Product Description

Only a handful of creative works succeed in capturing the totality of human existence, from birth to death, through love, transfiguration and redemption. "A Bit of Fry and Laurie," the BBC television series co-starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, has been said, on two occasions, to be among this group. Over 40 sketches in two programs of fun and frivolity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11231 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2006-08-22
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 212 minutes

Features

• Only a handful of creative works succeed in capturing the totality of human existence, from birth to death, through love, transfiguration and redemption. "A Bit of Fry and Laurie," the BBC television series co-starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, has been said, on two occasions, to be among this group. Over 40 sketches in two programs of fun and frivolity.Running Time: 212 min. Format: DVD MOV

Amazon.com
The comedy duo of Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie arrived on the British airwaves with an arsenal of false mustaches, snooty attitudes, linguistic twistiness, and deranged meta-commentary (which sometimes escalated into meta-meta-commentary). It's fascinating to see the pilot episode of A Bit of Fry & Laurie (included on the Season One DVD), in which all the tools of such comedy are in place, but there is a tentativeness about deploying them. By the first broadcast episode, as they launch into a sketch about a father objecting to his son being taught Biology in school, Fry and Laurie are in full command. Crazed flights of language spill effortlessly from their mouths, be it academic critic-babble or macho business jargon gone strangely awry. Fry and Laurie clearly owe a debt to the Monty Python troupe--in addition to verbal lunacy, Fry and Laurie recognized that when a sketch peaked they could skip on to the next one, often using on-the-street non-sequiturs for transitions--but they quickly found their own brand of whimsy. In a scene from the pilot, Laurie buys a toy car from Fry, which leads to both of them pushing the cars around the tabletop making vroom-vroom noises. The effect is silly but oddly heartwarming. Over the course of six episodes, sketches range from Fry stealing Laurie's brain, to the sad tale of an orphaned puppy's slide into corruption, to their most frequently recurring scenario featuring an MI-5 agent named Tony Mercheson (Laurie) and his affable, coffee-drinking superior, Control (Fry). Long before Fry starred in Wilde and Laurie became a household name in House, they carved out their place in the history of British comedy, somewhere in the lineage between Peter Sellers and Ricky Gervais. This first season captures them at their freshest. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

A five star comedy
'A Bit of Fry and Laurie' ranks as one of the greatest sketch shows ever to hit British television. However its fame is nowhere near as widespread as that of its counterparts 'Fawlty Towers' and 'Monty Python's Flying Circus'. Because of this lower profile it is rarely re-run on television and DVD and VHS releases are very limited. This is why it was with great joy that I heard of the DVD release of their complete first two series.

Having seen what Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie have to offer, it is difficult to understand why they have not had more widespread success. Their humour is fantastically witty and posesses the sophistication and finesse that other programmes so sorely lack. Stephen Fry's manipulation of the English language is always amusing and his talents fused with those of Hugh Laurie are a potent mix. Indeed it may sometimes remind the viewer of their other collaboration on 'Jeeves and Wooster'.

It is great news that this series has finally been committed to DVD and not simply a 'best of'. I would urge all comedy fans to buy this DVD and enjoy what is a top class comedy programme.

Finally!!
Capitalizing on the success of "House," the BBC have finally decided to release "A Bit of Fry & Laurie" on DVD, and I couldn't be happier. I got hooked on Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry while watching the Blackadder series, and have followed them through to other projects (Laurie's "House" and his book, "The Gun Seller" and Fry's fantastic program in the UK "QI") with great satisfaction. However, being from the States, and living there during the run of "A Bit of..." I hadn't been able to see much of the series til now.
The DVD doesn't disappoint. The duo's comic prowess comes through clear as a bell from the start of the disc. Ironic, urbane, witty, and cheeky--it's British sketch comedy at its best. There's a lot of great word play, and great comic timing throughout. I'd highly recommend it to any fan of BritCom.

One of the best sketch shows ever!
Four seasons were not enough of this wonderful, hilarious show written and performed solely by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie (okay, in the fourth series they had some famous guests like Imelda Staunton and Phyllida Law and a few extras here and there throughout the run of the show, but mostly, it was just the two of them.)

Their writing is amazing and their performances are doubly so. I highly recommend buying these discs. Fantastic.