UK comedy hit Little Britain is coming to the US. After years of popularity in the UK, David Walliams and Matt Lucas are bringing their distinct brand of sketch comedy to HBO starting this Sunday.

Walliams and Lucas have been working together for 18 years and started the hilarious, character driven Little Britain in 2003. The show ran for 3 seasons and endeared dozens of characters to the the British viewing audience, and to American audiences via BBC America.

The duo was on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Monday night to promote the new American turn at the show. Lucas and Walliams bring many of their old characters to the US (Vicky Pollard is sent to Brat Camp, Bubbles DeVere has gained weight) and will be introducing some new characters. David Schwimmer, yes, Ross from Friends, is directing a number of episodes, and guests include Rosie O’Donnell (head to head with Majorie Dawes of Fat Fighters), Paul Rudd, and Sting literally tongue wrestles with Walliams in drag.

After the unceremonious end to season three of Little Britain on BBC, Walliams and Lucas have done live, Abroad, and Comic Relief fundraiser Little, Little Britain specials. In 2006, Walliams also swam the English Channel in 10 hours and raised 2 million GBP for the charity. The English Channel is the 25 mile stretch of water between England and France and is no easy feat. Lucas told him he “should have just gotten the train, it would have been easier.”

There have been a few things I’ve seen on Little Britain that I’ve said would never see the light of day on network TV in the US, hilarious, but so anti-PC it would send the crusaders into a tizzy. But HBO will be the perfect home for the characters of Little Britain in their immigration to America.  If you haven’t seen it, and you don’t take life too seriously, I highly recommend you give it a go, if you do take things too seriously, Computer Says No. 

If you have seen it, rejoice, the Little Britons are invading!

Note by Celebitchy: If you haven’t seen this show there are plenty of clips on youtube. They’re pretty un-pc though as Ceilidh mentioned.

Photo credit: HBO and Little Britain.net.

Matt Lucas of television’s Little Britain and his long term partner television producer Kevin McGee are separating, making this the first gay celebrity divorce. We all knew this day would sadly come, but the good news is that this isn’t one of the unions that have taken place since the Californian legalization in July, but the ending of a 18-month-long marriage in the UK.

The couple, who shared a home in north-west London worth 1.5 million pounds, are the first gay celebrity couple to “divorce” since the civil partnership laws were introduced and their split could be seen as a test case.

Some have speculated that Lucas could end up paying his former partner millions of pounds following the break-up.

Lucas has employed the same high-profile law company – Mishcon de Reya – used by Heather Mills and Diana, Princess of Wales, in their divorce battles.

In a joint statement Lucas and his partner, Kevin McGee, said: “It is with sadness that Matt and Kevin announce that their relationship has come to an end. Their separation is amicable.”

New Zealand Herald

There is some speculation that the divorce settlement could differ from a traditional marriage, and we will have to see how the UK handles it when partners separate from a civil union.

Matt Lucas and Kevin McGee married in a fancy dress event in December 2006, attended by celebrities such as Elton John and Courtney Love. Matt was dressed as Aladdin while Kevin was dressed as Prince Charming.

If you haven’t heard of Matt Lucas and Little Britain, it’s a UK television show that shows characters such as a teenage mother and a disabled man living in the council flats of England. The show was briefly very popular, and is now going to be produced in the United States for HBO. I have no idea why American networks take foreign shows and remake them – is it because US audiences don’t share the same humor? Or is it because they have a hard time with the accents?

Matt Lucas and George McGee are shown on 2/16/08 in the header and 3/25/07 below, thanks to WENN.