Before
The Thin Blue Line, before
Mr. Bean, before
Blackadder, Rowan Atkinson starred in (and wrote for) the BBC's collection of topical comedy,
Not the Nine O'Clock News. Running from 1979 to 1982, the show was what Americans have compared to a half-hour long version of the "Weekend Update" segment on
Saturday Night Live (although not everyone would agree with that). Pamela Stephenson, who wound up on
SNL a few years later, also appeared on
Not the Nine O'Clock News along with future
Alas Smith & Jones stars Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones.
A better American show to compare this to would be HBO's 1983 series
Not Necessarily The News, which many remember for the Sniglets segments besides the news parodies. It was a direct remake, American style, of
Not the Nine O'Clock News, and lasted until 1990. We'd like to see it come to DVD as well, but first things first: in 2006 we get to see the original!
A&E will bring out a 2-DVD set on
March 28th featuring
The Best of Not the Nine O'Clock News. The cost is $24.99 SRP, but you can pre-order it from
Amazon.com for $16.99 right this minute. You'll get the funniest and most memorable segments culled from all 27 episodes of the show, featuring sketches surrounding the current topics of the time...back when Margaret Thatcher led the United Kingdom. We're still waiting on cover art for this release, plus word on any extras that may be included. Stay tuned, and we'll fill you in when we get that.
