THE COMEDY STORE DICK EMERY’S COMEDY GOLD

Sky Documentaries, 9pm & 10.15pm

This five-part series explores a darker side of the LA comedy club’s early years, starting with the bitter 1979 “comedy strike” over owner Mitzi Shore’s refusal to pay

performers. The 1980s and 1990s dawned brighter, although the party years exacted a high personal toll on Shore. There’s plenty of footage from icons such as Jim Carrey and Chris Rock.

Channel 5, 9.40pm

A master of larger-thanlife mimicry, Emery’s catchphrase-packed (“Ooh, you are awful, but I like you!”) comedy shows were a staple of Sixties and Seventies television. This programme explores why Emery is a largely overlooked figure now.

Author Bernardine Evaristo talks about her life