Jeeves and Wooster

I'm not familiar with the P.G. Wodehouse work that was the basis for this series. Sometimes though, not being familiar with the written material can help you enjoy the TV-series or movie better. I'm not certain if it helps here but i did in fact find this very entertaining.

I remember watching this series every Saturday on TV for quite a long time. And my view on both Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry is still marked by this. Both are in my opinion perfect in their parts. Laurie with his rather silly and foppish British looks, his accent and his voice. And of course Stephen Fry who looks every bit the aristocratic manservant.

The stories presented are usually both silly and with little reference to reality. But they are entertaining nevertheless, and why watch something like this if not to be entertained? The silly aristocrat and his wise servant is a classic theme, and rarely is it done better than here.

"Jeeves and Wooster" is one of the best pure adaptations I have ever seen in a television show. As a huge fan of the books, I have no problem with any characterizations or plot dramtizations. The best thing about this series is its Britishness. Both Jeeves and Wooster drip with satire. Each episode is laugh out loud funny. It is much better made than many British television offerings, such as the Peter Wimsey series (although I love it, too). I highly recommend a look at this series to anyone who has a British sense of humor or enjoys '20s glamor.

If there's any British actor best suited for playing a foppish hero, it would be Hugh Laurie. He does an incredibly good job with Bertram "Bertie" Wooster. I've seen another play that was based on the Woodhouse novels, but the actor playing Mr. Wooster didn't have the same kind of charisma that Hugh Laurie does. Steven Fry is also a very good Jeeves, the butler always helping out Wooster of the bad situations he gets himself into.

5 stars, check it out!

Long before he achieved stardom in the U.S. for playing the tortured, acid-tongued title character on "House, M.D.", Hugh Laurie played Dr. House's polar opposite, Bertie Wooster, on the British TV series "Jeeves and Wooster" from 1990 to 1993. With the help of his frequent co-star Stephen Fry, Laurie brought P.G. Wodehouse's beloved characters from the classic "Jeeves" series vividly to life. The TV series follows the misadventures of dapper, doltish young millionaire Bertie Wooster, and his indispensable, saintly valet Jeeves (played to poker faced perfection by Fry). Every story was convoluted and gloriously silly, with Bertie being tangled in one ridiculous situation after the other (usually of his own doing), but always coming out on the right side of it... and always with help from the relentlessly patient Jeeves. Many familiar characters are here, from cranky, meddling Aunt Agatha to Bertie's brainless chum Bingo Little. But Laurie and Fry are the real reasons to watch. Laurie somehow makes the foppish, clumsy Bertie truly lovable, and his rubber-faced mugging could put Jim Carrey to shame. Fry somehow keeps Jeeves from being bland and dull, and he is almost an omniscient being, the way he never fails at bailing his fatuous master out of trouble. Plus, he never gets annoyed at Bertie's constant mangling of popular songs while playing the piano (check out the pilot, where Bertie attempts Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher", complete with the hi-de-ho chorus). So, is this a splendid little series worth checking out on DVD? As Jeeves would say, "Indeed, sir."

My father introduced me to the Jeeves stories and I fell in love with them. Adaptation can be a tricky affair but this series is done superbly. Hugh Laurie portrayed Bertie just as I pictured the character. I always thought of Jeeves as being older but Stephen Fry portrayal of Jeeves dispelled that notion. The other characters are done well especially Bingo and Aunt Agatha. If you've read the stories a couple of them are usually combined into one episode. Having great material to start with and maintaining that standard is tough but this series does it brilliantly. So if you enjoy Wodehouse or enjoy good farce I highly recommend this series.