I've seen every single one of these episodes too many times to count. Doesn't matter a bit. This is timeless inventive, stuff. The kind of thing that you feel obligated to introduce to the unitiated and invite friends overt o watch and rewatch. The fact that the character of Basil Fawlty is based on a real person makes the show all the more rich. Like Seinfeld and other programs that expertly replicate...
As a longtime Monty Python fanatic, I’ve often heard of the legendary Fawlty Towers, the British sitcom John Cleese co-created and starred in after Flying Circus had gone off the air. The show ranks high in the annals of sitcom lore, with Cleese singled out for his performance as Basil Fawlty, the co-owner of a [...]
Just a few quick words on two Britcom TV on DVD releases today that brought a smile to this jaded writer's face. BBC Video today releases new editions of British comedy classics Blackadder and Fawlty Towers, both in deluxe remastered versions that not only include all episodes produced but a healthy dose of extras and bonus features. (Just don't mention the war.) It's a testament to the creative forces...
The Major: Why did he kill it, anyway, Fawlty? Basil: I don't know, Major. Better than marrying it. (John Cleese & Connie Booth 1979) St. George and the Dragon provide a bit of action in Storkyrkan - The Great Church . Storkyrkan, Gamla stan ( map ) 1 November 2009 /pixels
The Brits have always done television better than America. Rather than running a series into the ground when it's well past the sell-by date, the Brits have always known when to quit and leave you wanting more. Queer As Folk (the US version never came close to topping the original), The Office , Life On Mars , Absolutely Fabulous and Ashes to Ashes (the finale is coming in the spring) all ran for just...
1939 John Cleese , British actor, comedian ( A Fish Called Wanda ; Life of Brian ; and two Harry Potter movies). His family's surname was previously 'Cheese', but his father, an insurance salesman, changed his surname to 'Cleese'. Cleese and then-wife Connie Booth collaborated in the legendary television series Fawlty Towers , which, despite running for only 12 episodes, remains highly popular today....
The members of Monty Python went on to plenty of distinguished projects after the group split, but none of them made the lasting contribution to comedy John Cleese did with Fawlty Towers . Comprising a bare 12 episodes—six aired in 1975, the rest in 1979—the show has been enshrined as a high-water mark of the sitcom format. It’s a dizzying farce starring Cleese as the obstinate owner...
Like many Monty Python addicts, I’m also a fan of Fawlty Towers, John Cleese’s series set at a small hotel in Torquay, on the coast of Britain. Cleese played innkeeper Basil Fawlty, basing the character on a “marvelously rude” innkeeper he had met when the Pythons were filming in Torquay years before. Other main characters [...]
In 1975, John Cleese was asked to do a follow up to MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS. After appearing on one of the most acclaimed series of the era, how could anyone be expected to do such a thing? He and his wife, Connie Booth, wanted to work together. They came up with an idea about a couple who owned an inn. Based on Cleese’s experiences staying at a real in in Torquay, with an innkeeper...
Probably the biggest theatrical release of the week is "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," coming Tuesday. Arriving the same day is a 25th anniversary "Transformers Matrix of Leadership" limited-edition collector's set. In a marriage of art and packaging, the 16-disc set comes in a Transformer-like, fold-out-and-grow box set. Inside, the collector's edition contains 98 restored...
Well done to Will and Rusty who got the right answer to the Trivia Quiz set on Sunday . The thing they have in common is that they have all studied a subject beginning with "psycho": -Jimmy Lea studied psychotherapy. -Connie Booth is a pyschotherapist. -Pamela Stephenson is a doctor of psychology. Derek Draper is 42.
What do: - Jimmy Lea , bass player of mega pop group Slade - Pamela Stephenson of Not the Nine O'Clock News and - Connie Booth co-writer of Fawlty Towers have in common? Have a go on the comments and I'll post the answer in a day or so.
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