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This... is Paul Slippery. —Opening narration, Episode One
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Fortysomething is a Britcom starring Hugh Laurie as Paul Slippery, a London general practitioner who begins to suspect that he's hearing other people's thoughts — most notably those of his wife, Estelle. But when you consider that Estelle has started working for an ambiguously flirtatious power lesbian, Paul's eldest son (Benedict Cumberbatch) is bent on revenge against his middle son for stealing his girlfriend (whilst involved with her sister!), Paul's youngest son is using the family home as a base for various entrepreneurial activities, his colleague (Peter Capaldi) is completely bonkers, and he can't even make an intimate dinner for his wife without his entire family asking for a taste of "Proud Banana"... well, it's not completely unreasonable that Paul would go a little mad.
The show ran for one six-episode series on ITV in 2003 and was released on DVD in the summer of 2008, at which point it was known in America as "that TV show where House plays a nice doctor". Since the fall of 2010, it has become known as "the TV show where House is Sherlock's dad".
Not to be confused with the late '80s/early '90s ABC show Thirtysomething.
- Dawson Casting: Benedict Cumberbatch was about six or seven years older than university student Rory; sixteen-year-old Edwin was played by twenty-year-old Joe Van Moyland.
- Every Episode Ending: Each episode ended with Paul and Estelle going to bed at night.
- Hearing Voices: Probably Paul's imagination, but it's never conclusively settled.
- Jerkass: Daniel.
- A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read: The thoughts Paul thinks he hears from Estelle are... not flattering.
- Nice Guy: Rory
- Once Per Episode: Each episode takes place in a single day, beginning with Paul and Estelle waking up in the morning and ending with them going to bed.
- Opening Narration: The first line of every episode is "This... is Paul Slippery."
- Sibling Triangle: More like sibling rectangle, which eventually resolves itself into something approximating Double In-Law Marriage.
- Young Entrepreneur: Edwin, much to Paul's chagrin, as one of Edwin's business ventures results in a load of refrigerators delivered to their house... and another results in crates of sex toys sitting around the Slipperys' yard.