to from this production?" she asks when we meet backstage at the National Theatre. No one, I tell her. Just you. Behind her round-framed spectacles, Stubbs's eyes widen anxiously. "Oh," she says, brow crinkling. "Really?"

You might expect Una Stubbs to be more convinced by her own reputation. At 75, she has starred in some of the most memorable television programmes of the past four decades (Till Death Us Do Part, Give Us a Clue, Worzel Gummidge, Sherlock) and been directed on stage by such theatrical luminaries as Sir Peter Hall and Michael Grandage.

Brace yourselves, because Dr. Gregory House appears to be heading for a wedding — and you will not believe who the bride is.

As part of the Fox drama’s Season 8 cast photo shoot, series lead Hugh Laurie — whose contributions to past set-ups include the caduceus-inspired “snake” image — put himself in a bridal gown, donned a dictator’s uniform and fancied himself part of a chain gang, among other noisy concepts.

Exclusive: House Admits Rescue Me‘s John Scurti

You can see Laurie and castmates Robert Sean Leonard, Omar Epps, Jesse Spencer, Peter Jacobson, Odette Annable and Charlene Yi posing away...

It's set in a London of rusting Hillman Minxes and bare lightbulbs, but On the Buses was a huge hit in its time, and the fanclub is still going strong

A 1965 Routemaster bus pulls up somewhere in the London suburb of Borehamwood; the passengers pile out and cluster around a nearby manhole cover, and point their cameras at it – for this is no ordinary manhole cover. It has gone down in movie history as the actual drain cover in which On the Buses' Olive Rudge got her bottom stuck. And the amateur photographers are part of a group of 100 or so punters who had paid £35 a head to attend an event called On the Buses Rides Again: a fan-club weekend to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the appearance of the On the Buses spin-off film.

It may seem bizarre now, but On the Buses was the most successful British film of 1971, outgrossing allcomers,...

Amy Poehler has cited the classic sitcom All in the Family as the most significant influence on her approach to comedy. All in the Family, which was based on the British series Till Death Us Do Part , followed the exploits of curmudgeon Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor) and his bumbling family for nine seasons on CBS in the 1970s. The Parks and Recreation star told New York Magazine that she admired O'Connor's commitment to exploring the humanity in the often angry, sometimes bigoted Bunker. "All in the Family was my favorite sitcom growing up," she said. "I loved Archie Bunker - like all my favorite characters, he seemed to live when I wasn't watching. I could (more)...

Sid (Robert Joy) conducts an autopsy on a Jane Doe. In an opening where the CSIs are not called to the scene, which makes a change. He has to pry her apart so to speak, as rigour has set in, freezing her body in an upright position. There are constant flashbacks to her running and how she came to be in that position. There's bark in her hair, as Mac (Gary Sinise) clarifies she was found in Central Park. He comments at her being "frozen stiff." Sid states that off the record, she appears to have been 'scared to death'. He gets the last word before the opening credits too, in another change. several of those for Sid in this episode. Flack (Eddie Cahill), Jo (Sela Ward) and Hawkes (Hill Harper) search where she was found. Jo takes photos of the footprints, which are sporadic, indicating she was lost or confused.

Actor and singer known for her role as the Sinatra-chasing taxi driver Brunhilde Esterhazy in On the Town

The most famous role played by the all-round entertainer Betty Garrett, who has died aged 91, was Brunhilde Esterhazy, the taxi driver in Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly's musical On the Town (1949). In the film, she introduces herself to a shy sailor played by Frank Sinatra and asks him: "Why don't you come up to my place?" She is soon vigorously chasing him around her cab, rejecting any of his suggestions about what to see in New York with the rapid retort: "My place!"

In Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949), Garrett had pursued Sinatra with equal zeal, assuring him by singing It's Fate, Baby, It's Fate. She also panted after Red Skelton in Neptune's Daughter (1949), begging him not to leave her apartment with the song Baby, It's Cold Outside.

Television comedy director and producer known for Fawlty Towers, Steptoe and Son and Till Death Us Do Part

Douglas Argent, who has died aged 89, was a prolific producer and director who scored hits with Till Death Us Do Part, Steptoe and Son, Fawlty Towers and Spike Milligan's Q8 and Q9 series – all with humour that pushed the boundaries of TV comedy.

He was gifted the second series of Fawlty Towers to produce in 1979. The creation of John Cleese and Connie Booth – who had divorced since the first run, four years earlier – went on to top a British Film Institute list of the 100 best TV programmes, as voted for by industry professionals. Argent modestly insisted that its success lay in the writing. However, producers guide all those working on their programmes and his track record was impressive, particularly in the field of comedy.

Argent was born in Bexleyheath, Kent, and his parents ran ironmonger's shops.