"A Bit of Fry and Laurie" - "Pilot" Quiz | Television

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The first sketch of the pilot episode of "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" was simply Hugh Laurie showing pictures to Stephen Fry, who seemed quite bored with the mundane photos. At the end of the sketch, we learned why Hugh was showing the pictures in the first place. Which of these reasons is the correct one?

Answer: It was punishment for Stephen

In the photo sketch, Hugh Laurie was showing Stephen Fry some random pictures of a boring vacation he had. He showed him a picture of his Renault Mountaineer, along with pictures of the instrument panel of the vehicle, a lunch tray, moussaka, and himself sitting on the toilet.

As more pictures were shown to Stephen, he became increasingly more fed up with the photos, and eventually began to cry. Hugh then replied that if Stephen were to ever mess with his daughter again, he would show Stephen a slideshow. What a horrible way to be taught a lesson!

2. In Fry and Laurie's following skit, a man named Peter entered a police station to report a crime. What was the reason that Peter had gone to the police station?

Answer: His car was stolen

When Peter arrived at the police station, the man behind the counter, Oliver, first offered him a selection of coffees. Peter asked for tea, which Oliver regretted they did not have. After the discussion about coffee, Peter told Oliver he was there because his car had been stolen; he had tried to call to report it but he only heard music playing when he rang.

Having heard of Peter's predicament, Oliver offered him a brochure. After asking if he had seen the brochure, he said, "If you'll pardon the pun". When Peter told him there was no pun, Oliver replied with, "Wasn't their one?" and moved on with his conversation. This little exchange about a non-existent pun became a regular catchphrase of "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" throughout its run.

3. The man who worked behind the desk at the police station wore one particular odd article of clothing. It was not addressed as such during the skit, though it was in the following sketch. What part of Oliver's outfit was not quite what you would expect a police officer to wear?

Answer: His trousers

For the first half of the sketch that took place in the police station, nothing seemed odd about Oliver's outfit. When he stood up to show Peter some car theft options, however, his trousers were revealed. Contrary to the pants an officer would normally wear, Oliver was wearing shiny, black and silver striped tight trousers.

The next skit did address the strangeness of Oliver's trousers, when Fry and Laurie were critiquing their own sketch.

4. The skit following the police station sketch was a series of critiques. The first critique was of the police station sketch itself, and the second was a critiquing of the critiques that had been given. A third critique was to follow; what was this called?

Answer: Oh No, Not Another One

The first critique, which was called "Argue the Toss", involved a discussion about the sketch we had just seen. Two men debated about the sketch, and determined the piece worked on twelve levels (though Simon only described his original two). The next critique was "Up the Arts", which showed two critics critiquing the critique we had just seen. The trousers were mentioned here. One of the critics would begin a sentence, and the other then came up with a word to finish, though it wasn't quite the word the first had in mind. One of these was when the first critic mentioned how the characters dealt with the environment. Before he could finish with 'environment', however, the second critic mentioned 'trousers'.

The final critique was entitled "Oh No, Not Another One". The sketch ended before any discussion took place for the third critique.

5. Following the trio of critiques, a random commercial for a beauty product began to play. What was this 'commercial' advertising?

Answer: Deodorant

After the critiquing skit, the show cut to a short video of a man spraying a constant stream of deodorant into his armpit, with dialogue about the deodorant. The black and white video was taken from William Wegman's video photography composition "Selected Video Works 1970-78". The short video was called, simply, "Deodorant".

6. In one of the skits, Stephen Fry was at a restaurant, eating a bowl of soup. Something seemed odd about the soup, and he asked the water what was wrong with it. Upon tasting the soup for himself, what did Hugh Laurie, the waiter, tell him was in the soup?

Answer: Cyanide

In this skit, Stephen was worried that his soup tasted funny. He asked the waiter to taste the soup, and when he did, he replied that it would be the cyanide in the soup that he was tasting. Worried, Stephen asked for a new meal without cyanide. Hugh, the waiter, told him the mozzarella salad had no cyanide, and you could hardly notice the strychnine in it.

When Stephen asked why the chef would not make something without poison in it, the reply was simply because the chef 'has a club foot'. After a long battle with the soup, Stephen finally agreed to a bowl of brown soup (which he never did receive).

7. When Stephen was asking about his soup at the restaurant, the waiter kept mistaking the word "soup" for something else. What did Hugh keep believing Stephen was referring to?

Answer: His suit

When Stephen would ask about his soup, the waiter thought he was referring to his suit. When Stephen asked him to taste the soup, Hugh licked the arm of Stephen's pinstripe suit. Frustrated by this, Stephen told the waiter he meant his soup, repeating for him to try his soup. The waiter replied that he wouldn't try it, because it would be too long in the arms.

Before the sketch could come to a close, both Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie stopped to look at the camera, asking the audience for ways to end the sketch. They requested people to call in with ideas, but they did not reveal a phone number to be called. After a few moments, a 'caller' rang and told Laurie what his soupy twist was (soupy twist is common catchphrase of "A Bit of Fry and Laurie"). The sketch ended with the waiter telling Stephen that the brown soup contained no drop of anything poisonous. Stephen agreed to the soup, and the waiter returned with a brown suit.

8. In one sketch, Hugh Laurie played an instrument and sang an odd love song in a peculiar voice. The song was called "Mystery", but what instrument was Laurie playing during the sketch?

Answer: White piano

While Hugh Laurie does play quite a number of instruments, he used a piano while he sang "Mystery". "Mystery" was a love song, but naturally, also quite the comedy. Every line of the song rhymed with 'mystery', though some were fairly loose rhymes with odd pronunciations to some words. Some of the best rhymes to 'mystery' were estuary, authority, insanitary, January, and history.

9. The song "Mystery" was a love song that was sung by Hugh Laurie. His love song was directed to an unnamed someone, but there was quite a problem with the person he was singing to. What was the problem?

Answer: These were all problems

At first, in the song "Mystery", we learned that the fact the person lived in a different country and that airline tickets don't grow on a tree were reasons that kept the pair apart. Later in this hilarious song, we learned that, if they had ever actually met, the person probably would have hated Hugh. Finally, in another verse, the song revealed that the person had been dead for nearly 15 years. The full lyrics to this comical song are below, though I do suggest watching the skit online to get the full humor of the song.

"Mystery
All my life has been a mystery.
You and I were never ever meant to be
That's why I call my love for you a mystery.

Different country
You and I have always lived in a different country.
And I know that airlines tickets don't grow on a tree
So what kept us apart is plain for me to see.
That much at least isn't really much of a mystery.

Estuary
I live in a houseboat on an estuary
Which is handy with my work for the Thames Water Authority.
But I know you would have found it insanitary.
Insanitary.

Taken a violent dislike to me
I'd be foolish to ignore the possibility.
And if we'd ever actually met, you might have hated me.
Still that's not the only problem I can see.

Dead since 1973
You've been dead now, wait a minute, let me see
Fifteen years come next January.
As a human being you are history
So why do I still long for you?
Why is my love so strong for you?
Why did I write this song for you?
Well I guess it's just a mystery.
Mystery."

10. In the first of several sketches with the characters of Stuart and Gordon, the two met at a hotel's breakfast lounge. While reminiscing about their past, Gordon mentioned that they broke some eggs. This was in reference to the fact that which food item could not be created without breaking some eggs?

Answer: Omelette

When Stu and Gordon saw each other in the hotel breakfast lounge, they began talking about their current lives, as two friends normally would upon seeing each other for the first time in years. As Stuart and Gordon went on, they began talking about their past, and how everything they had done together led up to where they were now. Finally, Gordon (portrayed by Fry) mentioned that they had broken a lot of eggs. Stuart (portrayed by Laurie) did not understand this concept, and an entire discussion about making omelettes, as well as the process undergone in order to make an omelette, ensued.

Source: Author salami_swami

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor guitargoddess before going online.
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"A Bit of Fry and Laurie" - "Pilot" Quiz

The pilot episode of "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" aired on December 26, 1987. How much do you remember about the episode?

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