Stephen Fry in America - part 5: Review

Stephen Fry in America 5/6 - True West (Sunday 9 November 9:00pm - 10:00pm BBC1) This series is about Stephen Fry visiting all fifty states of the USA, via a black London taxi. Tonight's episode, part 5, is about the "True West" and started out with Stephen in a hot air balloon ride over a canyon in New Mexico, followed by a visit to an "earthship" (an ec0-friendly house). The walls of the house are constructed from old, used tires, and everything about the house is designed to be self-sufficient. Very impressive, it is too. Next, Stephen visited Los Alamos National Laboratory , where the first atom bomb was made. In Utah, Stephen visited Monument Valley, part of the Navajo Indian Reservation, where he had a basket weaving lesson and was invited to a barbecue with the Navajo. Stephen enjoyed a trip on a very luxurious houseboat (it includes a jacuzzi, which Stephen used) on Lake Powell, Utah. The lake is man-made and has 1900 miles of shoreline. Stephen flew in a WW2 B17 bomber from Phoenix to Tucson, Arizona to see where older military aircraft are retired - "moth-balled, sealed up for the time being" - and parked in formation at Tucson's Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, the home of the United States government's Boneyard. At the Old Tucson Studio, Stephen took part in a wild west shoot-out scene. He was "shot" and did a death scene, which he played for laughs. In Las Vegas, Nevada, Stephen played a 'spy game' (a team-building exercise involving a fake kidnapping and solving the "crime" by following clues around the city) and he also visited a photographic shoot involving Mormon boys posing for a Mormon missionary calendar. He discussed the Mormon religion with one of the young men. He also visited a brothel just outside Reno, Nevada (the only state where prostitution is legal) and then headed for Lake Tahoe which straddles Nevada and California. He finished this episode with his arrival at the seaside of the Pacific Ocean in California. I have to say that I wasn't particularly impressed with this part of the series. I thought he spent too much time with the silly Spy Game in Las Vegas and the visit to the brothel. What did you think of tonight's episode? related links from my blog: Stephen Fry in America - part 1: Review Stephen Fry in America - part 2: Review Stephen Fry in America - part 3: Review Stephen Fry in America - part 4: Review