A bit of Fry & Laurie

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Television series
Original title A bit of Fry & Laurie
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Year (s) 1989-1995
length 25 minutes
Episodes 26 in 4 seasons
genre Comedy
production Kevin Bishop,
Roger Ordish,
Nick Symons
music Harry Stoneham,
Philip Hope,
Simon Brint,
Hugh Laurie
First broadcast January 13, 1989 (UK) on BBC Two
occupation

A Bit of Fry & Laurie is a British comedy show by comedian duo Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie . It was originally broadcast in four seasons between 1989 and 1995 on the British television broadcaster BBC .

The total of 26 episodes each consist of six to eleven sketches . They often depict absurd situations and are based on puns . Many scenes dissolve abruptly and without a punchline , a concept made famous by Monty Python's Flying Circus . A frequent breakthrough of the fourth wall is typical , for example when the actors suddenly drop out of their roles and start discussing how the sketch can best be ended, or by apparently accidentally seeing the end of the scene or members of the camera crew are.

Some ideas find their precursors on the television show Saturday Live , on which both Fry and Laurie appeared frequently, and on the radio series Saturday Night Fry, written by Stephen Fry .

actor

Most of the roles are played by Fry and Laurie themselves. Occasionally, other supporting actors also appear, including Deborah Norton , Maria Aitken , Geoffrey McGivern , Liz Smith , Andy Linden , Paul Eddington , Camille Coduri , Tony Hawks , Nigel Havers, and Rowan Atkinson . In the fourth season, two guests are invited in each episode who also take on larger roles in some skits, including Kevin R. McNally , Phyllida Law and Stephen Moore .

Recurring formats

Some characters appear repeatedly over several episodes. The most common are the skits of two business partners, Peter and John - who act as if they are running a large international company while actually running various micro-businesses, such as a public toilet in a small town - and those of intelligence agents Control and Tony. The latter are characterized by naive dialogues and deliberately weak acting. In some episodes, Fry and Laurie slip into the role of critics and analyze the previous sketch, caricaturing both the critics and themselves.

Throughout the entire season, short excerpts from street surveys by various men and women - all played by Fry or Laurie - are shown on the streets of London between the skits. Her sentences, taken out of context, seem to be answers to questions that the viewer does not hear. This type of transition between sketches can also be traced back to Monty Python's Flying Circus .

subjects

The police, the military, secret services, the Catholic and Anglican Churches and politicians - especially the Conservative Party - are parodied particularly frequently . The governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and conservative politics in general, have repeatedly been the target of Fry and Laurie's satires. They are also devoted to media-related issues such as the BBC's programming, sponsorship and surreptitious advertising, as well as censorship and the ban on using certain words on television. Many skits deal with the English language and literature.

music

Laurie, who has mastered numerous instruments, performs well-known songs and songs of his own compositions in some episodes. From the third season he plays the closing melody on the piano.

The theme music for the first season was written by Harry Stoneham, the second by Philip Hope, the third and fourth by Philip Hope and Simon Brint. In the second season, the final from the Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns was used for the credits .

Publications

All four seasons individually and a collection box with all seasons appeared on DVD in 2006 .

The manuscripts, including some unpublished sketches, were published as books under the titles A Bit of Fry & Laurie (1990, ISBN 0-7493-0705-6 ), A Bit More Fry & Laurie (1991, ISBN 0-7493-1076-6 ), 3 Bits of Fry & Laurie (1992, ISBN 0-7493-1701-9 ) and Fry & Laurie Bit No. 4 (1995, ISBN 0-7493-1967-4 ).

Web links

Wikiquote: A Bit of Fry & Laurie  - Quotes