Greetings lovely readers, and first an apology – as important as your televisual needs are, I have been otherwise engaged these last few weeks. I am now back in the saddle, and ready to gallop forth into the yonder in pursuit of the best stuff for you to watch on your idiot box.
This week’s column is dedicated solely to Mr. Stephen Fry, and in particular, the BBC’s new series Stephen Fry in America. Much was promised by the show, and the ingredients all appeared to be in place for a real telly treat. Sadly, it doesn’t quite deliver. As an avowed Fry-nut, the show is the equivalent of downloading ‘In Rainbows’ and then discovering that it’s been produced by Will.I.Am, features a rap from Coolio, and has an 11-minute spoken word section read by Jeremy Clarkson. In short, it’s pretty disappointing.
Sadly, it doesn’t quite deliver
The series feels like it doesn’t quite know what it’s point is. There appears to be no desire to occupy or deconstruct the psyche of the various parts of America, nor is the show concerned with being a more straight-forward travel document. Fry, it seems, is happy enough simply to exist in the same space as the various characters he meets, and dare I say it, the assumption – doubtless that of the Beeb – is that the audience is switching on to see Stephen Fry far more than it is to witness American’s lesser-known nooks and crannies. Even Fry fans as devout and vociferous as I would have to admit that, for all his charms and good graces, dear old Steve is simply not as interesting as a global superpower, and as such the show is unbalanced in where it’s emphasis lies.
Strange as it might sound, one need only look at the show’s theme to demonstrate why the show is a let down. A limp and pale attempt at a sort of Main Street America drum march, the theme succeeds only in sounding a bit like a bad Ennio Morricone impersonator remixing a traditional English hymn. A minor gripe it may be, but it sums up the whole programme very succinctly. Is it a show about America, which is simply presented by Stephen Fry, or is a programme about Stephen Fry in America? I’m not sure which I’d prefer, but it would be preferable if the programme decided which route it wished to take, and followed it unflinchingly.
…e a bad Ennio Morricone impersonator remixing a traditional English hymn
Despite the clouded objectives of the show, Fry is still Fry – an engaging and likeable a screen presence as ever there was, and the show still offers enough tasty nuggets to make it worth watching – of particular intrigue this week was the sight of man deeply sniffing a horse’s rump and exclaiming: “I loooove the smell of horses” – but overall, the feeling after watching is of deflation. The scenery and stories within America are expansive and plentiful, but Stephen Fry: In America can’t help but focus it’s lens on the wrong part of it’s title. Forgive me Stephen.
