What is it about those Britcoms? That’s a question I had to examine when I became the editor of Tea Times, MPT’s Afternoon Tea newsletter.
When my boss, Eric Eggleton, first talked about giving MPT viewers more information on anything and everything British over two years ago, I’ll admit I was a bit perplexed. But he had done his homework, and knew MPT has a very large Britcom following. And these folks are true Anglophiles.
So we scratched our heads, brainstormed and eventually the idea of Afternoon Tea—a back-to-back Britcom comedy extravaganza—was born. We hired a host for segments between the weekday afternoon programming and launched a website that includes the Tea Times newsletter and weekly trivia question. Our aspirations were for 4,000 to register for the newsletter; today we have almost 9,000. They come from all over the United States, and even a few from different countries! And believe me when I say that we are honored to have you come to read Tea Times each month.
We also have a cool mug (I’m holding one in the photo below!) we give away each week to a randomly selected winner of the weekly Afternoon Tea trivia question. Test your knowledge about the shows you love to watch and see if you too can win one of these prized mugs.
If you’re a Britcom lover and haven’t yet looked at Tea Times or played the trivia question, we invite you to do so at www.mpt.org/tea. It’s free, so come on, join in the fun! You’ll be in good company.
Sue Vanskiver
Senior Administrative Assistant & Tea Times Editor
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2 comments:
I have enjoyed Britcoms on public television since 1997...both during the weekday afternoons AND on Saturday nights! I lived in Northern Virginia at the time, but that didn't stop me from viewing the Britcoms because the MPT was available on our cable TV provider. I think there is/was a "snail mail" version of Tea Time - I received a few issues and thoroughly enjoyed them.
When my husband retired in 2003, we moved to Southeastern North Carolina. Even though we love NC (it is a beautiful state), I thought I no longer had access to Britcoms (Britcom withdrawal is just HORRIBLE). What was I going to do without Last of the Summer Wine (LOSW) and Keeping Up Appearances (KUA), my two absolute favorite Britcoms???
Knowing my SAD dilemma, in stepped my husband who came to my rescue the very first Saturday night after our move to NC. He surfed the channels offered by our cable provider and found Saturday night Britcoms on our NC public television station, thank God!!!
Later he found weekday afternoon Britcoms on BBC America. I enjoyed the Britcoms for as long as they were available on BBC America. But BBC America is not public television (it is commercially driven), therefore the Britcoms were eventually replaced by more "popular" fare.
I miss my afternoon Britcoms...but my sisters (who actually live in Maryland) follow the Britcoms on MPT. In fact, one of them told me about your on-line Tea Time magazine, which I really, really enjoy!
Thank you for the Tea Time magazine and thank you for the Britcoms you offer. It pleases me to no end that my sisters can enjoy Britcoms on Saturday night and at "Tea Time".
How can I tell you about my love for the Britcoms on MPT....the chance to catch a "moment" for myself mid-afternoon with a cup of tea and a few biccies....the new-found fascination with British daily life, culture, history, etc...the Saturday evenings I am now perfectly content to stay in for....
It's just amazing! Thank you for bringing them to me!
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