Hugh Laurie pre-MD
Love Laurie on House? He's been knocking about the telly across the pond for 30-plus years. Here's a DVD primer of his home-country hits.
Fortysomething (2003) Prepare to see a lot of Laurie's bottom in this deliciously raunchy, new-to-DVD dramedy about an undersexed 44-year-old family man whose cozy home life goes arse over tit. Literally.
MI-5: Volume 1 (2002) Laurie's natty, conniving secret agent is one dirty dog — and nearly as cheeky as House. He denounces an MI-5er with ''Are we going to have to come over the river and potty-train all you people?''
BlackAdder: The Collector's Set (1986 — 99) He played eight parts on this historical farce; the best is Prince ''Thick as a Whale Omelet'' George, a flatulent spendthrift with one million pairs of socks.
The Complete Jeeves & Wooster (1990 — 93) Laurie met Stephen Fry as a student at Cambridge (Emma Thompson introduced them). This Wodehouse adaptation is one of the comic duo's best series.
And for die-hard Laurie fans: Annie Lennox: Totally Diva (1992) He's a cuckolded dandy in Lennox's ''Walking on Broken Glass'' video.
