Stephen Fry (Bright Young Things) and Hugh Laurie (House) were among the most successful acts of the alternative comedy show Saturday Live/Friday Night Live. After a Christmas pilot in 1987, the BBC commissioned a series in 1989. Witty and urbane, Fry and Laurie explored a seemingly inexhaustible list of subjects with a delicious turn of phrase and elaborate wordplay. Regular sketches included insipid MI5 agent Tony Mercheson and his fervently patriotic boss Control; yuppies, John and Peter, intent on "putting Utoxeter on the map - dammit"; Hugh Laurie's razor-sharp music parodies and bizarre mock interviews including the famous 'Photocopying My Genitals With...' - all punctuated with hilarious vox-pops as 'ordinary members of the public' fired-off such gems as "They'll be saying Hitler's a racist next". For the first time, mainstream audiences enjoyed their emerging talents, and Fry and Laurie would soon take their place among Britain's favourite comedians.
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