"Comedy Connections" (2003) TV series 2003-????

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Release Date:

9 June 2003 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Series looking at the history of favourite comedy shows.

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Doon Mackichan	...	Herself - Narrator (32 episodes, 2005-2008)
Julia Sawalha	...	Herself - Narrator (14 episodes, 2003-2004)

Runtime:

30 min (22 episodes) | 40 min (16 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Movie Connections:

Spin off "Drama Connections" (2005)

Great Comedy Geneology Show

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

An extremely great documentary that gives a forty-five minute special to a comedy series. It started in 2003 and shows no sign of stopping.

On the 9th June 2003, I was getting an early night as I was flying to Spain the next evening for two weeks. That night, there was a documentary on about 'Porridge' It was episode one of 'Comedy Connections' Little did I know I was watching the first episode of this fabulous and interesting show. The show was like 'Who do you Think you are' if you like, actors in the show and cast and crew had there roots traced. It was narrated by 'Absolutely Fabulous' star Julia Sawalha. Series 1 featured only on sitcoms. Series 2 also featured on sitcoms, but also looked at more 'surreal' sitcoms such as 'The Young Ones' and 'The Goodies' as-well as some classics such as 'Father Ted' and 'The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin' Series 3 saw a change of presenter, Sawalha giving place to Doon Mackichan. It was an odd series, series 3 as only sketch shows were featured. Series 4 did a combination of sketch shows and sitcoms and series five and six have all just been sitcoms, apart from the last episode of series 6 which was quite bizarre as they'd all been on sitcoms, then they finished the series with 'Little Britain' Series 5 and 6 has seen the show in its prime, where we've been treated to 'One Foot in the Grave' 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum' and my all time favourite sitcom 'Dad's Army'

So a decent show, but it has to be said, I would only tune in if the documentary was on a show I liked, for example, I didn't tune in to the 'Allo Allo' episode. But it is a very good show and long hope it continues. There have been spin-offs, 'Drama Connections' and 'Film Connections' have been made by the BBC and ITV recently did 'Comedy Classics' featuring documentaries and episodes of ITV sitcoms. A good thing about 'Comedy Connections' is that they only have people in the show who have been connected with the show or are in the comedy industry, they don't have so-called 'celebrities' such as Anthony Cotton giving there views, unlike 'Comedy Classics'