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Ramsay’s brilliant rendering of a child’s experience during the 1975 Glasgow bin-collectors’ strike, spiked with a horrifying twist of fate, remains masterly

Twenty-five years ago, we saw one of the most impressive debut features in modern British movie history. Ratcatcher, by the 29-year-old Glasgow film-maker Lynne Ramsay, was a visually haunting, passionate piece of work to compare with Terence Davies or Ken Loach and which set a gold standard of artistry for new social realist cinema – or cinema of any sort – in the UK. I remember how blown away I was when I saw it at the Edinburgh film festival, especially by the rippling, sunlit fields at which a troubled child gazes, framed by the doorway of the half-built council house development outside Glasgow. (Only now does it occur to me to wonder if Ramsay was influenced by John Ford.)

The setting is Glasgow during the 13-week bin collectors...

Exclusive: Ken Jeong, Sarah Chalke and Krystal Smith have been cast in guest roles on the upcoming Season 2 of Animal Control.

Jeong’s role will reunite him with his Community co-star Joel McHale, who leads the Fox workplace comedy. The comedian, who is also a judge on Fox’s The Masked Singer, will play “Lee Park,” a well-respected, moderately unhinged dog whisperer.

Chalke has been cast for the guest star role of “Yazmin,” Frank’s (McHale) “one who got away.”

Smith will appear in a recurring guest star role as “Bettany,” Emily’s (Vella Lovell) tenacious and tough new assistant. Smith returns to Fox, having previously starred as “Mandy Matthews” in Welcome to Flatch.

Animal Control got the Season 2 go ahead in May after a successful launch as Fox’s most-streamed scripted debut of all time. The second installment is set to premiere on March 6.

The series is a workplace...

In its first season, Welcome to Flatch attracted low ratings and was reportedly only renewed because producer Lionsgate was willing to make a really good deal. Will the comedy's numbers improve in season two? Will Welcome to Flatch be cancelled or renewed for season three on Fox? Stay tuned. *Status Update Below.

A mockumentary comedy series, the Welcome to Flatch TV show stars Holmes, Sam Straley, Seann William Scott, Aya Cash, Jaime Pressly, Taylor Ortega, Krystal Smith, and Justin Linville. When a documentary crew sets out to explore the lives, dreams, and concerns of residents in a small American town, they stumble upon the midwestern town of Flatch. The community is made up of many eccentric personalities that include Joseph "Father Joe" Binghoffer (Scott); cousins and best friends Kelly Mallet (Holmes) and Lloyd "Shrub" Mallet (Straley); Flatch Historical Society operator Nadine Garcia-Parney (Ortega); magnetic force-of-nature Mandy Matthews...

The residents of a certain small town are moving on. Fox has cancelled Welcome to Flatch so there won't be a third season. The second season finished airing in February.

A mockumentary comedy series, the Welcome to Flatch TV show stars Holmes, Sam Straley, Seann William Scott, Aya Cash, Jaime Pressly, Taylor Ortega, Krystal Smith, and Justin Linville. When a documentary crew sets out to explore the lives, dreams, and concerns of residents in a small American town, they stumble upon the midwestern town of Flatch. The community is made up of many eccentric personalities that include Joseph "Father Joe" Binghoffer (Scott); cousins and best friends Kelly Mallet (Holmes) and Lloyd "Shrub" Mallet (Straley); Flatch Historical Society operator Nadine Garcia-Parney (Ortega); magnetic force-of-nature Mandy Matthews (Smith); local newspaper editor Cheryl Peterson (Cash); and Shrub’s frenemy, Mickey St. Jean...

Just starting its second season, Welcome to Flatch is the perfect example of a show fit for those after dinner-blues.

It's quick and witty and will make you heavily consider moving to Ohio in search of a life outside the city.

Fox's somewhat new mockumentary isn't anything tv hasn't seen before, but its storytelling and compelling cast create a show perfect for the casual viewer to tune in every week and enjoy.

The show follows several characters, including two cousins, Kelly Mallet (Chelsea Holmes) and Lloyd Mallet (Shrub), played by Sam Straley, as they talk to a 'documentary crew' about their daily lives and try to become internet famous.

The two are described as childish and immature for their age, proving several times throughout the series that just because a town may seem like it doesn't have a lot going on, they're always wreaking havoc on something.

While following Kelly and Shrub,...

Kelly, Shrub, and the other residents of a certain small town are getting a second chance. Fox has renewed the low-rated  Welcome to Flatch TV series for a second season. The first season will conclude on May 26th.

A mockumentary comedy series from Jenny Bicks and Paul Feig, the Welcome to Flatch TV show stars Seann William Scott, Chelsea Holmes, Sam Straley, Taylor Ortega, Krystal Smith, Aya Cash, and Justin Linville. When a documentary crew sets out to explore the lives, dreams, and concerns of residents in a small American town, they stumble upon the midwestern town of Flatch. The community is made up of many eccentric personalities that include Joseph "Father Joe" Binghoffer (Scott), Kelly Mallet (Holmes), Lloyd "Shrub" Mallet (Straley), Nadine Garcia-Parney (Ortega), Mandy Matthews (Smith), Cheryl Peterson (Cash), and Mickey St. Jean (Linville). It's a...

The Paul Feig-produced comedy “Welcome to Flatch” has been renewed for Season 2 at Fox, Variety has learned.

Inspired by BBC Studios’ BAFTA-winning BBC format “This Country,” “Welcome to Flatch” is told through the lens of a documentary crew exploring the lives of residents of the midwestern town of Flatch. The crew finds worthy subjects in young-adult cousins and best friends Kelly Mallet and Lloyd “Shrub” Mallet (Sam Straley) who let the production in on their lives and local current events.

The rest of the key players in “Welcome to Flatch” include Joseph “Father Joe” Binghoffer (Seann William Scott), the local minister who tries to guide Kelly and Shrub, and his former girlfriend, Cheryl Peterson (Aya Cash), who is the editor of the local newspaper, the Flatch Patriot, as well as Shrub’s obsessive friend Mickey St. Jean (newcomer Justin Linville), Kelly’s frenemy and the head of the Flatch Historical Society,...

Fox has given the greenlight for more of comedies “Call Me Kat” and “Welcome to Flatch.”

The news comes shortly before Fox is scheduled to give its presentation to advertisers at Upfronts on Monday afternoon. “Call Me Kat” will head into Season 3 for the 2022-2023 television season, while “Welcome to Flatch” gets a Season 2.

“Call Me Kat” is based on the British series “Miranda,” which was created by Miranda Hart. It stars Mayim Bialik as an optimistic and fun-loving woman continuously defying societal expectations, and her mother’s wishes, to prove she can live a happy and fulfilling life on her own terms. Her first move? Using her entire savings to open a cat café in Louisville, Ky.

“Call Me Kat” is produced by That’s Wonderful Productions, Sad Clown Productions and BBC Studios’ Los Angeles production arm in association with Warner Bros. Television and Fox Entertainment.

Alissa Neubauer is the showrunner and executive producer.

Fox hopes to greet a big audience with its new small-town docu-comedy “Welcome to Flatch” when the Paul Feig and Jenny Bicks-produced show launches later this week. But if “Flatch” doesn’t bring in the viewers with its linear premiere on Thursday at 9:30 p.m., Fox execs won’t be talking about cutting the mockumentary from the network’s midseason lineup Friday morning.

That’s because the broadcast network is launching the first half of the 14-episode Season 1 via Hulu and other digital platforms at midnight on Thursday, and promises it’s not going to be giving much weight to “Welcome to Flatch’s” Live + Same Day Nielsen ratings over those first seven weeks of airing, when the episodes will all be available for streaming well before they rollout weekly on Fox. The network hopes its patience and the rollout’s risk will be rewarded with “Welcome to Flatch...

Fox’s new comedy Welcome to Flatch will stream its first seven episodes on-demand on the same day of its linear launch.

The linear network will premiere the comedy, which is based on British mockumentary This Country, on Thursday March 17 at 9:30pm. The show, which comes from Jenny Bicks and Paul Feig, will roll out its first seven episodes via Hulu as well as Fox Now.

It marks the first time that Fox has done this.

Michael Thorn, president of entertainment at Fox, said, “It’s obvious right now that it’s incredibly hard to launch any TV show in this marketplace and we want to do everything we can to set the show up for success. What we wanted to do was take advantage of our own air and give it the impactful launch that we give to all of our shows but also try something different and...

Fox will debut the first half of Season 1 of its new Paul Feig-produced comedy series “Welcome to Flatch” on digital platforms hours ahead of the show’s linear debut on the broadcast network.

Episodes 1-7 of the half-hour docu-comedy will become available for streaming on Hulu, Fox Now and On Demand at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, March 17. That same day, the series premiere of “Welcome to Flatch” will air at 9:30 p.m. on Fox.

The first season of “Welcome to Flatch” consists of 14 episodes, which have already wrapped production. So Fox’s decision to put the first seven episodes up on digital platforms on Day 1 means that viewers will have the ability to binge the first half of the entire season before it even premieres, an unprecedented programming move by the broadcaster.

Per the show’s logline, “When a documentary crew sets out to explore the lives...