Comedy

Death in Paradise star Danny John-Jules is unrecognisable as a taxi driver in new BBC comedy Ann Droid, starring alongside Diane Morgan

Actor Danny John-Jules became a firm fan-favourite on Death in Paradise.

He became one of the original cast members when the crime-drama first kicked off in 2011 as Officer Dwayne Myers.

The actor played the role for seven years before his departure in 2018. Yet devotees of the BBC programme have witnessed him reprise his role intermittently over the years, with his most recent appearance coming in the 2024 Christmas special.

Despite handing in his badge upon leaving, fans remain optimistic he might make a comeback in a forthcoming series.

However, in the meantime, he appears in a new BBC comedy, Ann Droid.

It charts the story of lonely widower Sue (Sue Johnston) whose son Michael (Paul Ready) opts to purchase her an AI eldercare robot to provide companionship and ensure her wellbeing.

Yet the robot she chooses to name Linda (Diane Morgan), receives a frosty reception as Sue makes her feelings abundantly clear that she doesn’t want a robot under her roof.

Throughout the six episodes, audiences will witness an unexpected friendship develop between the two as the series explores themes of loneliness, bereavement, humanity versus technology, and growing older, reports the Express.

While the opening episode broadcasts on Friday (July 17), all instalments are ready to stream on BBC iPlayer, with a well-known face making an appearance in episode two.

As Sue encounters her mate Eileen (Kathryn Hunter) waiting for a cab to transport her to her aunt’s 108th birthday celebration, the driver who arrives turns up in a vehicle looking somewhat battered.

The taxi driver, called Brian is portrayed by Death in Paradise’s Danny John-Jules. While Sue points out the hazards of his motor, Eileen tells her to calm down as Brian has been ferrying her about for more than 40 years.

He responds: “And I’ve only been sober for the last five!” Subsequently, Brian shows up once more when he brings Eileen back to meet Sue and Linda.

Before departing, he remarks: “Oh, I need some more customer reviews. Preferably ones above the two stars I’m getting at the moment. Would you mind?

“Oh, and don’t mention I got lost and had four pints at lunch or that I ran out of petrol and we had to walk the last 2km, ok?”

Ann Droid is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

In the latest episode of “The De Los Podcast,” actor and comedian Fabrizio Guido spoke with hosts Fidel Martinez and Suzy Exposito about his role in the Netflix series “Running Point” — as well as being a part of a new wave of young Latino Hollywood stars and how he got his start in the stand-up comedy world.

Having grown up in L.A. himself, Guido talked about owning the persona of “Running Point” character Jackie Moreno: a concession-worker-turned-executive-assistant from Boyle Heights.

“I just felt I had all the tools necessary to bring this character to life,” Guido said. “It was a really important opportunity for people to see this side of L.A. … to get to know that kid that you see on the street or at the mall [and say] ‘Oh, that guy reminds me of Jackie.’”

Part of the appeal of the character was the chance to “showcase how much heart L.A. has.”

Alongside actors like Xolo Maridueña, Keyla Monterroso Mejia, Isabela Merced and Jenna Ortega, Guido is part of a new class of young Latinos taking Hollywood by storm — something the “Running Point” star said is “an honor.”

“It can be isolating if you’re the only Latino on a set,” Guido shared. “So to have peers that share a similar upbringing as you — you walk away with a friendship most of the time because you have stuff in common.”

He also mentioned that the bump in Latino talent has led to diversity in roles within the community.

“For the longest time, it could’ve been stereotypical — the only things Latino could play,” Guido said. “For the first time we’re starting to see this emergence of what it means for each one of us to be Latino. I’m bringing my experience to the table, Keyla is bringing her experience to the table, Xolito is bringing his. We’re not going by what the industry thinks Latino is, we’re bringing what we think Latino is.”

But beyond the acting world, Guido has also tackled the stand-up comedy scene in recent years.

He shared that he got his first gig thanks to comedian Gabriel Iglesias, who he worked with on the Netflix sitcom “Mr. Iglesias.” The arena comic convinced Guido to do a five-minute set — which Guido worked on for two weeks — at the Brea Improv.

“I got on stage, did my first joke and was super nervous,” he said. “Second joke did really well and it afforded me enough time to get present and then I ran through my five minutes, got off stage a different person. I knew I was in love. I felt like something in my life had shifted in that moment and I’ve been in love with stand-up ever since.”

SACHA Baron Cohen has brought back the iconic Ali G character at Wimbledon ahead of a new film.

Sacha, 54, first played faux-streetwise poseur from Staines in 1998 on The 11 O’Clock Show before landing his own series, Da Ali G Show.

Sacha last played Ali G in 2014 but at the men’s singles final at Wimbledon on Sunday, the star resurrected the character.

Sitting in Centre Court, Ali wore a Wimbledon-coloured tracksuit with the motif ‘Official Ganja Dealer’ on the back, hat, heavy gold chain and glasses, Sacha sported his alter ego‘s facial hair, and attitude.

Ali also joined Instagram to share videos from the tournament and said: “I iz BACK!

“And if u iz at dis borin wimbledore final lookin 2 get grand slammed, I iz here wif de hookup.  dm me, especially if u iz fit.”

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He also shared a shot of a DVD of his TV series and wrote: “dm me if u want to buy one of these DVD box sets.

“Me iz got like 10,000 of dem. Dey iz very rare. Free pickup in the northwest surrey area.”

Sacha’s appearance at Wimbledon as Ali G comes as he prepares a new film for his comic creation.

While few details are known at the moment, in July last year, The Sun exclusively revealed pictures of Sacha in character as Ali as he filmed in a Cotswolds zoo park.

A passer-by who saw the filming in ­Chipping Norton, said: “He was with a whole film crew and was in full character.

“He seemed very comfortable in the role. I was amazed, I thought to myself ‘that’s Ali G’.

“He clearly updated Ali G’s ­wardrobe. He’s replaced his tracksuit and skull cap, but he still had gold jewellery and tinted shades.”

As well as Da Ali G Show, which ran for three series until 2004, he also had a film, Ali G Indahouse, in 2002.

John Slattery was jet-lagged in Budapest late one night after a day of shooting the 2025 drama “Nuremberg” when his old “Mad Men” co-star and friend Jon Hamm texted him with the kind of pitch that would send many actors sprinting in the opposite direction.

Would he be willing to play an out-of-work version of himself who hadn’t had a gig in a decade and was shamelessly coasting on his “Mad Men” fame?

Reading the script for “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass” through the haze of fatigue, Slattery fixated on that one detail: “Hasn’t worked in 10 years, huh?” he recalls by phone from his home in New York. “I had to go: Wait a second. Let me IMDb myself.”

As it happens, the 63-year-old Slattery — best known for his four-time Emmy-nominated turn as the silver-haired ad executive Roger Sterling on “Mad Men” — has racked up some 30 film and TV credits since that show ended in 2015. Still, he says he was happy to detonate his cool, unflappable persona in the latest comedy from “Wet Hot American Summer” and “Role Models” filmmaker David Wain.

The gleefully unhinged “Gail Daughtry,” which premiered earlier this year at Sundance and opens Friday, casts Slattery as a washed-up version of himself who is enlisted by a Midwestern woman (Zoey Deutch) who flies to Los Angeles determined to cash in on a celebrity sex pass with Hamm after discovering her fiancé cheated on her with Jennifer Aniston.

For Slattery, what begins as an exercise in comic self-demolition gradually becomes the movie’s biggest surprise, with the actor turning a desperate, delusional version of himself into its most unexpectedly lovable character.

From left, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, John Slattery, Ben Wang, Ken Marino and Zoey Deutch in the movie “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass.”

(Sundance Institute)

Speaking with The Times, Slattery reflected on cheerfully becoming the butt of the joke, why broad comedy is anything but easy and what it’s like navigating Hollywood at a moment when fading away feels a little less far-fetched than it once did.

Actors spend years building a certain cool image, but within seconds of appearing onscreen in this movie, you’re whining, farting and generally making an ass of yourself. What appealed to you about that?

I never considered it risky. Not that it was foolproof, but it was just such a silly idea and I was a fan of David Wain and those guys anyway. These kinds of comedies take skill and experience. I mean, you have to be really smart to make a movie this stupid.

You’re always looking for something that’s different and this was such a funny way to depart from myself — ironically, by playing myself. It seems like the wildest character I’ve played in a while, and it’s me. I thought: What kind of research am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to watch myself and imitate myself? But there was really nothing to do. You just learn the lines and show up.

Was there ever a moment where you thought: This is either going to be really funny or the end of my career?

I didn’t have that feeling on this. There’s nothing funnier to me than a confident moron. My favorite thing in the world to watch or try to do is somebody who has full confidence in their idiocy.

I’m not somebody who dives into the deep end right away. First I want to know I can trust the people in charge of what I’m about to deliver to them. If I do all this, whose hands am I leaving it in? With David, that wasn’t even a consideration. He’s just so good at what he does, and that gives you permission to just go all in.

Have you always been able to laugh at yourself or is that something that’s gotten easier as you’ve gotten older?

I come from a large family of piss-takers. They’re all really good at ball-breaking and really funny. My mother had six kids, and all her brothers had five or six kids. I had a million cousins, and they will shred you. Somebody would always knock your feet out from under you if you took yourself too seriously.

John Slattery and Jon Hamm in a scene from the AMC drama “Mad Men.”

(Frank Ockenfels / AMC)

Every successful actor probably has a nightmare that one day the phone stops ringing and you’re coasting on fading glory. Did you ever have that feeling after “Mad Men” ended?

After going through COVID and the strike and directing an independent movie [2023’s black comedy “Maggie Moore(s)”], which doesn’t pay very well, I hadn’t acted in a while. I was like: Oh, I wonder if this is going to continue. I don’t know.

The business has contracted. It seems like there’s an endless list of titles on every streaming menu, and yet they’re making less and people are struggling. So I’m glad to be working. I’ve had a pretty lucky run of late and I’m not taking it for granted.

At this point in your career, what makes you say yes to something?

Money. [laughs] No, it’s really the same as it’s always been. You always want a big, fat, juicy part, but sometimes it’s just a functioning part in a really good story.

You kind of roll with the punches. You do something, you have some success with it and then you get a lot of offers for things that are a lot like that. If that’s all that comes in, you pick the best one and keep going. People say, “Well, it’s not ‘Mad Men.’” And you go, “Well, what do I need to do that again for? I did that.”

This is a perfect example of something that’s every bit as interesting and fun in a completely different way. If they could all be like this one, I could die tomorrow. You want them all to be this fun, because they’re not. Sometimes you’re stuck in a courtroom all day and it’s pretty dry. This was anything but that.

Hollywood feels like a deeply anxious place right now. You’ve worked through a lot of different eras of this business. How does this moment compare?

I have a job coming up, so that’s always hopeful. Having just come off something, and knowing you’re about to do something else, gives you a sense of security. But there’s definitely a palpable anxiety. You hear it when people get jobs: “Thank God.” Or, “It’s about time.” Or, “I don’t care what it is, I’m going to do it.”

I was listening to Taylor Sheridan recently talking about how people who don’t tell stories are governing the telling of stories. That’s more than disconcerting. And now AI is the overlord of all that. It’s very strange.

It’s always been a youth-oriented business. There are definitely more movies about people who are 27 than people who are 63. Maybe it all kind of shakes out. I don’t know. Sometimes I wish it were 1943 and I was in a suit playing a detective.

I would watch that movie. Meanwhile, Hollywood doesn’t make many broad theatrical comedies like this anymore. Why do you think that is?

I don’t know why the studios have given up on comedies in movie theaters. They used to be the thing, right? Those big Will Ferrell movies were huge moneymakers.

Maybe this will turn the tide. When you think about the condition of the country right now, and how pissed off and divided everybody is, you roll out this silly, smart-but-stupid comedy, and it seems like the perfect amelioration of everybody’s anxiety. Go get some popcorn and laugh your ass off. You’ll feel better.

Comedy saved Teruko Nakajima’s life.

In 2016, Nakajima received psychiatric care at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, diagnosed with depression, PTSD and suicidal ideation. Her doctors searched for ways to manage her stress by exposing her to various activities, including video games, serene Icelandic landscapes and an aerial silks performance. The last brought her anxiety down, revealing that the arts were the answer. Her doctor prescribed the arts, comedy specifically, so she went to the Upright Citizens Brigade for class.

She found a calling and a safe space in comedy.

“I didn’t know I was born a comedian,” Nakajima said. “Finally, I really felt I was accepted as a comedian, validated for who I am.”

Nakajima shares her healing journey to the stage in “Made in America,” which just had an encore performance at UCB on Tuesday after its award-winning run in 2022 (it is also available for streaming on UCB’s website through Tuesday). The one-woman show arrives in time for the United States’ 250th anniversary on Saturday, documenting Nakajima’s search for the American dream as a first-generation Japanese American woman. “Made in America” premiered in 2022 at the Hollywood Fringe Festival during Joe Biden’s presidency and following the Jan. 6 United States Capitol attack. In 2026, its musings on identity and belonging pierce through today’s political landscape shaped by Donald Trump’s second presidency.

“I wanted to let people know this is an American story,” she said.

“Made in America” is about Nakajima’s life. It begins in her mother’s womb. She felt so safe there, she yearned to return. Growing up, she experienced an emotionally and physically abusive life at home, recalling her father breaking furniture and her mother’s alcohol-induced belittling comments. But her name, Teruko, translates to a “shining child.” Thus, she proclaims in the show, “I’m a superstar!”

The beauty in “Made in America” is Nakajima’s ability to find the humor in her trauma. When the show transitions to her life in America, she talks about her life as a dominatrix in New York City and her struggles with romance in Los Angeles. Her comedic jabs at the American economy and humorous reflections juxtapose somber moments of stillness in the midst of her struggles. This balance puts her life into perspective, revealing a positive personality beneath a dark saga.

Nakajima performs “Made in America” at Upright Citizens Brigade Theater.

(Nick Rasmussen)

“I look very happy-go-lucky and cheerful, but actually, I am a very dark person because I have a dark history,” she said. “I always wanted to leave my story behind. I wanted to leave my mark in this world before I died, so I needed to make something.”

The first class Nakajima took at UCB was John Flynn’s storytelling course. There, she started building pieces of the show without realizing it. As they added up, the idea for a show surfaced. After class one day, she asked Flynn to direct it. Flynn, who has been teaching at UCB in New York and L.A. for about 20 years, agreed.

“She disarms people,” Flynn said. “There’s something about her that is just so unique and so delightful that you won’t forget her.”

Flynn first met her at his storytelling open mic. She walked in with her emotional support dog Titi (also known as Tiny Teruko), wearing her signature red heart-framed glasses, without lenses. Soon, these glasses would make him double over in laughter when she performed and cried, dabbing her eyes with tissue through the frame.

“When you start to learn her story and the experiences she’s had, it is amazing that she is so positive,” he said. “She’s such a sort of undeniable positive energy that she just radiates all the time, which is so compelling and why people are so drawn to her.”

Revived at UCB amid Trump’s second term and the nation’s 250th birthday, Nakajima’s show doubles as a defiant immigrant love letter to America — and a refuge for audiences feeling alone.

(Nick Rasmussen)

Nakajima puts all of herself into the show. Aside from comedy, she has been a cheerleader in Japan, a salsa dancer in New York and a sculptor on the side — she loves sculpting MLB players’ butts; Derek Jeter is her favorite. In the show, she folds these aspects of her life into a single story, dancing from section to section. Comedy is more than just laughs; it’s storytelling.

“I am so good at cheering people up, since I was very little,” she said. “I had no competition with others because I’m the one and only. Nobody looks like me.”

Together, Flynn and Teruko parsed through her life stories to give the show an arc. For Flynn, it’s like carving away at what is already there to create something fun and cohesive, like a sculpture. “What’s fun about directing one-person shows like this is that it’s usually just two people in a room putting something together,” Flynn said.

Bringing the show back this year, the work gets sharper and tighter, but the biggest shift is in its conclusion. Once optimistic about the future of life in America, the show now has a stronger desire to make change. There was a sense of hope in 2022 for women like Nakajima, an immigrant who sought safety in a new country and struggled with abuse from her family and strange men. Today, as Trump’s immigration policies lean on deportation and discrimination, she simply wants to be seen.

“America, thank you for not giving up on me,” Nakajima said toward the end of the show. She is proud to be American, not just because she gets to have the same nationality as her dog Titi, but primarily because of the new life it offered her. America promised happiness. Whether it actually comes is another story, but in this one, the promise itself gave her a sense of purpose.

“After the show, people come to me in person and through messages,” she said. “A lot of people said, ‘I felt like I am not alone.’ That gives me so much hope and unity. I feel safe and like I have something to look forward to because I’m not the only one.”

Flynn realized how much he took for granted while working on the show with Nakajima. “I think, even though these are scary times and things seem to be going in directions that aren’t the best, there are still great people, and there’s something that is still there and is not dying and is still fighting,” Flynn said.

When she began her acting journey, Nakajima thought she’d turn to drama, but there’s something more unguarded in comedy.

Nakajima holding up her dog Titi during a performance of “Made in America.”

(Nick Rasmussen)

“I’m very authentic and invincible through comedy,” she said.

By the end of “Made in America,” Nakajima is no longer trying to find her way back to her mother’s womb. She is confident in her place in the world. She remembers that she is a star. She brings out her dog Titi, who was hidden on stage throughout the entire performance, and shares that UCB gave her a new outlook on life. Comedy breaks away her stresses and allows viewers to be vulnerable with her.

“I always wanted to feel safe,” she said. “I never had that. Finally, I found a safe space, and then I realized that I’m actually important. I’m actually worthy. I’m so happy right now to be able to express myself through comedy because it’s the truth.”

Apple TV’s new dark comedy thriller series has been dubbed “hilarious” and “brutal” by viewers and critics alike, with many fans claiming it’s “better than Cape Fear”

There’s a vast range of films and TV programmes well worth exploring across popular streaming platforms, from hard-hitting crime dramas and otherworldly fantasy to insightful documentaries, side-splitting comedies, and beyond.

Apple TV has been making quite the impression with hits including the much-loved comedy Ted Lasso, the trippy workplace psychological thriller Severance, sci-fi favourite Silo, the spy thriller Slow Horses, and plenty more.

However, one “hilarious” yet “brutal” comedy thriller series may have passed many fans by. It’s Apple TV’s new show, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed.

Created by David J. Rosen, the series stars Tatiana Maslany as divorced fact checker Paula Saunders, who becomes embroiled in the criminal underworld after witnessing the abduction of her webcam acquaintance Trevor.

She’s subsequently contacted for ransom money, but police maintain it’s probably a scam – until Trevor turns up dead. Paula is drawn into the mystery, navigating murder and blackmail while grappling with her own personal demons.

The series debuted on Apple TV on May 20, 2026, and boasts an impressive 93% score on the popular review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, where critics and fans alike have showered the drama with praise.

One critic said: “It’s breezy, but also brutal. Hilarious, but also horrific. And since each episode runs 30-40 minutes, it’s a perfect little summertime binge.”

Another agreed: “It sticks the landing through the end, and Maslany keeps you watching… even though you’ll want to yell at the screen every time she makes a new risky decision”. A third said: “One of the most captivating shows of the year thus far”.

While a fourth commented: “An utterly delicious thriller with interesting characters, an effectively circuitous plot, fast pacing, engaging comic undertones and terrific writing, ‘Maximum Pleasure’ will grab you from the first moment.”

These views were mirrored by fans over on Reddit. One devoted an entire post to the show, giving it the title: “Don’t sleep on Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed”.

They went on to elaborate: “Everyone loves Widow’s Bay (and they should; it’s great! ) but Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed is also really compelling: good balance of humour/drama/thriller, plot moves along at a good clip, good acting all around (of course Tatiana Maslany is great but Charlie Hall (Julia Louis Dreyfus’ kid! ) makes a fine comedic foil…) I really look forward to each new episode and hope others check it out.”

Fellow Reddit users were quick to share their thoughts in the comments section – and many agreed the programme is well worth a watch.

One viewer said: “Great show that deserves a bigger audience. People always complain that all the services only make safe bets anymore with established IPs etc. Support this, people! And support Sugar season 2, too. All great shows. Apple is on fire this year.”

Another enthused: “I just started this the other night and am hooked. I love Murray Bartlett too lol”.

A third commented: “I’m really enjoying it and I’m always happy to see Tatiana Maslany on-screen again”.

While another shared: “I’m surprised this isn’t bigger on this sub, it’s a fun series, I’m more invested in it than Cape Fear. I think Apple dropped the ball marketing wise.”

To which a fellow viewer fired back: “That’s because it’s significantly better than Cape Fear and seems to involve some actual plot each episode”.

POP superstars Madonna and Kylie Minogue get into the groove as they film a comedy bar sketch for Madge’s special with Graham Norton.

Madonna, 67, invited Kylie, 58, to take part in the top-secret filming last month, having admired her career for over a decade, the Sun can reveal.

A source said: “Madonna and Kylie have long been fans of each other, so when Kylie got the call to make a cameo in the BBC special, it was a no-brainer. Rather than a performance, Kylie actually appears in the show in a light-hearted skit.

“She plays a barmaid, though, awkwardly, Madonna doesn’t like the drink Kylie gives her. It’s all very light-hearted.”

The Sun understands the pair have discussed hitting the studio together in the future.

The TV special, Madonna & Graham, airs tonight at 10.40pm on BBC One.

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It was filmed in Camden at Koko, where Madonna performed for the first time in the UK for just 200 people in 1983 when it was called the Camden Palace.

Graham said: “As a lifelong fan it is always a thrill to interview Madonna. But to meet her on the dance floor where she first performed in London over 40 years ago felt incredibly special.”

Kylie made a surprise guest appearance at Madonna’s The Celebration Tour in LA in 2024.

They performed Gloria Gaynor’s 1978 hit I Will Survive in a nod to Kylie’s 2005 breast cancer battle.

Comedy director James Burrows, the 11-time Emmy-winning director who co-created “Cheers” and helped turn such long-running sitcoms as “Taxi,” “Friends,” “Will & Grace” and “The Big Bang Theory” into fan favorites, has died, his family confirmed to People. He was 85.

“We celebrate the extraordinary life and enduring legacy of James ‘Jimmy’ Burrows, who passed away peacefully today surrounded by his loving family,” his family said in a statement to People. “For more than five decades, Burrows was one of the most influential and beloved directors in television history. As a legendary director, mentor, and creative force, he helped shape generations of comedy and brought immeasurable joy to audiences around the world.”

A master of the multi-camera sitcom, Burrows started his career shooting episodes of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in 1974 and “The Bob Newhart Show” in 1975. He soon joined the quality-oriented production company, MTM, which counted James L. Brooks, Steven Bochco and Gary David Goldberg among its alumni.

“They were smart enough to know that it’s better to have a director who can talk to actors rather than a director who can move cameras. You can’t really learn how to make something funny, but you can learn to move the cameras,” Burrows said in a 1995 interview with The Times.

Burrows was born in Los Angeles and later moved to New York with his family where he attended the High School of Music & Art. He graduated from Oberlin College and completed a graduate program at the Yale School of Drama. He worked years as a stage manager with his father, a playwright and director, assisting on shows such as “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” starring Moore and Richard Chamberlain.

He solidified his name in television with “Cheers,” co-creating the lively Boston travern “where everybody knows your name” with Glen and Les Charles. Over its 11 seasons on the air, Burrows directed 237 of its 275 episodes, emerging as a behind-the-scenes comedy legend.

“You bring ‘em in, you sit ‘em down and they talk. That’s all ‘Cheers’ was,” Burrows told The Times. “The word is more important than the goofiness. It was all about the words — which is how I was trained, how my father was trained, how anybody who reads books is trained. It’s the word.”

His father, Abe Burrows, was a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, screenwriter and director who performed in radio comedies and co-wrote the books for the Broadway musicals “Guys and Dolls” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” The younger Burrows said that growing up on radio comedies helped him hone his ear for humor.

“I know what’s funny, and I probably know the best way to deliver the joke. Whether it’s walking out of a room, facing that way, facing this way,” Burrows said in a 2010 interview with The Times. “I just have a sense of that.”

Another skill he learned from his dad? was working on his feet.

“He’d run the scenes over and over. He created this wonderful camaraderie, which I always try to do. I love to do ensemble shows because that’s where you get the camaraderie.”

Burrows, often considered a fatherly manager, tried to bridge the gap between actors and writers and notably took the cast of “Friends” on a trip to Las Vegas before directing 15 episodes of the blockbuster comedy. He also threw a party for the “Mike & Molly” cast to build rapport because he believed when everyone liked each other, it showed onscreen.

Actors would know when a joke landed when they would hear Burrows giggle as the scene unfolded.

“I’m the guy that wants you to walk the comic plank for me,” he said. “Take it as far out as you want to take it and I’ll bring it back. Sometimes I’ll take it further. But trust me.”

With his slate of hits — he’s credited for directing several shows in NBC’s primetime “Must See TV” lineup of the 1990s — Burrows amassed sizable wealth and, from an early age, was in constant demand by those seeking his magic touch for their show. However, he also saw his fair share of flops: Henry Winkler’s “Monty, “Cafe Americain” with Valerie Bertinelli and a slew of promising pilots that never got off the ground. He also felt that ABC’s “The Associates” and “The Class” on CBS were canceled too soon.

From 1998 to 2006, Burrows helmed every episode of “Will & Grace,” the Emmy-nominated sitcom about a woman and her gay best friend that aired on NBC for eight seasons during its original run. To Burrows, it was the funniest show he ever worked on. He was also behind the camera for the comedy’s 2017 revival, which brought the envelope-pushing antics of Will, Grace, Jack and Karen back for three more seasons.

“It was a fairytale literally and figuratively,” he said in a 2016 Hypable interview. “It was not of the real world in a strange kind of way. These were exaggerated characters. Although they were grounded with Will and Grace, there was this exaggeration that made the stuff you could do and get away with on that show so extraordinary.”

He won his 11th Emmy Award serving as an executive producer on 2019’s all-star re-staging of “Live in front of a Studio Audience: ‘All in the Family’ and ‘Good Times.’” A year earlier, he was nominated for directing the “‘All in the Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons’” TV special.

James Burrows behind the scenes.

(Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press)

Throughout his career Burrows had a penchant for directing pilots because it meant “you’re better than an episodic director” and could create something new in the writer-driven medium of television. He was also drawn to “more uptown, the more urbane, the more sophisticated” comedies. He tried doing cinema once — 1981’s “Partners” with Ryan O’Neal and John Hurt — and said the result confirmed his belief that he was built for television.

“I’m not a cinematic guy. I’m a theater guy. For what I do, I need a live audience,” he said in a 2016 interview with the Television Academy.

Among his favorite TV moments were the pilots for “Frasier” and “Third Rock From the Sun,” the long-awaited kiss between Sam (Ted Danson) and Diane (Shelley Long) and Woody’s (Woody Harrelson) wedding on “Cheers,” Rev. Jim (Christopher Lloyd) taking his driving test in “Taxi,” Ross (David Schwimmer) being attacked by a cat in “Friends” and Will, Grace, Jack and Karen getting in the shower together on “Will & Grace.”

Late into his career, Burrows continued to work in the multi-camera sitcom format, which is shot in a studio, usually before a live audience. In 2013, he was honored by the Television Academy, and, in 2016, he celebrated directing his 1,000th episode of television programming, crossing the milestone with an episode of “Crowded.” NBC marked the milestone with “Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute” special. According to critics, the show — billed by several outlets as the elusive “Friends” reunion and came off as a living eulogy to Burrows — fell short and did not do the legendary director justice.

In all, Burrows was nominated for 45 Emmy Awards and 17 Directors Guild of America Awards.

Red Dwarf star Chris Barrie is set to return to the beloved comedy series as narrator of new prequel

A Red Dwarf star has expressed his delight after being confirmed to return to the cherished comedy series.

Chris Barrie is making his way back to the Red Dwarf universe, having been announced as the narrator for the audiobook of the new spin-off novel, Red Dwarf: Titan.

The actor, who famously portrayed Arnold Rimmer in the cult sci-fi comedy, will voice the latest book, written by Red Dwarf co-creator Rob Grant and Andrew Marshall, reports Radio Times.

Discussing his latest project, Chris said: “I am finding Red Dwarf: Titan to be a very entertaining read. Recording any audiobook is always a challenge with so many characters to cover.

“But Red Dwarf: Titan, loaded as it is with laugh-out-loud lines and situations, is simply a joy!”, reports the Liverpool Echo.

The star added: “I’m delighted that the portrayer of Arnold J Rimmer himself, the fabulous multi-voiced Chris Barrie will be reading the audiobook of Red Dwarf Titan.

“And I’m certain that Rob would be too. In fact we would be noisily competing as to whom was the most delighted. Currently that’s me.”

Besides his iconic portrayal of Rimmer throughout Red Dwarf’s 13 series, Chris previously narrated the first two Red Dwarf novels: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers (1992) and Better Than Life (1995).

Red Dwarf: Titan will serve as a prequel to the BBC sci-fi comedy, which followed Craig Charles’s Dave Lister who wakes after three million years to find he’s the last remaining human.

His sole companions are a hologram of his deceased bunkmate, Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie), and a humanoid creature descended from his pet cat (Danny John-Jules).

In conversation with Radio Times just weeks before his death, co-writer Grant revealed of the novel: “It’s Lister and Rimmer before the accident on shore leave on Titan.

“It’s set one universe to the side, so we can have familiar characters but we can do different things with them, because the difficulty was writing something that was going to be original and fresh and using the same characters without breaking the canon. “.

He further disclosed that the tale would see Lister and Rimmer “get a message from the far future warning them that all realities are going to collapse unless they do something about it.

“Grant also assured us that Red Dwarf’s signature silliness is back in full force, with the writer promising that fans will “laugh their little chippers off”.”

Red Dwarf is available to stream on BBC iPlayer and Red Dwarf: Titan will publish in hardback, ebook and audio on July 16

In this week’s episode of The Envelope podcast, Riz Ahmed talks about drawing on his own experience for “Bait,” his Prime Video series about a British Muslim actor whose life is upended when he’s rumored to be the next James Bond.

Kelvin Washington: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the next episode of The Envelope. Kelvin Washington, Yvonne Villarreal, we have Mark Olsen. And Mark, I’ll stay with you for a second. You had a chance to speak with Riz Ahmed, who is the creator and the star of “Bait,” which centers around the idea of who could be the next James Bond. So then, dang it, I’m asking you two the same question: Who could be, should be the next James Bond? Is there somebody or somebodies that you’ve thought about for a while and said, “Well, that would fit, that could work”?

Mark Olsen: It was recently announced that they have begun the casting process to replace Daniel Craig in the beloved and long-running James Bond franchise. And there have already been at least one sort of confirmed person, the actor Tom Francis, auditioned. But then there’s a lot of other names being thrown around, like Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Kind of everybody about that age bracket you could think of. You know, it’s funny, in the last movie, “No Time to Die,” Lashana Lynch was given the number 007, so she was not James Bond, but she was 007. And I always thought, actually, in the last couple of movies, that Léa Seydoux would make a perfect [00 agent] — she’s cool, she feels kind of dangerous. She would have seemed to me like a great person for that kind of role. But then also, that’s obviously not James Bond. So who knows who it could be. Yvonne, what do you think? Do you have anybody in mind?

Yvonne Villarreal: Can it be a toss-up between you two? How would you fare?

Olsen: I don’t know if I’d pass basic training.

Washington: They have doubles, OK? They got stunt doubles and CGI and AI for all of that and for you, OK.

Villarreal: It’d be like the Leslie Nielsen version.

Washington So it’d be like 007 with a question mark: 007?

Villarreal: More seriously — not that I don’t take you two seriously as candidates — I would throw my enthusiasm around Jonathan Bailey or Damson Idris.

Washington: I’m gonna one-up your Idris and just go [with] the obvious, Idris Elba. It’s been sitting there for the last 15 years or so.

Villarreal: That’s why I didn’t [say that], because I’m like, “It’s been sitting there and they still haven’t.”

Washington: But sometimes it just makes sense. Sometimes it’s just sitting smacking you in the face, or shooting you with a silent 9mm — whatever he uses, James Bond. It just makes sense, and to be honest, it’s one of those, he’s probably passing [on the role] because you wanna have a franchise you can hold on to for 20 years with a particular actor, give or take, and he seems like he’d be probably too senior for that at a certain point. The podcast, the conversation behind what really happened there is going to be fascinating because, to your point, it just seems like the momentum was building for it and it didn’t happen. So it would be interesting to hear what actually comes out of that. But those are my are my guesses right there.

All right, Mark, you had a chance to speak with Riz Ahmed, obviously the creator and the star of “Bait.” Fascinating to me, just the concept of the show as a whole.

Olsen: Riz Ahmed is someone who, he’s so thoughtful about his own career, but also his place in the world. And so he does such a great job with this show and taking this idea of like, “Could an actor like Riz Ahmed, could he be James Bond? Should he be James Bond? Why not?” And so the show is just so thoughtful and finds all these really inventive ways of exploring that idea. He’s playing a little-known actor who it becomes public that he’s auditioned for the role and that throws his whole life into tumult both within the industry, with sort of like online hate towards him, but then also with his own family. And the show is also meant to be kind of a real love letter to the South Asian communities of London. Riz in the conversation talks about how they went out of their way to shoot in parts of London that you don’t normally see. So the show, it’s just so inventive and fun in a lot of really terrific ways.

Washington: Well, let’s hear more of your conversation with Riz now.

Riz Ahmed.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Mark Olsen: On the show, you play an actor who auditions for the part of James Bond. It leaks to the press, and then his whole world turns upside down. For you, is the premise of the show predicated on the idea that someone like you would never get that part, or is it that, of course you should get that? Which end of the telescope are you looking at it from?

Riz Ahmed: Kind of neither, really. The premise of the show was something a bit more emotional than that. The James Bond thing came right at the end, to be honest, of the creative process. Really, the heart of the show is the idea of auditioning. James Bond really serves as a symbol in the show, a symbol of aspiration, pinnacle of achievement in this industry and also of alpha masculinity and all this kind of stuff. And so it’s really the idea of trying to be that guy, which on some level, we’re all trying to be this kind of preferred version of ourselves, right? We’re all performing. We’re actually all always auditioning. So it’s about that feeling, [which] I think extends outside this industry. We’re doing that on LinkedIn or social media, on this podcast right now. We’re performing a version of ourselves. When actually the true version of ourselves is kind of messy, chaotic and vulnerable. So it’s that distance between the public and private self that I was really interested in, and James Bond just served as an aspirational symbol of that public way that you would love to be seen.

Olsen: But Bond, because of the specific cultural baggage that comes with that franchise, did you feel like it fit thematically with what you were trying to do?

Ahmed: Oh, perfectly. It was a godsend. It was like one of those moments where it’s like, “OK, so we want to do something about, like, aspiring to be anything but yourself. We want to do something about feeling like life is one big audition, but we need something that encapsulates success and cultural acceptance.” And it was like … Of course: Bond. And because the process of making this show was one of pulling so much from my own personal life, there was a moment or two when my name was mentioned in that conversation. I mean, along with, you know, everyone and their dog. But it was an interesting kind of thought experiment, it was an interesting, as I said, kind of vessel to place all of the themes into. And so when that idea came about, it was like, “This is perfect. We can talk about everything we want to talk about using this symbol.” We’re like, “OK, now how are we gonna get it?” And everyone told us Barbara Broccoli would never let us use it. Rightly so, she was very protective of this IP. But I wrote her a letter, sat down with her, showed her the scripts and she understood. She understood that it’s not really about Bond. It’s a show about self-love, and she really kind of vibed with that. Shout out Barbara Broccoli, thank you for letting us use Bond exactly how we wanted to.

Olsen: You recently hosted the new “SNL UK” and in your monologue, you made this joke that you don’t just play intense roles, that there’s this image of you that it’s all that you do. Did you purposely want to make “Bait” as a way to break you out of that perception?

Ahmed: It wasn’t that careerist and calculating, to be honest. I was just trying to make something that was authentically me. And I think the people who know me know that I’m a lover of comedy. My first rap song was a comedy rap song. I got banned on British radio back in the day because it was a quite an acerbic kind of satire. And actually it’s funny because I think that’s an American perception of me. In the UK, nine times out of 10, when I get stopped is for a British comedy I did called “Four Lions.” Which is like a kind of cult classic British movie. It’s a very British comedy. That’s like me, that’s like how I am in real life. And so when I wanted to make my own show, it just stands to reason it would be a reflection of my taste. So the overall frame was comedy, but I kind of have quite a maximalist sensibility. I want to have my cake and eat it. So I also wanted it to be a spy thriller and a family drama and quite surreal and psychological thriller and all of these elements kind of put together, but the frame of it all, I would say, is comedy. And yet it was really actually important to us that we tried to defy genre and defy categorization in that way.

Olsen: Did you feel like this was a role that, like, nobody was going to give you, like you had to write this for yourself?

Ahmed: It wasn’t so much out of a kind of frustration or a desire to create work for myself or break out of a pigeonhole or anything like that. Honestly, I just tried to make something as honest and authentic and vulnerable as possible, if that doesn’t sound too eye-rolly. I guess I reached a point in my life as a creative where I realized, actually, performance isn’t about putting on the mask, it’s about taking it off. It’s about sharing with the world who you are, sharing your privacy and your insanity. And if you do that, people will connect with it because it’s honest. And if you name your pain and your craziness, there’s something healing in that for yourself and others. I had kind of gotten to that place in my life. And so I wanted to kind of follow that through to a place that felt quite scary and pull on the most personal aspects of my own neuroses and my life and my neighborhood that I grew up in — so many locations are literally where I’ve grown up. So many moments in the show I pulled very directly from my life experience. My character has a panic attack at the end of Episode 1 at this particular music venue in North London. I had a panic attack in that venue in North London when I was supporting Wu-Tang Clan. My character is approached by MI5 and MI6. They say, “Hey, you’re a rising actor, do you wanna work with us, help with messaging?” That happened to me specifically once I started to become a bit more well known. There’s just so many things that kind of came from that place, and it was all based on this idea of like, “If I wanna make a show about a character who needs to learn how to take off the mask, then I need to do that as well.” And we kind of had a mantra in the room, which was like, “If it feels scary and it’s true, do it.” And there were times when I didn’t want to do it, definitely times when I wanted to kind of hide, but I just increasingly have this feeling that if you can offer up a part of yourself, then that’s one of the most liberating things you can do as an artist. And also for an audience, it just feels honest. That’s where you can connect most with people, if you’re willing to share that vulnerability.

Olsen: What was the writing process of the show like for you? Was there a moment where you had like a whiteboard with a list of awkward things that had happened to you?

Ahmed: That whiteboard would be very, very big, very, very large. Let’s say we’ve got a lot left in the tank if we ever do another season. The writing process was a learning curve for me, never having been in an American writers’ room system before. Hugely grateful to my co-showrunner, Ben Karlin, who’s got himself a really eclectic background. He’s one of the founding writers of the Onion, the satirical website. He has this track record, “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report,” but also “Modern Family.” And so I wanted someone who had that eclectic background, and we had a writers’ room that was similarly very eclectic. We had stand-up comedians. We had novelists. We had playwrights. We had experienced TV writers. We had U.S. [people], we had UK people. I just knew that I wanted this to feel quite eclectic, and as I say, kind of genre-bending. And so I wanted that breadth. So actually the writing process for this was like, “How do we make this feel as chaotic and messy and unpredictable as possible?” That requires a crazy amount of craft. And there were a lot of late nights, there was a lot of hair being pulled out. And it was, I think, one of the most intense periods, more so than the shoot, even. It was just trying to figure out what this show was. And I came to this realization, which is, Shah Latif, my character, is having an identity crisis. He’s trying to work out who he is. So it stands to reason the show should also be trying to work out what it is. The show needs to be having an identity crisis. So then we gave up on this mission of trying to make it feel coherent and consistent. And we said, “Of course, he’s an actor trying to work out who he is. Every episode should be a different genre. We should have our James Bond-goes-to-the-gala-in-a-tux episode. We should to have our Bollywood-proper episode. We should have our Linklater walk and talk. We should have our Greengrass does a spy thriller.” So we really deliberately and really defiantly tried to embrace the identity crisis of the character in how we told the story. And when we did that, everything fell into place. We would stop trying to straitjacket this into something more predictable.

Olsen: And what was it like for you to be filling this role of not just actor but also writer, producer, showrunner? How did you feel about taking on all those roles?

Ahmed: I felt scared. I felt out of my depth. I felt like I needed the help of people much smarter than me. Luckily, I had that help. And more than that help, their patience. I continually said, “No, we’ve got to go back and do it again. We’ve got to rewrite that episode. We’ve gotta redo this whole section,” as it felt so personal to me. Not just because it’s my personal experiences, but because there’s a world that hasn’t quite been put on screen before in this show, and I felt a tremendous sense of responsibility and emotional connection to that world and these characters. So at times it felt overwhelming. ButI’m of this philosophy that usually when you’re making something, you kind of end up feeling how the character is feeling. The character feels out of his depth, feels overwhelmed, feels like he does not quite know what he’s doing, it stands to reason I should feel like that. If I really feel like I’ve got it all worked out and I’m in control, we’re doing something wrong. So as far as possible, I tried to remind myself that that was a sign of almost being in touch with the material. At least that’s how I tried to talk myself off the ledge, man.

Olsen: Can you just talk to me a little bit about the title? As I understand it, “Bait” is UK slang?

Ahmed: The title actually has many different layers to it. I always say this is a show that’s hard to sum up in a sentence, but it’s really easy to sum up in one word, and that word is bait, because it has like five or six different meanings. So one key meaning is British slang. It means really blatant and in your face. So if you’re blowing up someone’s spot, you’re baiting them up. You’re being really kind of, “Look at me, look at me,” you’re being bait. So that speaks to Shah Latif, the character, and his attention seeking. But bait also means, online, trolling. It also means, in Urdu, your loyalty or your allegiance. It also mean in Arabic, in Hebrew, home. And it also, in literal meaning, it’s something used as part of a trap, which speaks to the spy thriller element to the show. So all these different layers to the word bait correspond to a different layer of show, correspond to each different episode. That’s exploring that meaning. And I wish I could tell you we had this all worked out upfront, but we struggled with the title for so long and it kind of like hiccuped itself up into the ether in a late-night kind of hair-pulling session. We realized, “Oh, my God, that’s it. That’s exactly what it should be.” So yeah, the title I think encapsulates how we’re trying to explore these different genres and all the different narrative threads in the show.

Olsen: All the things that your character of Shah Latif is going through trying to move forward in his career as an actor, remaining true to his community and his sense of self, how much of those are your own issues? Are there things that you feel like you’re on the other side of now? Are those things that you’re sort of constantly trying to figure out for yourself?

Ahmed: Of course, like this idea of searching for your identity in a world that either commodifies it or punishes it, that’s something I relate to. But I also kind of feel like that’s something we all relate to. There’s a lot of me in Shah Latif, but I actually think there’s a lot of Shah Latif in all of us. This idea of feeling as though you’re not enough. This idea of trying to cultivate a public version of yourself because you’re ashamed of the private version of your self. I think that’s such a universal feeling right now in this performative culture that we live in. We all wanna be looked at, but we don’t wanna be seen. And somebody once told me that the distance between your public and private self is the amount of shame that you carry. I think it’s true, more or less. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have a private life and some things shouldn’t be kept private. It probably should. But in a kind of deeper sense, I think there’s a truth in that. So I wanted to make a comedy in this playground of shame because it’s something that I can relate to, but I just had a sense that this is a very universal feeling.

Olsen: How much of these are issues or things you were going through in your career maybe five years ago, 10 years ago? What are the the sort of top-line things that you feel like you’re struggling with now?

Ahmed: This is where it becomes a full-blown therapy session. I would say that there was a period of time when I was just really desperate to be in the room. And now I’m in a place where I’m really excited to try and build my own room. And that, in a way, is a journey that the character goes on. I think it’s a journey that I’ve gone on, and the show, in a way, is a culmination of that journey. You know, it was just such a privilege to be able to create a playground and bring together this kind of ensemble. I don’t think there’s ever quite been a brown ensemble like this on screen before and [to] showcase all that talent and create that sense of family and specificity. And yeah, as I said, kind of build my own room rather than asking for a seat at someone else’s table. So I think that journey is one that I’ve been on and one that, I think, the show is exploring.

Olsen: There are these title cards throughout the series that give you these neighborhoods and locations, and I don’t know London super well, but like, it feels like it’s a very specific version of London. What was the importance of those locations for you?

Ahmed: The shows that I really adore and the ones that really inspired me on this journey are ones that are unapologetically specific. The Holy Trinity in my mind was “Atlanta,” “I May Destroy You” and “Fleabag.” These half-hour shows that are super personal, but also super specific in the world they’re exploring, whether they’re a city like Atlanta or a certain kind of Black London, or a very particular kind of white, middle-class British family in “Fleabag.” And so I wanted that unapologetic specificity. I wanted it to be a love letter to my London. And so I wanted to shout out these neighborhoods that really mean something to me. But more than that, I wanted to give a nod to the spy genre with those title cards. You know, in a Bond movie it says like, “Somewhere in the Caribbean,” you know, “Mexico City.” I wanted do that with Kentish Town, with Brick Lane, with Wembley. I wanted to elevate our daily experience and those neighborhoods to that kind of grand stage and those epic stakes and say, “Actually, this is as magical, as important, as exotic, as thrilling as any of those locations within that kind of genre.” Jordan Peele, when he made “Get Out,” said, “Being Black in America is like living in a horror movie. That’s why I made ‘Get Out.’” I can add this thesis that being brown in the West is like being in a spy thriller. And that’s why we made this. So I wanted those neighborhoods to feel like those chyrons you have in a spy thriller.

Olsen: You’ve often mentioned in the past, it’s a phrase I’m very taken with, “stretching culture,” expanding the idea of what’s possible. And I’m just curious, like, how is that going for you?

Ahmed: There’s the idea that the universe is expanding in all directions at the same time. I feel like that with culture. I feel like things are getting crazier and better at the same time simultaneously at an accelerating pace. You know, that’s kind of how I feel about it. And it’s like our consciousness, right? You get a little bit crazier, even as you get smarter. It’s that kind of feeling. For whatever it’s worth, it may sound pretentious, but I kind of feel it’s important to try and anchor myself in some sense of purpose. And I think that’s the purpose of storytelling, is to kind of constantly expand horizons of who is considered human and what is considered human. And I think for me, at least in this moment in my journey, I want that to be about telling stories that haven’t been told before, portraying worlds and communities and characters that maybe we haven’t been that familiar with.

Olsen: You’ve expressed some frustration recently with the phrase “representation” — that it’s become kind of a hollow gesture. What would you like to see happen moving forward?

Ahmed: Well, I was really proud to be part of the conversation, when we were kind of collectively coining that term, right, going from diversity to representation. But I do think it’s not an end in itself. Like I said, being in the room doesn’t necessarily change anything. It’s what are you allowed to do in that room? Does the room change you, or do you change it? It’s what the show’s exploring. And so at least for me right now, the kind of representation I’m interested in is how authentically we can represent ourselves. Do you know what I mean? Like, do I have to code switch? Do I have put on a mask or do I get to take it off? That to me is, I think, the most exciting kind of knot to unpick right now. And as I said, that’s kind of at the heart of the show.

Olsen: I want to be sure to ask you about some of the other cast on the show, specifically Guz Khan. I feel like I could watch the two of you just driving around in a car together for hours.

Ahmed: I’ll send you the rushes.

Olsen: Did you two have an immediate chemistry?

Ahmed: Can I tell you, the story of me and Guz is its own bizarre bromance. Here’s how I thought I knew Guz. Guz went viral in the UK because he did a joke, kind of like [a] shout-out against Steven Spielberg, right? Because there’s a kind of dinosaur in his “Jurassic Park” reboot that sounds like a racial slur in the UK. I’m just gonna let people check it out for themselves. I’m not gonna say more than that. This is like 10 years ago, something like that. He goes viral, he starts blowing up, people start offering him his own TV show. He DMs me on Twitter and he’s like, “Bro, like, what’s the industry like? Is it like crazy Illuminati vibes?” I was like, “Yes, but the Illuminatis are actually very fun, come and join us.” And just started this banter with him, and he goes on his journey, becomes one of the most beloved comedians. I’m on set with him, shooting “Bait.” And he goes, “You don’t remember the first time we met and we spoke, do you?” I said, “I remember, you DM’d me like a crazy guy.” And he was like, “No, no. We met 20 years ago.” I was like, “What are you talking about?” I was doing a spoken-word performance in the Midlands in the UK. No one was coming to see it. It was a completely empty club. So I take it upon myself to go outside and start flyering passers-by. Down a dark alley, I see guys with some of his friends engaged in a business of some sort. His legal team have asked me to refer to it as “selling tulips.” They were selling tulips, OK? I go down to this alleyway, I hand him flyers, him and his friends. I’m like, “How are you doing there, gentlemen? Would you like to come and see me do some spoken word?” They’re like, “What the hell? We’re in their mid-tulip transaction.” He decides out of the kindness of his heart with his boys to come and watch me do spoken word at Coventry Student Union. And he said it was the first time he saw someone that looked like him doing something like that in a space like that. … Twenty years later, we’re on set together. We met when we were like 20 years old and I’d completely forgotten him, but he remembered. We have like a brotherhood and a friendship in real life. I wrote that role for him. He is someone who constantly reminds me that as an artist, your art can only be as expansive as your heart is. He’s just that guy on set you want to be around. He brings the positive energy, he reminds you this is meant to be fun. And actually, when you’re having fun, you’re feeling relaxed and loose, you do great work. He’s evidence of that. And so I just have so much love for him, but I would only say that because he’s not here. If he was here, I would be making fun of him aggressively.

Olsen: Now that to me seems like this notion of stretching culture, where you’ve had this influence on him that you kind of didn’t even know.

Ahmed: I would love it if he would say that publicly, rather than me having to tell the world that I’m responsible for his career. Thank you for saying it. If we can clip that bit, that would be great. Send it to Guz, yeah? Email that to him. I don’t know, man. I kind of feel like we’re all in this relay race, right, and we’re just fumbling the ball to one another and trying to move forward. And one of the great things about this show was being in community in that way. I think for some people, particularly in the UK, they’re familiar with the world that’s portrayed here. I think, for a lot of Americans, they’re really not. Interestingly, I’ve had a lot of Latin viewers and Latina viewers approach me saying, “That’s my family, I get that, I know what that is.” And so I don’t know, I just think it’s kind of exciting. One of the things I love most about storytelling on screen is we can bring people into worlds they haven’t been to before. That’s what I remember falling in love with when I watched “Goodfellas” and “Mean Streets” in that world that Scorsese creates. So yeah, I think as long as we’re all leaning into this specificity, doing so in community, maybe that’s how we get to stretch culture.

Olsen: In a recent profile on you, the actor Sandra Hüller, who you work with on the upcoming movie “Digger,” she said that one of the things she most admires about you is that you take yourself and your work seriously. And I think I feel the same way, like there’s an intentionality to what you do, there’s a sense of purpose to what do.

Ahmed: It sounds so boring, though, when you put it like that. Doesn’t it? I hope I don’t take myself too seriously. I guess I take it seriously that I’ve got this opportunity to try and tell stories, and I believe that they matter. But I actually hope I don’t take myself seriously, very seriously. I hope this show in a way is evidence of that. That’s Exhibit A. Yeah, you got Hüller’s testimony here and then you got “Bait” over here. Who do you believe?

Olsen: Is there anything you can tell me about “Digger”? It’s a new film from Alejandro González Iñárritu, it stars Tom Cruise, and it has quickly become, I think, one of the most anticipated movies of the year. People are very excited about it. And there’s very little known about it, is there anything you can say about it?

Ahmed: It’s funny you should say that because I spoke to Alejandro today and he gave me permission to reveal something exclusively to you on this podcast. No, not really. There’s nothing. Absolutely nothing. I actually might get assassinated for just saying that even.

Olsen: And have you seen it?

Ahmed: I feel like anything I say, there’s like a bomb on my leg that might go off. I’ll say this, it was a really unique and incredible experience. Alejandro is this crazy genius and being around that level of — Tom Cruise as well — they’re all obsessive perfectionists that have just like endless rocket fuel in them. It’s just inspiring to be around, honestly. Really, really unique. I don’t know if I’ll ever have an experience like that again.

Olsen: And then you were nominated for an Academy Award for acting for “Sound of Metal,” but you won an Academy Award for the short film “The Long Goodbye” that was based on an album that you put out. As you’ve become busier in your acting career, has it become difficult for you to still make time for your music?

Ahmed: The projects that I have out right now with “Hamlet” and “Bait” are things that I’ve built. I’m not saying this is the way, necessarily, it’ll always be, but at least over the last several years, acting is like this cherry on the cake. I’m spending all this time building these other things and writing these things and producing these things. And in a way making music is part of that. It’s like being in a writers’ room, with musicians in a studio. And one of the things that I’ve enjoyed most is bringing the development of stories together with the development of albums. “The Long Goodbye” short film is an example of that. But I mean, I joke about this to my friends, one of the main reasons I made “Bait” as a TV show is so that I could make a soundtrack. You know, I grew up on Bollywood where, in a way, the movie was just an excuse for the music. I partly almost feel the same way here. We’ve got a soundtrack for “Bait,” which I’m very, very proud of. And it’s a reflection, I think again, of that eclectic, multicultural London that I know and love. It pulls together artists from across the diaspora, from the Bay Area and the U.S. through to India and Pakistan, from Trinidad and Bangladesh and Karachi and London. And it’s something that I think kind of speaks to the genre-bendiness of the show as well. So in a weird way, as I’m developing more of my own stories, I’m able to incorporate music into that process more.

Olsen: But are you making music of your own?

Ahmed: Yeah, I’ve got two tracks on that soundtrack, for example. Yeah, one of them with a rapper who I’ve been a huge fan of for many, many years. So that was a lovely moment. His name is Casisdead, makes very kind of cinematic UK hip-hop. So I’ve got two tracks on that and yeah, I mean, watch this space. Hopefully I’ll have some more time.

Olsen: And then, this is a moment in the show, and I know it’s something that’s happened in the past, but are you still ever mistaken for Dev Patel?

Ahmed: Honestly, every time I’m mistaken for Dev Patel, I’ll take the flowers. I’m such a fan of his, personally, and he’s actually also from that very particular pocket of Northwest London where I’m from, that this show is almost a love letter to. That pocket of London has produced, if I may humbly put myself in that bracket, myself, but also Dev Patel, Jay Paul, Jay Sean and Jay Shetty. All the Jays. All of them. So I’m very proud of Dev and everything he’s doing, and he’s telling his own stories as well in a way that I find really inspiring.

Comedian and “Saturday Night Live” standout Marcello Hernández will host this year’s ESPY Awards, ESPN announced Wednesday.

The event, honoring excellence in sports performance, will be broadcast live on ABC and the ESPN app from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on July 15, making it the first ESPYs in New York City since 1999. For the last 25 years, the awards ceremony was held in Los Angeles.

“I started doing comedy 10 years ago, in Cleveland, Ohio, and I would take the train 12 hours to New York to sell comedy tickets on the street in Greenwich Village in exchange for stage time,” Hernández said in a statement. “It is an honor, and frankly feels crazy to be hosting the ESPYs this year in New York. I’m sure the energy is going to be great.”

Hernández recently headlined the biggest Spanish-language comedy show ever at the Hollywood Bowl as part of the Netflix Is a Joke Festival in May, and wrapped up his fourth season of “SNL” soon after. His first stand-up special, “American Boy,” premiered on Netflix in January.

He’s also a sports enthusiast, having grown up playing soccer and competing at the collegiate level during his time at John Carroll University in Ohio.

“Marcello is one of the most electric, young comedians today. His genuine enthusiasm for sports and his ties to New York City make him a natural fit to host this year’s ESPYs,” Craig Lazarus, ESPN vice president and executive producer of the ESPYs, said in a statement.

Hernández succeeds last year’s emcee, comedian Shane Gillis, as well as past hosts that include Jimmy Kimmel, John Cena, LeBron James and Peyton Manning.

In January, Puck reported that the change in venue is an effort to capitalize on the popularity of Fanatics Fest, the massive sports festival taking place in New York’s Javits Center from July 16-19, which also coincides with the World Cup final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

“This return to the heart of Manhattan brings the celebration of sports back to its roots for an unforgettable night at an iconic cultural landmark,” an ESPN spokesperson said in a statement.

All six episodes are available to binge in one go via Channel 4’s catch-up service after the series premiere this week

A brand new Channel 4 comedy series premiered last night and audiences are split.

Surreal six-part sitcom Make That Movie aired its first two episodes on Channel 4 on Thursday evening (May 28) with the entire series also made available to binge in one go on the broadcaster’s catch-up service.

The mockumentary follows a director named Sam (portrayed by Australian comedian Sam Campbell) who scours the UK in search of weird and wonderful ideas for feature films from the general public. He and his team then bring the ideas to life in just three days, though the quality of the finished product is always slightly questionable.

The official synopsis reads: “Hotshot director Sam and his elite team of filmmakers race against the clock to turn ordinary people’s extraordinary, chaotic and surreal ideas into hit movies.”

Alongside show creator Sam, who plays an exaggerated version of himself, the cast also includes Michell and Webb Are Not Helping’s Lara Ricote as runner Jess, and Am I Being Unreasonable’s Helen Bauer, cast as sound engineer Pat. Meanwhile, Aaron Chen (Fisk) takes on the part of intimacy coordinator Sebastian, and This Country’s David Hargreaves assumes the role of cinematographer Winnie.

In the wake of its release, reviews have ranged greatly with some declaring it the best thing on TV and others calling it the worst, something Sam had been wary of. He admitted in a chat with Metro: “It’s really hard making a show. It’s better to watch a show,” adding: “There’s a big, serious threat of it being t**d of the year.”

Professional critics appeared to enjoy the series, with The Guardian calling it “the funniest TV show of the entire year” in their five-star review. Meanwhile The Times offered it a more meagre three stars, branding it “just so weird.”

While it is still lacking a Rotten Tomatoes rating, viewers at home that dove straight into it have been vocal with their thoughts. One disgruntled viewer commented: “That make that movie programme with Sam Campbell is absolutely HORRIFICCCCCCCC.”

“A few episodes in on #MakeThatMovie (love Sam Campbell) and while it’s genius to cast Aaron Chen in roles such as intimacy coordinator and stunt coordinator, he just feels very underused,” another remarked.

A third urged “everyone watch Make That Movie by Sam Campbell,” while a fourth was unsure, commenting: “Hmm… Sam Campbell is great at spontaneous weird ideas but I’m not sure it works so well committed to a script… And Sam won’t be winning any Oscars for his acting.”

Make That Movie is available to stream via Channel 4’s catch-up service.

The comedy, which originally aired on the BBC in 2019, stars Martin Clunes and Lisa Millett

Martin Clunes ‘breath of fresh air’ sitcom is available to stream for free.

The 6-part show Warren, which first aired on BBC back in 2019, is the perfect one-night binge if you have a few hours to spare.

The comedy features Martin portraying a discontented 50-something driving instructor, Warren Thompson, who is compelled to relocate up north after his partner’s father falls seriously ill.

Despite craving a peaceful existence, Warren finds himself in a place he detests, undertaking a job he’s unsuited for with a family he never anticipated caring for – and is repeatedly drawn into self-created problematic scenarios.

. The synopsis adds: “Warren has a way of knowing best and speaking his mind that inevitably leads to conflict, chaos and disaster for those around him – and especially for himself.

“Warren doesn’t embrace the concept of growing old gracefully. He’s quite happy to keep railing against the world and trying to right perceived wrongs against him. There are no happy endings for Warren as he grapples with the problems and misunderstandings of his own making.”

Starring alongside Martin is Lisa Millett (Robin Hood), who portrays his partner, Anne. The cast also features Tim Preston (One Day) as Charlie, Oscar Morgan (A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms) as Danny and Neil Edmond (Ghosts) as Ian.

While the programme got mixed critical responses, it’s still worth the watch if you’re a Martin Clunes fan and fancy seeing him embody a grumpy, discontented character not far from his legendary role as Doc Martin in the ITV medical drama.

The programme was scored comparatively unfavourably by critics, who collectively rated it at 17 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.

In its one-star assessment, The Telegraph wrote: “Warren is at once underwritten and, worse, overwritten. There is a failure to follow through with the comic potential in a southerner trapped in the north.”

Meanwhile The Times added: “[Clunes’] nuanced comic turn deserved something rather better than Warren, with its overreliance on comedy staples – a shonky clairvoyant and a competitive next-door neighbour.”

Despite the negative critical response, the show proved more of a hit with viewers and currently holds a 69 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

“This comedy is really well written and a breath of fresh air,” remarked one viewer. “I wasn’t expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised. I seldom laugh out loud, even when humorous, but this had me really laughing.”

Another commented: “Absolutely hysterical, so well written, I don’t understand why they are not making a series 2!”, while a third noted: “It takes an episode or two but it does grow on you. Interesting premise and quite funny. I’m sorry that there isn’t a second series.”

All six episodes of Warren are available to stream on Prime Video

It’s been a big year for Seth Rogen’s Point Grey Pictures.

The 15-year-old production company founded by Rogen, his childhood friend and longtime collaborator Evan Goldberg and producer James Weaver is coming off a huge awards season for its comedy, “The Studio.”

The Apple TV series, which simultaneously pokes fun at the institutions of Hollywood while also peeling back some of the industry’s mystery, is now the most-awarded new comedy in TV history.

“The Studio” has won 13 Emmys, a BAFTA TV award in the international category, two Golden Globes and three Critics Choice awards. It’s currently filming its second season, with most details still under wraps.

I spoke with Rogen, Goldberg and Weaver about the success of the show, which primarily films on the Warner Bros. lot, and what’s next for Point Grey.

On all those awards?

“We’ve never, literally, won any awards before this, so I by no means expected this,” Rogen said, with a chuckle. “I hoped people would creatively recognize that we were really swinging for the fences, but awards were not really something that I was thinking that much about.”

In the show, the Canadian actor and comedian plays beleaguered movie studio head Matt Remick, who must balance the art of filmmaking with the economics of the business. In a nod to Hollywood’s pull toward intellectual property, one storyline focuses on the studio embarking on a movie about the Kool-Aid Man, which Rogen’s character only reluctantly agrees to pursue.

It’s not all about the money

“To me, what is interesting, and what people don’t seem to think about Hollywood, is that the people involved in it actually care about movies, even the ones who make bad ones, even the ones who make choices that stop good ones from being made,” Rogen said. “If you really just wanted to make money, there are much easier ways to make money where you don’t have to deal with people like me.”

He also noted that there’s a role for movies such as the fictional Kool-Aid flick.

“You could argue it’s the Kool-Aids of the world that keep theaters open,” Rogen said. “It’s our fake Kool-Aid movie that allows smaller movies to exist and allows theaters to take risks on smaller movies.”

Remembering comedy

“The Studio” also stemmed from a desire to make a pure comedy, despite the tough time comedies have had recently in the marketplace.

“We just all agreed that we wanted to make something that was just funny,” Goldberg told me. “It just felt like the world stopped making those, and we just wanted to make something that when you tuned in, was just absolutely hilarious.”

A serious L.A. business

Los Angeles-based Point Grey, which has 15 employees, is named for the Canadian school where Rogen and Goldberg met (the first project they wrote together, which became 2007’s “Superbad,” was based on their experiences there). Despite their comedic reputations, the more serious-sounding company name was deliberate so it could be used with any kind of project.

In fact, the company got its start with the Joseph Gordon-Levitt-led dramedy “50/50” about a 20-something who learns he has cancer. Over the years, Point Grey’s projects have spanned genres, including supernatural series “Preacher,” 2016’s “Sausage Party,” the satirical superhero show “The Boys” and biographical mini-series “Pam and Tommy.”

A Point Grey project is “genuinely original” and “daring,” said Weaver, Rogen’s former assistant who now serves as president of the company, which has a first-look film deal with Universal Pictures and a first-look TV deal with Lionsgate. He declined to discuss financials but said the company is profitable.

“We’ve managed to be really productive in terms of the amount of things that we’ve made, and we try to be smart about how we run our financials,” Weaver said. “The company is doing quite well.”

Point Grey is in production on “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”; just wrapped a romantic comedy for Amazon MGM Studios starring Cameron Diaz and Stephen Merchant; and recently screened an animated film at Cannes called “Tangles” that’s based on a graphic novel about Alzheimer’s.

The production company may eventually expand into video games (“We love video games,” Goldberg told me), and plan to continue to navigate the changes in Hollywood, which is reeling from a continued drought in local production that my colleague Stacy Perman and I wrote about recently.

“Personally, I feel like people are very fatalistic about the trajectory of the industry, but it’s not like the industry is going down, the industry is just changing,” Goldberg said. “We just are very flexible and embrace the change, and hopefully in doing so, we don’t get left behind.”

Stuff We Wrote

Number of the week

After 1,810 episodes as the host of “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert signed off for the final time Thursday.

CBS has said it canceled Colbert because the show was losing $40 million a year as viewers have increasingly migrated away from late-night viewing in the streaming era.

But many in the TV business are skeptical of the claim and believe Skydance wanted to silence Colbert, a frequent Trump critic, to pave the way for its deal last year to acquire parent network Paramount. (The Federal Communications Commission’s approval of the transaction came days after the show’s cancellation was announced.)

My colleague, Stephen Battaglio, has written about what the future of late-night TV talk shows will now look like.

What I’m watching

I watched the “Survivor 50” finale Wednesday with some friends, despite only watching two episodes this season (or ever). It was fun seeing the drama unfold, though I was, like everyone else, shocked at that “last twist” of Jeff Probst accidentally spoiling who lost in the final fire-making challenge.

After his Netflix roast inspired tit-for-tat feuding among comedians and backlash from viewers over a joke about George Floyd, Kevin Hart’s stance is clear: All is fair in love, war and comedy.

During a Tuesday appearance on “The Breakfast Club,” Hart addressed the controversy stemming from Netflix’s “Roast of Kevin Hart,” which aired earlier this month and included material that shocked viewers. Tony Hinchcliffe, who helms the No. 1 live podcast in the world, “Kill Tony,” applied his politically incorrect approach to comedy that similarly outraged audiences at a 2024 campaign rally for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.

“The Black community is so proud of you right now,” he quipped at Hart. “George Floyd is looking up at us all, laughing so hard that he can’t breathe.”

In 2020, Floyd was murdered by police Officer Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, until he died. His last words were “I can’t breathe,” which he said more than 20 times. The killing sparked global unrest and the largest civil rights protest since the 1960s. Hart attended Floyd’s memorial and private service in Minneapolis.

“The George Floyd joke, it wasn’t a tasteful joke to our culture,” Hart told the podcast. “But our audience that’s watching the roast … you get why they’re doing it, you get why the racial humor is on the table.”

Hart continued that the approach to comedy is nothing new and said, “Tony Hinchcliffe arguably had the best set, or one of the best sets.”

“Would I tell those jokes? No, but do I get why they’re being told? Yes,” Hart said.

Floyd’s brother, Terrence Floyd, spoke with “Breakfast Club” host Loren LoRosa after the roast aired and said that he expected Hart to step in and tell Hinchcliffe he’d gone too far.

“What do you want me to do? Drag him off?” Hart asked during his appearance on the podcast. “That’s not what I agreed to do. That’s not the job at hand. The job at hand was to produce a successful roast, which I did.”

Not only has the Netflix roast caused a stir among viewers, but the comedians who participated also have been trading slights in recent weeks. Chelsea Handler didn’t mince words when she offered her take on Hinchcliffe, as well as Shane Gillis, who also performed a set during the roast. According to Handler, ex-girlfriends of the controversial comedians slid into her DMs and told her what she said she already knew about them.

“They’re racist,” she said during an appearance on Deon Cole’s “Funny Knowing You” podcast. “That they’re bigots, that they’re sexist, that they think they’re like invincible.”

Handler said that one of Gillis’ jokes about lynching Hart was “worse than rape.” In response, Gillis told the Hollywood Reporter in a statement that Handler was capitalizing on the moment.

On Monday’s episode of “Kill Tony,” Hinchcliffe responded to Handler’s remarks by calling her “a bit of a c—. “

When actors from TV’s top comedy series recently gathered for The Envelope’s Emmy Comedy Roundtable, any lessons they’d learned over the years about how not to break quickly went out the window — this year’s guests made each other laugh early and often.

Contributing to the hilarity were Danielle Deadwyler, whose English professor in HBO’s “Rooster” has her life disrupted by a bestselling writer; Donald Faison, who reprises the role of Christopher Turk, now chief of surgery, in the revival of ABC’s medical sitcom “Scrubs”; Sabrina Impacciatore, who embodies the vain managing editor of a failing regional newspaper on Peacock’s “The Paper”; Justine Lupe, who plays Morgan, a flighty but loyal sister and podcast co-host in Netflix’s rom-com “Nobody Wants This”; Lamorne Morris, who portrays New York City journalist Robbie Robertson in Prime Video’s Depression-set “Spider-Noir”; and Chris Perfetti, who features on “Abbott Elementary” as awkward but well-intentioned social studies teacher Jacob Hill.

In the course of our conversation, participants discussed surviving bad reviews, what fans misunderstand about comedy and, yes, how they keep a straight face during funny scenes (if not on The Envelope roundtable). Read excerpts from the conversation below.

What is the last thing that made you laugh out loud, whether it was meant to be funny or not?

Lupe: I have a one-and-a-half year-old. She’s just starting to talk. She doesn’t really say a lot of words at once, but she started doing this thing where, when she’s going poop, she just goes, “Oh, wow. Oh, wow.” And every time it’s just so cute.

Perfetti: I also do that when I poop, so please tell her it’s normal… I don’t know, guys. It’s scary times. I don’t find myself laughing out loud very much anymore. I guess to that end, I watch Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue every night and I think that it’s pretty drop-dead gorgeous. It’s so funny, and he’s using that platform in such a gorgeous way.

Faison: My daughter was playing a volleyball game against a very formidable opponent. I’m just going to put it out there: LeBron James’ daughter. She was serving and pushed everybody back with her serve. Boom! Everybody backs up. Now she’s got everybody out of bounds, then she taps it real soft and it falls in front of them. I laughed out loud. I was just so impressed, and my daughter looked at me like, “You mother—. Don’t you enjoy that!”

Impacciatore: A couple of days ago I was fighting with my boyfriend and it was a very bad fight and I really wanted him to understand my reasons. I was trying to put on my trousers and unfortunately I put two legs in one [side]. He started to laugh so loud and I was so upset. And then I started to laugh loud too. But it’s horrible when it happens, because I’m a very serious person when I fight.

Donald, the last season of “Scrubs” concluded in 2010. Now Dr. Turk is back working at the hospital with his buddy J.D. (Zach Braff) and a lot of the original cast. What was it like stepping back into that world?

Faison: When the pandemic happened, Zach and I did a rewatch podcast of “Scrubs,” and that’s where all of this started to formulate again. In doing the rewatch podcast, we researched what the fans liked, what we liked, and what we thought was funny. And we were very honest about it. If it sucked, we said it sucked. Then the T-Mobile [ad campaign with Faison and Braff] happened. So for the past five or six years, I’ve been playing Turk to Zach Braff’s J.D. When the revival came around, it was easy to slip back in because we had been doing this banter for so long. The only thing that’s different is that he’s older, but maturity has not set in with him yet. He’s a 50-year-old kid who’s really good at cutting people open and training younger people, but for the most part, he’s still silly.

Chris, “Abbott Elementary,” which follows several teachers at an underfunded public school in Philly, is heading into its sixth season. That means you’ve been playing Jacob for quite some time. Do you ever find the line between your personalities blurring?

Perfetti: The line between Chris and Jacob is definitely blurring. When we first started, I was shocked that [creator] Quinta [Brunson] saw me as this person. We weren’t alike at all, but I trusted that she saw something [in me] she wanted to exploit. Now, I would be so lucky to steal some of what he’s got going on. He’s unbelievably loyal and ambitious and really comfortable in his own skin. He leads from that place. And I need to shut the hell up and stop telling the writers things about my own life because now they’re showing up in the show. So truly the line between Chris and Jacob is getting weirder.

Danielle, “Rooster” takes place at a fictitious college. You actually have several degrees, including multiple master’s. Did you draw on your own experience in academia for “Rooster”?

Deadwyler: I was a student, and that’s a very different dynamic than being an administrator or a professor. But I dig education. I dig the intention of the environment, the debate, the ongoing pushing of the self and weaving that into your personal life. It’s all super connected. So I just brought that to the show.

You’re renowned for your work in intense films like “Till” and “The Piano Lesson.” Do you use a different muscle for comedy?

Deadwyler: I was always saying to the [“Rooster”] team, ‘Hey, guys, I feel good. I can breathe. I have energy to do things. Is that normal for people?’ So yes, it’s a completely different muscle. But [co-star] Steve [Carell] says this beautiful thing that characters don’t know whether they’re in a comedy or a drama. And that’s about as true as it gets. You bring full rigor and development and discipline to the making of a role, regardless of what genre.

Justine, how much do you relate to your character Morgan in the interfaith romantic comedy “Nobody Wants This”? Or is it more like you want to fix her?

Lupe: I don’t know if I want to fix her because that’s what’s compelling about her. I have so much fun playing the mess of Morgan. I relate to her. I started off where she was kind of a semiautobiographical story of [show creator] Erin Foster’s relationship with her sister, Sara. Then immediately the ship left the dock when I took the character. Justine has now taken over this idea of who this person is, and it’s a lot more sloppy and unbridled. The mess of her is actually me, because I’m a little bit sloppy as a person.

The show really captures the relationship between siblings, and sisters in particular.

Lupe: I identify with the idea of being someone who’s evolved past their original home life, and then going back into circumstances with your family, and regressing immediately. I wanted to play with that dynamic. Morgan might think that she’s evolved past certain things and then the minute she’s codependent with her sister, they devolve back into the bratty kid-like versions of themselves that are like picking on each other. I know the feeling, when you go back home and you’re like, “Wow, have I grown up at all?”

Lamorne, “Spider-Noir” is based on a Marvel comic and is set in an exaggerated version of 1930s New York. Audiences have the choice to watch the series in black and white or in color. How does the tone change between the two styles?

Morris: I watched both and they both have their own unique qualities. I would say the way folks should watch it is the way we traditionally watched TV as a people. You start in black-and-white and then when color was introduced, you would go back and watch those same films when they added color to it. While we’re filming it, [I was thinking] “How are they gonna make this visual effect look cool in black-and-white?” And then you watch it in black-and-white and you go, “What the f—?!” And I go back and watch it in color and go, “Holy — it looks great in color, too.” Everything down to the wardrobe [and] the set design, you watch it in black-and-white and it looks bold and as vivid as if it were in color. But then when you watch it in color and you go, “Holy crap, that house is blue, that suit is orange.” So just go watch it in both versions.

Sabrina, your character in “The Paper” wants to be the managing editor of the Toledo Truth Teller, but she’s really all about the clickbait. How much did you know about that conflict in modern journalism?

Impacciatore: I made sure not to know anything about it because Esmeralda doesn’t have a clue. Esmeralda is not a real journalist. Esmeralda is there for some mysterious reasons that I’m trying to figure out. She’s the queen of bull—, so I made sure not to know anything about journalists. And because I had played Valentina in “White Lotus,” I wanted to make sure that this character is going to be completely different from her. She must be out loud, she must be big. So I made some choices about her, for example, the nails. I still have these nails because I’m still shooting, but usually I don’t have long nails. But these nails started to make me think in a different way, to move my hands in a different way. Like these are guns, weapons to manipulate people. [Touches Morris with her nails.]

Morris: Consider myself manipulated.

Impacciatore: I’m the opposite. I have no filters in life. I am my own worst enemy. I’m too transparent. I don’t know how to hide feelings. So I thought, “What does she do?” Because it’s a documentary, she thinks one day she will be a star. So I have her have hair like Rita Hayworth the first day I arrived on set. They were looking at me like, “What is she doing?” They didn’t get it, so I had to explain that she wants to be a star. Once you start to play a manipulative person, you see manipulation everywhere. It’s like now I’m losing a bit of innocence, because I don’t trust anybody anymore. Now randomly I say, “Are you trying to manipulate me?”

“The Paper” and “Abbott Elementary” are mockumentaries. Does it make a difference in how you’re performing when it’s shot in that style?

Perfetti: On our best day, we’re trying to dupe people into believing that it’s real life. But similarly, I think Jacob thinks that he will be the star of this documentary whenever it comes out. He’ll be an executive producer on it. So there’s very much an element of having one foot in the audience’s experience. His outrage is heightened because he knows it’s being captured on film. I grew up doing plays and so it’s an easy dynamic to borrow from. When you’re on stage, even on your best days, you always have even a pinkie in the audience’s experience. You have to be able to be in conversation with them. The mockumentary format really allows for that and I think it informs the show in a really beautiful way.

Impacciatore: The first time that I watched “The Office,” I thought, “This project is incredible, but the light is so horrible. I will look so ugly.” I was trying not to be chosen for this project because I was so scared to be so ugly. So when I arrived on set as the character, I brought my own ring light and I said, “Guys, Esmeralda, because she knows she’s in a documentary, she needs her own lighting.” I got away with it. To me, comedy is a very serious thing.

What do audiences underestimate or misunderstand about what it takes to make a comedy?

Deadwyler: The assumption is that you’re being funny, and it’s not that at all. When you [Chris] just talked about doing plays, I was thinking theater is the thing that enabled me to really lean into the joy and transition into working on “Rooster.” There’s a rhythm and a quality of engagement that I learned completely in the theater world that applied to the gelling and the cohesion of “Rooster” in all of the scenes. So leaning into drama enables you to lean into the hilarity or the quirkiness or awkwardness of humor.

Morris: If the script is funny, it’s going to be funny if you’re an actor playing it real. And obviously you have throughout history those characters who know how to add to that, who can ham it up in such a way. Chris Farley and those guys. The Belushis, the Will Ferrells. They can take something really funny and just say, “I’m gonna add my stamp to it so when you see this type of humor, you know it was from me.” Then you have your Judd Apatows of this world who can create a funny environment and all the actors are basically playing it real and playing it straight.

Faison: People think you’re actually that funny or you’re that quick and you can come up with those jokes that fast. But really you’re saying somebody else’s words and you’re being somebody else. Somehow I got labeled as a stand-up comic. I’ve never done stand-up in my life, but I’ve been in so many comedies that people think, “He must be funny in real life.” I imagine Jack Black must hate going outside because everybody’s, “Do that skandosh, sliggidy, diggity thing that you do!”

Deadwyler: They want you to do that you do for drama, too.

Morris: “Make me cry”?

Deadwyler: They want you to give them the feeling that they know you for, because that’s all they’ve witnessed of you. They want me to ride a horse. They want me to cry. And it’s like, “I’m just trying to get these chicken wings and go home.”

And trying to break out of that, whatever that is, and move on to the next thing that you want to do.

Faison: For a long time it was very difficult as an actor to do anything else other than comedy, because you could get typecast. That’s something that happens right away. You could be the best friend for the rest of your life if you’re not careful.

Morris: I came up in traditional comedy. Second City, Chicago. When I was a kid, I didn’t care about anything else other than like making people laugh. So in plays and things, I was always cast as the comic relief, back in my ham-it-up days. Up until the beginning of my TV career with “New Girl.” I didn’t know who I wanted to be on that show. I didn’t know who I was and I’m thankful to the staff for just allowing me to grow into that character. But what I grew into was a f— clown. I just was like, “Oh man, I get to do this for seven years.” I loved every minute of it.

When you get recognized out in public or somebody knows they know you from something, who have you been misidentified as? Or do they simply call you by your character’s name?

Faison: I was at sushi once and it was actually another famous person that came up to me, I’m not gonna say their name. And he looks at me and goes, “Alfonso?” I said, “Nope.” And he hightailed it out so quick. I was like, “I gotta call Alfonso Ribeiro and tell him that somebody thought that I was him at a restaurant.” I’m glad to be recognized, but I am not Alfonso Ribeiro.

Morris: People think I’m everybody, but there’s one guy I get. Malcolm Barrett. This has been going on for 15 years. A good friend from theater school, we did every play together, he called me when I moved to L.A. and was like, “Dude, congratulations on your AT&T commercial!” I was like, “What AT&T commercial?” And he’s like, “The one where you’re playing Pop-a-Shot basketball.” And I’m like, “That’s not me.” Years later, everyone, people would come up to Malcolm all the time and say, “Congrats on ‘New Girl.’”

Perfetti: I cannot go to Philadelphia because I suddenly now have 5 million new family members. I don’t get mistaken for an actual person, but I do love the moment where you pass them on the sidewalk or on the subway and you see the wheels churning in their mind.

Lupe: I have a yoga teacher that still calls me Willa [her character from “Succession”]. I’ve been going to her for like a year and she’ll be like, “And Willa, you want to move into down dog.”

Justine, you’ve been referred to as a scene-stealer more than once for your work in “Succession” and “Nobody Wants This.” What do you make of that?

Lupe: That was the thing about “Succession.” I started when I was 26 and I felt like I got to be a fly on the wall in so many incredible scenes with all-star actors. To even be even seen among that kind of company, it makes me so happy. I feel the same way about “Nobody Wants This.” I look around and I’m like, “Wow, these are just incredible people that I’m working with.” So it’s nice to know that people are even registering my existence.

Perfetti: Willa is responsible for what I think may be one of the funniest TV moments ever. I can’t remember which season where you read your reviews and throw the iPad overboard, but it lives in my mind rent-free. The sound you make, the way that you just kind of stare off into the distance afterward, it’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen.

Do you read reviews of your work?

Morris: I did a movie called “Sandy Wexler” with Adam Sandler and he said to me, “Hey buddy, when a film comes out, don’t read the reviews.” He’s like, “Who cares? We got our own thing going.” … It allowed him to stay true to who he is for his fan base, which is larger than life. If you start caring so much about what people think about your art, it’s going to change what got you there in the first place. That’s what Jamie Foxx talked about after winning an award, you don’t want to switch it up all of a sudden because everybody looks at you like you’re this great actor, you won this thing, and you start doing things differently.

Impacciatore: On set, if someone gives me a feedback about something that he liked, I don’t want to hear that because it feels like a trap. And I don’t want to know what worked and what didn’t work because I want to be free. I want to explore things. Reading a review … it’s something rational that is describing something irrational. Like to me, acting is an irrational act. It’s wild when it happens. It’s going somewhere else and not even knowing what you did.

Faison: I tend to not look at reviews. This was the first time ever in my life … when “Scrubs” came out this time around. It’s because we made it for the fans. It was strictly for the fans. So when we put it out and the critics were very nice this time around, that was cool. And then you get to Reddit and Instagram and you’re waiting for them to be like, “You guys suck!” “How dare you?!” And that didn’t show up. It was like, well, I’m gonna read the reviews then.

Lupe: I once had a critic call me a “bargain-basement Gwyneth Paltrow.”

Morris: You’re like, “Gwyneth Paltrow, you say?”

Lupe: As long as the word Gwyneth is in there, I’m OK.

Morris: If someone calls me “a bootleg Eddie Murphy,” I’m retiring.

Faison: “He kind of reminds me of a poor man’s Richard Pryor.” Why, thank you.

Lupe: There was like a part of me where I was like, “Well, if I can make it through that, then whatever. Who cares? It’s just fun to hear people’s perceptions of what you’re putting out there. How people interpret it. Because sometimes you can’t see the forest through the trees. If you have enough perspective, it’s interesting to hear the dialogue about the things that you’re working on.

Deadwyler: If it’s productive, I find that critical analysis is useful. But if it’s critical stabbing, that’s useless to me.

Faison: I have a question for all of you guys. When it comes to acting on set, do you prefer to see what you just did or do you prefer to trust what the director says? When it comes to comedy, I wanna see what the f— we are doing just to make sure we’re in the rhythm.

Lupe: I don’t watch it in the moment. I’ve gotten easier on myself watching things after they’re released. When I first watched my work, I just wanted to like, in all honesty, tear my face off. It was really a tough experience.

Morris: If I trust the director, I never look at the monitor. No knock on, like first-time directors, because I work with a lot of first-time directors that I trust, but there are some from time to time that just go, “It’s great,” every take. And so sometimes I have to go, “Just give me a second, let me see.” … A couple of times [they’d tell me], “Everything you did was brilliant.” And I know for a fact it wasn’t. So now I don’t trust s— you say.

The Envelope’s 2026 Emmy Comedy Roundtable: Lamorne Morris, from left, Justine Lupe, Chris Perfetti, Danielle Deadwyler, Donald Faison and Sabrina Impacciatore.

Chris, the cast on “Abbott” are so good at bouncing lines off one another. How are you not breaking all the time, or are you?

Perfetti: It’s certainly gotten harder as we’ve gotten closer. We’re all trying to make each other break now. But we’re pretty good. The show is sort of made on the fly and we’re constantly throwing jokes away or trying to see how far we can push something. I think a lot of what we find funny on “Abbott” is people trying to avoid pain. Even when it’s ridiculous, it doesn’t feel too hard to keep our feet on the ground. We’re also so blessed with the mockumentary [format]. The story is very much told by the camera. So I’m always on, and something that comes up in that take might make it into the final cut because there’s three cameras going at all times. But Quinta probably breaks the most because … she genuinely forgets about some of the jokes that she writes. And so when she hears it again, it takes her by surprise.

Lupe: There is something to that energy of people enjoying being in that kind of space with each other, like on the verge of laughing. Riding the line of being just about to break, it’s so much fun. The chemistry between them is so palpable. When you see a break like that, you’re like, “Wow, they’re really enjoying each other.”

Morris: [It’s hard when] I’m literally loopy, it’s late and I know this actor I’m working with is a f— killer. I start laughing before we roll, and I’m like, “This is gonna be so difficult.”

Lupe: And then it’s like that thing when you’re like a little kid, where someone’s like, “Stop laughing” and it makes it worse because you are trying so hard not to laugh.

Impacciatore: If there is that moment where we can break, there is a real abandonment and there is a real freedom … It’s the most beautiful feeling about being an actor. It’s about feeling less lonely.

Faison: Danielle, you’re working with Steve. First of all, he’s gonna break everybody. I’m pretty clear that everybody on set’s gonna laugh because he’s just got that. But has anybody made him break yet? And who is that person? I know if I made Steve Carell break in the middle of a scene, I’m dancing for a while. I’m gonna be calling my mom like, “Yo, he f— laughed at my joke!”

Deadwyler: I know that they wilded out the day the bed broke [during a fight scene with co-star Phil Dunster]. But I have not seen him break in that way. He is so rigorous. He’s about building the character, building a dynamic, trying to tell a full story.

Lupe: He also must have so much practice from “The Office.”

Deadwyler: He’s strong.

Faison: I laugh harder at “Saturday Night Live” when they break than when they keep it together.

The BBC has confirmed that a comedy that had viewers ‘howling’ will be back for a third series

A BBC comedy that had viewers “howling” with laughter is set to return.

Mammoth, which is about about a PE teacher from the 1970s getting a second chance at life, started in 2024 before returning for a series two. And now the broadcaster has confirmed that it will be back for a third run, with filming due to start in Wales this year.

Starring Death Valley‘s Mike Bubbins as Tony Mammoth and Car Share ‘s Sian Gibson as his daughter, the series followed the teacher when his body was discovered frozen in time, after he was thought to have died in an avalanche during a school trip in 1979. He then attempts to rebuild his life in a world that has completely changed.

The BBC said the next series, which will be comprised of five episodes, will see Tony still trying to fiund his place in society “but due to his thin skin and inability to keep his thoughts to himself, he often puts his big retro shoes in it, on all fronts”.

“I can’t wait for people to see the next adventures in the life of Tony Mammoth,” said Mike. “He’s back funnier, bolder, and dafter than ever.

“When I first came up with the idea, I didn’t dream that in a few years it would be back for a third series.

“It’s once again been a lot of hard work for me, Paul Doolan and Luke Mason (co-writers), although when the three of us spend our days in a room together laughing, I’m reminded that it’s not exactly the same sort of hard work that my grandad did toiling away as coal miner for 50 years.

“Although, in fairness, we have both never won a BAFTA. So make sure you watch the new series, and don’t forget… Mammoth is the word!”

Josh Cole, CCO of BBC Studios fiction and comedy, says: “We’re delighted to be delving deeper into Mammoth without leaning too far into the traumatic decades he spent frozen alive in the ice.

“We’re so proud of this show: a big, bold, laugh out loud creation from a unique voice.”

The BBC’s director of comedy Jon Petrie said the series was “warm, daft, joyful and full of heart”, adding: “Audiences have really taken Tony Mammoth and his ridiculous misadventures to their hearts too, and we’re very proud to keep backing such brilliant original comedy from Wales.”

Mammoth has been popular with viewers since it began two years ago, with one person on Imdb calling it “a cracking comedy” and a Reddit user saying it was “one of the best recent comedies”.

“I was f****** howling,” said someone else, as one critic called it “an absolute gem of a comedy”.

Mammoth will return for a third series on BBC iPlayer, BBC Two and BBC One Wales.