Fry and Laurie and Thompson - Proposal

Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, & Emma Thompson sketch from 1986.

[@TexasHoldEmGurl]

Emma violently playing the piano in the beginning.

[@gustavgnoettgen]

Only very high and very low notes, and even in opposition to the actual tunes 😁

[@compfox]

Oh, did she?

[@camerongreig1722]

@@user-fo7bj2tz9y Liszt's Liebestraume No.3

[@banksta3]

Who was playing it when she stood up to address her father?

[@alexmackay7454]

@@banksta3 i think that was a joke.

[@shortjohnsilver4605]

"You have a noble thigh, sir."

[@user-hv3sq2yv7c]

Size

[@JackT13]

I wish everyone always talked like Stephen Fry in this

[@imranhq13]

so posh

[@ThreadBomb]

Damn you, sir!

[@atyourservice]

You do ? I must say, I haven't the slightest idea why you would want that. It seems rather cumbersome to me...

[@dyfol]

Watch Blackadder episode "Dual and Duality"

[@mbrackeva]

@@dyfol we all did, mate, we all did

[@Satellite_Of_Love]

I've learned two important lessons from this sketch: 1. Never be at home to Mr. Hophouse. 2. If Mr. Hophouse shows up at your home, show him in.

[@Bullshit_Media]

I've gone peculiar now

[@quasarsphere]

@@Bullshit_Media Gone? Now?

[@alysonrodrigues1492]

Emma really went all out, with her piano playing. XD

[@MadameRaven1]

The pitfall of having Stephen Fry as a father, is he will steal your boyfriend.

[@foolish.principalitee]

Madame Raven that really _does_ explain Elliott Spencer, doesn't it

[@sophiajetton1234]

Emma Thompson and Hugh Laurie were actually dating for a while so Stephen Fry stole her boyfriend in all seriousness

[@guadalupebaptista9757]

Considering Stephen Fry turned out to be gay and happily married to a man much younger than him. I found this illuminating and tongue-in-cheek funny.

[@andersbjansson1688]

@@sophiajetton1234 Given the fact that Emma later told while on QI that while the three of them was living at the same apartment, she'd lock the doors and chase poor Stephen flashing her boobs...

[@Eisenwulf666]

@@andersbjansson1688 i remember that! Such a funny episode, he is so embarassed by women's nudity it's hilarious. Me on the other hand would not have minded ,she was and still a fascinating woman 😏

[@slobodanreka1088]

"That was a funny sketch. Now, I must head over to the comments section to quote various lines from it...."

[@allanwilson8878]

Lol

[@keithklassen5320]

TO QUOTE VARIOUS LINES FROM IT!

[@dinsy512]

Love Ben Elton and his “Hophouse, for you!”

[@pvtj0cker]

Yes, yes, it must be so!

[@M-CH_]

Nah, they're allready there, just give them a like.

[@cmarq817]

The perfect trio 2:29 and the microphone as a guest was also so funny

[@TheCapedWanderer]

Laurie’s faces, his eyes, when he’s declaring his love: “Something nobler-something higher! Something... Moister.” 3:47

[@aleksanderbudzynowski3625]

His faces indeed!

[@gvantsasakaruli9900]

I'ma use this phrase some day

[@gabrielanderson8767]

Love how the servant is dressed in a contemporary suit and tie, lol. The mic also sells the absurdity of the sketch

[@GeorgiNM]

The fake piano playing is so dead-on.

[@jovetj]

I did that to my brother once. Acted like I was playing something, and then got up and sat next to him while the song kept on. Never have forgotten the look on his face.

[@camtou914]

@@jovetj Have you ever considered a career in comedy?

[@TranscendentLion]

Emma Thompson is delightful, Stephen Fry is marvellous, Hugh Laurie is excellent, and Mrs. Ben is the surprise star of the show.

[@icotaxi203]

TranscendentLion Totally agreed.

[@michaelynedwards1043]

No Mrs Ben here.

[@RBAWintrow]

@@michaelynedwards1043 Still waiting for the tea.

[@compfox]

Oh, isn't she?

[@alonzogarbanzo]

Everybody is wonderful, except that for the glitch at 2:30, the mic boom operator was fired.

[@srivarenya862]

Unironically, Hugh Laurie met Stephen Fry through their mutual friend Emma Thompson in college (University of Cambridge)

[@ThreadBomb]

How is that ironic?

[@xbracke5901]

In the Alanis Morissette kind of irony

[@ErnestoBrausewind]

Some might say it was destiny making love to the british dramatic arts with triplets as a result

[@DanielMasmanian]

@@xbracke5901 surely it's fortune, like sun on your wedding day.

[@sophiajetton1174]

Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson dated for four years so it wouldn't be a surprise the three of them knew each other.

[@celine.d.et.son.ame.d.enfant]

They're hilarious. So talented. And Emma Thompson was, is and will always be stunning. ♥

[@Yoseqlo1]

Damn straight.

[@mbrackeva]

Looks like a princess, acts like a queen.

[@mertz7305]

Beat me to it.

[@magicman9218]

"I cannot believe my ears!!" "...they do rather stick out"

[@SirAgravaine]

My goodness, Emma Thompson!

[@ShamelessHorse]

*Drools*

[@ellystripes]

"my smooth flanks shall soon be dry and flaky" lol

[@Plons0Nard]

This is one of the most enjoyable sketches with these three lovely people. Hugh's eyes when he explains why he has come to Mr Surname's house 😂😘

[@samvidas9599]

2:30 that boom being frantically whipped out of sight 😂

[@LilPlaya3200]

I think it was a joke on "so perfect, smooth, and shiny".

[@danielbrown1724]

“It’s her nose that rather baffles me” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 This is comedy gold

[@Ndotra]

And now imagine the part of Ben being played by Rowan Atkinson! That would be perfection!

[@mgg5418]

Actually it would be MUCH better!!

[@OP-1000]

Not really 😕

[@dinsy512]

Hey! Don’t diss Ben Elton’s unique contribution here! I won’t have it, I tell you!

[@sophiajetton1234]

If this was General Melchett, Lieutenant George, and Captain Blackadder from blackadder that would perfectly top the cake

[@Satellite_Of_Love]

He'd show him in, but not without a perfect deadpan snark and a sneer.

[@PiecesOfRainbow7]

I want to live with these three in a little house made of comedy.

[@Dalroi1]

Wow, Emma looks incredible in that dress...

[@vibes6229]

How very Oscar Wilde-esque!

[@nefariousbecks]

This sketch will always make me laugh my ass off. Always. So much talent together. I need a Cambridge Footlights reunion like I need breathing. Btw, Emma

[@rohansoham]

Rebeca Aldea Cambridge footlights isn't a comedy troupe like Monty Python. They are a theatre society at Cambridge uni who have members every year.

[@nefariousbecks]

Rohan Agarwal Well, I know that. What I mean is that I'll like very much for THAT Cambridge Footlights generation to reunite. No need to correct me.

[@rohansoham]

Sorry I didn't mean to offend. I just thought you might have been confused but never mind.

[@nefariousbecks]

Rohan Agarwal No offense done. Just wanted to clarify :)

You two must be either Brits or Canadians... ;-)

[@hadithi]

"Do what I say child! Or by Heaven, I'll ask you again."

[@Bullshit_Media]

Simply genious!

[@youmightstumble]

That's hysterical. They were so great together.

[@Folkstone57]

I haven’t seen this one before & it’s great to see Emma Thompson in this sketch.

[@floridtv]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT LMFAO THE FUCKING BOOM MIC 2:30

[@gutz1981]

It has to be a mistake within a mistake type sketch. The timing was beyond perfect.

[@gutz1981]

Its also that stupid grin on Hugh's face that sells it even more as he waits to speak.

[@marjanp4784]

This is hilarious 😂🤣 Emma Thompson is funny as hell 😂🤣

[@fahrinurlaub01vg]

I find it great to see that Both Hugh and Stephen are so comfortable in their own sexuality to never having had troubled or seemed forced in sketches like this.

[@MalikSheytan]

Stephen Fry is gay

[@travisbickle4360]

Lol

[@lunasorree7177]

@@MalikSheytan well still.

[@baronvonnembles]

Yes, its so terribly important that everyone be so comfortable!

[@lauraakers3566]

Fry has said that the fact that, while the best of friends, the fact that he was never attracted to Laurie made things much easier between them over the years.

[@Woesteinvuir]

The character of Ben is one of the most inexplicably funny things ever seen on television. "HOPHOUSE! FOR YOU!"

[@KungKokkos]

You think? I found him very out of place haha

[@gutz1981]

The timing of that mic 2:30 is so perfect it has to be a genuine mistake and lucky accident.

[@JimSteinbrecher]

by applying the same logic to the acting, their comedic timing is so perfect that it must be a mistake and a lucky accident. huh? this isnt a live show, and they have coverage from several other cameras. if the shot with the mic was a mistake, they wouldnt have used it in the final edit. it is clearly deliberate, to poke fun at the poor production of "TV plays", where camera operators often leave the tip of the boom mic in frame, and lazy editors barely look at the footage, so they dont bother to crop it out.

[@gutz1981]

Jim Steinbrecher I know and you are probably right, but its so perfect, right down to that stupid expression on Hugh's face. I can't stop laughing.

[@Domarius64]

Holy shit, I never noticed it, till I went back... but it's right there, in the middle of the frame!

[@hugjuffs]

That's the joke. She's like "is he not so perfect and smooth and shiny?" *Cut to microphone in the shot.*

[@PointsofData]

@@hugjuffs OOOHHHHHH

[@blackraspberryproductions8118]

Emma Thompson is still amazing.

[@bubbercakes528]

Comedic genius! British comedy at it’s best.

[@phemyda94]

I want to have a dream about Stephen and Hugh getting engaged and then wake up to find it was all true.

[@gpgara]

It's a fantastic sketch! They set you up to think Fry's character is never going to accept Hophouse. Then they do the entire, funny 'bringing a boyfriend home' routine. And just when you think you've got it, they flip the entire thing on its arse -- Hophouse was actually interested in the dad, and vice versa. Brilliant. Three phenomenal actors doing wonderful comedy. What more can you ask? :)

[@eustazio]

i have a good friend who speaks just like emma in that skit :) i can't get enough of it :)

[@DuchessOfDoofus]

Indeed I did but watch the sketch two minutes ago yet I had forgotten wherefore I had found it so amusing so I thank you sir for recounting it to me so that I can once again after so long a time find joy in it.

[@hildurmildur]

Silence-----------"Are you sure you got that quite right?" lol

[@Lilopossum]

Three of my favourite people in television. And, for that matter, the world. Could this get any funnier?

[@redtony58]

This is not a comedy sketch. It's a Stephen Fry wet dream about Hugh Laurie.

[@Pssybart]

I actually saw a documentary where Fry mentioned that he feels so lucky he never fancied Laurie being a gay man. That would've made their collaboration really akward. And he doesn't understand why since Laurie is supposed to be an attracive guy.

[@ScoopMeisterGeneral]

@@Pssybart No, in that documentary Fry specifically states that he never fancied Laurie _despite_ recognising that he is attractive.

[@sps6374]

@@ScoopMeisterGeneral that's exactly what the comment you answered to meant : he never fancied Laurie and didn't understand why, since Laurie is attractive.

[@ScoopMeisterGeneral]

@@sps6374 Yeah, I realise that now. I obviously missed the "since" in the final sentence. Thanks!

[@AnkeB82]

Yeah whether him not fancying Hugh or not is true - I'm not entirely convinced...

[@wenglishsal]

BRILLIANT stuff indeed... I also adore watching Jeeves and Wooster on the TV... Stephen is an excellent Jeeves and Hugh plays Bertie Wooster to perfection... And Emma.. well she is perfection as Elenor in Sense and Sensibility (which she did the screen play for) ... :0)x

[@LeetaMaybe]

I ship it.

[@chatsidefires]

The part where he gets me every time even though I've watched this tons of times is when he says ever since I first heard from Flora that she had a father you've exerted a strange fascination over me it's just like hearing that she had a dad was enough for this dude to fall out of love with his fiance and into love with her dad like wait you have a dad

[@shally6228]

Right?! 😂😂

[@geniusfollower]

This is funnier when you realize Hugh and Emma used to date in college

[@Impathetique]

Didn't notice but he was House before House. Damn!

[@vardellsfolly5200]

3:14 Now THAT i did not see coming! ''For YOUR hand in marriage!!".

[@yenee94]

mister Surname... lol

[@bobafetting6373]

yenee94 that's SIR William Surname to you :)

[@diomedes8791]

So moist. So smooth. So stiff and unbending.

[@sophiajetton1174]

Considering the fact Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson dated for 4 years Stephan Fry literally stole her boyfriend XD

[@danielosullivan7305]

Something ... moister! LOL!

[@HorseCrazyGrl167]

Those are some rather extraordinary sideburns on Mr. Fry xD

[@alexanderwes5204]

The big microphone at 2.30 !

[@gutz1981]

I don't know if it was intentional or not. Something tells me it was a mistake within a mistake sketch were everything was trying to be wrong and that was actually really wrong. LOL, the speed of it leaving looks like the Bom mic operator shat himself to get it out of there quickly. Brilliant.

[@ChickenBond2]

"You sure you got that quite right, sir?"

[@121mckenna]

Omg!! They all look soooooo young!!

[@ParadoxapocalypSatan]

Nice period piece. Ben Elton's hair I mean.

[@ThejollyFrenchman]

ParadoxapocalypSatan noice

[@whatno5090]

I wish the audience had laughed at "Sir William Sirname"

[@Netherfly]

*Surname

[@sturnbull09]

Absolutely fantastic!!!

[@42kellys]

Embarrassingly hilarious as usual with Fry and Laurie but Emma Thompson is amazing.

[@HulloKat]

"Moist" is such a Fry and Laurie word

[@V-C137]

3:32 “oh” ... 😂 😆

[@b4k4chan]

Oh, this has got to be my favourite sketch XD

[@TheBenzooh]

But Papa...

[@DemonFoxAkira]

LEAVE THE ROOM, FLORA!!!!😡

[@TheBenzooh]

DemonFoxAkira :3

[@mozzinator]

It's puppaa!

[@dolanroufs1032]

Emma Thompson is such a beautiful woman!

[@dariofprsia]

I don't know why, bit I died at "Sir William Surname"

[@MiroslavHundak]

Absolute gold.

[@GarnetBering93]

Emma Thompson: eternally hot

[@ronaldl9085]

Brilliant, as ever they are!

[@abborne1]

I went from never recognizing her in anything (mark of an excellent character actor) to thinking I was crazy for recognizing her in this... because IMDB apparently does not...

[@mspeter97]

Emma Thompson here being amazing

[@DontTouchMyCroissant]

"Mister Hophouse!" - "Miss Surname!"

[@karaNUFC]

LOVE that episode. She can make him blush so easily.

[@greatsayain]

why is the butler from the 1980s and everyone else seems to be form a previous century.

[@toerag572]

It was a sketch in a comedy show, Friday Night Live. Ben Elton (the butler, and incidentally one of the writers of Blackadder) was the compère for the TV show. His attire and manor was pure silliness, a bit like the interludes between Monty Python sketches.

[@tausifameen956]

Hugh Laurie as HopHOUSE? Interesting... :D

[@Yoseqlo1]

Accidental foreshadowing.

[@luzrodriguez1214]

House MD

[@manna8899]

Great multi talented Emma!!!

[@strazyweirdom]

I didn't read the title properly and I was about to ask, "Is that Emma Thompson?" Hahaha wow so glad to have seen this video.

[@F00dTube]

Love he expression in the end. Too bad it got cut off.

[@groovygirlwillz4225]

The sound mic tho 😂😂

[@PurushaDesa]

Thompson and the piano at the start instantly makes me smile. Plus, I think Fry was giving us a little preview of Lord Melchett.

[@sampritisen8756]

humour so ahead of the times they depict!! magic ❤

[@patteeemac]

ben!!!! its ben!! fantastic!!!

[@f308gtb1977]

I thought, “hey that looks like Emma Thompson.” Indeed, she looks so much like Emma, that if she looked any more like Emma, she would BE Emma. 🤣

[@gfweis]

They're all super, but Emma at age 27...holy smokes! She should have gone into comedy. Or just been cryogenically preserved.

[@HUNKragor]

I'll be contempt with my clone

[@LednacekZ]

she is fine even today

[@georgielancaster1356]

She is stunning today. Certainly looks almost 2 decades younger than her age, to me.

[@taragragg400]

Something moister. I love it.

[@RealoveGSR]

I don't know if anyone else out there has seen SNL's "Colonel Angus" skit. But this is basically the British, intelligent, witty version of that skit. I quite agree that these are some of the most legendary people to take to the screen. If only we were all BFFs...

[@nithyasris7276]

“I don’t think ever seen so fine a head” 😂😂

[@shmookins]

Is this a fair approximation to what that 'Down Town Abbey' show is like?

[@NC-hu3ti]

Wrong era.

[@infernalchaos1066]

They are Ron, Harry, and Hermione- friends for life. Love them all.

[@bennylloyd-willner9667]

Agree, but it's the other way around tho😁

[@Jemppu]

Oh, dear. That's an awfully pretty dress Emma's wearing

[@valentinabucibattorti9813]

1:24 "Oh, and Ben...?" "WHAAAAAAAAATTT???!!!" ...... XD

[@garrick3727]

I always thought Emma Thompson was a complete genius in these comedy shows. Her acting is a step above everyone else. And, although her acting talents were probably better used elsewhere, I wish she had done more of this. Was this Saturday Night Live (the short-lived UK version)? Ben Elton looks like he is dressed in his host outfit.

[@elliot2331]

This is from A Bit of Fry and Laurie, it was their sketch show.

[@daniellamcgee4251]

​​@@elliot2331This was before A Bit of Fry & Laurie. Emma Thompson did not feature in any of those episodes. I am fairly certain this was from the sketch show series 'Alfresco'.

[@elliot2331]

@@daniellamcgee4251 Cool, didn't know that.

[@Belzedar]

@@daniellamcgee4251 The poster said it was from 1986, but Alfresco ended in 1984. I'm not saying this to embarrass you, it's just those are all my favourite people and I'm eager to get it right. I used IMDB as my source there and it tells me these guys were all working together on a series called "Saturday Live" - NO connection to the American "Saturday Night Live" - in 1986. A title like that seems similar to Ben Elton's show from that time, Live! At the Empire. You know what? I've looked at some Saturday Live clips and it's a stand up sketch show and I've looked at some Alfresco clips and it's more like this. So I'm thinking you're right and the poster got the year wrong since Alfresco finished in 1984.

[@lucylibbsu]

Poster here, this sketch is from Series 1 of Saturday Live (1986). Related note, if you're interested in Alfreso ~ the entirety of Alfresco & There's Nothing to Worry About are on dvd. Both are packaged together as Alfresco: The Complete Series. There were some various Best of Saturday Live dvds years ago, but I'm not sure if they are still in print.

[@arajo5773]

Wooster and Jeeves ❤️

[@datukaruma1563]

Love dream, one of my favorites.

[@DamaKubu]

This is gold

[@gvantsasakaruli9900]

I love when the microphone was shoved away as soon as camera went back to Hugh

[@totoro9590]

Love this video

[@lawnbank]

Gooooddd, they look so young!

[@nienna24]

this bit is wonderful.

[@NxDoyle]

Here's a funny little bit of trivia around that mic in shot at 2:30. Many years ago, before DVD's went nuts and even before the world wide web or intersplat as we call it fondly today, I saw a trailer for the movie IQ. I've never been able to work out why, but the trailer, at least the trailer for VHS, contained almost as many boom shots as there were shots in the trailer overall. It was freakish, as if the trailer had been deliberately cut that way. The trivia? One of the stars of IQ was S FRY!

[@geoffroi-le-Hook]

and then he went on to QI

[@scotto9591]

Three of my favorites.... 😅

[@luciadilazzaro2285]

Here, Emma sounds EXACTLY like Maggie Smith. It's unnerving😍