Seth MacFarlane’s live-action film debut plays like it was cooked up in a haze of marijuana smoke. But he must have been smoking a crunky batch.

Today, the Library of Congress announced that it will take possession of the personal writings of Carl Sagan, the scientist, astronomer and emissary of the wonders of space. And it’s thanks to the cartoonist Seth MacFarlane.

Conventional wisdom, for many years, went that American audiences and British humour just didn’t mix. Apart from legions of cultish fans who could quote Python chapter and verse, and PBS viewers glued to re-runs of Upstairs, Downstairs and Fawlty Towers, most American audiences seemed either to not get it, or just not care. But the recent pond-crossing successes of Sacha Baron Cohen and Ricky Gervais suggests that maybe tastes are changing on this side of…