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Back in 2020, many outlets, including /Film, reported that Rob McElhenney's crass sitcom "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" had, with its 15th season, officially surpassed "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" as the longest-running scripted live-action sitcom of all time. As of this writing, the series has completed its 16th season, and it has been renewed for at least two more, so it has beaten "Ozzie and Harriet" by a substantial margin in terms of longevity. Of course, given the way modern TV is shaped, seasons are a lot shorter than they used to be. "It's Always Sunny" seasons run anywhere from seven to 15 episodes, while "Ozzie's" seasons back in the 1950s and 1960s ran anywhere from 26 to 39 episodes. "It's Always Sunny" may have lasted longer, but "Ozzie and Harriet" has way more episodes at 435.

Still, 18 seasons of anything is impressive by any measure, and one can indeed commend "It's Always Sunny...

To celebrate the release of The Bfg, on Blu-Ray and DVD from 4th March, we are giving away Blu-Rays to 2 lucky winners!

Revisit the magic of this wonderful and inspiring tale about young orphan Sophie and the Big Friendly Giant starring David Jason (Only Fools and Horses), as the voice of

the Bfg along with a stellar cast including Angela Thorne (To the Manor Born), Frank Thornton (Are You Being Served?), Mollie Sugden (Are You Being Served?) and Ballard

Berkeley (Fawlty Towers). Now there’s a reason to feel hopscotchy!

The Bfg premiered on ITV on Christmas Day 1989 and was brought to life by Cosgrove Hall Films who also created Count Duckula, Chorlton and the Wheelies and Dangermouse.

Follow the adventures of lonely orphan girl Sophie as she meets her twenty-five foot high prince and is whisked off into the wonders of Dreamland. Tasked with harvesting dreams and blowing them...

Richard Lester’s directing career has had a rather tortured epilogue. His last completed film was the dreadful, unloved Return of The Musketeers (1989), during the making of which his long-time friend and troupe-member Roy Kinnear died after a freak accident. To add insult to injury, the Comic-Con crowd has been burning Lester in effigy ever since Richard Donner’s cut of Superman II was released in 2006. Donner had been fired as director of the 1980 sequel half way through filming and Lester was hired to finish the job. Since the release of the Donner cut, expressing a preference for the original, jokier version is rather like suggesting that Cesar Romero was a better Joker than Heath Ledger.

I do wonder sometimes whether the fanboys realise what an important, highly influential and iconoclastic director they’re dismissing when they’re kicking sand into Lester’s face. Martin Scorsese would certainly correct them (sternly,...

Actor best known as the haughty department store supervisor Captain Peacock in the TV comedy Are You Being Served?

The actor Frank Thornton, who has died aged 92, had a flair for comedy derived from the subtle craftsmanship of classical stage work. However, he will be best remembered for his longstanding characters in two popular BBC television comedy series – the sniffily priggish Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served? and the pompous retired policeman Herbert "Truly" Truelove, in Roy Clarke's Last of the Summer Wine.

Robertson Hare, the great Whitehall farceur, told him: "You'll never do any good until you're 40." And, said Thornton, "he was quite right." In the event, he was 51 when David Croft, producer of another long-running British staple, Dad's Army, remembered the tall, long-faced actor from another engagement and decided to cast him as the dapper floor-walker in charge of shop assistants played by Mollie Sugden, Wendy Richard,...

Brit Frank Thornton, who played Captain Peacock in the long-running TV sitcom Are You Being Served? has died at his home in London. He was 92. Thornton played mainly comedic roles during his decades-long career, including Truly in Last Of The Summer Wine, but it was the role of Captain Stephen Peacock, a pompous department store floor manager, in Are You Being Served? that he is best remembered. The innuendo-laden sitcom ran for 13 years from 1972 and was based in the fictional London department store Grace Brothers. It became popular in the U.S. on PBS and BBC America. He also appeared in comedies Hancock’s Half Hour, The Goodies, Steptoe And Son, and The Benny Hill Show. His feature film credits include Carry On Screaming, No Sex Please, We’re British, Gosford Park and most recently Run For Your Wife.

London — British actor Frank Thornton – best known as Captain Peacock in the hit television comedy "Are You Being Served?" – has died at age 92.

The actor's agent, David Daly, said Monday that Thornton died in his sleep in his home in London in the early hours of Saturday.

Thornton is best remembered by British audiences for his comic role in the innuendo-laden sitcom "Are You Being Served?" The show ran from the 1970s to 1985.

He appeared on "The Benny Hill Show" in the early days of his acting career, and later also became known for his part in the television series "Last of the Summer Wine." He also made an appearance in the movie "Gosford Park."

He is survived by his wife Beryl, daughter Jane, and three grandchildren.

Frank Thornton has died at the age of 92.

The actor was best known for his role as Captain Stephen Peacock in long-running BBC sitcom Are You Being Served?.

He also starred in the follow-up Grace & Favour and as Truly Truelove in Last of the Summer Wine. His last role was in this year's cinema adaptation of stage farce Run for Your Wife.

Thornton passed away in his sleep on Saturday (March 16), his agent David Daly confirmed to BBC News.

"I have been Frank's agent since 1986 and he has been the most wonderful client as well as being a great friend. He will be sorely missed," Daly said.

Are You Being Served? ran for 69 episodes over ten series from 1972 to 1985.

Thornton's death makes 79-year-old Nicholas Smith the oldest surviving member of the show's original cast.

Born Frank Thornton Ball in Dulwich in 1921, Thornton worked in insurance before registering at the London...

Frank Thornton has died aged 92. The veteran actor, best known for his role as Captain Peacock in BBC comedy 'Are You Being Served?', died peacefully in his sleep on Saturday (16.03.13) at his home in Barnes, London, his agent David Daly has confirmed. David said: ''I have been Frank's agent since 1986 and he has been the most wonderful client as well as being a great friend. He will be sorely missed.'' Frank was also known for his character Truly in 'Last of the Summer Wine', as well as many other comedy roles in shows such as 'The Goodies' and 'Hancock's Half...

Frank Thornton has died aged 92. The veteran actor, best known for his role as Captain Peacock in BBC comedy 'Are You Being Served?', died peacefully in his sleep on Saturday (16.03.13) at his home in Barnes, London - his agent David Daly has confirmed. David said: ''I have been Frank's agent since 1986 and he has been the most wonderful client as well as being a great friend. He will be sorely missed.'' Frank was also known for his character Truly in 'Last of the Summer Wine', as well as many other comedy roles in shows such as 'The Goodies' and 'Hancock's...

The trouser-dropping 80s stage farce finally hits the big screen with Danny Dyer, to kill off any remaining British self-respect

There's a moment in an old Goon Show where Peter Sellers sonorously says in his officer-class voice: "Old England isn't finished yet. It's finished …" [FX: dinner gong] "… now!" That gong, signalling the end of British self-respect, sounded deafeningly as the houselights dimmed for this film. Argentinian president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will wish to block-book it for every cinema in Buenos Aires. It's a big-screen version of the trouser-dropping stage farce Run for Your Wife, which ran in London's West End from 1983 to 1991, adapted and directed by its author, Ray Cooney, and starring Danny Dyer as the bigamous taxi driver coping with two missuses (Denise van Outen and Sarah Harding) and a next-door neighbour (Neil Morrissey) who is cheeky, perky and, like everyone else, stunningly unfunny. The humour makes The Dick Emery Show look edgy and contemporary,...

The trouser-dropping 80s stage farce finally hits the big screen with Danny Dyer, to kill off any remaining British self-respect

There's a moment in an old Goon Show where Peter Sellers sonorously says in his officer-class voice: "Old England isn't finished yet. It's finished …" [FX: dinner gong] "… now!" That gong, signalling the end of British self-respect, sounded deafeningly as the houselights dimmed for this film. Argentinian president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will wish to block-book it for every cinema in Buenos Aires. It's a big-screen version of the trouser-dropping stage farce Run for Your Wife, which ran in London's West End from 1983 to 1991, adapted and directed by its author, Ray Cooney, and starring Danny Dyer as the bigamous taxi driver coping with two missuses (Denise van Outen and Sarah Harding) and a next-door neighbour (Neil Morrissey) who is cheeky, perky and, like everyone else, stunningly unfunny. The humour makes The Dick Emery Show look edgy and contemporary,...

David Brent in The Office. co. BBC

Don’t get sold out! Buy advance tickets to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

Kieran Kinsella

David Brent (Ricky Gervais) The Office UK. The dancing, joking all round entertainer of a boss, who does not know any boundaries and has a sensitivity level that makes Mr Spock look like an agony Aunt. He has to be British TV’s best boss because most of us have worked for him at one time in our careers and yet he still lives!

Captain Mainwaring (Arthur Lowe) Dad’s Army. Mainwaring wore two bosses hats in Dad’s Army: the bank boss hat and the home guard hat. Neither fitted very well but it is hilarious to see him struggling to stay sane when confronted with complete imbeciles.

Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor) Eastenders. They have had some rough and tough bosses at the...

Veteran British actor Trevor Bannister has died, aged 76.

The comedy star, best known for his role in hit 1970s sitcom Are You Being Served?, suffered a heart attack on Thursday.

Bannister studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, before appearing in a number of U.K. TV shows, including The Dustbinmen, The Avengers and Last of the Summer Wine.

He was also a regular in the theatre, performing in Shakespeare plays and traditional pantomime shows.

But Bannister's most notable role was playing ladies' man Mr. Lucas from 1972 to 1979 in Are You Being Served?, a sitcom set in a fictional London department store.

Are You Being Served? actor Frank Thornton has paid tribute to his co-star, insisting he will treasure "many, many happy memories" of Bannister.

Thornton says, "He was a very good friend over a long time. We often met with him and his wife - he was recently at my 90th birthday celebrations in January and that was the last time we saw him. We shall miss him sorely."

Bannister is survived by his second wife, Pamela, and brother, John.

The comedy star, best known for his role in hit 1970s sitcom Are You Being Served?, suffered a heart attack on Thursday (14Apr11).

Trevor Bannister studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, before appearing in a number of U.K. TV shows, including The Dustbinmen, The Avengers and Last of the Summer Wine.

He was also a regular in the theatre, performing in Shakespeare plays and traditional pantomime shows.

But Trevor Bannister's most notable role was playing ladies' man Mr. Lucas from 1972 to 1979 in Are You Being Served?, a sitcom set in a fictional London department store.

Are You Being Served? actor Frank Thornton has paid tribute to his co-star, insisting he will treasure "many, many happy memories" of Trevor Bannister.

Thornton says, "He was a very good friend over a long time. We often met with him and his wife - he was recently at...

Are You Being Served? actor Trevor Bannister has passed away, aged 76. His brother confirmed that the TV star died following a heart attack earlier in the week at his allotment in Thames Ditton. Bannister was best known for his role as Mr Lucas in the popular BBC department store sitcom. His co-star Frank Thornton, who played Captain Peacock, told the BBC: "He was a very good friend over a long time. We often met with him and his wife - he was recently at my 90th birthday celebrations in January and that was the last time we saw him. We shall miss him sorely." Bannisters's (more)...

Here’s a list of some of the new DVD and Blu-ray releases this week we’re particularly interested in. Plus, some old favorites (and not so favorites) coming out this week for the first time on Blu-ray.

Movies

About Last Night… ~ Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, James Belushi (Blu-ray)

Alien Trespass ~ Eric McCormack, Dan Lauria, Robert Patrick, and Jenni Baird (DVD and Blu-ray)

Blue Thunder ~ Roy Scheider, Warren Oates, Candy Clark, and Daniel Stern (Blu-ray)

Chaos ~ Jason Statham (Blu-ray)

The Class (Entre Les Murs) ~ François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo-Emene, and Angélica Sancio (DVD)

Cutthroat Island ~ Geena Davis, Frank Langella, Matthew Modine (Blu-ray)

Eagles Over London ~ Van Johnson, Frederick Stafford, Francisco Rabal, and Luigi Pistilli (Blu-ray)

Gigantic ~ Zooey Deschanel, Paul Dano, John Goodman, and Ed Asner (DVD)

I Love You, Man ~ Paul Rudd, Jason Segal (DVD and Blu-ray)

Katyn ~ Artur Amijewski, Maja Ostaszewska, and Andrzej Chyra (DVD)

Michael Jackson: Moonwalking – The...