Any number of British comedies in recent years -- think "Coupling" and "Men Behaving Badly" -- have failed to translate when they migrated across the pond.

That hasn't been the case for "The Graham Norton Effect," the Comedy Central talk show starring manic Irishman Norton. The show, which incorporates a number of the staples of his British series, "So Graham Norton," has performed solidly in its first season.

"It seems to be going well," Norton says. "Certainly the feedback we get is positive, and the network seems happy with it. ... Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's going to be a second season."

Norton isn't quite sure why his show has made the transition to the United States while others have failed, but he thinks it may have to do with the type of humor he favors.

"People talk about the difference between British humor and American humor. The good -- well, the good and bad thing about our show is that ours is just really childish humor," he says. "It's not sophisticated, urbane commentary on society -- it's just fart and d*** jokes.

"So I think that kind of -- I was going to say transcends -- whatever the opposite of transcends is, the cultural divide. It sort of tunnels under the cultural divide."

Viewers will get a chance to compare the shows for themselves come Tuesday (Aug. 10), when BBC Video releases "The Best of So Graham Norton" on DVD. The disc offers highlights from Norton's interviews with the likes of Sir Elton John, Lauren Bacall, Chris Rock, Orlando Bloom and Dolly Parton.

Norton has thus far had Sharon Stone, Alan Cumming and Julie Delpy, among others, on his Comedy Central show, but he fears he may never book his dream guest. "There's people I always say I want ... like Madonna," he says. "But actually, I'm sort of a bit late. I want Madonna about six years ago, when she was fun and interesting, not this dreary, working mother of two."

"The Graham Norton Effect" runs through the summer on Comedy Central, and Norton will head home when the season wraps. He says he's developing a new series, "a big family entertainment show," for the BBC, which he'll work on when he returns.

Until then, though, he's still adjusting to life in New York.

"The big thing for me in New York is that it's open until 4 o'clock in the morning, and I'm used to things closing at 11," he says. "I've yet to work out that just because [bars] are open till 4, it doesn't mean I have to stay until 4. ... I'm having to get my head round that."