Stephen Fry binge

Ah, Netflix. I can always count on you to entertain me. Last night Netflix brought me an impromptu Stephen Fry binge. Fry is a celebrated British actor, comic, author, tech evangelist, and grand dame of Twitter (in his hilariously naughty persona as Mrs. Stephen Fry.) I had already seen via Netflix numerous episodes of Stephen Fry's America, in which he visits all 50 U.S. states. Note: should you ever be fortunate enough to have Stephen Fry as a houseguest, do not arrange a horseback riding expedition for him. Such an afternoon in Kentucky was plainly and painfully *not* one of Stephen's favorite American adventures. Netflix apparently recently added (if it was there before, I somehow missed it) some vintage Fry, with his old comic partner and fellow Brit wit Hugh Laurie in the appropriately titled "A Bit of Fry and Laurie." Yes, Hugh Laurie is definitely and defiantly English. We on this side of the pond are used to hearing him speaking with an American accent as the cane-welding and sharp-tongued diagnostician Gregory House, M.D. The answer to the trivia question perhaps forming in your mind is no, Stephen Fry never appeared on "House." Not due to any falling out, just other obligations, time issues, and the small matter of an ocean sitting in the way. So far, I have just watched the first episode of "A Bit" and each comedy sketch is brilliant. Fortunately the show lasted from 1989 to 1995 so there are lots of bits left to watch. Fry and Laurie were more than a bit busy in the early 1990s, starring for several years on the British television version of P.D. Wodehouse's "Jeeves and Wooster." This was my first introduction to Fry, as the butler, Jeeves, and Laurie as his somewhat dim-witted employer Bertie Wooster. I think it was on Masterpiece Theater. Sadly, "Jeeves and Wooster" is not currently available on Netflix. Netflix *does* have "Kingdom," Stephen Fry's series from 2007 to 2009. He plays a solicitor in a small English village serving quirky clients and mentoring a young law clerk. This is more of a drama with some gentle humor rather than the sharp laughfest that is "A Bit." Both "A Bit" and "Kingdom" are well worth watching. Twenty years separate them so it is interesting to see Fry as a young comic cracking one liners and then as a more mature actor delivering wry lines. Disclaimer - This is not intended to a complete filmography of Fry or Laurie. They have appeared in numerous other shows together or individually, such as Fry as a psychiatrist turned chef on "Bones."