1. Comment #124530 by APPlet on February 9, 2008 at 5:47 pm

Gotta like House. I would find it hard to see him in an overtly comic role however.

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2. Comment #124532 by wundergeist on February 9, 2008 at 5:59 pm

APPlet:

Hugh Laurie was Wooster in Jeeves and Wooster, an overtly comic role. (Stephen Fry played Jeeves.)

WG

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3. Comment #124535 by rnewson on February 9, 2008 at 6:19 pm

I can't watch Hugh Laurie doing that terrible american accent, really painful.

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4. Comment #124539 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 6:39 pm

Why did they choose Judaism as the vehicle for this episode?

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5. Comment #124548 by idragosani on February 9, 2008 at 7:17 pm

In addition to Jeeves and Wooster, Hugh Laurie did overtly comic roles in several of the Black Adder series.

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6. Comment #124549 by OsakaGuy on February 9, 2008 at 7:21 pm

So what happens?

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7. Comment #124552 by Zaphod on February 9, 2008 at 7:47 pm

"I can't watch Hugh Laurie doing that terrible american accent, really painful."

America has many accents. You are an expert in them all? If you listen to what he really sounds like you won't think his accent is that terrible.

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8. Comment #124553 by Russell's Teapot on February 9, 2008 at 7:59 pm

Was that Sarah Silverman's sister?

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9. Comment #124557 by Radesq on February 9, 2008 at 8:22 pm

Yes in fact that is her sister Laura Silverman. Interestingly, according to IMDB another sister Susan is a Rabbi and is married to Yosef I. Abramowitz who has a short bio at http://www.jflmedia.com. These folks must have very interesting discussions at family functions.

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10. Comment #124571 by nogodsever on February 9, 2008 at 9:12 pm

Laurie's American accent is just fine. Most people not familiar with his background are very surprised when they see him speak with his English accent.
Great show.

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11. Comment #124576 by sarah95 on February 9, 2008 at 9:28 pm

I just posted this on my Youtube account:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oC7UIa5Yas

I'll be trying to do the same with most this website's shorter videos. If you have problems with quicktime, you are certainly welcome to subscribe to my youtube account!

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12. Comment #124614 by Gustaf Sjoblom on February 9, 2008 at 10:44 pm

[So what happens?]

One can only hope that the hospital assigns another doctor who makes the other diagnostic and is wrong and the patient dies. And afterwards says that he only made the assesment because he felt compelled to respect their religious views, and says that he realizes now that was a big mistake.

Please, please, let it be like that.

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13. Comment #124631 by Brad on February 9, 2008 at 11:03 pm

Gotta love Hugh Laurie, he's done FAR more comedic roles than most people realize. I especially love the skit series he did with Stephen Fry, "A Bit of Fry and Laurie", which gave us such gems as the Spoon Bending Pychic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUxWdIQVT_c).

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14. Comment #124663 by bard63 on February 10, 2008 at 2:37 am

"Why did they choose Judaism as the vehicle for this episode? "
Radesq
My guess is this - they probably had a choice of the three major 'heavy' religions. They are in America, so Chrisitanity would have seen them struggle with every Televangelist, do-gooder and most politicians in the good ole US of A. Islam - nobody wants a Fatwa issued on them - especially before breakfast. Judaism - not likely to over-react terribly, and even though they have a powerful lobby in America, they probably not likely to pick a fight over such a minor issue.

My theory, anyway.

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15. Comment #124693 by rnewson on February 10, 2008 at 5:06 am

heh. I'm british, and quite the Hugh Laurie fan, I know very well what he normally sounds like. I've lived in the US for three years, so I know what americans sound like too. I just can't stand the accent he uses for his character.

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16. Comment #124767 by Nick6742 on February 10, 2008 at 7:22 am

I love house even if the medicine is a bit (or a lot)iffy.

I think his accent is fine. I don't know any american's who notice it at all.

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17. Comment #124800 by NekoFever on February 10, 2008 at 9:46 am

I love House. There's an episode in season one with a couple of similar moments as the main patient is a nun.

Nun: "Sister Mary tends to believe in things that aren't real."
House: "Really? I thought that was a job description for you people."

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18. Comment #124823 by Logicel on February 10, 2008 at 10:29 am

Ah, how nice to hear Laurie doing an American accent--he speaks better American English than his co-actors!!! (I watch in France, so I hear House speak French, which is a hoot also).

Great dialogue (and sarah95 thanks for your link and I have subscribed).

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19. Comment #124866 by Fenriswolf on February 10, 2008 at 11:29 am

I love Hugh Laurie, and I love House. I think some of his best performances though have been in his overtly comic roles in Blackadder, which of course stars the equally brilliant Rowan Atkinson. A favourite of mine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irvbpxAXRkg

A little bit of the scene has been cut, but it makes no real difference.

C

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20. Comment #125016 by jiujitstheist on February 10, 2008 at 5:57 pm

Speaking as an American who has lived in America for 47 years I think that Mr. Laurie has a very nice grasp of a typical snobby midwestern American accent. I've seen him in a number of other television shows and marvel at how well he can do an American accent. I also love HOUSE.

cls

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21. Comment #125019 by Goldy on February 10, 2008 at 6:08 pm

It is very odd hearing Hugh speak with an American accent. Still, Rene Zellweger spoke with a British accent, so what the hey :-)
Jeeves adn Wooster - my absolute favourite. Maybe it was the Aston Martin they used as the car, but really that was the best for me :-)

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22. Comment #125083 by wundergeist on February 10, 2008 at 11:28 pm

Can't believe I forgot to mention "King George" and "Lt George."

As to choice of religion, note that it is not just judaism, it is hasidic judaism, which many jews consider outdated and criticize themselves. Christianity had been criticized twice before (the nuns, representing the traditional christianity, and the faith healer, representing the modern-pop version). Which brings us to the T-rex in the room:

Nobody in mainstream media is going to criticize Islam. *

Now riddle me this: if we play a game where we start with four types of agent with beliefs {c,j,i,a}; at each step there is a nonzero probability that a belief is switched from {c,j,a} to one of the others (by coercion, by persuasion, by "getting along by going along") and a zero probability that an agent with belief i changes, what is the long term equilibrium?

W

--
* Maybe "nobody" is not accurate. It's not like a member of parliament in an European country would have to leave that country and get criticized for speaking up by her peers, her neighbors, and religious lead... oh wait... IT IS EXACTLY THAT!

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23. Comment #125698 by TruthByEvidence on February 11, 2008 at 9:26 pm

It is most refreshing to see a widely popular television show express stern (yet light hearted) criticism upon religion.

I wonder if this stirred up any controversy? I did not see the full episode, so I could not truly know.

Hmm.

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24. Comment #125704 by cyberkatru on February 11, 2008 at 10:11 pm

The comments on the accent blew me away.
I was born and raised in the USA and have lived in Utah, Virginia, Indiana, Texas and California.
Hugh's accent on the show is, well, perfect. So perfect that because of it, I didn't realize that he was the same guy who was on the Black Adder show. Its hard for me to even think of it as an accent at all, let alone a faked one.

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25. Comment #126337 by JFHalsey on February 13, 2008 at 2:58 am

So what did happen in that episode? Did anybody see it? I stopped watching House before the end of last season... now I'm wishing I hadn't.

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26. Comment #128302 by OsakaGuy on February 16, 2008 at 6:00 pm

OK, I decided to make the effort and google around. Here's the recap of the episode:

http://www.houseisright.com/2008/02/05/house-episode-412-dont-ever-change-recap/

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27. Comment #141109 by Oolon Colluphid on March 10, 2008 at 3:32 am

Coming a bit late to this, but what the hey...

Ref Laurie's accent, I gather that he got the part when the producer, unaware of his background, heard his rushed audition tape and said something like "now that's how an American should sound!"

With the range of accents across the continent, I guess one person's 'spot on' is another's weird caricature... I mean, when someone thinks of an 'English accent', I'll bet they're not thinking Yorkshire Dales, Devon or Birkenhead, let alone Geordie. I expect the US is just as disparate, especially to American ears.

Meanwhile, a fave House quote:

"Isn't it interesting... religious behavior is so close to being crazy that we can't tell them apart."

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28. Comment #141112 by hungarianelephant on March 10, 2008 at 3:46 am

Oolon - Welcome.

When is the follow-up to your blockbusting trilogy coming out?

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29. Comment #162852 by Synchronium on April 17, 2008 at 2:59 pm

So what did happen in that episode? Did anybody see it? I stopped watching House before the end of last season... now I'm wishing I hadn't.

Nephroptosis!

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30. Comment #176206 by mymelody95 on May 6, 2008 at 10:43 pm

Hi! I'm an American, and having never known of this actor before the House series, I was surprised to discover he wasn't a native. He has the typical L.A. speech I've been hearing all of my life.

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31. Comment #176223 by Philip1978 on May 7, 2008 at 12:40 am

mymelody95

Even Brian Singer never knew that Laurie was English saying something along the lines of the kind of compelling American actor he was looking for!

Its funny for me to see him do it because I have grown up hearing his English accent all the time especially in Blackadder, Jeeves and Wooster and a Bit of Fry and Laurie, its hilarious!

Its a bit like hearing James Marsters or Alexis Desinoff from the Buffy and Angel series, Alexis sounds like he has a fake American accent to me!

Good series House, will get and watch it properly one day!

Philip

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