The PBS Fawlty Towers Retrospective.

Published on December 8, 2005 By Jamie Burnside In Entertainment

Every once-in-a-while, a prime time television show on PBS actually seems entertaining. (I usually catch them late-night for the British shows.) Of course those seemingly "entertaining" shows always seem to coincide with pledge week. Anyway, this time the "interesting" show was a retrospective on "Fawlty Towers".

Anyone watch that?

The show was mildly entertaining, but it was mostly devoid of substance. They showed clips from the limited number of shows in the series, and the played commentary of some of the cast members. It wasn't really anything one couldn't read on a 500 word overview on the series which could be found on someone's fansite.

Anyway the clips were fun, and it was interesting to see "Manuel" out of character. It was a little disappointed that they couldn't interview Connie Booth. I was also wondering why they decided to interview Terry Jones.

All in all, I'd give the show a middling grade. Not awful, but not terribly insightful either.

Comments

jennybean

on Dec 08, 2005

My mom is British and her and my dad were really big into those types of shows, and a few years ago we were at Blockbuster and my mom saw some of the episodes of Fawlty Towers for rental. Of course we rented them and my sister and I loved them! You are certainly right about a lack of substance, but I thought those shows were pretty funny. British humor is definitely a different sense of humor, but then again I've always been a fan of Monty Python as well. John Cleese is about as funny as you can get! Glad you enjoyed Fawlty Towers; it is quite entertaining

Jamie Burnside

on Dec 08, 2005

I hope that you didn't misunderstand me. I meant that the documentary lacked substance, not the show that it was based on.

jennybean

on Dec 08, 2005

Gotcha. Although some episodes I have seen actually do lack much substance but are still entertaining.

Some of the episodes I still couldn't tell you what the main plot is, but I enjoyed them and laughed regardless!

Nancy

on Dec 08, 2005

I used to watch Fawlty Towers a lot growing up. My family and I would always wait expectantly to see what the sign outside the hotel said. I remember "Watery Fowls" being one of my favorites.

Ionolast

on Dec 08, 2005

I think the best episode is the one with the German guests and the old lady who is deaf. Two different storylines that come together at the end.

My family and I would always wait expectantly to see what the sign outside the hotel said. I remember "Watery Fowls" being one of my favorites.

I like "Flowery Twats" the best.

singrdave

on Dec 08, 2005

Yes, "Fawlty Towers" is one of the good ones. (And there actually are bad British comedies, too.)
My favorite is where Basil is trying to explain to Manuel that "there is too much butter ON THOSE TRAYS!" Manuel corrects his Spanish by saying, "No, no... not 'ON THOSE TRAYS', es 'UNO, DOS, TRES'!"

And "The Germans". John Cleese goosestepping through the dining room.

Jamie Burnside

on Dec 08, 2005

My favorite has to be "Gourmet Night". Basil had such a time getting the duck out to the customers. I loved it when he took out his frustrations on his car.

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