Even the Scroogiest of holiday cynics can rejoice this year over the announcement that outlandish British comedy Absolutely Fabulous is coming back for a very special Christmas double-episode. Come, sweetie darling, grab your drink and critique Edina's all-denim ensemble! Because lord knows she wouldn't be caught dead in a Christmas sweater. more ›

By now, we think we're all quite comfortable admitting that NYC is really the rats' fiefdom—we're just renting their property, riding their subways, and stuffing our mouths full with them in a desperate bid for some semblance of control. But according to BBC/Discovery Channels excellent Human Planet, there’s at least one rat for every person in NYC. The show will explore the Big Apple's rat population in this Sunday's episode. Below, you can check out a clip from it, in which pest control firm M&M Environmental explores the basement of one unnamed East Village restaurant. It makes you think extra hard about where you're ordering out from, to say the least. more ›

Good news for fans of British comedy, heavy drinking, and oversized shoulder pads: AbFab is coming back with new episodes! The cult favorite, which chronicles the misadventures of Patsy and Edina, a pair of aging, borderline-alcoholic BFFs as they stumble though the world of fashion and beauty, is set to start filming new episodes this summer. more ›

Where would you go to find the World's Strictest Parents? The British Broadcasting Corporation has taken their search to the Bronx, where they hope to find some hard-ass handlers to star in their reality television show. more ›

As the Hotel Chelsea keeps going through some corporate changes, it's nice to look back at the glory days of the legendary hotel. In 1981 the BBC folk released a documentary about the place, capturing some of the quirky residents, employees, and of course general manager (at the time) Stanley Bard behind his desk. Luckily some of the footage just popped up online. more ›

Television coverage of Governor Spitzer's scandal has been relentless. From extra newscasts from most of the stations and WNET/ Thirteen's special Monday night report (the only one that seemed to gauge statewide reaction) to leading all the local newscasts, but the networks, local stations throughout the country and even the BBC World News. more ›

Before going for the gold, French actress and Oscar winner Marion Cotillard made some remarks in a 2007 interview regarding 9/11, and some aren't as charmed by her words as they were by her Oscar speech. Nonetheless, Cotillard sides with the conspiracy theorists when it comes to 9/11...and the moon landing! BBC News has a partial transcript:

"We see other towers of the same kind being hit by planes, are they burned?" she asks. "There was a tower, I believe it was in Spain, which burned for 24 hours. It never collapsed. None of these towers collapsed. And there [in New York], in a few minutes, the whole thing collapsed." more ›

Cuban president Fidel Castro resigned his position after nearly 50 years of rule. The 81-year-old Castro has been battling illness since 2006, notably turning over power to his brother Raul and other ministers temporarily. Though he was still ruling after his 2006 surgery, Castro was little seen. Now it is expected that Castro's resignation positions Raul Castro, 76, in line for the presidency. more ›

We already covered the Super Bowl half time show alternatives, but what if you're not a football fan or your team didn’t make it? What if you don’t want to sit through a football game to watch commercials or if you hate Joe Buck and Troy Aikman? Well, don’t worry, there are some television alternatives for you if you don’t want to watch either the game or the countless hours of pre-game shows. more ›

If you are looking for some good television (you know, the kind with actual scripts), BBC America delivers a one-two punch on Saturday night with the season debuts of two British sci-fi shows – Doctor Who (8:00 p.m.) and its spin-off Torchwood (9:00 p.m.). The episodes of Torchwood are a bit fresher, airing a few weeks ago in the UK, while the Doctor Who episodes aired last spring over the pond. more ›

We can’t get excited about or honestly recommend any of the rubbish spewed forth by the WGA strike-hurting networks in place of actual scripted programs. At this point, we would like to never see the Endemol logo on air again. (Apparently Endemol is Dutch for “mindless garbage television.”) So we were a bit surprised when we heard that NBC actually was importing a version of one of our favorite British programs, Top Gear. more ›

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television: more ›

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television: Spike TV's Video Game Awards 2007 (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., Spike TV) It is the fifth annual outing for this awards show for video games. Live From Lincoln Center: Red Hot Holiday Stomp (Monday, 8:00 p.m., WNET 13) Jazz at Lincoln Center is highlighted with this special hosted by Glenn Close. There will be a program of holiday music and jazz, plus it also features the broadcast... more ›

This weekend Kanye West's mother (and manager), Dr. Donda West, died after surgery - which the BBC is reporting was cosmetic (UPDATE: she was warned prior to getting the surgery). West was very close with his 58-year-old mother, often speaking publicly about their bond and even writing a song for her. Just this summer the two were at Borders to promote her new book, Raising Kanye. Kanye was in London when told of the death,... more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Art in the Twenty-First Century (Sunday, 10:00 p.m., WNET 13) Four artists - Robert Adams, Mark Dion , Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle Ursula von Rydingsvard – who explore the intersection between nature and culture. Billy Crystal: The Mark Twain Prize (Monday & Thursday, 9:00 p.m., WNET 13; Saturday, 7:30 p.m. WLIW 21) Billy Crystal receives the tenth annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in... more ›

The Willamette Meteorite, originally from Oregon but residing at the American Museum of Natural History since 1908, was sent to auction Sunday (well, 30 lbs of its 15.5 tons was). How much did it, and another famous meteorite (the Brenham Main Mass), get when they took their place on the auction block? Zero, zilch...nada. Though WCBS reports that "an ordinary metal mailbox zapped by a falling space rock in 1984 was sold for the unearthly price of nearly $83,000." more ›

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television: more ›

Jonny Greenwood was named the BBC’s composer-in-residence in 2004; during this time he debuted "Popcorn Superhet Receiver", a twenty-minute work for string orchestra inspired, in part, by the phenomenon of white noise and Penderecki’s "Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima". Tickets are on sale for a two-night performance of the composition at The Church of St. John the Apostle in January as part of The Wordless Music Series; works by John Adams and Gavin Bryars will also be performed. more ›

A look at some of this week's noteworthy television: more ›

We have been quite happy with the first week of the BBC’s newest newscast BBC World News America, which airs at 7 p.m. on BBC America, as well as around the world on BBC World. (The half hour BBC newscasts that air on WLIW and NJN at the same time are tape delayed from an hour before.) The newscast is unlike any of the American networks and since it is an hour long unlike the big 3’s nightly broadcasts it has more actual news content, more international reporting, and it is anchored in Washington instead of New York. True PBS’ NewsHour is an hour long, but it is basically headlines at the top with people analyzing the stories of the day, instead of actual on the ground reporting. more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

What’s worth watching on food-TV this week? more ›

The season really gets underway this week so a lot of old favorites like The Simpsons, Heroes, and Boston Legal (along with some that shouldn’t be like The Batchelor) are back so you do know what to expect with them. more ›

THEATER: In November, Tom Stoppard’s latest smash hit Rock ‘n’ Roll will transfer from London to Broadway (delighting Rushmore fans by bringing Brian Cox – AKA Dr. Guggenheim – in tow.) In the meantime, fans of our most intellectually dazzling living playwright can plug into Stoppard Goes Electric, an evening of three short teleplays that Stoppard penned for BBC early in his career. According to the Boomerang Theatre Company, which is producing the program, some have never been seen live on stage before. Ends Sunday.– John Del Signore more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

Last night, President Bush addressed the country, and the world, with a speech that said American troops in Iraq could be start to be withdrawn gradually: "The principle guiding my decisions on troop levels in Iraq is 'return on success' -- the more successful we are, the more American troops can return home." In other words, there is no, as the NY Sun puts it, "no dramatic change in course." more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

What’s worth watching on food-related TV this week? more ›

: Season 2 more ›

Daljit Dhaliwal is currently the anchor of the PBS international documentary series Wide Angle, which starts its new season on Tuesday (9:00 p.m., WNET 13). A native of London, she got her start with the BBC reporting from Northern Ireland, then moved to ITN where in 1996 she became the anchor for ITN World News for Public Television which was produced for PBS. The newscast raised her profile on this side of the Atlantic and lead to her being named to People's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World list in 1999. more ›