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Brighter side of web - fawlty Towers
Quotes from Waldorf Salad
(American visitor) “5 hours from London to Torquay, couldn’t find the freeway, had to take a little backway called the M5”
(Basil Fawlty with heavy hint of sarcasm) “I’m sorry if it wasn’t wide enough, a lot of English cars have steering wheels”
“Do you have a waldorf salad? No I'm afraid we are out of waldorfs”
Clip from Gourmet Night
Basil Fawlty in fine form, as their Gourmet evening goes predictably wrong.
"Come on!" - Basil Fawlty to his car, which has broken down
"start you vicious *******"
"O My God I'm warning you, if you don't start.. I'll count to 3,.. 1,2,3"
"Right that's it, I have enough of you. You've tried it once too often.."
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No matter how many times you watch Fawlty Tower I never seem to tire of seeing it. This particular episode “The Germans” (also known as the Fire Drill) has repeatedly been voted the funniest comedy episode and it really deserves all the accolades it has been given. It is well known only 12 episodes of Fawlty Towers were made, the producers wanted to concentrate on quality rather than quantity. There doesn’t seem any moment wasted with a constant stream of jokes throughout each episode.
This particular episode about the Germans could be seen as Xenophobic in the way Basil treats the Germans, but to be fair it is more of a satire on clowns like Basil Fawlty. The behaviour of the German party is by contrast very dignified, especially given the circumstances. Their comment at the end “How did they ever win the war?” being quite apt.
But really it is unnecessary to judge whether this video is appropriate. The script is so good and the acting of John Cleese is as good as comic Genius. Basil is so madcap and zany he can get away with doing anything - even impersonations of the Nazi goose-step. and has understandably passed into comedy folklore.
Making fun of such nationalistic sentiments is surely the best way forward anyway.
Manuel from Barcelona is an integral part of Fawlty Towers. Throughout the series his poor English and failure to understand Basil Fawlty, in particular, are a source of numerous jokes. Even just his trademark
"Que?"
is enough to create a laugh. I saw an interview with Andrew Sachs, the actor who plays Manuel. He said it was great fun to make Fawlty Towers although John Cleese used to really hit him hard, if you watch the episodes carefully, Basil doesn't hold back. In fact in one episode Andrew Sachs experienced serious concussion after being hit over the head with a frying pan. He also suffered burns whilst filming during "The Germans episode"
During the Germans episode there is also a memorable moment when he is practising his English and the old major thinks it is the stuffed animal that is speaking.
Andrew Sachs was actually born in Germany his family fled before the war because of their Jewish origin.
