No you're not. It's on my top 10 telly list at the moment. I miss David Boreanaz in 'Bones' to watch this and i adore it. One of my best friends, who is American, pointed me in the direction of 'House' and she didn't believe Hugh was English until he appeared on a US talk show

Am loving this second season so far, some great storylines.

I was surprised no-one had mentioned 'House' yet. Can this be the first episode that didn't have an entirely happy ending, supporting the old cliche about black characters? Spotted 'Hero' from Branagh's 'Much Ado About Nothing' first ep, but only just made Battlestar Gallactica's Richard Hatch as a veteran of the original series...

Oops, my bad, Robert Sean Leonard was Claudio in 'Much Ado...' Kate Beckinsale was Hero, but it's confusing giving the female side of the romantic subplot a name like that...

Well my season one boxset arrived today - shame its in 4:3 and a bit thin on the extras, but still looks nice on my shelf .

I've finally got DivX working properly on my dvd recorder as well so I might well have to have a House Fest over the next few nights. I'm even behind Cahnnel Five now! *shame*

How does everyone think the new season is shaping up?

Are there any extras at all on the R2 set?

Well, I had assumed they were going to be the same as on the R1 set...although it doesn't mention anything on Amazon.

I'm curious now...I'll check when I get home tonight and let you know. I'm going to be a bit peeved if there are no extras

---

by head2head
How does everyone think the new season is shaping up?

---

'This is why I created nurses... Clean-up in aisle 6!'

LOL!!!

Well I've checked out the R2 release of Season 1 and it does indeed have extras on the 6th Disc, which are the same as on the Region 1 release (why these weren't publicised on the various websites I don't know!) -

The Concept featurette
Casting Session with Hugh Laurie
Medical Cases featurette
Set Tour
House-isms
Dr. House character featurette
DVD Previews

About six months after the fact, I'm dragging this old thread up to say, I've finally found this program and it's terrific!

I know House has been on for two years and is just starting its third in the US, but I just never bothered to look at it. I just thought, "Oh, no, another boring medical show about some doctor." Then, about a month ago I had nothing special to watch one night and started flipping from channel to channel. I landed on House and stayed around to check it out--mostly out of laziness to keep changing the channel. I kept watching, and ended up watching the whole show. After it was over, I thought, wow, how did I miss out on THIS? I've been hooked ever since, have been watching the third season since it started a couple of weeks ago. I even bought the Season 1 and Season 2 DVD sets to catch up.

Of course, Hugh Laurie makes the series for me. What a gifted actor. Great at the dramatic moments, and hilarious in the light scenes. He has created an incredibly engaging, annoying, obnoxious, funny, and strangely sympathetic character. I know Laurie has been around in various TV shows and movies for years. But he is new to me, and I'm just incredibly impressed with what he brings to the role.

So, just had to say, I'm a new convert. Great show.

And just one aside, about his accent. I'm even more impressed with the fact that he does this role in an American accent--a very good American accent. When we hear accents of the place in which we live, I think we all tend to nitpick about whether the person has it right. Laurie has really mastered it. He does a pretty flawless American accent, and never falls out of it as some actors do. What's more, the show is set in New Jersey. And the accent he does sounds exactly like someone from New Jersey might sound. And this is from someone who lives in New Jersey. I don't know if that's accidental, but he's got the regional sound right. So I have to give him additional props for that.

Further to Laurie's credit, he auditioned for the role in the American accent (even fooling producer Bryan Singer, who apparently genuinely thought Laurie was American) and when on set will only speak in said accent - you've got to wonder who there would've realised he wasn't a native if he wasn't a relatively well known English actor?

---

by Alan
....you've got to wonder who there would've realised he wasn't a native if he wasn't a relatively well known English actor?

---

Apparently, incredibly well-known--by everyone but me. I'd be interested in seeing him in some of the other things he's done. I'll have to check it out.

Check him out in Blackadder...classic British comedy .

---

by Sandia
Apparently, incredibly well-known--by everyone but me.

---

Correction: he's an English actor well known to English people. Oops.

Sandia: Check out 'Blackadder' as has already been mentioned and 'Jeeves and Wooster' too.

I have a close friend in the US who thought Hugh was American. She wouldn't believe me when i told her otherwise until he appeared on David Letterman or something like that and heard his real accent for herself.

Thanks, head2head. That's the series I've identified as a "must see." I checked around and found out that they show repeats of Blackadder on a cable channel here called BBC America. I don't get that channel with my cable TV package, but I have a friend who does. If it's still showing now--and I think Laurie is in series 3 and 4--I'll ask her to tape a couple of episodes for me. My other alternative is to rent one series of Blackadder. Either way, I'm sure I'll be able to see it sometime soon. Looking foward to it.

Actually, Alan, it's sad but true but I think some British actors who are well-known to the British public are not as well known or are unknown to the American public. Not British actors who appear regularly in movies. We know them. But actors who appear mainly on British television and haven't made a real name for themselves in movies probably wouldn't be as well known to many people here--or at least people like me who don't have access to British TV shows.

When I was a kid growing up watching nothing but American television shows, I used to think television in all other countries was the same. People in Britain watch just British shows. People in Australia watch their own shows, and on and on. As I got older, it surprised me to learn that people all over the world knew "our" television shows. Of course, it seems ridiculous now when I think of it. But the television experience here lends itself to that kind of flawed thinking. And it hasn't changed much over the years.

The fact is that watching television here is different than it appears to be in many other countries in that you DON'T see a lot of foreign programming. We do get some British shows on public television or one or two cable networks. (Public televsion may have shown Blackadder in the past.) But major American broadcast channels show only American programs. The one exception in the whole history of American TV broadcasting was the Canadian program "Due South" that aired for a couple of years in primetime on CBS in the 1990s. On cable, it's also almost exclusively American content, except for channels such as BBC America that are specifically dedicated. And most people don't get BBC America because it's a premium channel that you have to pay extra for--at least where I live.

That said, I think some actors, like Hugh Laurie, ARE known to Americans who are familiar with classic British shows such as Blackadder. There are some folks who saw him on cable or public broadcasting, but a small percentage of the total TV viewing public I'd wager. I had heard the show's name before now. I just hadn't seen it and didn't know what it was about. So obviously some people here were seeing it and know him from it. But I'll wager most people didn't see it. Unless they've caught Laurie on a talk show where he speaks in his real accent, I'm sure they think he's some American actor they've just never seen much of before.

By the way, I heard Hugh Laurie talk in his actual British accent for the first time when he was interviewed for an hour recently on "Inside the Actors Studio," a series that runs on cable here. Quite shocking, actually. He sounds SO different. And so much more classy and intelligent than when he uses his American accent. OK, you can now all make up your own jokes.

Just trying to get rid of a double or triple post. Sorry.

(Edited by Sandia 25/09/2006 14:52)

Just saw your note after I first posted, Keenangel. Will also check out Jeeves and Wooster. Thanks![/quote]

It might be easier to check out one of his films like the one he did with Joely Richardson, Maybe Baby. Did he have an English accent in 'Stuart Little'? Then there's his bit part on the plane in 'Friends', when Ross got married in London ('And by the way, it seems to be perfectly clear that you were on a break!).

Thanks for those additional suggestions, Host.

I actually just found an easy way to see Blackadder. They've apparently recently started showing it on one of the public television stations out of New York on Wednesday nights at 10:30 p.m. And I actually GET that station. So I'm very excited. Can't wait until next Wedesday to finally get to see Blackadder--and hopefully it will be one of the episodes with Laurie in it.

Also been looking for Jeeves and Wooster. (Can't believe I've been spending so much time on this.) That one I may have to get on DVD. Possibly one of the libraries around here has a copy I can borrow.