The Craigy's Twenty Sixteen!

Live from Craig's Dining Room comes the twenty sixteen Craigy Awards! Can you believe it has been a year already?! I know I can't. We have truly been blessed with some of the television we have recieved over the last twelve months. I like to champion those shows that may not get recognitions they derserve [cough - The Emmys - cough] and also some of my own damn favourites that I would like to give awards to to show my love.  So let's get on to our first category and here to present it is ... the voice in your head whilst you read it.

The Nominees

Love

Orange is the New Black

Stranger Things

Doctor Who

Pretty Little Liars

Scandal

Empire

iZombie

Girls

The Winner

Orange is the New Black

The Nominees

Veep

The Big Bang Theory

Bob's Burgers

New Girl

The Mindy Project

Baby Daddy

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Broad City
Crazy Ex Girlfriend

The Winner

Baby Daddy

The Nominees

Jean-Luc Bilodeau - Baby Daddy

Finn Wolfhard - Stranger Things

Max Greenfield - New Girls

Peter Capaldi - Doctor Who

Jake Johnson - New Girl

Paul Rust  Love

Tituss Burgess - Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Simon Helberg - The Big Bang Theory

The Winner

Max Greenfield

New Girl

The Nominees

Lena Dunham - Girls

Winona Ryder - Stranger Things

Abbi Jacobson - Broad City

Gillian Jacobs - Love

Ellie Kemper - Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Rachel Bloom - Crazy Ex Girlfriend

Lori Petty - Orange is the New Black

Ilana Glazer - Broad City

Jenna Coleman - Doctor Who

The Winner

Lori Petty

Orange is the New Black

The Nominees

Orange is the New Black

Scandal

Broad City

Doctor Who

Stranger Things

Baby Daddy

The Big Bang Theory

New Girl

The Winner

Stranger Things

The Nominees

Ellen's Design Challenge

The Great British Bake Off

Masterchef US

Ink Master

The Next Food Network Star

The Amazing Race

RuPaul's Drag Race

Big Brother Canada

The Winner

RuPaul's Drag Race

The Nominees

The Bad Girls Club

Catfish

MTV: Suspects

The Real Housewives of New York

Mob Wives

Keeping Up With The Kardashians

Dance Moms

The Real Housewives of Atlanta

The Winner

The Real Housewives of New York

The Nominees

Emma Willis

Arisa Cox

Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins

Caroline Flack

RuPaul

Ant and Dec

Julie Chen

Ryan Seacrest

The Winner

Emma Willis

The Nominees

Bob the Drag Queen - RuPaul's Drag Race

Sonja Morgan - Real Housewives of New York

Kourtney Kardashian - Keeping Up with the Kardashians

Kim Chi - RuPaul's Drag Race

Tiffany Pollard - Celebrity Big Brother

Nadiya Hussain - The Great British Bake Off

Nikki Grahame - Big Brother Canada

Bethenny Frankel - Real Housewives of New York

The Winner

Bob the Drag Queen

RuPaul's Drag Race

The Nominees

Ellen Degeneres

Jimmy Fallon

Seth Meyers

James Corden

Samantha Bee

Graham Norton

Chelsea Handler

The Cast of The Talk 

The Winner

Samantha Bee

The Nominees

American Idol - The Finale

The Brit Awards

Grease Live

Super Bowl Halftime Show

The Oscars

Eurovision

The Winner

Eurovision

The Nominees

Willam

Grace Helbig

Jenna Marbles

Mamrie Hart

Trixie Mattel & Katya Zamolodchikova

Jeffree Star

Hannah Hart

Colleen Ballinger

Drew Monson

The Winner

Trixie Mattel & Katya Zamolodchikova

Congratulations to all the winners!

Live From New York ....

I would like to say that I have been watching Saturday Night Live for 40 years, but 1. I am only 26 and 2. It never really took off in England so I have had to heavily rely on the internet for my fix. I have probably been watching the show religiously for about 3-4 years and thanks to YouTube I have now been able to watch rerun after rerun of old clips to satisfy my comedy needs. This show is genius in it's simplicity. Its a sketch show if you want to skin it to its bones. They have a celebrity guest and a musical guest every week, the sketches are about pop culture and are extremely uptodate.

I will of course always be thankful for this show for introducing me to my future wife, Miss Amy Poehler. This show has spewed out star after star; Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, John Belushi to name a few. It is the holy grail of the stand up world to become a featured player on this show and it is easy to see why.

It is an amazing platform for female comediennes in particular, it punches the face's of people who say women aren't funny week after week. These women are comedy Einsteins, for me they are the stars of the greatest sketches this show does and also in a lot of cases the writers of the sketches (Tina Fey was a head writer before she left).

As I do I thought I would list a few sketches that I find particularly hilarious and make me chuckle on a daily YouTube binge. I only hope this show gets a time on English television because we are missing out on a lot, I mean a lot. I know some jokes won't transfer over here as they can talk about American Sports and Politics, but the other stuff outweighs it 10 to 1.

So here is my lil' list;

Kaitlin at The Mall

Horatio Sanz and Amy Poehler

http://youtu.be/hLLMnhbhq0E

Jacob

 Vanessa Bayer

http://youtu.be/VHECrbL4Po4

Bronx Beat

Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph

http://youtu.be/gCSejBIlXVA

Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler

http://youtu.be/vSOLz1YBFG0

Girl You Wish You Hadn't Started A Conversation With At A Party

Cecily Strong

http://youtu.be/RGsQES_OdrQ

Target Lady

Kristen Wiig

http://youtu.be/-GyES-BNlUY

Super Showcase

Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Vanessa Bayer

http://youtu.be/IoTv5sjom8k

Drunk Uncle

Bobby Moynihan

http://youtu.be/OO7gjabFlX4

Retired Pornstars

Cecily Strong and Vanessa Bayer

http://youtu.be/U9G3qtOUIpo

Heshy

Nasim Pedrad

http://youtu.be/sqNCMMDirPk

Stefon

Bill Hader

http://youtu.be/pYcJZFZaUkc

Girlfriends Talk Show

Cecily Strong and Aidy Bryant

http://youtu.be/_HwbpZn9wN0

That is just a few of the gems of Saturday Night Live. There are too many sketches to mention, and I will wake up with regret that I didn't showcase others. It is just such and incredible show. It just celebrated 40 years, heres hoping for another 40.

The Show That Everyone Should Be Watching! Broad City!

I have heard a bit of buzz around this show, a few blogs and vlogs I follow are just in love with this show. So of course I had a peek. I WATCHED THE ENTIRE FIRST SEASON IN ONE SITTING! I was instantly obsessed with these two women. For me, if I had to capture it in a few words it would be that it is like a more realistic 'Girls', with a lot of pot and whole lot more laughs.

Yes, there is a lot of a recreational drug use - one episode even focuses on Abbi trying to be a grown up and source her own pot dealer, but don't think this is just a stoner show. It so isn't. For me the best thing about this show is the friendship. The friendship is extreme, loving, inconveniente and special. I have close friends but my god they take it to another level, they set new friendship goals.

The show started out as a YouTube series, and the wonderful (Future Mrs Craig) Amy Poehler saw it, and ran with it. Shopped it around to a bunch of networks and found them a home at Comedy Central, I will be forever thankful. The show is still up on YouTube in 5 minute manageable bites. There is so much to say about this show that I find that I can't think of anything (you know how that happens).

I could talk about Ilana's allergy to shellfish, Abbi's determination to be a fitness instructor, the measures they go to buy Lil' Wayne ticket's, Ilana's f-buddy/dentist, Abbi's roommate's boyfriend, Ilana's immigrant gay roommate, the episode where they try and work out who pooped in the shoe, Abbi's alterego Val who is a famous lounge singer for the elderly, Abbi's reaction to medication after dental surgery, Ilana's crazy mother who buys counterfeit handbags every time she visits New York from the China Town underground, their amazing fashion, Abbie melting her lover's dildo in the dishwasher, the time Abbi danced naked to 'Edge of Glory' (and the fact Lady Gaga tweeted about it), their love for 90's hip hop ....

I just couldn't sell this show enough and I have a feeling it will be huge come award season next year. The two girls are the creators and writers for the show, Amy Poehler is the producer and I recommend it - what more could you want?!

Everything I need to know I can learn from Linda La Hughes

Kathy Burke amazingly plays Linda La Hughes in the hugely popular British comedy 'Gimme Gimme Gimme'. She also wrote the damn show. Aswell as a great insight to a straight/gay relationship, she wrote a character I have found quite inspirational. I wasn't looking for life lessons when watching the show, but alas I did. So, as a lover of lists I thought I would write one about how Linda has become my own personal Jesus.

Always be confident

She is forever confident in a world where she is constantly put down and shamed for just been her. Receiving pet names such as 'Fat Tart' and 'Dog', she doesn't let it phase her. She lives for herself and no one else. Her fashion taste can both be questionable and inspired. She wears what she wants regardless of fit, colour or fabric.

Have high expectations

Linda doesn't allow her circumstances stop her from dreaming. She dreams of a lavish life with a guy to match. She doesn't have it, maybe she never will but it doesn't stop the thirst for it. In this world sometimes all we have is dreams, and Linda happily lives with them.

Live in delusion

The world can be a cruel place and the only person you can truly rely on to pick yourself up is yourself. People can control what you see but no one can control what you imagine. Linda often mistakes pictures of Catherine Zeta Jones and Uma Thurman for pictures of herself; and why the hell shouldn't she. If you can see yourself in the some of the prettiest women in the world, then be happy and do you.

Value your friends

We often hear of Linda's tough upbringing. Her mother died, her father is in prison and her famous sister denies her existence. So she found family in her best friend and roommate Tom. Their relationship is touching. Often mistaken for a sibling relationship because as hard as they can love, they can tear strips off each other and rip each other apart. Linda truly loves Tom and would do anything for him.

Always be honest

Linda doesn't mince her words. If she doesn't like or agree with something she will say, if she loves something she will make sure she makes its known. I don't always agree with her opinions but I respect her for standing by them and never bending for anyone.

Linda is a legendary British sitcom character and will forever go down as one of my favourites. And good news for all newbies - BBC have put all the episodes on YouTube!!