REACTING TO FAWLTY TOWERS | Series 1 Ep. 2 - The Builders 

My favorite episode.

See a very young Prunella Scales (Sybil) in the 1954 film Hobson's Choice. RSJ mean reinforced steel joist. All the remakes refused Cleese's help and they all flopped. I wonder why.

You may be interested in a fine series Great Canal Journeys (from 2014-19), with Prunella Scales who's 91 and her actor husband Timothy West, 89. In it, they travelled on canal boats in different areas and also some other countries. Prunella was already suffering with dementia in it but there's touching warmth and kindness between them.

Orelly men. 😁😁Sybil is just as incompetent as Basil but it's not so obvious.

John Cleese named this as "the least good" of the episodes, because of the lack of laughter in the studio on the day of recording, also David Kelly (who played O’Reilly) once said that members of the Icelandic Broadcasting Corporation were visiting the studio that day and many of them were in the front row seats, apparently not enjoying the show.

Doesn't matter there all very funny. Fawlty towers is classic. DADS ARMY Is the same

8:27 - Sybil, while beating Mr. O'Reilly: "Come on. Give us a smile." And then O'Reilly actually tries to smile for a second.

"Come on, give us a smile" - as she is beating Mr. O’Reilly with an umbrella might be my favorite Sybil scene.

One of the best things on TV ever. Simple as...

Go Megan. RIP David Kelly d.2012, one of the first of an impressive parade of fine character actors who appear only in one episode and have since passed. The editing is quite savage but I appreciate the reasons - a pity in a way as the scripts are so absolutely gag-packed, but many of us know it backwards anyhow. Some people dodge copyright by using an original watermark or bars across the screen. Whatever works for you. Rock on babe.

WARNING: David ("O'Reilly") Kelly did a nude sequence in WAKING NED DEVINE.

I'm with you. Saying "You shouldn't be upset, some people have it far worse" is as fatuous as saying "you shouldn't be happier, some people have it far better than you"

The whole point about Basil Fawlty is that he is an obnoxious bully - by turns toadying to those he believes are his betters and bullying those he sees as being under him. Like all comedy bullies he needs a limit - and in Basil's case this comes from his fear of his wife Sybil - who gives him limits but also provides additional comic fodder as she continually gives him tasks for which he has repeatedly shown he has no ability (choosing a decent builder - putting up the moose head - running a fire drill etc).

Nothing beats Fawlty Towers. Strange to think some "head of entertainment" completely wrote it off as "dire" and destined to fail.

Cleese and Connie Booth (Polly) were married (to each other).

Hands down the funniest episode ever!

The age-old conundrum of husband /wife opinions on contractors where husband wants it done as cheap as possible and wife wants it done right first timer.

Best line ever, " If the good lord is mentioned once more, I will move you closer too him!"

Hello Megan, how are you? Love watching your content content, which makes me smile! Nice seeing another reaction starting John Cleese & and keep up the great work! ❤

Communication problems is another good one.

Well done in working out the plot..

Although this show is regarded as “12 episodes of perfection” (6 in ‘75 and 6 in ‘79), this is genuinely regarded as the weakest episode. Usually because the lack of guests for Basil to schmooze and/or hate. John Cleese even said it wasn’t the best. When you get to Ep6, it was of the time… On your mentionof female characters, John Howard-Davies (S1 producer and director) described Sybil Fawlty as “The sort of woman who could make love and paint her nails at the same time”. Cleese and Booth had a different idea of Sybil but Prunella Scales audition convinced them to change the style of the character.

Great to see you enjoying this one. This is one of my favourite Fawlty Towers episodes even though - as someone said before - there is little studio audience laughter. In some ways, that actually makes it better, as I've never enjoyed sitcoms where the audience sounds like hyenas on nitrous oxide! (One of the reasons I usually prefer sitcoms from Britain to the ones from the USA.) Besides which the individual performances, setups and payoffs are so great in this one that it's a classic even without background laughter. The late Irish actor David Kelly was also in a little-remembered TV series about shoddy builders called "Cowboys" where he played a very similar role to this, and he starred in the film Waking Ned (known across the Atlantic as Waking Ned Devine I think, for some reason). I loved him in all those roles!

Igwas such a classic series they don't make them like this anymore manwell is hilarious

Makes you wonder where does john chlees gets his ideas to write such a classic

Polly and Fawlty were married in real life and they co wrote the series