Accents and Accidents (sounds like a Blackadder III episode)

Since there seems to be a bit of dissention in the ranks about the quality of Hugh Laurie's American accent on House, I thought I'd share this little gem from TWoP, in reply to a person who asked how Laurie got the role:

One of the producers (Bryan Singer, the "X-Men" movie director) had never even heard of Hugh Laurie (he's apparently been under a rock for the last 20 years). They had been auditioning lots of actors, and apparently a lot of them were British actors who couldn't quite get an American accent right. So Singer said he didn't want to see any more British actors. When the creator of the show, David Shore (who is Canadian and had heard of Laurie) got Hugh's audition tape, he decided to show it to Singer without telling him he was English. While watching Hugh Laurie's audition, Singer said, "See, this is what I want: an American guy."

It was remarked elsewhere in the same thread that in the first half of the season -- which I believe both the UK and Australian markets are airing at the moment -- Laurie made a few slips in intonation and pronunciation that you could catch if you knew he was British, but by the time you get to "Three Stories" at the end of the season, where he has 80% of the dialogue, there are no flaws to be found. Since I've only actually watched the pilot plus 1x22 "Three Stories" and 1x23 "Honeymoon", this may be why I have a higher opinion of Laurie's American accent than those just starting in...

Must make House icon(s). Have screencaps, have Houseisms, need creative energy, stat.