Rating: 
Summary: The funniest British Comedy EVER
Review: Fawly Towers has to be my favourite comedy of all time. I was born and bred onto this programme and LOVE it to bits. If you've had a boring day and need cheering up and fancy a giggle then this is for you. I reccomend this to anybody. If you don't like it then you need your head examined.
Rating:
Summary: In one word: Essential.
Review: Next to Blackadder, the Fawlty Towers series is by far my favorite television series of all time, the brainchild of the amazingly talented John Cleese. If you have never seen the show before, this is an amazing package to have, and it is something you will watch over and over again. The show is timeless.The DVD package gives you lots of nice extras, with interviews (old and new) with the main cast members, as well as a neat little cast and setting guide. One thing I never liked about the VHS issues was the picture quality, which was quite grainy. The DVD spruces up all the video and sounds, so the performance is optimal. The price is also quite reasonable, so value for money is assured. Only 12 episodes of Fawlty Towers were ever made, and they are all in this package. It showcases the wit and charm of John Cleese, who plays an obnoxious hotel owner who does with several problems with guests. Believe it or not, it was inspired by a real hotel in England. The writing is razor sharp, and unlike most comedy shows, the jokes never get old. My favorite episode is "The Germans", with perhaps the best punch line I have ever heard on a TV show (I won't spoil it, but it has something to do with who started the war). The Fawlty Towers DVD set is an essential part of my DVD collection, right beside the Blackadder DVD set. Even people who don't like Britcoms will love Fawlty Towers, and will go back to it over and over again, as I do.
Rating:
Summary: Help me solve a mystery
Review: Get the Fawlty Towers DVD already. Now for something completely different: I swear that one day I turned on PBS and they were showing a short film where John Cleese and Connie Booth were members of a chamber orchestra who had somehow gotten separated from their camrades and end up wandering the English countryside naked. That's right, naked. Connie Booth is topless through the whole thing and John thankfully has a bassoon covering his naughty bits. Needless to say, I'd like to see this non-fawlty ditty again. Any info? Post in a review here.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best series made for television
Review: John Cleese is at his best in Fawlty Towers. Between his mishaps with German guests to the complete hillarious incompetence of his Spanish waiter, Manuel (he's from Barcelona), this 12 episode series will keep you laughing from beginning to end. Favorite episodes:
The Germans
Basil the Rat The DVD edition is well worth buying, by the way. There are many special features, including interviews, out-takes and sections of the funniest clips from the show. The picture and sound quality is also very good.
Rating:
Summary: The best in British Comedy
Review: Who would have thought the John Cleese could have pulled this off after his years with Monty Python. Fawlty Towers has often been hailed as the best British Comedy ever made, and for good reason. Amazon wisely choose to make Towers and the Blackadder as a combo, anyone interested in British comedy shoud not miss these two
Rating: 
Summary: Almost a perfect DVD set
Review: Fawlty Towers has to be one of the greatest, if not THE greatest (with Police Squad! being another great competitor), comedy shows of all time. Rining in at 12 episodes, each episode is able to remain tight in timing. Absolutely Brilliant. The DVD set has excellent extras including interviews with cast members (you will never look at Manuel quite the same way after this). The disappointment is it's stretched over 3 disks, with 4 episodes per disk. This probably should of fit on 2 DVD's, even with the extras. The Commentary is also mediocre at best, and probably could of been skipped. Better yet, they could of put the extras on their own disk if there wasn't room.
Rating: 
Summary: Sorry to spoil the party...
Review: I'd seen a few episodes of Fawlty Towers on tv and I borrowed this set from someone I know to get a better idea of it and after seeing more than half the epiosodes I must say that the show doesn't do much for me. I hate to say it's overated(as so many people obviously get such pleasure from it) but after repeated attempts to find the humor and intelligence that so many claim to see in abundance, I'm out of other options. The show's main character,Basil Fawlty,is a complete jerk. I don't care about him,I don't think he's very funny and I sure don't feel sorry for him. He's an angry cartoon. The other characters did little to interest me as well, as they all seemed either unrealized,sterotypical or boring. Watching Basil abuse or be abused by them got tiresome fast. Maybe it would help if I were a Monty Python fan,a fan of British humor or thought Cleese's other work (including Python) was funny instead of occasionally amusing but I don't think so. Good humor can stand on it's own. Maybe you instantly obtain the label of "sophistication" just by attempting a farce-I don't know. All the episodes I saw were too similar. They are full of translation humor (Basil and Manuel's trouble communicating-which gets old fast),physical humor (which I've never been big on-it's rarely used in an inspired way and Cleese ducking in and out of doors or smacking around the hapless Manuel is not inspired) and the reworking of many things I've seen in any number of situation comedies. They all kind of seen like episodes of Frasier(which I now see was inspired greatly by this show). Misunderstandings that are run into the ground,situations that are blown out of proportion by Basil's inability to confront his wife and conclusions that you can see coming from a mile away. They are punctuated by bits of Pythonesque flights of fancy and people being slapped about. The show just became more annoying as I watched-Basil yells,Manuel misunderstands directions,the Fawlty's insult each other using British slang I don't understand,Basil yells again,Mrs.Fawlty catches Basil in a lie..... every episode was the same. I expected so much more than what I found. Fawlty Towers is VERY average and during the 6 or 7 episodes I've seen I think I laughed out loud once. That's something else it shares with Fraiser. I give it the rating I did based on the fact that it IS better than most tv commedies but then most tv comedy is unwatchable and would merit a no star rating. A few bits here and there were ok but the praise I've heard from friends,reviewers and critics had me believing that this is the funniest tv show ever. I could name dozens that made me laugh more(including some you may consider low brow but ramming a guy's head into the wall repeatedly isn't exactly the high road...) but the ones that come to mind fastest are The Simpsons,SCTV,Mystery Science Theater 3000,Newsradio,The Larry Sanders Show,The Sopranos(!!!),Futurama,Kids In The Hall,Seinfeld,Undeclared,Fernwood Tonight,South Park(which is just as overated),Get A Life,Freaks and Geeks,Curb Your Enthusiasm(which features a much more tolerable and funny jerk than Basil),TV Funhouse,Mr.Show,Fishing With John,Space Ghost & Brak and Black Adder (which is even a funnier British show). I could go on but you get the drift. Those expecting genius (or a thorough tickling of the funny bone) here may be sorely disapointed.
Rating:
Summary: Simply The Best
Review: Fawlty Towers is in my opinion the best comedy series ever produced..It is smartly written by Cleese and his then wife Booth, impeccably acted, and directed. Cleese excels as the neurotic repressed hotel manager, Scales as his cold and bossy wife, Booth as the trusted maid who saves the day many times over, and of course the excellent Sachs as Manuel, the Spanish waiter..Cleese refused to do a third series, and the series was terminated at its prime, which probably what makes it such a classic today.
The british have over the years made top comdey series, like Blackadder, Only Fools and Horses, Some Mothers do 'ave them and Absoluetly Fabulous, but Fawlty Towers remains at the top of the bunch.Its secret lies mainly in the very smart combination of situation comedy, very well developed characters, and some slaptsick, and of course in Cleese's performance.
Whether hotels like Fawlty Towers do actually exist or not, there will only be one Mr Fawlty, who will scream, jump, curse and whimper for the enjoyment of us all for years to come.
Rating:
Summary: Fawlty Towers is the best comedy
Review: When i first watch Fawlty Towers i was on the floor laughing my head off my husbane is so into comedy and he loves Fawlty Towers John Cleese would have to be one of the best actors of all time everyone in my house loves a good laugh and i have to give my thanks to the team of Fawlty Towers for so much laughter in my house Thank you...You are the best...
Rating:
Summary: John Cleese is Brilliant
Review: Fawlty Towers is a crowning achievment. It is one of the funniest, most clever shows ever to air on television. Short but sweet with only 12 episodes there are to be sure some lesser episdoes with "A Touch of Class" the first episode a bit weak, and "Waldorf Salad" the least funny overall. However, "The Germans" and "Gourmet Night" alone are worth the entire box set, being two of the funniest shows ever written. "The Germans" from start to finish is superb, stuffed so full of funny material, if you don't laugh, check your pulse. Favorite lines "Yes you did. You invaded Poland!" & "I don't know why we bother. We should let you all burn!" The other episodes offer many hilarious bits of comedy, all better than most things on t.v. today. The box set with all the shows is well worth it. And the extras are great as well. I have always wondered what Andrew Sachs sounded like when not portraying Manuel. These are definitely discs to watch over and over again.
|
