"It tells us a lot about how people respond to other people, that it's helplessness that makes us feel good about them, and if they can look after themselves we don't like them."
I still think Fawlty towers was the best comedy series of all time . Each episode was a classic . Beautifully crafted and performed. Unlike American sitcoms not dragged on and on, till you cant stand the sight of them anymore. Just brilliance.
Thank you for never giving into the pressure of making MORE of these. This is a timeless piece of art that should never be tampered with and can never be competed with.
Cleese's hallmark is rigorous logic. All his sketches build and escalate perfectly. Fawlty Towers is a work of genius, co-written with Connie Booth of course whose contribution should never be underestimated, FT is the best thing Cleese ever did and the only thing written with Booth
Loved also the supporting character of the Major. Such as when the moose head was resting on the reception desk, manuel was out of sight cleaning shelving below counter, started a conversation with the major who then thought it was the moose head speaking to him. "Japanese is it, eh what?" "No, Canadian I think major"
The Kipper and the Corpse was probably the only time Basil came out the victor by just diving into the laundry basket and leaving Sybil to have to deal with the entire catastrophe. Mrs Richards was a hysterical episode but poor old Basil still lost out when Sybil took his money off of him.
Major: (sees Basil with a dead guest) "I say Fawlty, he doesn't look quite the ticket" Basil: "Don't say anything Major but, he's dead" Major: "Ahh, shot was he?" 😂😂😂😂
We all are blessed knowing the wonderful dichotomy of Faulty Towers. This is a masterpiece from John Cleese, and their is no problem with what he says. We are blessed to see such wonder.
I didn't even know they would remake Fawlty Towers. Won't watch it. I never watched the remakes of Ghostbusters, Total Recall, Star Trek, Robocop, Pink Panther, etc etc etc. I hear about a remake and 99% of the time I go out of my way to never watch it, not even the trailer.
You do realise they have remade Fawlty Towers several times in one form or another since the last series right? The difference with this one is it's not being remade it's being continued with John Cleese and his daughter writing it.
@@Jozy6264 Unfortunately all legacies are ruined in the end, John has held off for decades, he actually had an idea for a movie where Basil went to visit Manuel in Spain and the flight was hijacked but ultimately said no however I think they need the money somehow, John lost alot of money due to his marriage break downs and he probably wants to help his daughter too.
I like the fact that they only done 12 quality episodes rather than it drag on & become stale, i.e. i quite enjoyed the original ' last of the summer wine ' but in the end there were too many characters in it and it became boring
@glenmorgan4597 Yeah, good point. Shows like Last of the Summer Wine end up long in the tooth. I guess I'll just have to watch the 12 episodes of Fawlty again, for the 50th time 😁😎
I quite enjoyed this clip of John Cleese talking about Fawlty Towers in 1986. Obviously not as good as clips of John Cleese talking about Fawlty Towers in 1977 or in 1979 or even in 1981 but far far better than clips of John Cleese talking about Fawlty Towers in 1998- 2001- 2009 or 2024. What is your all time favourite year-clip of John Cleese talking about Fawlty Towers?
@@user-et6pj4db9sWell thank you. Thank you very much for your well dones.Very much appreciated . If your well dones were meant of course.It's hard to tell sometimes isn't it? Especially in type. No.. you're right. I don't expect Cleese will ever read this but we can only live in hope....Can't we? Anyway -thank you once again. Goodnight and God bless. Ps. Co-incidentally enough User-et6pj4db9s was my mother's name. You've made me come over all nostalgic now😭
@@scottandrewbrass1931 lol very good. You could form a new python with that gift for the style. I tried to do python comedy myself in my early 20s. I'm in my 40s now. You can get all sorts of stuff out of just writing sketches on and on like they did and not ending them like a conventional sketch show would. I have some good ones but they'll never see the light of day now. Here's one anyway, one show opens with a totally bedraggled bride and groom crawling across deserts to get to the wedding ceremony only for someone to object to the marriage based on the groom being a bigamist so it's voided and the couple die from dehydration after which a program discusses the morality of making newlyweds traverse vast expanses to prove their commitment to marriage, debated by two atheists passionately until the host reminds them that they're atheists so they realise they don't care and the entire program ends immediately. The wedding couple traversing a desert is the start point, I just made up the rest right now. But you see how one thing can lead to another which is what Python did. Another sketch show would just stop at the wedding itself but that's killing the comedy, it's much more fun to keep going like Mr Pithers bicycle tour.
@@scottandrewbrass1931 ah well, you got further with it than I ever will. I was mainly good at parroting other styles but that's not really considered much of a talent if you can't produce original material. A new Pythonesque sketch show would be good though. Anyway all the best.
@@user-et6pj4db9s It's all bollocks. There's really no such thing as true originality . You should keep writing regardless what age you are. Just remember. You'll never be as shit as Nish Kumar. That thought always keeps me going through the long winter nights. Take care man.
For the life of me I can't understand why Only Fools and Horses is considered the best British comedy ever. Personally I'd rate Fawlty Towers at 1 and Black Adder and Steptoe and Son as a coin flip for 2 & 3. Mind Your Language was a also a favourite of mine when I was about 8 or 9 years old. I found OF&H too predictable as a 13/24 year old, as it's irony. Rising Damp was excellent too.
I'm reading 📚 👀 Out Stealing Horses 🐎 by Per Petterson ..."Petersson catches so effectively, the thing that haunts all of us: The knowledge of how fragile life is ...surprise ing, and breathtaking" 😅 - Daily Express ✨️
Possibly the greatest British sitcom ever. (The US, overall, has produced many just as good, if not better: Cheers, Frasier, Seinfeld, Curb...even The Simpsons.)
Cannot deny the US efforts have been and are brilliant. Absolutely. However, the US ones rarely have that edge to them that British comedy (sometimes) does, the US ones play out within safe parameters. There is always that little bit of patronising of the audience with US material, as if they feel the people are a little too thick to get jokes that offer no punchline. I'd add 'South Park' to one of the US greats and as the creators of it do say they were influenced by British humour and Monty Python to boot, how about we call it a score draw :)
Looks at that magnificent 1980s childhood summer happening in the background behind him. One house along, a grand memory and a home video is being created. I feel transported back in time by the foliage. Just think, there are normal under 40s walking about somewhere just out of frame, who think it is ok to have a moustache and woolen tank top.
Very interesting. Especially that he and Connie would literally start with a blank sheet and end up filling it with the multi-complexities of a comedy narrative. I think also that Sybil’s role was God-like and very controlling and Basil was the only one daft enough to try and subvert it.
I've always been in awe of how people can just create these complex and hilarious stories from basically nothing. All the dialogue and comedic timing included. It must be nice being that creative.
It seems they have a plot outlined and much is ad libbed or impovised and may have several running gags that hopefully all meet to a conclusion. A rather hit and miss affair. But all seem extremely memorable, hilarious and replayed. Yet, there were only 12 episodes. 6 in '75 a gap of 4 years and another 6 in '79. There were some great stuff on TV then. I find that with some actors such as John Cleese or Jerry Lewis, their explanations sound complicated and bewildering.
I get that FT is well written, acted, and have nothing but respect for John Cleese. But something about the show just gives me anxeity, so it's hard to watch for me.
I dont think its that. People don't like Cybil because she's not funny. People like to laugh, people like to laugh AT peoples foibles and she is just unpleasant. People don't like Fawlty, they like JOHN CLEESE pretending to be Fawlty. He's a total a hole (fawlty) but he's an entertaining one. And because Cybil is not funny they 'blame her' for his unpleasantness, the reverse of the saying 'behind every good man is a good woman'. Or like how Pink Floyd talks about the horrible teacher but sings that his 'fat and psychopathic wife with thrash him within inches of his life". When the truth is likely the very opposite. In fact a remake of Fawlty Towers that would be possible today would be showing Cybils off time when she's having an affair with a man who isn't a violent lunatic and where she's funny, relaxed, kind, and the opposite to how she is with Basil. Or even more popular would be the porn version where she's having one with Polly:)
@@Kris.G The fashions, probably. Or maybe all the references to Henry Kissinger? I just rewatched it a few weeks ago and I think it holds up really well.
