Stephen Fry in America

Wonderful series. I enjoyed everything about it with the exception of the study of cadavers - I skipped over that chapter. Mr. Fry was witty and well spoken and educational to boot. I laughed at the part when he was driving next to a cemetery and said that this 'must be the dead center of town'. I recommend this series for the whole family with the exception of the cadaver study - please skip over that (hit the next chapter button) - yuk - celebrate life please. It seems odd to me that a man with such wit and intelligence does not enjoy dancing, skiing, or 'fun' as he stated it. Mr. Fry must of been raised in a serious home. I give it a 8 out of ten. Thank you so much Mr. Fry!

America is a huge country and would take years to cover, even if one were to only spend a day in each major city or town. I'm sure there are people who have travelled nomad-style throughout the length and breadth of the country, but I am yet to hear of anybody who has done that and documented his/her experiences for others to watch. Fry does cover a few places which are renowned for some particular reason, but as he repeats in a few episodes, what he is after is the "heart" of the city or state, not the parts that have been popularised by Hollywood. This could mean a particular geographical or man-made landmark, food, occupation, or a native who has made it big.

As one reviewer puts it, the series covers "voodoo in New Orleans, witchcraft in Massachusetts, and homelessness in St. Louis", all quirks or shortcomings. But that is exactly how people around the world picture these places. For example, India is still portrayed in Europe and the West in general as a land of cow worshippers, snake charmers, and spicy curry. But Stephen Fry covers not just these well known spots but also less well known places and he does it in his trademark witty bantering style.

Finally, to me, a bookworm who has only read about and seen America in movies and TV shows, this series is a fascinating peek into the country, which in a short period of time (when compared to countries like India, home to ancient civilizations) has achieved so much.

If you don't like Fry, you'll hate this. I like Fry, although he's not even on my top 20 list of British comedians. His style, for better or worse, is what makes this series different from the dozens of other travelogues out there. It's more Top Gear (the old one) than Parts Unknown. Only slightly funny but fairly informative and quite fun. It shows the weirder aspects of America, from the perspective of a foreigner who is brutally honest. At an Auburn football games he says "America is simultaneously preposterous, incredibly laughable, impressive, charming, ridiculous, expensive, overpopulated, wonderful, American." If you even slightly agree, you'll like this.

The series follows Stephen Fry as he drives a black London taxicab in every state of the US. (He does leave it in Seattle as he goes to Alaska and Hawaii.) That's the hook. It's not really an in-depth travelogue. Many states get the rushed treatment. Mostly, he picks 1 or 2 people or groups to interview every state. Sometimes they're famous, sometimes they're homeless, but mostly they represent something that Stephen want to highlight from the states.

I like Stephen Fry. I'm not a huge fan, but I've seen him in many different things and he's good in all of them. He's got a big presence and not just in girth. My biggest complaint is that he complains about too many things. Sometimes, he's not discovering America as much as he's making a social commentary about America. Nevertheless, there's a lot of good slice of life and some truly funny moments.

I'm not a fan of Fry, but I like this series. I'm not American or English. I think some American's have taken this too seriously, judging by the reviews here.

After watching Long Way Round, Long Way Down, By Any Means, The Man Who Cycled the America, and just about every other travel TV series I had run out of options. I was put off by some of the review here, but took the dive anyway.

Yes, there is some focus on poor towns, socio-economic issues, brothels and so on, but it's quite tongue-in-cheek. I can't imagine how some here have taken this series as a stab at American culture. It shows some bad stuff, in a funny way, and no one should think that Fry is seriously trying to portray all of the USA as a brothel. Again, I'm not American of English, and can see this for what it is... a glimpse of the USA with a sense of humor.

What's more, there are delightful positive highlights, especially in the sections showing Montana and other natural beauties. In fact, having been to a couple of the places myself (deep south, rocky mountains, etc) I found those sections I was familiar with to be close to my feelings of the places. Also I've lived in San Francisco, and while he only hits the tourist spots, his views of the place are interesting and reliable. And lets face it, Miami really is an uninspiring place! Should we be offended when he says it?

With that in mind, when Fry takes us to places I haven't seen before, I have fuller confidence in his view. Again, you can't take it too seriously, but really, there is some amazing nature shown here, and he gets into peoples lives, talks to some regular, and some irregular people, going beyond the standard travel documentary.