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| Home: DVD: Fawlty Towers - The Complete Series |
Fawlty Towers - The Complete Series- BBC Warner |
Basil Fawlty, as created and performed by John Cleese, is the rudest, most boorish, most hilariously obnoxious man on the face of the planet. What a natural for a TV sitcom! His screen wife, Sybil (Prunella Scales), put it best in the episode "The Psychiatrist": "You're either crawling all over them, licking their boots, or spitting poison at them like some Benzedrine puff adder." He mockingly replies, "Just trying to enjoy myself, dear." With his gangly frame and contortionist abilities, Cleese brilliantly punctuates Basil's outrageous faux pas with absurd gymnastics and turns Three Stooges-style pokes and kicks into a slapstick ballet. Scales's Sybil is the genial but obliviously chatty voice of reason and Andrew Sachs mangles the English language as the Spanish bellhop Manuel, whose struggles with simple directions results in comic lunacy reminiscent of Robert Benigni. After a six-episode run in 1975, Cleese and cowriter and costar Connie Booth (who plays Polly, the maid all too often pulled into Basil's ridiculous plans) reunited the cast in 1979 for another six episodes without missing a punch line. The four-volume collection contains all 12 shows, interspersed with interview segments featuring Cleese discussing the genesis of the series and anecdotes about the individual episodes. Remember to watch the opening credits of each show to spot the creative misspellings on the hotel sign (my favorite: "Fatty Owls"). --Sean Axmaker Inspired by a hotel John Cleese once stayed in when he was filming "Monty Python." This complete set of Fawlty Towers episodes includes special new commentary by John Cleese. Please see individual volumes for episode descriptions. Actors:
 Customer Reviews:
I see from the reviews that this series is extremely popular, but I am going to have to throw a monkeywrench into the works. Yes, John Cleese is very good (he is even better when parodying what he once called "Britain's previous national joke-Neville Chamberlain"), but the humor on the program is run-of-the-mill British humor, making fun of the class distinctions, vaudeville-type physical humor like throwing a pie in someone's face, ethnic stereotypes, seeing a moose's head seem to be speaking, ridiculing doddering, semi-senile old people, etc. This is all well-worn stuff in Britain. At the same time this was made in the UK, the Americans were coming out with ground-breaking comedy series like Barney Miller, Taxi and Saturday Nite Live. These programs were willing to push the limits in exploring social issues and personal eccentricities. Even in Britain, this series was followed a few years later by the masterpiece "Yes Minister/Prime Minister" which was willing to go head-to-head with the British Establishment. Unfortunately, Cleese and the others who made this series were still stuck in the old ways of doing comedy going over well-worn paths while others were passing them by. The show is moderately entertaining and got a few chuckles out of me, but its potential was never reached. They could have made an interesting ensemble out of the characters, as was done in Barney Miller and Taxi, but this wasn't done...Fawlty's wife is pretty bland as is the young lady who works there, and the Spanish (or, really Catalan) worker seems stuck in his rut of barely speaking English and generally fumbling around. My favorite scene is from the episode "The Germans" where Fawlty keeps warning his staff "whatever you do, don't bring up the War" in front of his German guests. In spite of that, when they order hors d'oeuvres he himself repeats "Yah, Vee Must Obey Hors D'oevres All the Time!". That got a good laugh out of me. --2006-12-03 John Cleese is absolutely brilliant as Basil Fawlty. There have been attempts at recapturing the humor Fawlty Towers produced, but they all grey in comparison. This is a must see for any John Cleese fan, or for anyone with a slightly warped sense of humor. --2006-11-22 Just fantastic , brings rich comedy back with the same impact you saw this first time on TV. Ideal for repeat viewings any time of the day to cheer you up --2006-11-10 If you like John Cleese, this is for you. Worth every cent of the purchase price. --2006-11-04 Excellent!! Classic! Very Funny especially Basil the Rat! Won't be disappointed! --2006-11-03 Read for more: http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html%3FASIN=B...
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