Do you wanna chat about any House cast member, lead or guest star, past or present, in other roles, like, say, Hugh Laurie in the Stuart Little movies, Robert Sean Leonard in Dead Poets Society or Sela Ward in Once and Again? Do so here.
Everybody's going to list Bertie and the Prince Regent as their HL faves, but two one-shot roles also stand out: (1) Believe or not, his two-minute cameo on Friends with Jennifer Aniston. With the same glorious brand of snark we would come to love on House, he redefines Rachel's Grand Romantic Crisis as the high school whining it is. (Bonus snarkiness: HL deftly uses airplane headphones as the ultimate symbol of disdain.) (2) Prince Ludwig in Blackadder II ("Chains"). A tour de force. An incredible comedic creation. The dungeon scene with HL, Stephen Fry (as Melchett) and Rowan Atkinson may be the best in all five series. (Bonus: HL's fey German accent; disguised as Miranda Richardson, he winds up running England.)
I want to vote for Ian from Flight of the Phoenix.
Okay, you got me, I never saw it. Even HL couldn't overcome my inertia in that regard, but it might be something to be Blockbuster'd/Netflix'd (the verbing of American English continues unabated).
Looking over Sela Ward's resume, I have to say I haven't seen much. So I'll also have to say my favorite Sela Ward non-House moment is the dead wife of Dr. Richard Kimble.
Hmm... Sela Ward. My two favorite actors, both playing doctors, both shaving impaired. A pattern forms....
I remember Lisa Edelstein from two prime NBC sitcoms: she was Frasier's "crunchy granola" girlfriend Caitlin (their relationship was no talk, all sex), and George's girlfriend Karen on Seinfeld (the one he thought faked her orgasms). Weird thing is, I was vaguely annoyed by both characters. Both plotlines centered on her sexuality, and I didn't think LE was hot either time.
Cuddy? Cuddy is HOT.
Speaking of Lisa Edelstein now... I've been watching her for years and didn't know it until recently.
Well, rather I should say I've been listening to her voice as Lex Luthor's assistant/bodyguard "Mercy Graves" on the various permutations of the animated DC Universe, beginning almost a decade ago with Superman: The Animated Series.
She's so dry and deadpan with her delivery, giving off an air of menace and only lightly hinting a more personal interest in Mr. Luthor. I love the fact that she still does the voice for the occasional appearance on JLU.
I thought Hugh Laurie was great in Sense and Sensibility. I like to think that it's Jane Austen's take on House (very reserved and polite, of course), only instead of a bum leg, he had a marriage to a woman he barely tolerates as his cross to bear.
Not all of us, cjl. I just couldn't ever get into that show. I never lasted more than 5 minutes. I did, however, watch Sisters, soapy that is was.
Lisa Edelstein's also really fabulous in her stint on the West Wing. she was a recurring character on the first season, playing Sam Seaborn's, um, call girl friend.
Yes, Lunete, Edelstein was terrific as the escort/law student on The West Wing. She had a great scene with President Sheen in one episode -- I loved how the writers allowed the Prez to show some respect and empathy toward her character, despite the possible political hot water that her and Sam's relationship could get everyone into.
Really loathed the storyline she was a part of in Felicity, though. If she'd stayed John Ritter's sponsor -- no prob. But when she put her paws on the lovely Benjamin? Ayee!
I didn't care for Lauren on Felicity either. I was re-watching that storyline on WE while I was pregnant, and when Lauren started drinking during her pregnancy, I was completely turned off. Nothing against LE, and it was mostly to do with my condition and the timing of the storyline, but I still can't watch those episodes of Felicity.
I will always have a soft spot for Lisa Edelstein b/c she was on the show Relativity. It was one of those great shows that got cancelled during the first season.
I forgot all about Lisa's role on West Wing! I did, however, stuble across her again for the first time while watching Daddy Day Care with the kids last weekend. She spends most of the time running around with a supertight/red face. Minor cosmetic surgery addict.
Lisa was also Bobby on Sports Night and the sister Rhonda in Relativity (which started out well and then took a dive in my opinion).
LE was in Sports Night?? How did I not know that?
I was going to mention Relativity also. That was a great show, another one canceled before its time.
The first time I saw Hugh in something was Jeeves and Wooster on Masterpiece Theatre. Its still strange seeing him playing someone smart - he does dim so well.
So, I'm the only one who has watched "I Was a Teenage Vampire" too many times just because RSL is in it?
Jennifer Morrison (Dr Cameron) is in 'Mr and Mrs Smith'. She's one of Angelina Jolie's workmates. Not a big part, but she's high up the credits (after Pitt, Jolie, Vaughn, Brody and Washington I think)
Love Lisa Edelstein as Cuddy. Perfect. Wasn't a big fan of hers when she played the transsexual on "Ally McBeal." And does anyone remember her playing in a short-lived NBC show: "Leap of Faith?" It was a Darren Starr show. Didn't last long at all. Oh, and does anyone recognize her as the woman diner patron who is insulted (along with her friend) by Melvin Udahl in "As Good As It Gets?" (I only know this because I've seen this movie a million times).
I loved HL in "Sense and Sensibility" and "Peter's Friends." Because of those, it never occurred to me that people thought he was just a comedic actor. I guess I assumed that he was one of those Brits who just goes seamlessly from comedy to heavy drama to farce to Greek tragedy and musical comedy and be effortlessly wonderful, graceful and charming at all of them. Watching him in "House," I think I was right!
I do love "Jeeves and Wooster" and "Blackadder," too, though.
I've always thought of RSL as a stage actor. I mean, I loved him in "Swing Kids" (and Christian Bale!) and I liked "Much Ado," but him in it, not so much. I even saw "The Last Days of Disco" for him, although that movie... Not my cup of tea. But then, on stage! He was so wonderful in "Arcadia" and, oh my god, amazing in "The Invention of Love." There's this one scene that's seared in my memory. So, so, so very good. Incredible. I paid the extra money for a really good ticket to "Long Day's Journey Into Night" and he was terrific in that, too. (I even waited afterwards, all fangirly, to get his autograph. And believe me, I'm way too old to be fangirly.)
Okay, so Vanessa Redgrave was positively amazing in "Long Day's Journey," but her character gets the beautiful blow-you-away speech in that one and it's just not possible to compete, even though RSL held his own the rest of the show (and those two together in scene were pretty darn fantastic. I think that's one of the reasons he's so good on stage -- he's very generous and plays with others really, really well. Like Blair Brown in "Arcadia." Her best scenes were with him. And, man alive, was he gooood.)
RSL appears in three of my five all-time favorite (transcendent-type)Broadway plays. And "Invention of Love"... Oh my god. Just that good. I'm hoping "House" will raise his profile enough with the kind of people who produce shows to mean he can do whatever he wants and we can all go see him in it.
I'd love to see HL on stage. Now I'll be spending all my time thinking of a play he could do with RSL. And maybe with Joseph Fiennes and Jude Law (saw him on stage, too) and Imelda Staunton (saw *her* on stage, too!) A girl can dream...
So, I was watching The Day After Tomorrow a few days back, and imagine my surprise to see Sela Ward playing Dennis Quaid's wife. She did a good job, although the moment I realized she was playing a doctor I started snickering.
I liked Sela Ward better in "Sisters" than in "Once and Again," even though I really liked "Once and Again." I mean, just as somebody I would want to hang out with -- Teddy seemed a lot more fun than Lily. Swoosie Kurtz, Evan Rachel Wood, Marin Hinkle, Steven Weber, Billy Campbell... A lot of her former costars would make fun patients.
Ooh, that reminds me, all the Dalys (Tim and Tyne) are looking for work these days...
Wow, this thread is great both for reminding me of all the great past performances -- and for how bad my memory is, too! I'd completely blanked out that RSL was in "Arcadia" and "Iceman Cometh" until I read this thread, even though I saw 'em both.
And I was *sure* that I remembered RSL as the only bearable thing in the Tyne Daly "Seagull" -- but I just looked it up ... and it was Ethan Hawke.
(Hangs head in shame.)
Looking at his Bway resume -- http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?id=49513 -- he was in The Music Man? Did anyone see it? I had no idea he could sing.
The first time I ever caught sight of House was when I was on holiday in the States in March and I was just flicking through TV channels...randomly stumbled on an episode of House and went "Wait a second...that's Hugh Laurie! And what's Robert Sean Leonard doing there?! And that looks like the guy who used to be Billy Kennedy! Surely not?!?!?!?!" Figured since the casting seemed to be so inspired, it was definitely worth another look.
Just a heads-up for Jesse Spencer fans or interested others: My tv guide says that his 2002 movie Stranded is on the Hallmark channel (US not UK) today (Saturday) at 1pm Eastern time. It appears to run 4 hours. I haven't seen it, but the story is a take on the Swiss Family Robinson saga.
Hee. My TiVo suggested The Man In The Iron Mask for me last night (I guess it was on Bravo?), which reminded me that Hugh Laurie is in that movie as Bad!Twin!DiCaprio's Chief Advisor. It's a very small part in a fairly crappy movie, notable only for the hilarious look on his face when he gets fired and told that the new guy is going to execute him.
The talent that RSL has worked with on stage (and in film) is truly staggering.
Vanessa Redgrave, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Brian Dennehy in Long Days Journey Into Night, Kevin Spacey in The Iceman Cometh. Richard Easton in The Invention of Love, Blair Brown in Arcadia, Derek Jacobi in Breaking the Code and Parker Posey in the off Broadway version of The Fifth of July, to name just a few.
Having read the reviews of most if not all of these, I'm heartbroken that I never saw any of them. Even seeing RSL try something new and different (The Music Man) would have been an experience I'd always remember. *sigh*
Reading that list made me realize that I must have seen RSL when I saw Breaking the Code. I'm abashed to admit that I have no memory of him (aside from thinking that the whole cast, which also included Jenny Agutter, Michael Gough, and Colm Meaney, was good). But of course in 1987 he was 18 (hadn't yet made Dead Poets Society, even), so perhaps I can be forgiven.
For that matter, when he was 24 he played on Broadway in Shaw's Candida, in which his character Marchbanks has a youthful crush on the title character played by Mary Steenburgen. He was the only element of the production to be nominated for a Tony award, so the theater community seems to have recognized early that he was something pretty special. Well, Arcadia came only two years later, and in a smallish role he was quietly spectacular (outstanding alongside not only Blair Brown, but Victor Garber, debutant Billy Crudup, Lisa Banes, Jennifer Dundas, and Paul Giamatti). That's when I realized that he had a special spark of acting genius onstage. And now he's finally managed to release it on film as well.
By the way, though his singing may still be a largely unexplored area, he put some impressively smooth dancing on display in the movie Swing Kids -- worth a look on that account.
Hugh Laurie was also Hector in Cousin Bette.
Finally took the off ramp from the old thread!
Don't know if this was already mentioned in another thread, but this seems like the place to do it.
Caught Jesse Spencer in the Aussie movie "Swimming Upstream" over the weekend. Ordered it just out of curiousity to see him in something else. It seemed more like a Hallmark or LMN movie to me, but I guess the main character, Tony Fingleton, must be a pretty big sports hero in Oz.
I like him in a short, 50's style haircut! Of course, those of you with the Jesseluv will like the fact that he spends much of the film wearing only Speedos. He actually smiled quite a few times and showed his blindingly white perfect teeth and close-ups showed off his gorgeous blue eyes.
Unless you enjoy stories in which abusive alcoholic fathers mistreat their children, this flick is only for Geoffrey Rush (father) or Jesse (Tony) or Judy Davis (long-suffering mom) fans. BTW, I have never seen her look more pale and washed out. The cinematographer did her no favors!
No joke. Before the summer reruns had kicked in, the only episode I had managed to watch was the (very well-done) pilot. I was hooked on The Amazing Race shortly afterward, and had a busted VCR. Anyway, the night before the House pilot, by sheer chance, I had watched http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0275719/combined, in which RSL co-starred with Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. I had no idea who RSL was, let alone that he would be in the show the next night. Also, that movie is very theatrical in structure, with all the action taking place in a motel room. So reading here about RSL's background on the stage makes total sense.
As for Sela Ward, I'll always remember her best from Sisters, and still think that Teddy was incredibly cool. I'm happy to report she's very gracious in person, as I discovered at a signing of her autobiography in Little Rock.
And Lisa Edelstein, no matter what she is in, will always make me think back to Relativity — and by extension, seeing her success on this show, make me feel even worse for her co-star Kimberly Williams' weekly endurance of life According to Jim.
The only thing I ever saw Lisa Edelstein in was Keeping the Faith. It was a movie that starred Ben Stiller, Jenna Elfman, and Edward Norton and Norton directed it. She played a woman who goes on a date with Stiller and she was freaking hilarious in it. She was this over-the-top workout freak and LE was just funny. It's a small role but it overall a cute movie.
RSL will always be Neil Perry to me. I don't live in NY so I never get to see any theater so I have to based everything I know off his movies.
I have to wonder if I am the only loser here who has seen the Mary-Kate and Ashley movie Winning London? It stars a younger Jesse Spencer as James, the quintessential polite English boy competing in a hardcore Model UN competition. Oddly enough he had some daddy issues in that one too. Now when I think about JS as dating an Olsen twin it seems very icky, but I guess he was playing younger.
He was also in Uptown Girls too. [small voice] I actually kinda like 'Molly Smiles', the song he sings at the end.
"Uh, I'm going to take 'the only loser here' for $1,000, Alex."
Kidding Jaxter! We kid because we love.
Jaxter, I was always very tempted, but now you've convinced me to see at least Uptown Girls. Why?
DumbBrunette, see Uptown Girls if you must cool your affections for Jesse Spencer. If you want to be completely turned off, listen to what is supposed to be music. It's crap. If you want to sample the music, you can go to the Uptown Girls soundtrack at amazon.com and listen to a few god-awful bars there.
Do not ask me how I know this stuff.
"Do you mean his singing, or the soundtrack?
Where is the Omar Epps love? Since the NBA playoffs are underway, OE was quite good in "Love and Basketball" and another vaguely sport-tinged film, John Singleton's awful "Higher Education" also starring Jennifer Connelly and film Buffy.
If you haven't seen Hugh Laurie play Jools Siviter in MI-5 (Spooks in the U.K.) he is an absolute hoot: condescendingly nasty and very funny. He was only Season I but he was wonderful.
As for the Aussie swimming film. I tried but jeez what a waste of Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis. Pitiful. Even JS in a Speedo couldn't keep it afloat.
DumbBrunette, his voice is fine. The music itself sucks--oh, maybe I shouldn't say that--no, it sucks. It isn't music the poor boy is singing. I'm sure he is singing what was written, but, oh, my.....it is bad. Not music. No. Go listen to it, but be prepared. It's not the execution, it's the stuff.
JeanPoole (here, here I am!) I am about the Omar love!! And thank you for giving him a shout out. I truly adore him. However, I have only seen a few films of his. If you or anyone else can recommend others, I would so appreciate it.
I saw some of Love and Basketball. The plot didn't intrigue me at all, so I was tuning out often. Omar was awesome in what I saw though.
Apparently Omar Epps was also in "Alfie", the new one released in 2004 (aka "The Year of Jude Law").
I haven't seen it but heard it was not so good.
He was also in the "new" version of "The Mod Squad", also not so good unless you happen to be in an altered mental state whereupon it's really solid.
The moral of the story is that Omar Epps should never, ever do a remake of any film released in the 20'th century...that should narrow it down some.
Ha, I'm glad I'm not totally alone here with the cheesy movie viewings.
I have to say I agree that the songs from Uptown Girls are a few rungs below good. The Egyptian cotton sheets one was almost funny the first time but that died fairly quickly. I do think his voice is pretty nice though.
Speaking of singing in roles, I've just gotten my hands on some songs of Hugh as Bertie Wooster although I haven't yet seen the series. I have read some though, so I'm not totally lost. Hearing him try to fit all the words into the chorus of "Puttin On the Ritz" cracks me up.
When I saw HL in "MI-5", I remember thinking, "They should give him his own show playing this character. I would love a show where HL snarks at lesser beings for an hour." I was ecstatic to find that someone who actually produces for TV finally agreed with me.
The Young Visiters is just lovely. Highly recommended.
I guess this must make me the low-brow end of the comedy spectrum, but my favourite HL role so far is of Sam Bell in the movie "Maybe Baby".
The one scene where he is moped-ing his sperm to the hospital wearing his little crash helmet never fails to crack me up, because he has this great sense of comic timing, and doesn't mind looking completely stupid!
As has been discussed ad nauseum in the giant defunct thread, the UK version of Maybe Baby is a good bit longer and is much more fully realized.
As one of the ones who discussed it ad nauseum in the other thread, I'm still not thrilled with the gaps. It makes the ending far more believable and Sam's betrayal of Lucy is fleshed out to make the viewer more sympathetic to her feelings, but the movie still felt uneven.
Backtracking several pages to mujer's question:
The "Bambi" episode (guest starring Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, and Stephen Fry) of The Young Ones is airing tonight on BBC America at 11:40 PM CST. And speaking of young, Hugh certainly looks and sounds it.
Omar is terrific in "Against the Ropes" which if you have those extra Showtime channels seems to be in rotation this week. Showtime is able to sell it as a boxing movie, a movie about a successful woman and a generally feel good movie so it seems to pop up on all the channels, It's a Meg Ryan flick but Omar and Charles Dutton really sell it. You could say that Meg brings the cheese, Omar brings the beef, Tony Shalhoub and Tim Daly together add the special sauce. Anything more would be a patent violation.
Thanks for the tip, eejm. I almost missed recording it. It's repeated again at 3:40 am CST.
Thanks to all the discussion on this thread, my Netflix list has grown substantially.
I'm not quite sure if I understand your question about BBC America, Lizzim. As far as I know, there is only one channel of BBCA, and I'm not sure if the programming differs by region. It looks to me that the only rebroadcast of Bambi was the one very early this morning that MsJ mentioned.
Was that what you were asking, or am I way off?
Back on topic, Chi McBride, aka Vogler, is in The Terminal, which is currently playing on Cinemax.
As a born and bred Angelina, HL's comment on L.A. drivers was spot on. I'm continually amazed that 80% of the drivers here actually passed any sort of driver's test and figured out how to start the car. I realize it's hard to drive, talk on the phone, drink a latte, and read Variety, but Red Lights should ring a vague bell once in a while.
Re: The Terminal. I guess I can tivo it and then fast forward through the Zeta-Jones portions. The woman sets my teeth on edge. As much as I love Tom Hanks I couldn't force myself to see another CZJ movie. Yes, she was good in Chicago .
Lizzim : I would whole-heartedly recommend renting/buying Series I of MI-5/Spooks just to take a gander at HL in full condescending, charming, oily snarl as Jools Siviter. I think he's in two eps of that first year and well worth it. The show's good too so you don't waste the six hours.
If you're lucky enough to have Showtime, Fathers & Sons with Lisa Edelstein will begin in about five minutes.
RSL in Dead Poets? Heartbreakingly beautiful.
HL, of course, is wonderful in many incarnations but I have to say that it's sometimes hard to believe that snarky House is played by the same actor as my favorite Blackadder character of his, Prince George.
"I have the most magnificent trousers!"
Consarn it, I can't believe I missed Bambi. Looks like I'll be setting up the TiFaux. Whenever my friends & I didn't have an answer to a question, we always said, "I'm going to wee on Lord Snot." Aaah, good times.
ETA: Wednesday, 6/22, at 9:40 pm.
I did happen to catch "The Young Ones" ep this go round and word on the young. (Also interesting that both Emma & Hugh got much better looking as they got older, while Fry looks about the same.) Question -- who's the 4th guy? I'm not up enough on my Footlights mythology to know which of the many famous names (Robbie Coltrane!) that zip by in the credits he is.
I think the 4th guy is Ben Elton....who wrote the Blackadder Series with Richard Curtis (except the first series)
Ben Elton also wrote The Young Ones, Maybe Baby and about 9 novels, all of which I own. He also wrote the book to a musical about soccer with ALW that never made it to NY. It was about the time of the collaboration with Sir Andrew that I realized he had no street cred left.
One of my favourite HL appearances was in the Annie Lennox's video for Walking On Broken Glass. He plays Annie's husband and he is fantastic, his tortured embarrassed looks to to the other guests as Annie loses it at her lover's wedding are stunning. John Malkovich is great as well as her lover but Hugh I think steals the show. I never really liked the song until I saw the video.
I remember the first time I saw House I saw Jennifer Morrison and thought, "Oh yeah, she played the dead girl in Stir of Echoes".
Lisa Edelstein was in "As Good as it Gets" it was in the beginning and she was sitting on Jack Nicholson's favorite table. Nicholson yelled at Helen Hunt, "There are Jews sitting at my table". Nicholson also said something deregatory about her nose and her companion's.
She was also in a show called "Leap of Faith". It starred Sarah Paulsen. It was a sex and the city type show and she played the slutty one.
She was also a guest in "Mad about you" playing a woman Paul thought was the great love he let go. It turns out that she barely remembers their time together.
Robert Sean Leonard was in "A Glimpse of Hell" yesterday, on FX. Interesting film. He was awesome, as always.
" And I missed it. :-(
BBCA is showing Hugh's episode of the Young Ones (Bambi) again today at 4:40 p.m.
I'm sure you guys have discussed this to death on the old thread,but I just watched 'Dead Poet's Society' with RSL. I liked the movie, and loved, loved, loved RSL. He was very good, and it was fun seeing him so young! I also got a kick out of the fact that his character was going to med.school and had a friend named Cameron. Of course, my delight was kind of killed at the end of the movie...:( Still, great movie.
And didn't his dad go on to play Eric Foreman's dad?
Yup. Kurtwood Smith played Mr. Perry in DPS and is ending his long run as Red Foreman on "That 70s Show" this coming season.
I concur that it's fate for Kurtwood Smith to appear as someone on House (grouchy clinic patient, maybe?). Playing RSL's father in the past AND House being the other show with Eric Foreman on it makes this his destiny.
OK, so a very cheesy late 80s movie is on WE right now -- "Bridesmaids" -- and Sela Ward is in it. The movie just ended and I realized it's a "poor man's "Sex and the City." (Which I just felt compelled to give my two cents about the comparison.) Anyway, for the Sela Ward lovers out there, check it out sometime. And you know, I do like her, very much. Just not with our House.
Darn it, I screwed up my Faux-TiVo. I managed to get 6 episodes of The Young Ones recorded but I missed the only one I really wanted: Bambi. Darn it. I checked the BBCAmerica site & it looks as though I'll have lots of opportunities to record the remaining episodes, but no more chances as that one. As I could barely sit through the ones I did record, I shall not bother.
Wading in at the shallow end, I did record & watch A Glimpse of Hell & I must say... RSL is dreamy in a uniform. Best part: he is in short sleeves for much of the movie. Nice forearms! (gotta clean the drool off the keyboard now).
Is that Jennifer Morrison in a bit part in Mr. and Mrs. Smith? It looked like it might have been her playing one of Angelina's spygirls? Just asking. I read this back a couple of weeks and saw no mention of it. Does anyone know? It was killing me during the movie. I hate when I should know a face but can't place it!!! Thanks,
I'm editing to add that I looked this up and it is indeed her. (Duh! I too can use a computer) Something looked different about her in the movie though. She was really hard for me to place. Sorry to bother y'all. This is why I never post...it's always stupid, stupid, stupid. Back to lurking.
couchyammy, I haven't seen "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," but others here have, and yes, you are correct: Jennifer Morrison is one of the spygirls.
(whispers) I like "Stuart Little."
I did too. I only watched a few months ago. I was flipping through channels and saw HL (at that time I didn't know he was in those movies). He looked so adorable. Anyway, I ended up watching the whole thing. And never admitted it until now.
Hey, I liked Stuart Little too. But then I liked the books as a kid. And I'm a big fan of Hugh Laurie and Michael J. Fox, and little Jonathan L. is a cutie ("Did you know the human head weighs 8 pounds?" should have been in the 100 Greatest Movie Quotes because, after all, he was asking Tom (What Planet am I on/From?) Cruise). I even watched the second one, although I didn't like it as much. They're fine for what they are--adaptations of children's books done by some excellent actors. They don't pretend to be "War and Peace". And I loved "The Borrowers" too. Very good for a kid's imagination. So there.
praeceptrix: unless you are a huge "Young Ones" fan, I wouldn't be too upset about missing out on "Bambi". HL and his friends were probably on screen for all of three minutes and had maybe two lines apiece. It was interesting to see what they looked like way back when but jeez--having to sit through the inane dreck that is a typical "Young Ones" episode is too high a price to pay. Thirty minutes of my life I can never get back.
Alright so I had netflixed the Judy Garland bio that was on tv a few years ago cause I love Judy Davis and had never seen it and guess who popped up as Vincente Minnelli? Hugh! I wasn't expecting that and wasn't looking at the screen when all the sudden I heard House's voice and looked up. He was in it for about a half hour and he really pretty much used the same voice he know uses for House. It was odd to see him bounding around in some scenes cause I'm so used to the limp.
Was the first series of MI-5 the one that Anthony Stewart Head guested in? I'll have to add that to the netflix list.
Thanks, MsJ. I tried to watch the episodes I'd recorded, but... yuck. Not my style at all. I shall save the $3.98 + $5.25 shipping.
Grom -- ASH was in Season 1 #4 Traitor's Gate. Our beloved HL was in that episode & the next The Rose Bed Memoirs. Alas, they introduced & killed off Peter Salter (ASH's character) in that one episode. A real pity, that, as he had potential to be quite interesting. HL's character (as has been mentioned in various threads by various posters), Jools Siviter, stole the show every time he was on screen.
HL played a "Jools" in MI-5, I wonder if that's how they came up with the cat's name in Detox?
see, these are the kinds of things you think of where you're up way past your bedtime.
The Judy Garland biopic was recapped as a Mondo Extra when it originally aired. You can find it http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/story.cgi?show=56&story=1385&limit=all&sort=.
Finally saw some Jeeves and Wooster. What have I been missing all this time?! Loved it, and really could not stop laughing. So much fun to see HL in a completly different role. It really attests to his acting range. I also loved all the piano playing and singing. His voice isn't half bad!
I've been watching Jeeves and Wooster lately too. And one need only watch the few episodes where the Brits are attempting (rather dreadfully) to put on American accents to really appreciate what a terrific American accent HL has. I get the giggles every time I read one of those non-American reviewers put down HL's American accent. I think it's terrific with only a rare slip up. I think they're just jealous.
Oh, heck yeah. There was one guy who was supposed to be from New York, and he actually didn't sound British in the whole 2 lines he had. His accent was so over-enunciated and jarring, though, that I couldn't help giggling and rolling my eyes a little :) And who could have guessed that bertie Wooster would become an American sex symbol?
Programming note: The Judy Garland biopic, Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows will be on tomorrow night, Friday July 8 at 8pm edt on the Lifetime Movie Network. (3 and 1/2 hours)
RacerX - do you have Tivo or something similar that's more current than printed listings? Both my TV Guide and the http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/tvschedule/tomorrow_out.html say that "Sex and the Single Mom" is on tomorrow, Friday, July 8 at 8 PM EDT.
ETA: Oh - I get it - the Lifetime MOVIE Network - rats, actually I don't get it.
Where and when is Jeeves and Wooster on the TeeVee? (NYC resident here.)
I don't think Jeeves and Wooster is on TV these days. PBS aired it many years ago on "Masterpiece Theater" (that's where I first saw it-- and HL), and it's possible that BBC American might air it sometimes, but your best bet to see it is somehow getting your hands on the DVDs.
You can get Jeeves and Wooster[/url] DVDs in various places, ranging from $75-100 for the complete collection to $25-35 for season one.
I had linked to yahoo shopping for a comparison of different merchants, but the link wasn't working so I excised it. But I'm sure you can froogle or yahoo shop the same thing.
Also, ebay.
Our local library had them.
Just joined Netflix (on a trial basis) and I will instantly order some J&W (along with *small voice* that last Kim Possible movie).
I am in love with Netflix, y'all!
I just saw an interview with Peter Firth singing HL's praises! HOORAY! (Peter Firth and HL costarred together in MI-5 when HL was Jools Siviter and in something else, but I can't remember what!)
Where was that interview, Bosco?
Not exactly Jeeves & Wooster but Chi McBride is in I, Robot right now on Cinemax.
Namaste, it was on DVD 2 of MI-5: Season 1 under the file folder.
If anyone is interested, the recap of Fathers and Sons is up in Mondo Extras. Lisa Edelstein had a role in it.
Friday night had lots of Hugh. Besides Life with Judy Garland, TBS also showed his episode of Family Guy.
Yes he does. And, honestly, if I didn't know it was him, I never would guess. He's that good.
He's actually not Nigel. He's often credited as playing that role, but that's not him. He's one of the tertiary brits. It's been awhile since I've seen it, so I can't remember the line, but it's just the one, maybe two.
nothing to see here...
Netflix-ed Season 1 of Jeeves and Wooster. Have to say, I was never a big fan of Wodehouse or the TV show (when I saw it on New York's PBS-13 about, oh, a billion years ago), but I thought it was time for a reappraisal. It's still too "upper class twit of the year" for me, but I've developed into such a Fry and Laurie fan that the unreal atmosphere of privilege doesn't bother me as much. My favorite bit in the first three eps was Hugh's hilarious version of Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher," with Stephen on back-up vocals:
"Hi dee hi dee hi dee hi...sir."
ETA: Because P.G. Wodehouse deserves some credit, y'know?
HL's the voice of Gutsy in Valiant, Disney's newest animated film, to be released August 19th, about a team of British homing pigeons who helped deliver messages to the British military during WWII.
Currently working my way through Jeeves and Wooster. i've always avoiided it, b/c i LOVE the books. but had to see Hugh.
Not bad, actually, not bad at all!!
Much prefer Hugh's Bertie over Stephen Fry's Jeeves. I believe someone said upthread that SF is too young and I agree!!
"I shall return and wreak my rewengey!"
Prince Ludwig is true to his word. Hugh Laurie's 2 Blackadder II episodes, "Beer" and "Chains" are scheduled to air on BBC America on July 28th at 4:40 PM ET and 5:20 PM ET respectively. I know my TiFaux will be ready.
On Sunday the 17th, (today) ABC Family is showing The Borrowers at 4pm edt, Stuart Little at 6pm and Stuart Little 2 at 8 pm.
Thanks for the heads-up, RacerX. Is it wrong that I think HL is hot even in "Stuart Little"?
I haven't seen Stuart II before (I have a bias against anything to do with Melanie Griffith) but HL is even cuter in this one. Better glasses. And, yes, geeky, but SO sweet. He's very good with children and blue screens, isn't he?
Plus II is the one I saw being filmed in Central Park, and I eagerly await seeing whatever scenes I saw them filming.
Sigh. Lovin' on the Hugh.
Did you see Hugh during the filming, arlykeeno?
Yes. Some friends and I were walking through Central Park near the Bethesda Fountain on a very (unseasonably) hot day in early May, 2001. It was about 95 degrees. And we spotted what was clearly a movie being made right by the Fountain. They had temporary barriers around the outside of the Fountain area. We saw both Hugh and Geena Davis standing around in winter clothes (they looked like winter clothes to us -- coats, sweaters, way too much clothing for the weather, anyway) behind the barriers. There were cameras and tons of people, and tents and clothes racks. It seemed to take forever for them to actually film anything, and then somebody would come out with umbrellas and shade Geena and Hugh during the down time. I think he had a cigarette or two. It was mostly just standing around, but I was excited to see Hugh. I don't recall seeing Jonathan Lipnicki.
This was the same trip I saw RSL in "The Invention of Love," so I have fantasies that HL saw it, too, and they were pals and all. Because I live a vivid fantasy life.
So far, I haven't seen anything in SL2 that looks like what I saw, but my aunt called while I was watching and I'm afraid I missed "my" scenes. (I saw my scenes!! It was only a few minutes from the end. Bethesda Fountain! Hugh in a camel coat! And the pretty white kitty was there, too!) I sure wish I ever remembered to take a camera when I go on vacation. I coulda taken pictures. Sigh.
Things apparently changed when they were making "Stewart Little II". Here's a quote from an interview with HL about "Stewart Little I":
"Heart and Soul" was adorable. There's just no other word for it. I wish Geena Davis could sing better, but Hugh was perfection. And even a little jazzy. I loved how Mr. and Mrs. Little were clearly mad for each other. There's even a BED scene in II!! Woo to the hoo! House's nerdy twin brother got a bed scene!
I definitely found him hot. And I was so excited to see the Bethesda Fountain scenes!!
MsJ, the imdb lists New York as a location for both movies. Maybe they just did some establishing shots for the first one and kept the actors in LA. I also saw an article about how much the second one cost (I think it was $120 mil) and how it didn't make it back, even though they spent gabillions more on promo. Location costs could definitely have upped the cost. I guess that means there won't be a three. Bummer.
I loved the cat, too, and thought Nathan Lane did a very nice job. When I went looking for info about the cat, I found an article about casting in general, and the producer was saying that Sony suggested HL and they saw his pic and said, yes, that IS Frederick Little, and put out an offer and were thrilled to be able to get him. Sweet!
Oh, and the cat is a Chinchilla Persian, btw.
I realized something the other day. I'm not sure *where* to put this comment, so it's going here unless someone can think of a better place to put it.
Amy Lippens, the casting director (the *Emmy* nominated casting director {g}) also worked on "Once and Again", hence the Sela connection as well as the Marin Hinkle connection. She also worked on "Leap of Faith", hence the Lisa connection. She also did a short film with the gal who played Mary in "Kids". She did "Camp Nowhere" with Andrew Keegan. She's cast Meredith Monroe and Amanda Seyfried and Nestor Carbonell in other projects.
I knew she worked on O&A, so I got that connection, but I didn't realize she was involved in some of the other things on her resume. The casts of some of these other projects (even when some of the projects themselves aren't that great) gives me hope that this year's guest stars will be up to par with last year's, not to mention the fact that it further confirms that last season's folks weren't just flukes. She clearly knows what she's doing.
And I have no idea how to reformat that in a way that makes it sound less condescending than it is coming off as. It's not as if I have that kind of talent, so who am I to schmooze her with praise, but hopefully you all know what I mean. She's good. The end. I'll shut up now.
It's funny even though I grew up watching Hugh in shows like Blackadder, Jeeves & Wooster and Fry and Laurie I never really considered myself a fan of Hugh (even though I recognised his talent) until I watched House.
However having said that, I can still vividly recall his performance in All or Nothing at All even though it aired over 10 years ago simply because he was beyond magnificient in it. I remember Hugh's performance more than the plot specifics so apologies if I get anything blatantly wrong. I think Hugh played an investment broker - a nice middle class man with a loving family, friends who adored him and a secretary who was secretly in love with him. Unfortunately he was also a gambling addict - there was a thread throughout the story about how his behaviour towards money had been influenced by his father who was also a gambler. He wasn't an evil man just an incredibly weak one and it was absolutely agonising to watch this man lose every penny of his and everyone else's money. Emma Thompson's mother played the head of a local charity who had given Hugh's character money to invest (which he promptly lost). Her character was blind and there was this one brilliant scene where she has come to ask for her money back and he stays completely quiet in the hope that she won't realise he's there. It's such a powerful scene with Hugh conveying his character's despair and shame at his actions. If I recall it all ended very eerily with his character having being sent to prison for his crimes, sat in his cell burning some money that he had just charmed one of the fellow inmates into giving him on the grounds that he could double his money.
Hugh was just so brilliant in it - funny, charming and as things started to unravel completely haunted and despairing. I remember he got rave reviews for it at the time. It's a shame it isn't available on dvd- I would buy it in a heartbeat it's that good.
Was "All or Nothing at All" shown in the U.S.? I'm asking because your description seems awfully familiar to me, although I didn't actually remember the name of the movie. The scene with the blind woman rings a very distinct bell.
It showed up on PBS at least once as a three part series about a decade ago.
nothing. to. see. here.
Hey, I TiVo'd Peter's Friends last night, and since you all know I have pristine and virginal eyes, are there any really graphic parts I should skip, or is it all pretty mild?
Mild. There's off screen sex and a post-sex scene. There's naked Hugh, but it's almost implied. You see nothing...unfortunately. Tony Slattery's naked ass shows up in one scene, so you should shield your eyes at that point. *Everyone* should shield their eyes at that point. ::Shudder:: Other than that, there's some bad movie, no nudity sex, some foul language here and there and some really bad acting from Ken Branagh. That last part is probably the most offensive thing about the entire movie.
HL in Peter's Friends rocked my socks off, except for the not visual nakedness of HL... Despite the fact that he is more than old enough to be my father...
Greetings all, am a regular/lurker at several other House-related sites but only an ocassional visitor to TWoP and brand new to this particular forum. Just wanted to add that Lisa Edelstein had a memorable guest spot on Without A Trace, ironically playing a dedicated doctor who wasn't too keen on interacting with patients.
So, have to check in on the MI-5 episodes I finally got to see today. Very, very swoon-worthy. The tux? The crying at the opera? The snark? The Jools character HL was playing really did seem to be House's long-lost British spy twin.
Quote of the night? "I myself bugger skinheads." Not only did I find this quote screamingly funny, but the fact that he delivered it, dripping with sarcasm & contempt, while teary over Wagner? I fell in love with HL all over again. What a talented git he is. And damn sexy in a tuxedo. And the scene where he was unbuttoning his trousers? ::fans self frantically:: I only thought I was a fangirl before that moment. We need some ridiculously contrived PPTH formal event. I promise to diverge from my usual distate of contrivance and wholeheartedly gush over it.
Petty, superficial question, though -- many shots of HL in both of the MI-5 episodes showed a decided lack of hair from the crown to the back of his head. Which I've never noticed in House. Now, I couldn't care less if the man is balding, but I'm scratching my head, because he doesn't seem the type to go the toupee, aerosol spray-on hair, or hair implants route. At the same time, I can't imagine the MI-5 folks thought it was so important to that character's development to "fake" the balding. Help! Superficially inquiring minds who are annoyed by inexplicable details need to know.
It's not fake balding. We had a fairly lengthy, shallow discussion of this in the HOT - you can see it in the earlier House episodes in certain shots, but the hair people got better at hiding it later. It seems to be very artful arrangement of what he does have combined with aerosol (though I do kind of wonder if there's not some little toupee-like thing involved now). He mentioned that one way he knew he was too old to continue playing Bertie was when he thought he'd nailed a shot, the director wanted to do it again, and when he felt the spray, he realized it was because the bald spot was showing. So he's had it for a long time, but it doesn't seem to grow much bigger.
ETA: http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/467330/2/18919496 that shows him as himself on QI, no artifice. It was obvious in the Judy Garland movie, too.
There's no justifying my shallowness, but I'm a hair person. When I get past the eyes, I tend to fixate on the hair. And I don't care if it's the mussed, non-bald House look or the cropped, balding look. I like it all.
Ah! Thank you, deekay! What would I do without your font of knowledge? I was pretty sure fake balding was a ridiculous idea, but one never knows.
I started lurking, then posting, in HOT a couple hundred pages in. I'll have to do something crazy like read the previous pages sometime. Or not. ;-)
I'm actually one of those who find bald men rather sexy, so I'll take him however he ends up. Though even if that wasn't the case, god knows this fangirl would probably have made an exception for Hugh.
Welcome, FourTeller! I might have to check this Century City out. I am a scifi geek afterall and somehow didn't know about it. Plus the cast sounds interesting.
I thought he was wearing pajamas, actually. It just seems like a pajama-pattern shirt, for some reason.
By the way, and pardon my ignorance, but what is QI?
It's a quiz show hosted by Stephen Fry. Hugh guest starred on it in the early days. I never did really understand the premise, but Stephen asks questions and four comedic guests invent answers.
The shirt wasn't supposed to be pajamas, so I think that kind of proves the fashion point.
Dang it Elen. I need to keep in mind that your sweet self reads my silliness. Smut and all. Look away, dear. Don't read what I write. But hell yeah, that was my implication.
I think that HL as Bertie Wooster was hot from time to time (the rest of the time he was just adorable), depending on the situation. For one thing, I really loved how he looked in all of the beautiful clothes--tall and lean and sleek. Here's a picture of him that I always thought showed his magnetism:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/Playingwithfireforum/Jeeves4Disc1bertie.gif
Okay, MsJ...I've never seen that cap of Bertie, but it's totally hot. Watching those scenes of BathTimeBertie have never done anything for me beyond the whole "he's adorable like a puppy dog" kind of thing, but after seeing that picture, I'll have far dirtier thoughts the next time I watch J&W.
Back to the hair, though: I think I've finally decided that they use a very small piece along with the very, very good, very, very careful styling on "House". The bald spot has disappeared more and more as the season has gone on, but I still look for it every week (and sadly, it's something that I look for because after forty seven viewings of an episode, I have to have *something* new to analyze) and as the series has progressed it's become less and less noticeable, even in the shots where it should be obvious. In real life, though, he doesn't cover it. I mean, I suppose that if he's going from the set to an interview or such, we're probably not gonna see it, but he was sans piece at the SAG thing and on TLLS and...other places.
I can't believe that I'm seriously talking about this. The new season needs to start soon. Really soon.
And to make this on topic, since I've drug it even further off...I never watched "Century City", but I wish I had. I can't even remember why I didn't. OTOH, Netflix is working overtime getting me eps of "Due South". Bless their hearts for releasing more, because my one tape really wasn't satisfying me anymore...
MsJ, that was cruel. Because - yes - hot. But like amysusanne says, Bertie bathtub scenes are supposed to be adorable in a rubber duckie kind of way, and my brain can't handle a hot Bertie.
For Canadians, Space Channel is apparently showing Century City Wednesdays at 11 p.m. Eastern. But it looks like there were only 9 episodes made, so I'm not sure how long that will last.
And to take this off topic again, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who is far too obsessed with the hair and suspects some little hairpiece is involved, amysusanne. On a completely unrelated note, I believe someone said it was 51 days to the new season.
Anyone here a fan of "A Bit of Fry and Laurie?" This is the sketch show he did with Stephen Fry. I only have a compilation tape which is available on VHS, but I still think it's one of the funniest things ever. Highlights include a Bruce Springsteen parody where HL mostly sings is the word "America," until Stephen Fry decks him, a talk show sketch about linguistics, and a thing about incredibly mild mannered secret agents.
Also some reason, Hugh Laurie singing "urine and vomit" during a monologue by Stephen fry cracks me up ridiculously.
Watched Flight of the Phoenix over the weekend. Really enjoyed it although Hugh's character wasn't as prominent as I would have liked (plus as a Brit the fact that every upper class British character is always shown playing golf gets a little tiring!) Loved the scene where Hugh pulled the scene on Giovanni Ribisi's character - he was worryingly convincing as a man on the verge of completely cracking. Has anyone listened to the audio commentary for this and if so are there any good Hugh anecdotes? I listened to the commentary in various scenes in which Hugh was featured and the commentary seemed to be non-scene specific and the director seemed to be talking about Miranda Otto and Giovanni Ribisi at the expense of the other actors.
I also rented ABOFAL about a month ago and, of course, enjoyed it immensely. I also enjoy seeing the differences between British and American sketch comedy. The only disappointment was that I was hoping to see Hugh's rendition of Mystery at the piano. Someone linked to it in the HOT and I bookmarked it to retain it for eternity. Does anyone know where Mystery is from? America was also highly entertaining. I could go for a whole CD of Hugh's parody songs.
"Mystery" is on a commercial audio tape of A Bit of Fry and Laurie that also has a slightly different set of sketches on it. It is sometimes available used on amazon.uk or ebay.
"Dead since 1973.....You've been dead now....wait a minute let me see... 15 years since last Jan-u-ary...."
I only managed to see the first season, and part of the second season, of ABoF&L. It was brilliant, however.
I love the first sketch, where the father brings his son in to see the headmaster of the school to complain about them teaching his son about sexual reproduction.
SF: Well, what do you want me to do?
HL: Well, if I go to a shop and purchase a sweater I'm not happy with, they'll change it for me, and gladly.
SF: You want me to change your son?
HL: Yes! Mine is soiled!
Son bows head in shame
Thanks deekay for the answer about QI.
I finally came around to the wonder that is Netflix and have about 16 DVDs in my queue, including quite a few in the HL oeuvre. I was pleasantly surprised at how much of the oeuvre Netflix had to offer. It seems I'll be parked in front of my television for quite some time.
Here's another question: To all of you who've rented ABOFAL, where did you find it? I've tried Blockbuster, I've tried the library, and I've got nothing. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Dr. Marty from "DNR" has a bit part in Wedding Crashers playing the asshole friend of Bradley "Willage" Cooper's character.
Thanks for the welcome aquarian1 and deekay :) Just found out that TWoP http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show.cgi?show=132 the first three Century City episodes, which apparently didn't go over so well with the reviewer and readers. Due South also happens to be one of my all-time faves, although I've yet to see much more than the first season or two: I'm fairly new to Canada so I wasn't around for the original run and the repeats on Showcase seem to shift around a lot. David Shore's work was all in the first year though, which was excellent. Caught some episodes after star Paul Gross took over the show from Paul Haggis and didn't like what I saw.
Also count me in as a fan of MI-5 / Spooks featuring Hugh Laurie's inspired two-episode performance. Like many others, I'm catching up on his previous roles in series like A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster etc. Was already a fan of Blackadder and have been watching out for him ever since, which is why I knew I absolutely had to watch House from the first promo. Real life unfortunately got in the way of the first few episodes but I managed to catch up thanks to reruns and the internet. Add the reaquisition of a VCR and I don't have to make an agonizing choice between university assignments, The Amazing Race and my weekly snark fix ever again.
I re-watched some of MI-5 thanks to Netflix, and noted the commentary in which the director, writer and co-creator were talking about HL's performance. They said that comics in general can do a good villain, but went on to say that as Jools, Hugh toned down his natural comedic timing, but yet it's still innately there -- and as a result, the character comes off a very smart, since he says the exact right thing at the exact right time.
Also, was it me or did Jools' voice sound different? Not just the accent, of course, but it seemed higher pitched than HL's normal speaking voice. Then again, he pitches House's voice lower than his normal voice, whether to aid the accent or for characterization, I'm not sure.
I just got my copy of 'The Girl From Rio' from Amazon.com. Another so-so movie about the quality of 'Maybe Baby', a cute, mild romantic comedy that has promise, but could have been better. I wouldn't have gotten it if it wasn't for Hugh. But it does have a lovely 8 minute interview with Hugh, where he is his normal (I assume) charming, self-deprecating self. Comments like 'There's some cracking good music in the movie, sorry about the awkward Englishman in the middle'. There is also an interview with his female co-star Vanessa Nunes, who says at one point, 'Hugh is a very special man'.
Don't forget that tonight BBCA is showing Hugh's two Blackadder II episodes.....which means that Series 3 (where he plays Prince George) starts next week on August 3! If you miss it, its repeated a few times on Saturday.
And, the Cartoon Network is showing Hugh's episode of Family Guy tonight at 11 p.m.
I found http://www.tv-now.com/stars/stars.html where you can type in (or browse) for an actor and see any upcoming shows with them in it. For example, http://www.tv-now.com/stars/hughlaur.html is what I get when I typed in Hugh Laurie. If you get Starz Cinema or Starz Kids you can see Peter's Friends. It does also list Heavy on Aug 2, and Role Model on Aug 9. It didn't list the BBA stuff. Maybe it doesn't track Digital cable channels - wierd. It just lists the upcoming month.
"Peter's Friends" is coming on Starz Kids? Forget the quality of the movie...there's no way it's a children's film.
It's on really late (or early).
For any Brits who haven't yet seen it (like me) Maybe Baby is being screened late this Sunday night on BBC 1. The review of it in this week's Time Out magazine was not kind ("unbearably smug") but I confess I'm intrigued to see Hugh in a romantic lead.
I remember watching 'A Bit of Fry and Laurie' when I was a kid, and being fascinated by and basically just falling completely in love with Stephen Fry, in that way kids do. I think it was his voice. Anyway, I thought he was the funniest man alive, and loved Blackadder too. One day my dad finally cracked and explained that Stephen Fry was gay - I was devastated.
Actually, I've never recovered from that, or, indeed from the crushing realisation that boys aren't like Dead Poets Society. Damn you and your flying desk sets, RSL, you misled a generation of girls.
I didn't think Maybe Baby was that bad, just a bit bland. I've only seen it in the cinema when it came out, I seem to remember if the film ever got a bit dull you could entertain yourself picking out all the cameos, and quoting your favourite bits from lots of comedy series. A bit like Notting Hill, where we kept ourselves entertained by yelling, 'Hello, Darling!' at the TV screen. (We are, I should point out, easily amused.)
I received my copy of Maybe Baby from Netflix, only to find a nice crack running radially out from the center. I though "maybe it's just a scratch" but alas, my DVD player laughed in my face and said "Nope, pal, that's a crack, and it's whack. Thanks for playing, please try again." Thankfully, Blackadder Goes Forth was unharmed and playable.
Just watched Maybe Baby and whilst I thought Hugh was wonderful (even if his dialogue wasn't very good) I thought Joely Richardson's character was as irritating as hell. Were we actually meant to like her? She's got a wonderful husband who's trying to do his best by her and all she does is whinge eternally about him not being romantic enough whilst making eyes at James Purefoy. It didn't exactly make me feel sympathetic to her plight. I could rather have done without the truly awful wig Hugh sports towards the end of the film as well - Rasputin at his worst crossed with Jesus - so not a good look.
I also saw Stuart Little for the first time and whilst Nathan Lane and Steve Zahn as the cats steal the show Hugh and Geena are just adorable as the Littles.
Heads up BBCAmerica subscribers. They are showing series 3 of Blackadder so check the http://bbcamerica.com/genre/comedy_games/blackadder/blackadder.jsp# to see when they are airing, say for example tonight. Series 3 means appearances by everyone's favorite Prince Regent. Series 4 won't begin until August 25th which should provide me enough time to get ready for the last minute of the series 4 finale.
Thank you for the heads up on Blackadder, RacerX! I have actually gone all this time without seeing the fourth series, so I will have to fire up the VCR for August 25!
Very cool. During the last cycle, they stopped airing them before the fourth series came about. It doesn't matter that I have them on tape. And on DVD. And could rent them from Netflix. Etc., etc., etc. There's something fun about them actually airing on television where you know other people are watching at the same time and enjoying and...is that weird?
I have a question for you intelligent bunch:
I suck at deciphering voices, and I was wondering if you can hear HL in the Valient trailer that's out. If anyone could help me out on this, that would be great.
I swear he's the one that says, "Let's break wind!" I'm not sure though.
Thanks to all for all the tips on HL. I hadn't remembered him being Mr. Palmer in Sense and Sensibility (Emma Thompson in her commentary on the dvd that I own calls his performance sublime), and have rented a season 3 vhs tape of Black Adder which I'm totally enjoying...
Unfortunately tepid review of Valiant in today's zap2it.com
I just saw Blackadder Back & Forth again when I learned Hugh Laurie was in it. A very underrated piece of work IMO. "You can't look into the past! Well, unless you're on the lavatory."
I saw Valiant on Sunday night as a third feature at a drive-in, so it started at 1 am and ended at 3 and I had eaten a good half a bag of pixie sticks and had far too much caffine, but I thought it was pretty good. HL is only in a few min. and you will also be highly confused as to when he is actually speaking, because he's only in scenes when everybody is yelling over everyone else.
However, I've always loved 40's, 50's, and 60's nostalgia type films, so my favorite thing about Valiant was that it saluted all the characters from WWII-era films. Also, most of the kids I saw it with that were still awake didn't really enjoy it, because it went over their heads a bit. Nearly anyone and everyone with a British accent is in it though, so it was a fun bit of match the voice with a face.
So, if you just want to listen to HL be funny, don't see it. If you want to listen to HL at all don't bother either.
I just relized I included the half hour intermission cartoon in with the actual movie. The movie was only 75 min, but with the cartoon and commercials ran two hours.
Last week we said farewell to the poor Prince and tonight we say hello to Lt. George. I know in my earlier post I said it was the 25th, well if you catch the 1:40 am showing, like me, it is the 25th. Anyway, tonight at 9:40 on BBCA.
USA Today, surprisingly, included this in their little "what to watch" column today.
My birthday was last Friday, and what did my loving, wonderful husband give me? The ENTIRE Blackadder collection PLUS the ENTIRE Jeeves & Wooster collection! That's somewhere around 30 hours of Hugh! Plus the stuff that doesn't have Hugh, which is pretty damn funny too!
Thanks for giving me the heads up on Blackadder! I usually don't like Brit comedies, but it was pretty hilarious. 'This is fun! It's just like a real court!'
ETA: Heh, http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3129775&view=findpost&p=3471939
For those who have never seen it (in spite of the zillions of reairings on HBO), the first season of "Tracey Takes On..." will be released on DVD on November 22. Hugh appears in two episodes.
Info http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=4010
A question for you wise and wonderful people: if I watch only the Jools Siviter eps of S1 MI-5/Spooks , will I be lost? Is there a story arc that runs through S1, or are the eps self-contained? Should preface by saying that as much as I netflixed this to see HL's performance, if understanding the context that he's playing in will enhance my enjoyment, then I'm willing to watch the whole shebang. If the eps he's in are self-contained, then I'm going straight for the goods. Thoughts?
There's two episodes with him, and I don't think you'd be lost. I had only seen the season after them when I went back to catch Jools, and they were pretty self-contained. But I loved the series so would recommend going back and watching the whole thing after you've finished admiring the pre-House HL snark.
It helps to understand the concept of the series though - that the show is about MI-5 and he plays the head of MI-6, and there's an adversarial relationship between the two agencies. And you'd probably get more out of it if you understand the characters. But I know I'd be heading right to the HL episodes.
I would say that you can watch them without watching the rest of the episodes, especially if you know a little bit about the British "spy" system (MI-5 vs. MI-6, etc.) The show itself is about MI-5 and HL plays the head of MI-6. It's kind of like U.S. shows where they have the local cops and FBI and the locals don't like the FBI and the FBI looks down on the locals. Except that in this show, Jools is definitely always a couple steps ahead of the "heroes" at MI-5. I've always assumed he's the equivalent of "M" in the Bond tales.
However, the rest of the episodes in season 1 are very good TV so I recommend watching the whole thing if you have the time. I'm not much help, am I? Whatever you do, you should definitely watch the bonus section about Jools, with comments by Matthew McF. and Peter Firth.
No, you've been a real help. I think I'm just going to watch the whole thing. Thanks!
Did anyone else check out A Glimpse of Hell? RSL plays a Lt. on a battleship? Pretty good for a cable movie.
Again, thanks to all. I knew you guys would come through, and I trust your judgment. Netflix assures me that Disc 1 is winging its way toward me as we speak.
Dominic Purcell, from "Fidelity," plays Lincoln Burrows on Prison Break, another FOX show that you may have heard of.
And his lawyer/ex-lover is played by Miss Radfafa. I keep waiting for her to babble aphasically then go into convulsions. Hey, it could happen.
Hee. I caught literally ten minutes of it, and I was all 'Hey! It's the jerky husband!..Hey!! Miss Radfafa! What are the odds?'
Watching Maybe Baby tonight -- a little disappointing given the caliber of the cast, but how nice to see Emma Thompson and Rowan Atkinson...
Was watching What Lies Beneath last night and noticed that when Michelle Pfieffer thinks she's seeing ghosts, she goes to a psychiatrist (who has a strange love of Fireballs candies) who turns out to be Joe Morton, who played the Senator in Role Model. Huh.
Robert Sean Leonard's in Driven, the Sylvester Stallone turkey about race car drivers, as a sleazy agent.
After reading all 18 pages, I see pretty much all of the things I know our House actors/actresses from have been mentioned.
HL in Family Guy
LE in Superman: The Animated Series
RSL in Swing Kids
JM in Stir of Echoes (creepy!)
JS in Uptown Girls
However, no one mentioned SW as Heather in "Christine's Friend" from Night Court. I used to watch that episode all the time when I was little :)
She was also Page Monroe/Calendar Girl in the episode "Mean Seasons" of Batman: The Animated Series.
And my personal favorite (and I may be the only one who remembers it): the title character in The Haunting of Sarah Hardy. Again, watched it a million times when I was young.
*snerk*
Sara M, I adore you :)
I was just re-watching my dvds last night (no, I have no life) and I knew I recognized the guy playing Mary's dad in Kids. He's http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0476378/, who played Cameron in Dead Poets Society.
I was actually thinking he was the guy drooling over Watts in Some Kind of Wonderful but this is good too.
I watched Sense and Sensibility last night. And though HL is only in it for all of a few minutes, he is hands-down the funniest character in the whole movie!
Yes, I very much enjoyed Mr. Palmer! The other Hugh is just kind of meh. Especially compared to HL.
Does anyone know why Hugh isn't in any of the Harry Potter films? Considering so many of his friends are, and the fact that he's done a lot of children's films, it's kind of surprising.
Maybe JK has him in mind for a new character down the line. Personally I think the character introduced in the latest book (the teacher who collects star pupils for their connections) was described so that Ricky Gervais would be the perfect person to play him in the film.
According to this morning's Hollywood Reporter, BBC America has inked a deal with Granada to option the rights to 100+ hours of their film and television archives. Among those being considered is Hugh's "fortysomething". Keep your fingers crossed.
eta: While we're keeping our fingers crossed, keep in mind that the mini-series "All or Nothing at All" was a Granada production. And Hugh's quite the draw in the states now. And if FS makes the cut, then, yeah...they could just have Hugh Laurie theme nights on BBCA.
It could happen.
<already planning the payola I'll offer my neighbor who gets BBCA>
ETA: oh, can I just add that the Netflix Express delivered Jools Siviter to my mailbox yesterday, just in time for my birthday. Oh yes. Sweet. Just not neeeeerly long enough on screen. But a nice holdover until tonight.
I'm watching two episodes of "Jeeves and Wooster" today. It will indeed be a nice holdover until 9:00! *does happy dance*
I read the Variety article as well and, though it was implied, they didn't actually say that any of the shows mentioned would air, only that BBC optioned the rights to them for the next three years. I think they'll put it on the schedule, too, probably in the winter (given that a similar article ran a little while back about the shows that they'd licensed for the fall), but it's not a given yet. HR, which also listed FS by name, clarified that these (FS, along with several other shows) were the ones thrown about, but that, of everything in the catalog that they had access to, they had not made their decisions yet.
I think Jules is the common usage. But in all references to Jools Siviter -- on imdb and on the DVDs themselves -- its Jools. Chalk it up to Hugh being special.
Perhaps it was for http://www.joolsholland.com/, former Squeeze member and tv host in the UK.
I just finished watching Girl from Rio and you haven't lived until you've seen Hugh dance Samba. I recommend it as a rental. The man his a riot.
My friends and I saw it at Blockbuster completly by accident under 'New Releases' (Yeah, I know!) and rented it. Unfortunatly, it was right after a long and tiring football game, so we fell asleep about 20ish minutes in. Those 20 minutes were pretty hilarious, though!
It's also maddening to hear the word 'Rio', as I immediatly start singing 'I Go To Rio' from The Boy From Oz. Great song, but in endless repeats in my head? Irritating.
I think the "Jools" spelling in "Spooks" is almost definitely for Jools Holland, since he's a good friend of HL's. (It was at his wedding this summer that that rare press pic of HL's wife was taken -- she was walking behind Stephen Fry. HL was already shooting the new season.)
TBS is rerunning the episode of Friends in which HL has an all-too-brief cameo, this Thursday, 9:00 p.m., Eastern. The three minutes of screen time he has makes watching the remaining 27 minutes of the episode a totally worthwhile investment of your time...
Saturday night starting at 9pm eastern, BBCAmerica is running a marathon of Blackadder Goes Forth.
Having now seen the Jools eps of MI-5, and they were way too short, I really enjoyed not only the eps themselves, but the commentaries on them. It was obvious that the writers/directors who did the commentary adored Hugh and what he added to the ep. In both eps someone (forget who) mentioned how taken he was with a "comic" doing a dramatic part, how good Hugh was at it, and how his sense of comedic timing still came into play in this part. It affects his delivery, his inflection, everything. They thought his intelligence and commanding presence carried over into the role itself. I can only imagine how they'd fall all over themselves doing a commentary on House.
Agree. Glad I watched all of S1. And I found myself squirming with delight and anticipation when I knew Jools would be coming. He's positively Snarkalicious. I loved the looks of dread on the 5ers' faces when they knew he was coming or would have to be contacted. You just know they loved filming those scenes.
Coming back hours later to report that, due to some miracle that prevented him from staying dead despite the many times he's been offed in our Survivor thread, Mark Warner showed up tonight as an ad exec who hired Lynette Scavo back into the work force. Oh, and Andie's we-make-you-dead-but-bring-you-back surgery made another appearance on Grey's Anatomy. But for whatever reason, that guy's procedure could take up to 45 minutes. Whatever. I bailed before the end, cuz I'm not that invested in it.
Oh, how could I forget Shirley Knight! Yeah, not the charmer she was on House, but she did a good job. She's always welcome on the screen.
And I totally forgot about Dakin Matthews. Last night was quite the "House" night for DH.
Oh, cigarette Santa from DIYD, right! Well, it was only a so-so DH ep, so it's no wonder we let our minds wander a little. I was going to make some lame connection about putting the House in Housewives, but I got nothing. Back to work.
A Glimpse Of Hell, the made-for-TV movie about the U.S.S. Iowa explosion, was on UPN Sunday night. Playing the role of Lt. Dan Mayer, who was one of the few willing to blow the whistle on the Navy's official explanation of sabotage, was Robert Sean Leonard. And man, was he gorgeous. Yum.
I was flipping through channels when I came across that movie in the last 15 minutes. I was so pissed. He does look mighty good in a uniform.
LL Cool J and his abs are in S.W.A.T. Both are equally impressive, IMO.
Flight of the Phoenix is now on Cinemax onDemand as well as being shown every couple days on one of the Cinemax channels. Hugh's part of a large ensemble cast, but it's a decent size part. I was really prepared for this movie to be a piece of trash, as remakes are so often pale copies of the original, but I found it to be surprizingly watchable.
Currie Graham is the new Steven Culp. He followed up his turn as Lynette's new boss on DH with a day playing soldier (well, medic) on Over There. Maybe it's all just Mark having Walter Mitty dreams.
John Henry Giles is in Commander in Chief. Good thing it's on an hour earlier here. I really like him.
I just saw Currie Graham on an ER rerun a few weeks ago, as Ewan McGregor's brother/ hostage-taker. He is for sure a H!ITG.
For those of us in the UK, the Friends ep, to be known henceforth as "The One With Hugh Laurie", looks like it's on Channel Four tomorrow, Sunday 9th at 2.40pm. I also borrowed Sense and Sensibility from a colleague this week. I'm not into costume dramas or Friends, but the chance of a few mins. of HL is well worth the effort.
The woman who wanted her lover to slow down with the little blue pills (can't remember the episode) plays Jennifer Love Hewitt's grandmother in Ghost Whisperer. I decline to mention how I know this.
Mary from "Kids" was in this week's CSI, in which the murder weapon was a cane.
Why a cane? Couldn't say.
Apparently Thursday was "cane night" on CBS. Martin's walking with a cane on "Without a Trace" for the time being.
Anyway...Shirley Knight was back on "Desperate Housewives" last night, which isn't all that notable by itself (since she's playing a recurring character), but *is* notable since Kurt Fuller also appeared as the slightly obnoxious guy investigating Rex's death. Unfortunately, no scenes together, but still...
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