[Televisionary]

Fans of BBC's Hyperdrive or Channel 4's Black Books might just want to make their way down to the ABC Family booth at Comic Con. Cabler ABC Family will be on hand at the convention later this week to promote several of its series, including upcoming animated series Slacker Cats , about the misadventures of two ne'er-do-well cats. Voice talent includes Alex Borstein, Stephen Root, Dave Foley, Harland Williams, Sinbad, Emo Philips, and Nicole Sullivan. So what does this series have to do with Black Books and Hyperdrive ? I'm glad you asked. Creators Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley, who created the BBC2 comedy Hyperdrive (starring Sean of the Dead and Hot Fuzz 's Nick Frost) and wrote several episodes of the hysterically surreal Black Books --including one of my personal favorite episodes "Manny Come Home," which guest starred Simon Pegg--just happen to be the creators of Slacker Cats , which launches August 13th on ABC Family. They'll be at the ABC Famil...

There are some people who can't get enough of Star Trek in all its many incarnations. I am not one of those people. Sure, I am madly obsessed with Battlestar Galactica (which, BTW, returns to Sci Fi with brand new episodes on Sunday), but the notion of the space opera leaves a lot to be desired for me. Which means that I came to the BBC comedy Hyperdrive , with no preconceived notions, other than having watched far too many episodes of Red Dwarf in my day. Before going any further, I must say that despite the deep space setting of Hyperdrive (which begins tonight on BBC America), you must put the setting out of your mind completely. Because Hyperdrive is as much like Star Trek or even Red Dwarf as it is The Office . What's that, you say? How could a space-set comedy series possibly be like The Office ? I'm glad you asked. Hyperdrive is at its heart a hilarious workplace comedy that just so happens to be set in the wildly bureaucratic future of 2151 aboard the HMS Cam...

Digital cabler BBC America has announced five series which it plans to launch this fall, including one from that irascible Mr. Alan Partridge, comedian Steve Coogan ( Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story ). First up is comedy Saxondale , which stars Steve Coogan ( I'm Alan Partridge ) as Tommy Saxondale, a former roadie with anger management issues who runs a pest control business dealing with rodents and people. Ruth Jones ( Nighty Night ) co-stars as Saxondale's Welsh anarchist girlfriend Magz who owns a t-shirt business called "Smash the System" selling politically radical clothing. The series' seven-episode run premieres October 13th at 11 pm ET (8 pm PT). Rumor has it that NBC, which has a deal with Coogan's production company (Baby Cow) is developing an American version of Saxondale . Let's hope that it's along the lines of The Office and not, say, Coupling . Hell's Kitchen 's Gordon Ramsay returns to BBC America with Gordon Ramsay...