Stephen Fry in America

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.

I love Stephen fry anyway but seeing him trecking around America in his black cab and the peoples reactions to him (a well spoken dapper English gentleman) is funny and magical to watch, he does travel across all of the 50 states of America, its nice to see how beautiful America really is. He meets all kinds of people who have strange but interesting jobs as well as giving a small history lesson about each state delivered as only Stephen fry can, he also meets some celebrities too on his journey, Sting and Morgan Freeman to name a couple, my only complaint is that they could have made more it feels like he hasn't had enough time to show off all off the states and the cities within them he visits but still 10/10 :)

Discussing Ohio only on the standpoint of the Kent State massacre is considerably unfair. Ohio is four major metropolitan areas full of diverse cultures. Definitely need to get a bit more perspective, not that I think you will.

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.

Stephen Fry in America (2008) is a BBC television mini-series. It was directed by John-Paul Davidson (4 episodes) and Michael Waldman (2 episodes).

Fry--who is a great actor-- travels by a London taxi to all 48 continental U.S. states, and then visits Alaska and Hawaii. Most Americans haven't visited all 50 states. And, of course, even fewer British people have accomplished this feat.

The point is not just so that Fry can say he's done it. He attempts to give us a sense of the country and its people. His team had the knack of finding some very interesting events, such as a society fundraiser in Houston. (I've never seen wealth so prominently displayed.) He also visited a Italian-American social club in New York City and a grand mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. (A matron there tells him, "I was at the Bouvier-Kennedy wedding. It was just Jackie Bouvier's wedding--not really that important.")

I truly enjoyed this series, and I learned quite a bit about my own country. Some things were good, and some were terrible, but that's the American reality.

Because these episodes were made for TV, they work well on the small screen. This movie has an extremely strong IMDb rating of 8.0. Absolutely right. It's worth finding it and seeing it.