No wonder Tom’s upset, if His children have left for college. His work at the bathroom fitting firm is boring. His best friend and postman, Pat, has been thrown out of his house because his wife didn’t accept his first love of darts. Life isn’t any calmer at Tom’s comfortable suburban house, where his wife, Alice, has written her first book. Alice’s hardbitten literary agent, Miranda, predicts Summer of Love will be a huge best-seller, the ads bill it as “a blazing saga of love, life, hope and passion,” and Tom wonders where Alice researched the book’s graphic sex scenes. Welcome to You Must Be the Husband, Channel 13’s most recent addition to its lineup of British comedies. Premiering Sunday, February 4, at 10 p.m., Husband stars Tim Brooke-Taylor(The Good Neighbors) and Diane Keen as Tom and Alice Hammond. Aired from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Sundays, British comedies consistently rank among Channel 13’s 10 most popular programs. Why? “Because they’re very well-written and you can tell someone hasn’t been scared to take more time to make them,” says Mike Seymour, KERA vice president for broadcasting and operations, who admits a fondness for Wodehouse Playhouse, Fowl-ty Towers and The Good Neighbors. “Their humor is universal. They travel well.” In 1974, Channel 13 was the first American station to broadcast Monty Python’s Flying Circus and, in later years, it was the first public television station to schedule British comedies together in a Sunday night lineup. Since then, stations across the country have followed suit and many use Channel 13 as a bellwether for new comedies. * “Our kind of scheduling predictability is important,” says Channel 13 president Richard J. Meyer, who begins to laugh helplessly when he tries to explain why he likes ’Alio, ’Alio. “Everyone knows Sunday night is British comedy night on Channel 13.” * Besides You Must Be the Husband, Channel 13’s British comedies in February include the following: Are You Being Served?, 10:30 p.m. The employees have gone to war at Grace Brothers, a small, old-fashioned department store. Ladies’ Separates and Underwear is locked in mortal combat with Gentlemen’s Ready-to-Wear, and more than the clothes are on the racks. Where else will you find a store where the automated mannequin flashes and the customer is always wronged? Yes, Minister, 11 p.m. There’s nothing politic about politics – or politicians, either, in this merciless comedy about Parliament and civil servants. Power struggles, ineffectual administrators and endless bickering highlight this smart, fast-paced comedy as the Right Honorable James Hacker MP matches wits with Permanent Under-Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby. ’Alio, ’Alio, 11:30 p.m. A war’s going on, which is why France is occupied and Rene is aiding the Resistance and hiding a priceless painting in a sausage for a German officer. Gordon Kaye stars as Rene, a cafe owner and avowed patriot whose lovelife is complicated by two girlfriends and a wife he’s promised to remarry. Open All Hours, midnight. Ronnie Barker stars as Awkwright, the proprietor of what may be the worst-run general store in England. He’s open all night, whether it’s legal or not, and he’ll sell anything if he can find a customer to buy it. “We’re always looking for new comedies,” Seymour says, “but they have to meet our standards. Are they as good as To the Manor Born, The Good Neighbors or Fawlty Towers? “Half our calls say viewers want new comedies. The other half say they want the old tried-and-true comedies. Half love a show. Half can’t stand it. People are very, very opinionated when it comes to British comedies.”
Comedy Questions
Most-Asked Questions about British Comedies: (answers provided by Mike Seymour, KERA vice president for broadcasting and operations)
Q: Why doesn’t Channel 13 air the 13-part comedy series Up, Pompeii?
A: Because we can’t. The BBC has declined to distribute it in this country.
Q: Why hasn’t Channel 13 aired the transition program between Yes, Minister and l’es, Prime Minister?
A: Originally, the program wasn’t available to American audiences. But recently, we’ve been able to purchase this one-hour special, Party Games, and it is tentatively scheduled to air In March.
Q: Why weren’t more episodes made of To the Manor Born and Fawlty Towers?
A: We can’t answer that-except to say that the British believe that when something’s ended, it’s over.
Q: Will you broadcast more episodes of Black Adder?
A: The fourth series of six episodes is now being broadcast on another station. When it becomes available to public television, we will attempt to purchase it.
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