Looking for Emma Thompson TV series

May 5, 2008 3:11 PM

Emma Thompson TV series? Late 80's? Did I hallucinate this?

I could swear that in between between presenting episodes of A Bit of Fry and Laurie, French & Saunders, and Alas Smith and Jones for me 20 years ago, my magical televisual display unit once showed me several episodes of Emma Thompson's own series (likely short-lived). I think it might have just been called "Thompson", and used Brubeck's "Unsquare Dance" as its theme music.

Did I imagine this? Are recordings available? Region 1 preferred.

posted by bartleby to society & culture (10 answers total)

No, you weren't imagining things, and no, it doesnt appear to be available for purchase
posted by pupdog at 3:17 PM on May 5, 2008

you might check with the paley center for media to see if they have it in their collection.
posted by jimw at 3:46 PM on May 5, 2008

Do you know about TV Shows on DVD? That's the best way to keep track of whether a show is likely to be released on DVD, and if so, when. It has an entry for Thompson but no info right now though.
posted by GaelFC at 4:46 PM on May 5, 2008

no, it doesnt appear to be available for purchase

Probably because it was considered insufferably self-indulgent, and likely embarrasses her even today. You've got MetaMail, anyway.
posted by holgate at 5:33 PM on May 5, 2008

@holgate: That's one of the reasons I want to see it again. I remember it as part of that group, but may have been the odd one out in the funny department.

If so, I'll put it down as the Emma Thompson entry in my "if I ever meet this celebrity, I will make sure to pretend to remember them ONLY for an embarrassing early or unlikely piece of work" list.
For instance, "Hey, you're Sharon Stone, aren't you? What was it like to work with James Earl Jones......in Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold?" or meeting Nicole Kidman and remembering her from "BMX Bandits" but pretending not to have heard of her since then.
(I once got a chance to compliment Tim Robbins on his performance in Howard the Duck - in public, during the time when people were soliciting his opinions on politics, etc. and it was swelling his head a bit. Felt good.)
posted by bartleby at 6:03 PM on May 5, 2008 [2 favorites]

She did bags of stuff in the late 80s that she might not want to admit to now -- some of them are featured on that sketch show compilation the BBC is running right now. She became one of those comedy faces that tended to pop up on everything before we became aware of who she was. A bit like the "I'll get me coat" bloke from The Fast Show.
posted by deeper red at 12:50 AM on May 6, 2008

I remember it from my school days in the same way that I remember getting beaten up / dumped. Not with fond pleasure. It wasn't funny and as I remember, had some sort of 'interpretive dance' section somewhere in the middle of each programme. Truly awful.
posted by dowcrag at 3:56 AM on May 6, 2008

For a sample of Emma's early work, check out The Young Ones, in particular the season 2 opener where a 1980s version of Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie play Oxbridge graduates on an intellectual quiz show.
posted by electriccynic at 7:00 AM on May 6, 2008

God, I remember it.

I don't recall the "interpretive dance" sequence mentioned by dowcrag.

But the end credits!

Emma T. facing slightly away from the camera and appearing to applaud the names of the generally unsung technical guys 'n gals as their credits scrolled.

Truly cringe-making!
posted by Jody Tresidder at 9:22 AM on May 6, 2008

I don't recall the "interpretive dance" sequence mentioned by dowcrag.

I do, vaguely, with the recollection that Michael Praed (Robin of Sherwood, Dynasty) was involved at least once. The horror.

On the University Challenge knock-off in The Young Ones: Thompson, Fry and Laurie were all Cambridge contemporaries, and were first seen on TV in the Footlights one-off that's an extra on the A Bit of Fry and Laurie DVD set for Americans. Edmondson, Mayall and Elton went to redbrick Manchester; Planer, Ryan and Sayle all studied around London, so the posh/pleb contrast was playing up each side's background.
posted by holgate at 10:37 PM on May 6, 2008