“Oh, now you see, that is clever, Jeeves.”
“Really, sir?”
It’s cheating, this is Jeeves and Wooster, but don’t hold it against me. (I ACTUALLY THINK THEIR INTERPRETATION OF JEEVES AND WOOSTER IS SORT OF FLAWED BUT DON’T HOLD THAT AGAINST ME EITHER)
“Oh, now you see, that is clever, Jeeves.”
“Really, sir?”
It’s cheating, this is Jeeves and Wooster, but don’t hold it against me. (I ACTUALLY THINK THEIR INTERPRETATION OF JEEVES AND WOOSTER IS SORT OF FLAWED BUT DON’T HOLD THAT AGAINST ME EITHER)
My very favourite Fry & Laurie, Jeeves & Wooster moment!
“I ACTUALLY THINK THEIR INTERPRETATION OF JEEVES AND WOOSTER IS SORT OF FLAWED”
Potentially hot take.
“You bloody well ARE informed”
I felt a fond yet embarrassing sensation of self-recognition watching the “Desolation Of Smaug” documentaries where Peter Jackson said that Stephen Fry is an incorrigible raconteur and drops random science all OVER the damn place, at length, but is at least usually amusing in doing so. The man likes to dispense information. If Yoda told me he was my real father I’d understand so much.
(Now, watching Peep Show for the first time last year was just a direct “OH SHIT, THAT’S ME” when David Mitchell started WWIIing)
Not that I tell women who come over about the privations of Stalingrad, but I was certainly telling my fourth grade classmates.
Though I might suggest “Das Boot” for romantic viewing.
Hey, if you don’t tell them random interesting facts, how will they learn them? Most of this stuff will almost never come up in casual conversation, and so many people are therefore deprived of trivia.
Ties into the other story about trivia.
*makes intertwining fingers gesture*
“There is also that to be considered, sir.”
A Jeeves and Wooster routine is the only way a couple can have one person doing domestic tasks while the other plays games without a resulting fight.
“Do you know *everything* Jeeves?”
*pause*
“I really don’t know, sir.”
That also fits with my mentioning the Blues Brothers yesterday morning. It’s not *my* fault that the Toast’s mind blends with mine. It’s my gift! (as in a present, not an ability, mind you)
If i recall correctly, when Fray and Laurie were asked to play Jeeves and Wooster, they flat out refused, saying no-one could do it justice. They only agreed because ITV were going to do it anyway, without them…
That article is here, sir.
http://www.pgwodehousebooks.com/lauriesaved.htm
No thanks, please. I am a librarian.
PEAK TOAST.
BWAHAHAHAHA. Best compliment ever.
Yes exactly, but they don’t match my idea either
I need to know what is flawed because it is the best and so is nitpicking.
I feel like they sometimes (Fry especially) went BROAD with their mugging and their “oh isn’t this line CLEVER” when part of the fun of the books is how subtle they are!
Agree
I would argue, though, that there’s a lot of goofy humor in the books that doesn’t automatically translate to television because it’s in the narration rather than the dialogue, and so a certain amount of mugging might be necessary to bring it across.
Also, Hugh Laurie has a certain amount of buggy-eyed goofery about his face that reads as mugging even when he’s being still and dour. When he does comedy, it’s impossible to get away from.
I would argue that the opening sequence of J&W is possibly the most perfect piece of comedy ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqvddpX1uYA
He really does! See also the Prince Regent in Blackadder 3.
This is also partly why his Mr. Palmer in Sense & Sensibility is so great. Full 180.
OH so true – and when Mr. Palmer is (perhaps) unexpectedly kind to Elinor in S&S…
All the feels.
I might have watched that opening scene 40 or so times in the last few years….
Also, Hugh Laurie has a certain amount of buggy-eyed goofery about his face that reads as mugging even when he's being still and dour. When he does comedy, it's impossible to get away from.
I would argue that the opening sequence of J&W is possibly the most perfect piece of comedy ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqvddpX1uYA
He really does! See also the Prince Regent in Blackadder 3.
This is also partly why his Mr. Palmer in Sense & Sensibility is so great. Full 180.
OH so true – and when Mr. Palmer is (perhaps) unexpectedly kind to Elinor in S&S…
All the feels.
“Hode hode hode ho, sir.” has got to be my favorite moment in all of Stephen Fry’s oeuvre.
It gets me every time.
BWAHAHAHAHA. Best compliment ever.
You cannot do a truly great “Jeeves and Wooster” show because 80 percent of the greatness comes from Bertie’s viewpoint.
Hugh Laurie is great, but he is not my Bertie. Stephen Fry is almost right. He has that Jeeves glint in his eye.
My Jeeves and Wooster is “Right Ho, Jeeves” read by Jonathan Cecil.
Oh, me too, me too!! Jonathan Cecil has the right “funny-tone” for P.G. Wodehouse, my absolute favorite. No one I know is interested so I got all flaired up by your comment.