About this season
A British comedy television series with turns of phrase and elaborate wordplay, written by and starring former Cambridge Footlights members Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.
Episodes (6)
1. SAS
7.8Aired 13 January 1989 • 30 min
Fry as a put upon headmaster and Laurie as a Puritanical parent who wants to exchange his 'soiled' son kicks off the premiere episode. Useful tips for making poetry convenient is followed by a bookshop in which all the books have been edited for greater British glory. Laurie turns in a great performance as a fraudulent psychic, and the duo round out the episode with description of a censored sketch and its boorish replacement.
2. America
6.5Aired 20 January 1989 • 30 min
Fry is an information stand attendant who knows too much. A man whose last name is the sound of a cigarette lighter dropping on a desk tries to file a police report. A cad of a talk show host gets his desserts. We meet the very pleasant and expositional commander of the M.I.5 and his assistant. The episode ends with an aerobic workout for hands, and a very dramatic corporate takeover.
3. Doctor Tobacco
6.5Aired 27 January 1989 • 30 min
Fry steals Laurie's brain as a practical joke, but Laurie never notices. A pleasant Greek lunch is spoiled by Laurie's insecurity and lack of self-esteem. A tobacconist posing as a doctor prescribes cigarettes. The commander of the M.I.5 and his assistant are back for a chat. Two unwavering detectives demand to know the whereabouts of an unmarried woman's husband.
4. Trouser Competition
6.5Aired 3 February 1989 • 30 min
An episode rife with controversy: several of the sketches are canceled after an audience member demands they are his stolen intellectual property. A teen poet helps his headmaster to accept the head's own repressed longing to express himself in metaphor. The polite M.I.5 boys return, and a young entrepreneur is denied a bank loan for his drug operation. Fry names his nipples, and, with Laurie's help, tells us how a floppy hat can save you from being killed by a bus.
5. Christening
6.5Aired 10 February 1989 • 30 min
As a service to the public, Fry and Laurie provide two TV critics to deride the show. A lesbian-obsessed lawyer, a miserable English teacher, and a young couple who baptize their infant for business reasons provide plenty of fodder for the critics' self-absorbed rambling. As an added bonus, Laurie walks us through his very favorite sketch, and, with Fry's help, celebrates Swiss week.
6. Marjorie's Fall
6.5Aired 17 February 1989 • 30 min
A waiter keeps interrupting the punchline of a joke and a care worker in a retirement home brings an objectionable resident his cocoa.