Fortysomething

A true gem for fans of Hugh Laurie
I am a long time fan of Hugh Laurie, and in my endeavors to try and collect everything I can possibly find that he's been in, I stumbled across this 2 DVD set. I am so happy I bought it! It is absolutely brilliant; Hugh's character, Paul, is somewhat of a cross between House and Wooster. I simply adore this show; the first episode in particular is truly hilarious: one of the many high points is when two of Paul's adult sons are fighting over a girl and Paul orders them to go to their rooms. Sex is a major theme throughout the series; one of the running jokes is that Paul can't remember the last time he and his wife have made love while his sons spend most of their time fighting over a pair of sisters. In spite of the sexual elements, I found the show to be refreshingly tasteful, especially compared to the majority of American shows. Further more, its obvious, at least in my opinion, that in spite of their problems, Paul and his wife were still quite devoted to one another. I'm sorry...

Who doesn't love Hugh Laurie?!?
If you love Hugh Laurie in "House" then check him out in this British series he did right before becoming the grumpy old doctor we adore. In "Fortysomething," he plays another grumpy, but a little less old, doctor and a family man facing a midlife crisis. It's hysterical and real and Hugh Laurie doing what he does best.

Comedy for the Soul
In a world of crass comedy-by-numbers in which insensitivity masquerades as "edgy" this series is something quite different. The comedy is low-key and never cruel, and even the minor characters get developed enough along the way to be interesting. While the first episode initially seems as if it's going to be too mechanical, Laurie's character Paul develops quickly enough for us to be touched by the humanity of the guy. And that's what is central to this series: in the middle of all the quotidian upsets and misunderstandings, in a world in which everyone is too busy to connect, Paul struggles always to do the right thing in a confusing world even though he is never encouraged or acknowledged. It would have been very easy to write a series in which the middle-aged man is an object of ridicule; instead, this series cleverly sets up all the standard tropes but turns it around by enabling us to empathize and sympathize with Paul.

One of the core themes is the fact that Paul and...

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