History Series / ABitOfFryAndLaurie

* HalfwayPlotSwitch: The interview with the schoolmaster who creates a "religious Esperanto" starts with the interviewer sickened by PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad. And then the schoolmaster talks about how yesterday they had to burn one of the students as a heretic.

* FingerlessGloves: The "light-metal" rocker "The Bishop" wears just one, with his pontifical vestments.

* ItIsPronouncedTroPay: Parodied in the sketch featuring "Mister (drops an object onto a tabletop). It's as it sounds." (Turns out, it's spelled [[spoiler:N-I-P-P-L-hyphen-E, but he's very offended when referred to as "Mr. Nipple."]])

comes out and praises TV presenter Noel Edmonds and Secretary of Education Kenneth Baker.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** The premise of a GameShow called "Don't Be Dirty!", the show that shows that you don't ''have'' to be dirty. Contestants have to describe potentially risque subjects (including "preservation of [[BiggerIsBetterInBed hardwoods]]") without "being dirty". The topics in the final round end up being rimming, genital torture, and "[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking sports presenter David Vine]]": the contestant, who chooses the latter, ends up losing for saying that Vine had a lot of "knowledge on the game" ([[spoiler:"on the game" is a British slang term for prostitution.]])
** In the ProductPlacement episode about Tidyman's Carpets, Hugh refers to the titular carpets as [[DoubleEntendre "the deep shag that really satisfies".]]

** [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar "Ted Cunterblast"]]

* PhonyPsychic: One sketch features a man who claims to bend spoons using the amazing power of...his hands. He is quite offended when called on this.

* YourCheatingHeart: In the Australian Soap sketch, Stephen's character confesses, to Hugh, that he's been having an affair with Hugh for some time.
--> "You mean you've been sleeping with me ''behind my back!''"

* HetIsEw: The sketch "Judge Not" goes from using an accusation of lesbianism against someone to saying that ''all'' attraction toward women is bad.

* HomeVersionSoundtrackReplacement: The TV version of the ''Countdown'' sketch uses the actual ''Countdown'' think music, but the DVD replaces this with a generic piece.

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: {{Played with}} in the Michael Jackson sketch. Although he is a skilled mimic, Stephen Fry decided to play "Michael Jackson" in his own accent...and indeed his own clothes with not a single attempt at impersonation... with hilarious results.

* PainfulRhyme: [[invoked]] The entire joke behind Hugh's song ''Mystery''.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In the gameshow sketch "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26FKgGK84po Don't Be Dirty]]", players must carefully describe adult, risque topics, yet the final round's categories are rimming, genital torture and ''sports presenter [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Vine David Vine]]''. The contestant ends up losing for saying "...knowledge on the game" ([[spoiler:"on the game" is a British slang term for prostitution.]])

** The premise of a GameShow called "Don't Be Dirty!", the show that shows that you don't ''have'' to be dirty. Basically, it involves contestants trying to talk about potentially risque subjects (or if not risque, involving the possibility of {{double entendre}}s, such as "Preservation of [[BiggerIsBetterInBed Hardwoods]]") without "being dirty".

* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: In "Scumbag", Stephen and Hugh are ineptly interrogating a woman about her husband, despite her repeated claims that she doesn't have a husband.
-->'''Stephen''': To business, Mrs Popey. Your husband has ...\\

* TheEndOrIsIt: Parodied with the Gelliant Gutfright sketches. "It couldn't happen... or could it? Or could it? [[SubvertedTrope Perhaps it couldn't.]] ...''or could it?''"

* {{Oxbridge}}

''A Bit of Fry and Laurie'', commonly known as ABOFAL or "Boffle", is a British television series starring former Cambridge Footlights members Creator/StephenFry and Creator/HughLaurie, broadcast on both Creator/{{BBC}}2 and also [=BBC1=] between 1989 and 1995. It ran for four series, and totalled 26 episodes, including a 35 minute pilot episode in 1987. Both Fry and Laurie have expressed interest in working together again, but this has not yet taken place, due to both men's busy schedules.