Blog Archives
The Top Bits of Fry and Laurie
Before Hugh Laurie was House and Stephen Fry hosted QI, the two friends starred in a variety of sketch shows. The most famous is probably A Bit of Fry and Laurie with the others being Alfresco and Saturday Live, which is similar, but not to be confused with Saturday Night Live.
1. Size Doesn’t Count
The first sketch originally aired in 1987 and was part of Saturday Live. While including it on this list is cheating, the important lesson is that size doesn’t matter and apparently more than one part Stephen’s body is bent.
Cool TV Video of the Day: Stephen Fry Talks about Hugh Laurie’s Accent
Everyone knows Hugh Laurie as House, but many people forget that he is British because his American accent is so accurate. In today’s video, Stephen Fry talks about his visit to the House set and how strange it is for his old friend to keep House’s accent while talking to British people.
Stephen Fry and Alan Davies are Quite Interesting
This week I’m going to introduce my fellow American’s to a new British panel or comedy show everyday.
Today’s show is QI or Quite Interesting. Each series (or seasons for Americans) has a different letter of the alphabet determining the topics. For example, series A had shows based around the topics: Aquatic Animals, Advertising, and Antidotes.
The incomparable Stephen Fry hosts QI. While the adorable Alan Davies is the show’s only permanent panelist, who typically loses by what appears to be a random amount because of QI‘s crazy point system that only a guy named Colin knows the formula for.
The following clip has Stephen explain that the grammar rule “I before E except after C” is not as accurate as one would expect. The panel of Graham Norton, Daniel Radcliffe, Lee Mack, and Alan Davies have hard time comprehending what Stephen is saying. Lee Mack has a tougher time than everyone else. Enjoy!
After the jump, you will find the QI‘s unbroadcast pilot. As the first episode ever made, it takes place before the set was changed and the current points system was put in place. Alan Davies, Bill Bailey, Eddie Izzard and Kit Hesketh-Harvey are the featured panelists. For American (and possibly some Brits), it will be odd seeing a red-haired Eddie Izzard.
I’ve Never Seen Star Wars
This week I’m going to introduce my fellow American’s to a new British panel or comedy show everyday.
I’ve Never Seen Stars Wars, which is based on the BBC Radio 4 series of the same name, is not one of the more popular panel shows. It only ran on BBC Four and BBC Two for 8 episodes in 2008 on and had 1 special in 2011. The original host was Marcus Brigstocke, who I have honestly never heard of before, but has an awesome name. Jo Brand hosted the 2011 special. Both Brigstocke and Brand are good hosts, but I prefer Jo Brand. However, I am extremely biased toward anything with Stephen Fry, who is the guest in that episode, so don’t let my opinion sway you.
Many of the celebrities are not well-known to Americans with the exception of maybe Stephen Fry and Clive Anderson, who was the host of the British version of Whose Line is it Anyway?. Despite not knowing the guest celebrities well, the show is still very funny.
The following clips are from Marcus Brigstocke’s run as host and features Clive Anderson as a guest.
Click the link below to see the second and third part of the episode.
Wait! What's A Dial? 