Jeeves and Wooster - Complete Collection

An absolutely wonderful adaptation of P.G.Wodehouse's stories about the wealthy layabout Bertram Wilberforce Wooster and his personal Gentleman's Gentleman, Jeeves. Or, that is to say, while Jeeves and Wooster are the central characters in every episode, the real story is as much about the peculiar mores of well-to-do society in England in the 1920s and 1930s, as conjured up by Wodehouse with impressive doses of warmth, humor and keen insights into human psychology. It all clicks, from the introductory jazzy tune by Anne Dudley and the accompanying art deco animation, which immediately tells us where we are in time and style, to the simply brilliant casting of Stephen Fry as Jeeves and Hugh Laurie as Wooster. Fry glides through the scenes, amused and totally in control (except when Jeeves is confronted by unexpected and ungentlemanly wardrobe choices), while Laurie gets most of the lines and can ham it up as the amiable and essentially generous and decent Bertie Wooster, who, while clearly one of more intelligent members of the Drones Club, is nevertheless not quite as clever as he imagines himself to be, and inevitably will require the supreme manipulative abilities of Jeeves in order for everything to sort itself out by the end of each episode. The story will very often turn around an engagement, either due to the machinations of one of Bertie's aunts and their desire to see him married off (and Bertie's desperate and not very well thought out plans to avoid the intended fate) or a similar predicament involving one or more of his fellow members of the Drones Club (and Bertie's not very well thought out plans to assist his friend). The 23 episodes are collected in four series of two DVDs each. One mildly irritating bit is the inability of the producers to retain the actors playing the various recurring characters from one series to the next, with the exception of Fry and Laurie. Recurring characters like Gussie Fink-Nottle, Madeline Basset, Cyril "Barmy" Fotheringay (Fungy) Phipp or Bingo Little reappear with different actors playing the parts, which is a minor letdown in that it makes it slightly harder to immerse oneself in the universe, being constantly reminded that these are just actors. But that is a niggling and decidedly minor quibble. Otherwise the evocation of the time period, the sets, actors and entire production gets it all right. In the middle Laurie and Fry inhabit their characters perfectly, and suffusing everything is the crisp and simply supreme dialogue written by P.G. Wodehouse. The image and sound is excellent, but there is no extra material on the DVDs. You get the series and that's it. But what a marvelous series. Highly recommended

This has been on my 'to buy' list for ages. The film quality is excellent, it states it has been remastered on the case and I was impressed with the clarity. The pairing of Fry and Laurie as Jeeves and Bertie is simply perfect and just as I imagined the characters as I laughed my way hysterically through the Wodehouse books when I first discovered them many years ago. It is a shame that the BBC made such a hash of the latest Blandings adaptation - my personal favorite among the many creations of Wodehouse - none of the characters rang true to the spirit of the books. There is a dvd available elsewhere on the internet of Heavy Weather, not excellent quality, filmed in 1995. It has Peter O Toole as Lord Emsworth, Richard Briers as Gally Threepwood, Roy Hudd as Beach, the butler, and the wonderful Judy Parfitt as Lady Constance - spot on casting and achingly funny. Such a shame that no more were made, Peter O Toole was born to play Clarence. To return to Jeeves & Wooster, it is perfect entertainment for the long Winter nights and amazing value for money as every episode ever made is included in the set. Wonderful stuff and highly recommended. Pip pip!

Fantastic series, perfectly cast. Considering it was second hand, the set was in very good condition

Of course one should read the books. I have and have roared out loud with laughter. I only ever caught snippets of the original broadcasts but decided to treat myself: well worth it. Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie deliver their parts beautifully with Wodehouse's characters and writing shining through. This purchase was superb value (used) and I'm enjoying it immensely, again laughing out loud as my good lady can attest.

Great series. All time classic. Loved the fact that the subtitles were available. Remastered, good quality.

A story that has maintained many of its relevance and charm even into another world entirely such as ours in the digital age, J&W's entertainment factor still holds a high note even today. Though it might not be the more slapstick/obvious humour Hugh and Stephen have delivered with their show "A Bit of Fry and Laurie", if you're able to appreciate the more refined and subtle class based humour the show has, then you're in for a treat. Having been born in the 90s, it's safe to say that I'm still young having watched this, and it was more likely that someone of my age would probably classify this as "old nonsense that my parents used to watch". What I found however, was a classic that is still as funny now as it was then, much like BlackAdder and Monty Python has maintained itself and aged incredibly well. I did find a few of the episodes a little tedious and a tad bit over the top even for Hugh and Stephen's usual style, but on the most part it was incredibly fun and interesting at the same time to watch. It picks up on a few important themes throughout, and whilst it doesn't delve into them very deeply enough to educate, it does do so enough that it offers food for thought on many subjects, without losing its humour.

Be warned: this is one of those semi-"literary" reviews in which I'm going to talk about Wodehouse, the Jeeves and Wooster series, and the literary heirs of Wodehouse, for those who think there's no such thing as enough comedy in the world. P. G. Wodehouse ("Plum" to his friends) was the funniest man who ever set pen to paper. He lived to the ripe old age of ninety-three and wrote over ninety books, many featuring the amiable and well-meaning, if somewhat misguided, Bertie Wooster and his brainy manservant Jeeves. Although his work stretches from the late 1890s to the early 1970s, the rudeness of the outside world almost never intrudes and there are surprisingly few cultural references. Wodehouse's stories exist in a kind of eternal Eden of innocent lads and maids chasing each other around the garden and trying to avoid the various serpents trying to crash the party. His characters are almost exclusively from that most useless branch of society, the English moneyed class, and their problems are all silly ones: which witless man will win which brainless girl, and how Aunt Dahlia can steal a silver cow-creamer for her husband so that he'll give her the necessary funds to buoy up her ladies' journal "Milady's Boudoir." And yet. . . And it's in the "and yet" that Wodehouse makes his mark as the most brilliant social satirist of all time. Unlike George Bernard Shaw, Wodehouse makes no grand stands, addresses no revolutionary agendas. Simply, quietly, and persistently, he takes aim at pretension, meanness, and cruelty by carrying it to its most absurd extent. Wodehouse's humor is small, domestic, personal, and eternal. Of a man engaged to a bossy woman, he writes: "He might take the view that when the little [woman] made him sit up and beg and snap lumps of sugar off his nose, it was a compliment, really, because it showed that she was taking an interest." Of a particularly bad play: "One of the critics said he had perhaps seen it at a disadvantage because when he saw it the curtain was up." And of Jeeves's morning conversation with Bertie: "The English poet Herrick expressed the same sentiment when he suggested that we should gather rosebuds while we may. Your elbow is in the butter, sir." (All quotes here from "Jeeves and The Tie That Binds.") Now, as for Fry and Laurie's rendition of Jeeves and Wooster: it is perfect. And bear in mind that, appearances to the contrary (because Fry and Laurie make it look so effortless), Jeeves and Wooster may be the two most difficult roles in all literature. Bertie must come across as amiable and well-meaning, if a trifle dim, but not a blithering idiot. David Niven tried, and it was a disaster. Jeeves is only slightly less challenging; while he must come across as brilliant and accommodating, he must do so with dignity, with only a minimum of condescension, and with a real fondness for Bertie, something like a mother hen for a slightly addlepated chick. Fry and Laurie are prefect, as is, by the way, the excellent dramatization and the rest of the ensemble cast. Be warned, however, once you pick up Wodehouse, you'll be hooked forever. Fortunately, his output was prodigious, so you'll have plenty to read and reread, over and over and over. The books never pall; I've read many of them several times and they are always, as Wodehouse titled one of his books, "Something Fresh." By way of literary genealogy, Wodehouse's stylistic heirs are Douglas Adams (of "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" fame), Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy, Angel, and the Firefly/Serenity series and film), and Hugh Laurie himself, whose first book "The Gun Seller" continues in the Wodehouse tradition. For example: "I hadn't actually planned on picking his brains, because, to be honest, they weren't properly ripe yet." Or the extraordinary line: ". . . there's an undeniable pleasure in stepping into an open-top sports car driven by a beautiful woman. It feels like you're climbing into a metaphor." And as for Joss Whedon, you can practically tell which Wodehouse books he was reading while writing Buffy. When Giles tells Xander: "I suppose there's a certain Machiavellian ingenuity to your transgression," and Xander replies, "I resent that. . . .Or possibly, thank you," they might have stepped right out of Wodehouse's "Full Moon." For his part, Douglas Adams wrote some of the most purely Wodehousian lines of all time, such as: "How do you feel?" "Like a military academy; bits of me keep passing out." So if you want smart, talky, deliciously funny stuff, you can't do better than settling down with the Fry and Laurie's Jeeves and Wooster, apart, of course, from picking up any of Wodehouse's ninety-some books. Fry and Laurie, however, are a wonderful place to start.

Take two great actors and British humour and you get one of the best comedies out there.Although more episodes follow the same plot (Wooster is dumb and gets in trouble, Jeeves gets him out) it never really gets old. The role of Wooster doesn't really let Huge Laurie use his acting chops but Fry does a great job with Wooster. The audio and video quality is quite good. Great series.

En anglais sans sous-titre et délirant à souhait. Bonne comédie qui nous plonge dans les années folles avec Stephen Fry. Bonne qualité image et son. Very nice as i used to watch in England, without subtitle to ennoy you. Good quality DVD.

Magnífica muestra del humor inglés. Está impecáblemente bien ambientada y los actores trabajan maravillosamente. Los subtítulos sólo están en inglés. Para amantes de las novelas de P.G. Wodhouse

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