Stephen Fry in America

Should be amusing - anyone planning to watch?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00f2dfv

We are!

Should be amusing - anyone planning to watch?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00f2dfv

Probably not.  No doubt it'll be just another 'look at all the freaks in America' shows that the UK is so fond of.  
I'm a fan of Steven Fry but I do find is comments on the US can be a bit tedious.

I know what you mean about some of the UK shows and their protrayal of the US but i think Stephen Frys take will probably be quite balanced, inquisitive and amusing - perhaps more in the Louis Feroux mould. I find them both equally amusing in their own way

No doubt it'll be just another 'look at all the freaks in America' shows that the UK is so fond of.  

I have to admit, I'm a fan of those shows too! 

I'll give it a go.  I do really like Fry!  Plus I'm thinking how freaky can people be in New England

But I agree with Mindy, I'm not a fan of the shows here that just portray the US as a bunch of freaks.  (Many of us are, but at least half of us are not )

If its a documentary and people come over as "freaks" then they only have themselves to blame.

I like Stephen Fry so I'll be watching!

If its a documentary and people come over as "freaks" then they only have themselves to blame.

Oh, of course you're right.  It has absolutely nothing to do with producers searching high and low for fat, crazy people spouting off about Jesus and ignoring 99.9% of the rest of the people who happen to be normal and therefore not good television.

...crazy people spouting off about Jesus and ignoring 99.9% of the rest of the people who happen to be normal and therefore not good television.

LOL!  Was just talking about something similar with my brother yesterday.  I was saying something to the effect that from over here - all we hear about and see on TV are the fanatical idiots of one variety or another, and the ordinary people just don't seem to have much presence (our convo was more related to the election & political events).  He said that's because the normal people are all working for a living and tired at the end of the day, and don't have time or energy to go around kicking up a fuss about ridiculous things.

Oh, of course you're right.  It has absolutely nothing to do with producers searching high and low for fat, crazy people spouting off about Jesus and ignoring 99.9% of the rest of the people who happen to be normal and therefore not good television.

People who "spout off about Jesus" might be saddend to hear you dont think they are normal.  It just goes to prove my point really, give someone an oppertunity to jump into a big hole and they will do it. Dont take offence, all documentaries want interesting quirky people.

The show looks interesting & would be good to watch alongside the new Simon Schama history programme about the US.  Although the history stuff is kind of more my thing - despite that Schama can be kind of annoying.

From what I've heard, Fry really has a soft spot for America (he was *almost* born there) and some of the previews and interviews I've read indicate he goes out of his way to not offer a 'freak show'.

I'm really looking forward to it, and if I like it enough, I'll buy the DVD!

In my experience in the States, I didn't have to watch a documentary to run into the freaks -- they always seem to be well represented in every store, checkout line, party of a friend, workplace.  It's a lot easier to run into strange people with whom ten minutes of conversation reveals that they don't seem "quite right," in the US, than in the UK. Yes there are normal people there, but even some of them seemed off. Those documentary makers really don't have to look all that hard...

Huh. Well, I could say the same thing about the UK tbh. I think the UK is chock full of freaky eccentrics. Just a different kind to the American variety. Heck, I live with one right now. My FIL is a flippin' barn pot.

*shrug*

Louis Feroux

Theroux?