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Finally! Series 3 of of everybody’s favourite geek culture comedy The IT Crowd is back this Friday on Channel 4 at 10pm.

Here’s the last episode (6) of series 2 as a refresher:

South Park’s at it again, this time the Queen gets it:

Satirical US cartoon series South Park has aired a show which features the Queen committing suicide.

In a parody of hit drama series 24, the British monarch is seen to be behind a plot to overthrow the US.

When the plot fails, the cartoon Queen responds by putting a gun in her mouth and shooting herself.

And it has some people complaining:

John Beyer, of TV watchdog Mediawatch, called it “grossly insensitive”.

The latest episode also features US presidential contender Hilary Clinton.

It is not yet known whether the episode will be shown in the UK, where South Park is broadcast by the Paramount Comedy channel.

So what’s the problem here? Because it’s the Queen it’s ‘grossly insensitive’? Bullshit. If it was any other head of state sticking a gun in their mouth and pulling the trigger then John Beyer probably wouldn’t bat an eye lid. Just show the episode, If people are offended then they don’t have to watch it. The normal South Park audience will not be offended in the slightest.

Update: Looks like Hilary is not getting off any lighter than the Queen

I’d been wondering what was going on with Channel 9, Derry’s local TV station. All you get to see when you switch it on is Sky News, bad non-stop music video shows, and bad home-made short clips which are usually made with mobile phone cameras. They don’t even have that annoying ‘reporter’ going around town anymore interviewing shop owners and staff and plugging whatever they had on sale. There’s no local content left whatsoever.

Now they are being found in serious breach of the terms and conditions of their broadcast licence by Ofcom:

Ofcom’s latest Broadcast Bulletin, published yesterday, said that Channel 9 was in “serious breach” of the terms and conditions of its broadcasting licence after it failed to provide regulators with a requested sample of its content.

Television broadcasters must retain recordings of their output for 60 days after transmission, and must provide Ofcom with any material on request.

Ofcom said that six viewers had complained that the channel had stopped broadcasting local content, as required by its licence. Ofcom asked Channel 9 to provide a sample of content from a 24 hour period chosen at random, and asked for the channel’s comments in regard to the licence clause which requires it to provide local content.

“Channel 9 said it was unable to provide Ofcom with a copy of the requested broadcast as it had experienced problems with its logging system.

Problems with its logging system?! Could that have anything to do with the fact that they’ve had nothing to log for the past months in the first place? Maybe Ofcom could ask Sky as they are providing the majority of the ‘content’ nowadays.

“The channel explained that once new editorial staff had been recruited, it would begin broadcasting local original content again,” the Bulletin said.

“In addition, a planned expansion of technical facilities would enable the broadcast of novel and enhanced local content. In later correspondence with Ofcom, the channel stated that the expansion work had been delayed and staff problems had continued. It provided Ofcom with details of its future schedule plans, indicating the inclusion of new local content.”

Let’s wait and see.

In today’s Entertainment News:

The Fox TV network will make a pilot of The Minister of Divine – co-produced by Vicar of Dibley creator Richard Curtis – before deciding on a full series.

And who’s going to play Dawn French’s part?

Former Cheers actress Kirstie Alley is to play the lead role in a US version of hit BBC comedy The Vicar of Dibley.

I can’t see it. At all.

But then again, I thought the US version of The Office wouldn’t work but somehow it did.

Joseph Barbera who, together with William Hanna, provided me and millions of other kids with some of the funniest cartoons ever made, has died at the age of 95.

He died of natural causes at home with his wife, Sheila, at his side.

With William Hanna, Barbera founded Hanna-Barbera in the 1950s, after the pair had earlier worked on the Tom and Jerry cartoons at MGM studios.

“Joe will live on through his work,” said Warner Brothers chairman and CEO, Barry Meyer.

“The characters he created with his late partner, William Hanna, are not only animated superstars but also a very beloved part of American pop culture,” Mr Meyer said.

GateWorld.net has got some great news:

Prepare to step through the gate all over again! A third television series in the hit Stargate franchise is now in development, GateWorld has learned.

A production source informs GateWorld that the new series is in the concept phase, and is being actively worked on by the Vancouver creatives behind Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. No concept for the show has yet been revealed.