# Fry & Laurie as Wooster and Jeeves - worth watching? worth buying? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2006, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623 "2006-11-16T02:35:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/41 "2006-11-17T10:50:18Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] I’ve never read the books - does Wodehouse explain Jeeves’s internal reaction using words? Because it’d be very hard to express that Jeeves thinks Bertie is a nincompoop on film, without narration, unless Fry is acting it out. [/QUOTE] No: Bertie’s {almost} always the narrator: he proposes growing a moustache or wearing a check suit, and all we hear is the report of Jeeves’ deadpan objections, plus Bertie’s editorial determination not to be ruled by his valet - he invariably capitulates, of course. For those who haven’t read the books - what are you damn well waiting for? Wodehouse was the greatest prose stylist of the last century, and the only writer who can make me laugh out loud in cold print. Good as the TV show is\*, it can’t begin to touch the Master. \*Sell your first-born to watch this show: it’s impossible to imagine Wodehouse interpreted better, and Fry and Laurie, as well as being a superb comic team prior, were _born_ to play their characters. And the theme music and title animations _rock_. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/42 "2006-11-17T14:39:43Z")
so what I’m hearing here is that some of you think there may be some marginal utility in buying these things? 😉 Interesting that I’d got the actors/characters mixed up. Any thing I’ve seen Fry in, he’s just seemed so flamboyant, while Laurie seems more restrained. I thought Fry would do the blithering Bertie, and Laurie the more reserved Jeeves. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/43 "2006-11-17T14:58:19Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] so what I’m hearing here is that some of you think there may be some marginal utility in buying these things? 😉 Interesting that I’d got the actors/characters mixed up. Any thing I’ve seen Fry in, he’s just seemed so flamboyant, while Laurie seems more restrained. I thought Fry would do the blithering Bertie, and Laurie the more reserved Jeeves. [/QUOTE] I’m assuming you haven’t seen “Blackadder the Third” in which Laurie plays an even bigger imbecile than Bertie, who also happens to be Prince Regent of England. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/44 "2006-11-17T14:59:15Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] Regarding Fry’s eye-rolling… I’ve never read the books - does Wodehouse explain Jeeves’s internal reaction using words? Because it’d be very hard to express that Jeeves thinks Bertie is a nincompoop on film, without narration, unless Fry is acting it out. [/quote] As has been stated, the key conceit of the books (except for one, I think) is that the reader _only_ gets Bertie’s perspective. Bertie is the narrator and everything is seen through his eyes. And you get absolutely _no_ insight into Jeeves’s thought processes, as should be. Jeeves, as a perfect gentleman’s gentleman, never lets on to what he is thinking. But, his _actions_ do clue you in to what he’s doing. A viewer should _never_ be able to tell from Jeeves’s words or expressions that he thinks Bertie is a nincompoop. He should be absolutely opaque to the observer. The only hint we have that Jeeves absolutely hates Bertie’s sartorial choices is his insistence that he change them. The one exception is the story in which Bertie is made to speak before an audience of schoolgirls. There we get the story from Jeeves’s perspective and it shows how thoroughly self-interested and ruthless he is. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/45 "2006-11-17T15:02:33Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] Interesting that I’d got the actors/characters mixed up. Any thing I’ve seen Fry in, he’s just seemed so flamboyant, while Laurie seems more restrained. I thought Fry would do the blithering Bertie, and Laurie the more reserved Jeeves. [/QUOTE] No one beats Hugh Laurie as a blithering idiot. He made his bones as Prince George (the future George IV) in _Black Adder III_ and as Bertie Wooster. It’s strange that for general American audiences he’s only known for his grim-faced portrayals in _House_ and that Jane Austen one. His real talent is comedy. When it comes to serious drama, it always seems to me that he’s trying too hard. Fry is also a natural goof. Which is why I find his Jeeves to be insufficiently restrained. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/46 "2006-11-17T15:06:35Z")
OK, so after this discussion, when Mr. S got home last night I had to pop some Bertie in the player for our before-bed viewing. Which reminded me to come back here and tell the J&W novices to **watch the mirrors.** This show can make you laugh from just _the camera angles!_ The best example is in the one where Stiffy Byng catches Bertie & Jeeves in her room. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/47 "2006-11-17T15:08:21Z")
[QUOTE=Eleanor of Aquitaine] Bertie Wooster may inspire affection, but not lust, I think. He’s a snappy dresser (thanks to Jeeves) and Hugh Laurie is perfectly built to wear those clothes, but the character is goofy and nearly asexual. I’ve been watching Hugh Laurie in TV shows and in movies for a long time, but I never thought of him as hot until he played House. [/QUOTE] I don’t know if I dare watch. To feel affection and lust for the same guy; it’s just too much. It’s got to be one or the other or it’s overwhelming! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/48 "2006-11-17T15:17:28Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] A viewer should _never_ be able to tell from Jeeves’s words or expressions that he thinks Bertie is a nincompoop. He should be absolutely opaque to the observer. The only hint we have that Jeeves absolutely hates Bertie’s sartorial choices is his insistence that he change them. The one exception is the story in which Bertie is made to speak before an audience of schoolgirls. There we get the story from Jeeves’s perspective and it shows how thoroughly self-interested and ruthless he is. [/QUOTE] There’s also the story where Bertie overhears Jeeves giving tips to the fellow who’s filling in while Jeeves goes on his annual holiday. Jeeves states that the locum will “find Mr. Wooster mentally negligible.” Also, I don’t think that Jeeves hates all of Bertie’s sartorial choices. Rather, I think he is simply a bit more conservative than Bertie. By and large they get along well, but it’s Bertie’s occasional forays into the unconventional that trigger discontent - purple sox, the Coolidge special, etc. Plus the banjo. (And who could blame Jeeves over that?!?) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/49 "2006-11-17T15:18:59Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] No one beats Hugh Laurie as a blithering idiot. He made his bones as Prince George (the future George IV) in _Black Adder III_ and as Bertie Wooster. It’s strange that for general American audiences he’s only known for his grim-faced portrayals in _House_ and that Jane Austen one. [/QUOTE] Which Jane Austen one? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/50 "2006-11-17T16:02:06Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] Which Jane Austen one? [/QUOTE] _Sense and Sensibility_, the one with Kate Winslet. Laurie plays Mr. Palmer, who keeps calling his wife “silly.” ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/51 "2006-11-17T16:03:58Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] Which Jane Austen one? [/QUOTE] He played the long-suffering Mr. Palmer in the 1995 version of _Sense and Sensibility_. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/52 "2006-11-17T16:12:01Z")
right - I’ve got the image now - thanks. I did not recognize him. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/53 "2006-11-17T16:33:21Z")
[QUOTE=h.sapiens] He played the long-suffering Mr. Palmer in the 1995 version of _Sense and Sensibility_. [/QUOTE] He and Imelda Staunton (who was the extremely silly Mrs. Palmer) also played a more serious married couple in 1992’s _[Peter’s Friends](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105130/)_ – and, oh look! There’s Stephen Fry again! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/54 "2006-11-17T16:51:08Z")
British films and film-makers do seem much more in the repertory tradition than American movies. Is it because there is a smaller pool of actors? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/55 "2006-11-17T17:03:28Z")
That, and they all come from the British theater, which in turn has a smaller stylistic focus. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/56 "2006-11-17T17:24:58Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] That, and they all come from the British theater, which in turn has a smaller stylistic focus. [/QUOTE] The Fry/Laurie/Emma Thompson etc crowd all went to Cambridge University together. There have been a few generations of British comedians and actors who all passed through the Footlights Drama Club at the same time, and went on to collaborate together eg the Goodies, a couple of the Pythons. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/57 "2006-11-17T18:34:35Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] The Fry/Laurie/Emma Thompson etc crowd all went to Cambridge University together. There have been a few generations of British comedians and actors who all passed through the Footlights Drama Club at the same time, and went on to collaborate together eg the Goodies, a couple of the Pythons. [/QUOTE] That makes their appearance in **The Young Ones** episode, titled “Bambi”, in which they are the opposing school (Footlights College) in the University Challenge against Scumbag College. Hugh Laurie played Lord Monty, Stephen Fry played Lord Snot and someone will have to help me with Emma Thompson’s character. I haven’t seen it in a while. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/58 "2006-11-17T18:35:56Z")
[QUOTE=Nutty Bunny] That makes their appearance in The Young Ones episode, titled “Bambi”, in which they are the opposing school (Footlights College) in the University Challenge against Scumbag College **even funnier**. [qUOTE] That sentence makes a bit more sense now…hopefully. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/59 "2006-11-17T18:38:01Z")
Oh, for the love of Pete! I give up. I can’t even quote myself! ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623/60 "2006-11-17T18:40:30Z")
[QUOTE=Nutty Bunny] Hugh Laurie played Lord Monty, Stephen Fry played Lord Snot and someone will have to help me with Emma Thompson’s character. I haven’t seen it in a while. [/QUOTE] Miss Money-Sterling. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fry-laurie-as-wooster-and-jeeves-worth-watching-worth-buying/380623.md?page=4)