Product Description

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 07/24/2007

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4944 in DVD
• Brand: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2007-07-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 767 minutes

Features

• Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie are best known outside of their native U.K. for the various acting roles they've taken in major productions. In Fry's case, big-screen roles in WILDE and PETER'S FRIENDS helped establish his name. In Laurie's case, the hit TV show HOUSE made him a firm favorite with American audiences. They are also known and loved for their joint turn in the irreverent

Amazon.com
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. The fourth series isn't as inspired, overall, but it does feature sparkling moments, such as a version of It's a Wonderful Life starring Rupert Murdoch. Armed with a startling array of false facial hair (and, as the seasons progress, an increasing amount of drag), Fry and Laurie introduce notions like screaming lettuce, a synchronized losing team, and the Omar Sharif Comedy Hour. It's divine silliness; any fan of British comedy will delight in "Every Bit" of Fry and Laurie. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Soupy Twist
OK, this is based off the UK release, so I can't give you any details on features, etc. Instead, I'll focus on the series.

First, if you don't already know, A Bit of Fry and Laurie is a collection of sketches divided by mock interviews with the "British public" (always Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie). At times these sketches are of characters, whilst other times they are of the stars as themselves.

Vox pops abound in every series of A Bit of Fry and Laurie, but there is a lack of regular, recurring characters (unless you count Fry and Laurie), unlike in Little Britain. In series one and two, there are Tony and Control of MI6, and the promotors of Uttoxeter, and the like, but if you've seen those two series, you'll understand why they were dropped from three and four. (I won't go into too much detail on one and two; I'll assume you've already seen them.)

Series three introduces Mr Music (Hugh Laurie) who plays out the credits as Stephen Fry mixes up a strange, often disturbing, concoction. This bit, thankfully survives in the final series. Series three also marks a spike in music sketches (even Fry contributes his bit, as frightening as it seems in "You, You, You", etc.), including the popular "There Ain't But One Way", in which Laurie plays a Johnnie Cash-like singer with his brother Oren. I don't think you'll ever see Stephen Fry in a more unsophisticated role. By and large, this is my absolute favourite series, and my friends agree. Three hours just flew by.

Series four is... a tad awkward. Apparently, the programme was moved from BBC2 to the more restrained BBC1 (I may be wrong on the channels), where creative control was hampered by the station. They introduced (often) unnecessary guest stars who did not do much -- most of the funny sketches were done without them. Thankfully, Mr Music and Fry's disturbing concoctions are back, and even more disturbing than before. And for you fans of Hugh Laurie, he does a music sketch every episode, including "Little Girl" and the "Be Nice" rap.

All in all, this is a must for fans of Fry and Laurie, and an excellent introduction for new fans who are just discovering their comedy.

Loving every minute of it
In retrospect this DVD collection is the purchase I wish I had made. Having shelled out for all 4 series of 'A Bit of Fry & Laurie' individually, each one more hilarious than the last, I recommend that comedy fans simply invest in this 4 in 1 pack.

Throughout these fantastic series, Stephen Fry's wit and Hugh Laurie's whimsy never fail to hit the spot. The pairing like to mock everything that the eighties held dear including ruthless black hearted capitalism, vulgar fashion sense and the incumbent Tory government. Allied to the ruthless satire is the pair's amusing habit of toying with and manipulating the English language in a hilarious manner. Far from trying to escape their upper class, Oxbridge backgrounds, they instead choose to embrace them as fully as possible.

Many American viewers will have come to Hugh Laurie through his part in the series 'House' and possibly could have come to Stephen Fry through the part he played in the American series 'Bones'. To these Americans I say that it is an absolute must for you to look through all the past works of these two comic masters. As well as this series check out 'Jeeves & Wooster', 'Blackadder' and the many books that Stephen Fry has published. As far as this series goes, don't hesitate, make this all in one box set your one 'A Bit of Fry and Laurie' purchase.

Great show, but a bit pricey
Overall, this show is very enjoyable. Some sketches are really silly and so absured (Derek Nippl-e, anyone?!), that you laugh quite hard watching them. My favourite parts of the show were the musical numbers with Hugh Laurie, and the endings of the last two series with Stephen Fry mixing up cocktails and dancing hilariously as Laurie plays the piano.

As far as my ratings go: Even though I'm a huge fan of British comedy, and that's basically all I buy in way of DVD collections, I found this one a bit hard to understand being a Yank and all. This show was on air when I was about six years old as well, so I'm not sure if it's a cultural or time-lapse difference that makes certain sketches go over my head.

For a collection of four DVDs, the price is quite heafty as well. For about the same price, you can find the 8-disk Jeeves & Wooster series in Amazon's "new & used" section. What would have made the boxed set worth the price would have been a collection packed with extras (left-over sketches, bloopers, behind-the-scenes stuff, etc). Though, the one extra this set did have was the Cambridge University Footlights Review Special that aired on the BBC featuring early works by Fry & Laurie. This special is quite hilarious, and Stephen Fry shines, in my opinion, during a seven-minute monologue simply titled, "The Letter". Very witty stuff, indeed!