'Alfresco' Starring Thompson to be Released in the U.S.

Available to U.S. audiences for the first time, Acorn Media announces the August 26, 2008 home video debut of Alfresco, a hilarious sketch comedy series that launched the careers of Oscar®-winner Emma Thompson, Golden Globe®-winner Hugh Laurie (House), BAFTA-winner Robbie Coltrane (Cracker, the Harry Potter films), Stephen Fry, Ben Elton, among others. The 2-volume boxed set includes all 13 episodes plus a bonus program, the series three-episode pilot. Alfresco showcases soon-to-be-famous talents, full of the energy, irreverence, and audacity of youth.
 
In the tradition of Monty Python's Flying Circus and Saturday Night Live, Alfresco brought hilariously inventive comedy to British TV in the 1980s. It also introduced an entire troupe of bright young talents—Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, Robbie Coltrane, Ben Elton, Stephen Fry, Siobhan Redmond, and Paul Shearer.

Wild and wacky, Alfresco serves up social satire and delightfully off-the-wall sketches that seem as fresh and funny today as when they originally aired. The laughs fly hard and fast, and no sacred cows escape the skewer when these versatile comic actors lampoon bureaucrats, Jesus freaks, self-righteous counterculturists, and even their own show. Now, for the first time, American audiences can enjoy every episode of this British comedy landmark.
 
Bonus Programs: There's Nothing to Worry About

The three-episode pilot series that led to the creation of Alfresco.

Additional Special Features: The story of the alternative comedy boom in 1980s Britain, and cast biographies and filmographies.
 
Headquartered in suburban Washington, D.C., Acorn Media distributes distinctive home video releases to the North American market with a special focus on the best of British television. Acorn's DVD sets are available from select retailers, catalog companies, and direct from Acorn Media at (888) 870-8047 or www.acornonline.com.