Stephen Fry article

from The Western Mail here

award nominees

A lot of JAM related nominees for this year's British Bafta Television awards....

Best Actor - Michael Sheen is nominated for his role as JAM star Kenneth Williams in Fantabulosa.

Best Actress - JAM guest Victoria Wood is nominated for her role in Housewife 49.

Best Entertainment Performance - JAM star Paul Merton is nominated as star of Have I Got News For You. He's competing against JAM guest Stephen Fry, nominated for his chairing of QI.

Best Single Drama - Fantabulosa is nominated.

Best Factual Series - Stephen Fry is moninated for The Secret Life Of A Manic Depressive.

Best Entertainment Programme - How Do You Solve A Programme Like Maria is nominated, the main vehicle these days for JAM star Graham Norton.

Lots of categories to watch on May 20th!

great article on the diva herself

that's former JAM regular Wendy Richard of course

Stephen Fry interviews Tony Blair

I suppose I could be accused of taking too much interest in Stephen Fry - but of all JAM folk he does seem to have the most interesting life.

I've just noticed that he did a podcast conversation at "Number Ten" with Tony Blair - this page here has a transcript as well as the podcast. In a way it's more of a conversation than an interview - and I think in a way it reveals more about Stephen than Blair. But anyway, well worth a listen or read.

More more more

I've often wondered in these days when you can buy TV DVD sets with as many as 24 hour-long programmes in the package - the BBC just gives you two hours worth of material on their radio CDs. Why not distribute the entire season - or even put out the entire audio history of JAM. If you can put out the entire MASH series in a package, why not the entire JAM series?

Well a step in the right direction - and the first sign of anniversary material coming out. The BBC is putting out an anniversary edition gift pack with 16 eppies included. They're the shows on the four Just A Classic Minute sets, which have already been published - but still a healthy sign.

See the link here.

How about this for a cast... Nicholas Parsons (including one show as a panellist), Sir Clement Freud, Kenneth Williams (including one show as chairman), Peter Jones, Derek Nimmo, Paul Merton, Wendy Richard, Stephen Fry, Sheila Hancock, Geraldine Jones, Sir Tim Rice, Alfred Marks, John Junkin, Richard Murdoch, Lance Percival, Barry Took, Ray Alan, Peter Cook, Maureen Lipman, Victoria Wood, Jan Ravens, Thora Hird, Tommy Trinder and Bob Monkhouse.

Sounds amusing.

New record!

Transcribing the 8 January show, I noticed Maria McErlane didn't actually speak on the subject until 15 minutes into the show!

And the record stood one week - Pauline McLynn on 15th January had to wait 16 minutes to get the subject!

Transcript!

The first transcript from the most recent series is now up...

Interesting article

on the state of British comedy - and British attitudes to humour. Well worth reading.

Perhaps it was the spun gold hair they admired?

Kenneth Williams continues to make 'em laugh getting on for 20 years since his untimely passing.

The latest competition he has won - the funniest movie one-liner of all time. And it's also one he used a couple of times on JAM.

Yes it's his line in Carry On Cleo, playing Julius Caesar - "Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!!"

It won a poll of more than 1000 comedy writers, comedians and comedy club owners as the best movie one-liner of all time.

Film critic Bob McCabe said "I thought that Kenneth Williams would win as it is a great stand-alone joke, the joke is simple and no build-up to the line is needed. Kenneth Williams’ delivery of the line is extremely dramatic, ending in a camp style."

The other members of the top 10 were - some great lines here...

2. “He’s not the messiah, he’s a very naughty boy.” – Terry Jones (Brian’s Mum) Life Of Brian (1979)

3. Robert Hays (Ted Striker): "Surely you can't be serious. Leslie Nielsen (Rumack): I am serious….and don't call me Shirley. - Airplane (1980)

4. “Remember you’re fighting for this woman’s honour, which is probably more than she ever did” – Groucho Marx (Rufus T. Firefly) Duck Soup (1933)

5. “Don’t knock masturbation, it’s sex with someone I love” – Woody Allen, (Alvy Singer) Annie Hall (1977)

6. Peter Sellers (Inspector Clouseau): "Do you have a licence for your minkey"? - The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)

7. "Mary, Is that... is that hair gel?" – Cameron Diaz (Mary Jensen) There's Something About Mary (1998)

8. “Gentlemen you can't fight in here. This is the War Room” – Peter Sellers (President Merkin) – Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learnt To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1963)

9. (Leslie Nielsen) Frank: “Nice beaver!” (Priscilla Presley) Jane: [producing a stuffed beaver] “Thank you. I just had it stuffed.” - The Naked Gun(1988)

10. When I met Mary I got that old fashioned romantic feeling where I'd do anything to bone her" - Jim Carrey (Lloyd Christmas) Dumb and Dumber (1994)

Proof yet again - if further proof were needed - that man is a cult! An enormous cult! The bigest cult we've got around here! And before uttering this line, he'd walked all the way from Great Portland Street....