Brain is Fryed

I've been watching an awful lot of Stephen Fry lately. This is what I do when I don't feel well. I watch TV shows on Netflix. Not the usual kind of shows, though. I prefer what Netflix calls, "Understated" TV series" that are more often than not British. And if it's a really good one, I'll watch every episode of every series in two or three sittings...

First, I watched Mistresses, which is about 30 and 40-something London women (not featuring Stephen Fry). I have a feeling it was the BBC's stab at Desperate Housewives, but I can't be sure because I never watched that.

Friends Katie, Trudi, Siobhan, and Jessica find themselves entangled in love's wide-cast web as they live within their relationships and indulge in secret affairs. From failed marriages, balancing careers and romance, fertility anguish and the bonds of true friendship, the ladies bring the laughter and the tears.

I would have enjoyed this show more, had the women not been so stupid, which I account to shortsighted, trite writing. Yeah, a reputable doctor is going to have an affair with a patient and help him do himself in only to start an affair with his much younger son who is clearly a borderline personality out to ax murder whoever his father was sleeping with at the end of his life. No. Didn't buy it.

After that was over, I still had a craving for British telly, so I thought I'd give Kingdom a try. This is where Fry comes in. I fell in love with this show and the eccentric characters in it, especially Sidney Snell, played by Tony Slattery (far right), who, with the right hair and more beard could easily play Noel Saunders, if my books ever become a movie (the wannabe casting director in me is always on the alert).

Stephen Fry stars as Peter Kingdom, a Norfolk solicitor whose quirky clientele supplies him with a bounty of unusual cases, which he juggles with tending to his unbalanced half-sister, Beatrice, and searching for their long-lost brother.

As far as I'm concerned, this show could have gone on forever. Better yet, just take me to Market Shipborough and drop me off at The Greyhound pub.

Finally, I watched Stephen Fry in America, which was excellent. Having lived in England, I could understand Fry's mixture of fascination, repugnance, confusion, and infatuation with us Americans as he drove through every state in a black London cab. The series didn't have the in-depth quality that Michael Palin's travel series have, but I imagine his budget was smaller, so he couldn't spend much time in each state. Still, I enjoyed it a great deal.

Next up? I don't know. Maybe I'll give Fry & Laurie another chance. I tried it last year, but it didn't hold my interest. Now that I'm a Fryed-in-the-wool fan, I may like it. What I admire about Stephen Fry is that, while he is an articulate, sophisticated, educated man and possesses considerable talent in a number of areas, he's not above showing his viewers that he really is just a little silly. He's self-effacing, but he's not embarrassed or ashamed about his colorful past, his life as an out gay man, or his unconventional (by Hollywood standards) appearance. I'll be getting some of his books to read—I can't wait to get to know him as an author.
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Update: I've gotten hooked on Fry & Laurie!