Here’s another great way to pass the time until the seventh season of House begins. You can watch the nutty British humor of Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry, along with a few of their close friends in the series BlackAdder.
The boxerd set of four seasons of this early comedic series where Hugh Laurie’s comedy mastery shines are now available on DVD: BlackAdder Remastered: The Ultimate Edition. This 6-disc set gives us 895 minutes of pure hilarity. Here’s what Amazon has to say to describe the series:
Rowan Atkinson is deliciously twisted as the comic villain, Edmund Blackadder, in the enormously popular comedy series. Follow Blackadder in hysterical send-ups of the Middle Ages, the Elizabethan age, the Regency period, and World War I. This special edition contains new exclusive interviews and audio commentaries , making it a must have for all BlackAdder fans.
And here’s a list of the special features included in the set:
Hey, it’s going to be a long, boring summer without any new House episodes. As TV House Watch reader Greg mentioned, another great set of DVDs that fans of Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry should definitely check out is the full collection of Jeeves & Wooster. It’s more of their zany hilarity and it gives us something to occupy us until House’s new season begins.
Now that House season 6 has come to a very cool ending, we have some time free to wait for season 7 to begin. Sure, most of us will be busier this time of year with vacations, kids home from school or just plain getting outside to enjoy the warm weather. But in between all of that, we still need some interesting things to do. So here is one suggestion.
First, many of you already know that long before Hugh Laurie became Gregory House, he and his best friend Stephen Fry had a hilarious comedy series in the UK. It was called A Bit of Fry & Laurie and it was hysterically funny. There are a bunch of clips from the series on YouTube, or you can just bite the bullet and order the series on DVD. A Bit of Fry and Laurie – The Complete Collection… Every Bit! is available on Amazon.com. If it’s all as funny as the clips we’ve seen, it’s well worth it.
Here’s how Amazon describes it:
If terms like “pimhole” and “lesbotic tendencies” reduce you to a fit of giggles, you’ve already discovered the daffy pleasures of Fry and Laurie. Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie have gone on to other successes in film and television (not only did they gain acclaim and adoration as the title characters of Jeeves & Wooster, Laurie has become a household name in the U.S. as the star of House), but their comedy collaborations from the 1980s and ’90s have earned them a place in the pantheon of British humor, somewhere between Monty Python and Ricky Gervais. They specialize in “linguistic elasticity,” amazing flights of verbal lunacy ranging from overwrought poetry criticism to inventing their own swearwords to protest censorship. A Bit of Fry & Laurie: The Complete Collection… Every Bit! includes all four Fry & Laurie seasons, broadcast between 1987 and 1995. Conservatism is a regular target–an early sketch about a father protesting his son being taught biology is startlingly current–but politics generally takes a back seat to ridiculousness. Fry impersonates Michael Jackson; a doctor prescribes cigarettes; an exceedingly gracious jewelry salesman woos a customer with candied sweets; Fry and Laurie, with righteous indignation, castigate their audience for laughing at serious matters like alcoholism and genital fungus.
If terms like “pimhole” and “lesbotic tendencies” reduce you to a fit of giggles, you’ve already discovered the daffy pleasures of Fry and Laurie. Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie have gone on to other successes in film and television (not only did they gain acclaim and adoration as the title characters of Jeeves & Wooster, Laurie has become a household name in the U.S. as the star of House), but their comedy collaborations from the 1980s and ’90s have earned them a place in the pantheon of British humor, somewhere between Monty Python and Ricky Gervais.
They specialize in “linguistic elasticity,” amazing flights of verbal lunacy ranging from overwrought poetry criticism to inventing their own swearwords to protest censorship. A Bit of Fry & Laurie: The Complete Collection… Every Bit! includes all four Fry & Laurie seasons, broadcast between 1987 and 1995. Conservatism is a regular target–an early sketch about a father protesting his son being taught biology is startlingly current–but politics generally takes a back seat to ridiculousness. Fry impersonates Michael Jackson; a doctor prescribes cigarettes; an exceedingly gracious jewelry salesman woos a customer with candied sweets; Fry and Laurie, with righteous indignation, castigate their audience for laughing at serious matters like alcoholism and genital fungus.
This new House spoiler from Michael Ausiello is so interesting! It seems that House will have a one night stand, er, romantic encounter with a woman we’ve seen before. Hopefully it isn’t Cuddy. If there’s only a one night stand with her, it would be awful! I’m thinking perhaps a certain piano-playing mental hospital visitor…
Even more exciting is the news that House’s doctor in that episode, played by Andre Braugher, will be back for another episode. I liked him so much in Broken and also in Men of a Certain Age that it will be great to see him again!
Question: We need a sex scene on House with House this season. Could be any woman and I’ll be happy. —Bete Ausiello: Ask and you shall receive: I can confirm that House will partake in a one-night stand towards the end of the season. And it’s quite possible his little lady friend is someone we’ve met before. Also, look for Andre Braugher to reprise his role as House’s shrink, Dr. Nolan, for at least one episode in May. Could that have something to do with this? (That’s not rhetorical, I really want to know.) [Source: EW]
Question: We need a sex scene on House with House this season. Could be any woman and I’ll be happy. —Bete
Ausiello: Ask and you shall receive: I can confirm that House will partake in a one-night stand towards the end of the season. And it’s quite possible his little lady friend is someone we’ve met before. Also, look for Andre Braugher to reprise his role as House’s shrink, Dr. Nolan, for at least one episode in May. Could that have something to do with this? (That’s not rhetorical, I really want to know.) [Source: EW]
But the most exciting of all is that Hugh Laurie’s best friend may be making a guest appearance on House soon. House director, Greg Yaitanes sent a message on Twitter recently that Stephen Fry had already viseted the set of House:
“No better time then when he’s sitting on your set (visiting) to follow @stephenfry.” [Source: @GregYaitanes]
Hugh Laurie’s best friend Stephen Fry will be a guest on the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson.
First of all, I must tell you that I’m a huge Craig Ferguson fan, but with Stephen Fry on the show, it’s going to be even more fun. I can’t wait to see their combined humor. It should be a blast! You won’t want to miss it!
The show airs on Wednesday, February 24 on CBS at 12:35 am ET. Check your local listings to be sure in your area.
Hugh Laurie’s best friend Stephen Fry has written a book called Stephen Fry in America: Fifty States and the Man Who Set Out to See Them All. If we know anything about Stephen, we know that the book will be very intelligently written and will include a fair amount of great humor. What’s not to love?
Since Monday night will not give us a new episode of House, fans of the show will have the evening free to go meet and get an autographed copy of Stephen’s book. Unfortunately, only the folks living in and near the New York area will be able to attend the event. But be sure to watch your local area, just in case Stephen comes to your city to do a book promotion. (I’ll update you when I have info about his whereabouts.)
Stephen Fry will be signing his book in the New York City are on Monday evening at 7 pm at Idlewild Books. Here’s where you can find out more.
And if any of you do manage to get to meet with Stephen and get a picture taken with him, please email it to me and I’ll share it with the other House fans!
Hugh Laurie’s best friend and former comedy partner Stephen Fry was recently asked if he would ever consider becoming a citizen of the United States. He said that he would be “honored”…”if they would have me.” LOL!
The Cambridge graduate, who lives in North London, toured the U.S. in a black London taxi for his BBC series, Stephen Fry in America. At an awards ceremony in Los Angeles, Fry said he was searching for a home in the city to be near his friend and former comedy partner Hugh Laurie and had been encouraged by talking to Craig Ferguson, the Scots comedian who has become an American chat show host. Laurie is based in Los Angeles where he films the world’s most watched TV show House, in which he plays the lead role of grumpy doctor Gregory House. Fry said: ‘I’m looking for a place in LA. I do love America. I had an apartment in New York for many years and have just sold that so I do want somewhere in America and I think now, having loved the East Coast as I do, I might just make it the West Coast.
The Cambridge graduate, who lives in North London, toured the U.S. in a black London taxi for his BBC series, Stephen Fry in America.
At an awards ceremony in Los Angeles, Fry said he was searching for a home in the city to be near his friend and former comedy partner Hugh Laurie and had been encouraged by talking to Craig Ferguson, the Scots comedian who has become an American chat show host.
Laurie is based in Los Angeles where he films the world’s most watched TV show House, in which he plays the lead role of grumpy doctor Gregory House.
Fry said: ‘I’m looking for a place in LA. I do love America. I had an apartment in New York for many years and have just sold that so I do want somewhere in America and I think now, having loved the East Coast as I do, I might just make it the West Coast.
This makes me wonder if Hugh and Stephen would work together again…perhaps even revive their old comedy act, Fry & Laurie. Wouldn’t that be a fabulous thing? I would love for him to move here!
Thanks so much to House fan Grace for this tip! Most Hugh Laurie fans know that long before he played our favorite grumpy doctor, he was half of a hilarious comedy duo with his best friend Stephen Fry in the UK. The pair called themselves Fry & Laurie. Most of their comedy work is classic, along the lines of the Monty Python comedy troupe.
In this clip from their days together in the UK, they give very “helpful” instructions for Brits to know how to handle the odd holiday of Halloween.
Many thanks to TV House Watch reader Grace for sending the tip about this great video clip!! It’s hilarious!!
Hugh Laurie’s best friend, Stephen Fry was working with zoologist Mark Carwardine to find one of the world’s rarest birds when the bird fell in love with the zoologist. The poor bird tried his best to mate with Mr. Carwardine’s neck and Stephen is standing by to give his commentary. Stay with the clip until the end to hear what Stephen had to say.
I can’t embed this video, but I screen-captured it to make into a link. Just click on the image to see the clip:
Air date: November 28, 2006
No sooner does a 6-year-old in abdominal agony arrive at the hospital than her divorced parents begin sniping at each other. Meanwhile, Cuddy has restricted House’s access to Vicodin, and his increased pain level makes him more difficult to deal with than usual. And Tritter (David Morse) interviews Foreman, Chase and Cameron individually, taking strikingly different approaches with each of them.
