Why 'Fawlty Towers' Is Still Comedy Gold After All These Years

[TMC]

https://collider.com/fawlty-towers-comedy-why-its-good/

Fawlty Towers is inarguably one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. Its first season was broadcast in 1975 on BBC2, followed up by Season 2 in 1979. Since then, the show has gone on to achieve near legendary status, arriving at or near the top of British best lists, as has John Cleese’s Basil Fawlty. The premise of the award-winning show is relatively simple, centering on the goings-on of a fictional hotel in the seaside town of Torquay, with the various events that befall its eccentric staff and guests. So how has a 12-episode Brit-com from the 1970s managed to retain, if not grow, its popularity?

The biggest reason for the success of Towers lies with the iconic owner of the hotel: Basil Fawlty. Likably dislikable, Basil is a pessimistic, cynical, rude, short-tempered, unfortunate, misanthropic snob. Exactly the type of man that should be in the hospitality business. In the hands of a lesser talent, Basil would easily come across as a bully, or someone so immensely unlikable that the show wouldn't have even made the 12 episode count. It's a testament to the talent of John Cleese that the character avoids these pitfalls, and in fact plays to Cleese's strengths. No one plays the authority figure as buffoon better than Cleese, often cast in those roles throughout the run of Monty Python's Flying Circus. His penchant for physical comedy is utilized fully, perhaps no more evident than in the episode "The Germans", an unexpected and welcome hark back to his character from Python's "Ministry of Silly Walks" sketch. Another element of the character is the karmic misfortune that consistently befalls his various schemes and misdeeds, whether it's losing the money he won on the horses, or causing costly damage to the hotel by getting renovations on the cheap.

What makes the character of Basil work most effectively, and in turn the show, are the supporting characters, providing perfect foils to Basil's idiosyncrasies. Sybil Fawlty (Prunella Scales), Basil's wife, who is, in almost every way, the antithesis to Basil - polite and competent - and the most common receiver of Basil's caustic barbs (but never to her face, lest he face a piercing "BASIL!"). Polly Sherman (Connie Booth), the hotel maid, who, despite being arguably the most sensible character in the show, often finds herself an accomplice to Basil's shenanigans, including a time when she dressed up as a sickly Sybil to keep Basil's inane cover-up of Sybil's absence from guests invited to their anniversary party. Manuel (Andrew Sachs), the dim-witted but well-meaning waiter from Barcelona, with a limited grasp of English. He is often the focus of Basil's rage and temperamental outbursts, bringing out the very best of Basil's impatience. Aside from the regular cast, guest appearances have provided some of Fawlty Towers' most memorable moments, perhaps none more pleasantly antagonizing than Mrs. Richards (Joan Sanderson), the cantankerous, hard-of-hearing, and demanding guest that made Basil's life hell in "Communication Breakdown."

Another element that adds to the appeal of the show is the fact that the characters learn nothing. Larry David famously brought this trait to light with a no hugging, no learning policy for Seinfeld, meaning no sentimentality, no moral lessons, no growing or learning from misdeeds. This principle can be seen throughout all 12 episodes of Fawlty Towers - Basil doesn't change his outlook on life, Manuel doesn't become fluent in English. In doing so, a viewer doesn't need to know anything more about the characters or the show than what is contained in a single episode, and the order the series is watched in is irrelevant. Compare this to a show like Friends, where a new viewer of the show plays a degree of catch up, seeing how Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) goes from sarcastic wit to family man, for example.

Where Fawlty Towers really succeeds, and how it has become as beloved as it is, is the fact that the show ended before it became a pale shadow of itself. Despite its popularity, both John Cleese and Connie Booth refused to do a third season, not wanting to see the quality of the show lessen in any way. This proved to inspire shows that would follow in its wake. Like Seinfeld, for example, bowing out before ruining the show's legacy and turning away from significant monetary temptations to keep its integrity. Each episode of the show is a comedy classic. The opening, featuring a different anagram of the hotel sign. "The Kipper and the Corpse", with Basil trying to get a dead guest out of the hotel without drawing attention. "Basil The Rat", a frantic search to find Manuel's pet rat Basil before the health inspector does. "The Hotel Inspectors", where Basil fears he has insulted undercover hotel inspectors, trying desperately to figure out which hotel guests they might be, forcing Basil to actually treat his guests nicely, just in case. And the episode that consistently stands out as a favorite among critics and fans: "The Germans", where a group of German tourists are guests in the hotel, sitting down to a meal as hosted by Polly when a concussed Basil, the outcome of a blow from a falling moose head, returns from the hospital. Adamant that nothing can go wrong, Basil insists on greeting the German guests, leading to one of television's most esteemed comic moments, Basil's infamous "don't mention the war" spiel. Seeing Basil progressively make matters worse over the course of minutes is simply gold, with the low-point of his tirade the long limbed goose-stepping of Basil, holding one finger under his nose like an Adolf Hitler mustache, while the other hand is held aloft in a Nazi salute.

[Sgt. Saunders]

Basil Fawlty is like the more recent Tony Soprano, in that both men possess many negative personal traits (impatience, intolerance, hubris, etc.), but in spite of those personal flaws, we still like both of them.

PS The FT episode, “The Germans,” is truly inspired comedy. Basil doing his Adolf Hitler impression is classic!

[icecream]

Originally Posted by Sgt. Saunders

Basil Fawlty is like the more recent Tony Soprano, in that both men possess many negative personal traits (impatience, intolerance, hubris, etc.), but in spite of those personal flaws, we still like both of them.

Hardly! Basil Fawlty never murdered anyone or had them killed.

[Sgt. Saunders]

But, Tony had a very winsome and even winning smile. People like Tony, just like the posh and toffee-nosed Basil Fawlty, despite Tony and Basil’s negative personal traits.

Although, Tony never fawned (read: kiss @ss) like Basil did with Lord Melbury and the guy, Basil mistakenly believed was the hotel inspector.